Charging via USB is something we all take increasingly for granted; hell, it’s become so ubiquitous you can have USB ports alongside your wall outlets. So it bodes well for a future ruled by USB charging that the powers-that-be have decided that the connection should be able to supply a whole 100 watts of power—enough to power a computer. More »
The battle between Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 has only recently begun in earnest, what with mobo’s finally emerging to give non-Mac computers access to the 10Gbps interface. While USB 3.0 can’t match Thunderbolt in terms of data throughput, it now has the upper hand in power capabilities, as last week the 100W Power Delivery spec was approved for both USB 2.0 and 3.0. That’s ten times what Thunderbolt can do, and it means that you can charge up your laptop or power most any peripheral via Universal Serial Bus. Naturally, the new specification relies on beefier cables to deliver maximum juice, but we won’t have to go replacing all our old wires — it includes a means to check attached cables and devices and set the voltage and amperage accordingly. Perfect, that means we won’t have to carry around bundle of proprietary power cords when we travel, and we get peace of mind that charging via USB won’t have any, ahem, unpleasant side effects.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
USB Power Delivery spec upped to 100W, aims to make proprietary power connectors obsolete originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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There’s no doubt about it, USB 3.0 is wicked fast when pitted against its predecessors — but the ancient bulk-only transport protocol it uses is showing its age. Some newer external drives hope sidestep the old protocol by supporting a new one: UASP, or, USB attached SCSI. As its name implies, the modern protocol leverages the SCSI command set to reduce latency, enable queue functions and improve performance for compatible drives. Windows 8 will ship with UASP drivers baked in, but the protocol is already available in the form of third-party controllers and drivers. Speaking of which, Hot Hardware found the functionality on ASUS’ P8Z77V motherboard, and gave it a rundown. The conclusion? “Turbo and UASP modes will never hurt performance, and you’ve got early access to a capability that’s already been wrapped into future versions of Windows. That’s a win, all the way around.” We’re hard pressed to disagree. Check out the outfit’s tests in full at the source link below.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
ASUS loads P8Z77V with USB attached SCSI, beats Windows 8 to the punch originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jul 2012 19:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Buffalo’s HDD repertoire is already pretty well stacked, but there’s nothing wrong with the company giving you extensive storage options. The newest one to join the external drive pile is the HDW-P550U3, boasting a decent 500GB capacity, the latest-gen of USB tech (or 3.0, if you prefer), WiFi (B,G,N) for some cordless doc-transferring action and a hefty 2,860mAh battery that promises to give you around five hours of usage. Sadly, unlike its HD-PATU3 cousin, there’s no Thunderbolt incision in this guy, but this is likely to still keep folks interested in the former. That’s not to take anything away from the HDW-P550U3, though, which is expected to be available in Japan next month with a 23,205 yen price tag, or about $295 in US cash.
Filed under: Wireless, Storage
Buffalo outs HDW-P550U3 external drive with USB 3.0 and WiFi in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A manufacturer has finally decided to build a mini PC featuring silicon other than Intel’s Atom or AMD’s various APUs. In this case it’s Giada, today announcing its new i53 “book sized” mini PC. The company has managed to cram in Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors into a 26mm thick chassis, saying that the whole package only consumes 35W. The other specs aren’t bad either.
The PC comes with a Core i5 processor by default, but there’s options for Core i3 and Core i7 chips as well. 4GB of RAM comes as standard, as does a 500GB HDD. The integrated HD 4000 GPU will handle high-definition video with ease via the HDMI output, and there’s a VGA output as well. The company has thrown in a remote control for good measure, and you can boot the PC using the remote too.
Ports for the PC include 4x USB 2.0, and a single USB 3.0 jack. In addition, there’s gigabit Ethernet, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, and a multi format card reader. Still, you’ll be paying a little more for the extra horsepower, with the default build costing around $520. Giada hasn’t said exactly when the i53 will be shipping, but you should be able to pick it up from Amazon or Newegg in the not too distant future.
Giada i53 aims at HTPCs with Ivy Bridge and USB 3.0 is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Buffalo is ready to release the HD-PATU3 in the Japanese market. It is actually an external hard disk drive that supports both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt interfaces. Available in 500GB and 1TB of storage capacities, the Buffalo HD-PATU3 retails for 27,720 Yen ($347) and 33,285 Yen ($416), respectively. Each purchase comes equipped with a 50cm Thunderbolt cable. [Akihabara]
While it has been easier to get a decent 1080p webcam these days, most people wouldn’t search for a 4K camera – but maybe they should! Point Grey just came up with this very interesting pocket webcam that claims to record in 4K (4096×2160 pixels, or 8.8 Million pixels) over USB 3.0. This is huge and right now, very few displays would be capable of showing the images in their full glory, but even on a 2880×1800 display, which is the highest that consumers can get, it should look very nice. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Point Grey USB 3.0 video camera, Point Grey USB 3.0 HD Webcam,
Point Grey, makers of industrial digital cameras, has released a new model in its Flea3 USB 3.0 camera lineup that supports 4K resolution and is being touted as the world’s smallest 4K camera. It uses the bandwidth capabilities of USB 3.0 to deliver 4096 x 2160 pixel resolution color images at 21 frames per second. All this is stuffed into a tiny ice-cube sized package.
This Flea3 USB 3.0 camera, model FL3-U3-88S2C-C, features a high quality 8.8-megapixel, 4K2K sensor. It is Sony’s new IMX121 sensor with “Exmor R” back-illuminated CMOS architecture that offers high sensitivity and dynamic range for sharp color images.
The camera measures only 29mm x 29mm x 30mm or about 1-inch cubed. The small size makes the camera especially suitable for fitting in tight spaces such as in common industrial imaging, such as automatic optical inspection, ophthalmology, interactive multimedia, and broadcasting.
The USB 3.0 connector guarantees delivery of critical image data through USB 3.0 bulk transfers of 5Gb/s and also delivers power so that no other external power sources or cables are needed. The Flea3 FL3-U3-88S2C-C is priced at $945 and is available now from Point Grey.
[via Engadget]
Point Grey unveils world’s smallest 4K USB 3.0 camera is written by Rue Liu & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
After proving that a 1080p webcam on USB 3.0 was possible, to the surprise of none, Point Grey’s latest addition is a little more impressive, This “ice-cube sized” camera can pipe 4,096 x 2,160 images through that capacious USB 3.0 port, using Sony’s new IMX1221 Exmor R sensor. Thanks to its size, the camera is geared toward business-centric applications, including broadcasting and high-resolution optical inspection — which goes some way to explaining the $945 retail price. The full technical spec sheet waits in the press release, right after the break.
Continue reading World’s smallest 4K USB 3.0 camera delivers 21 frames per second, fits in pockets
World’s smallest 4K USB 3.0 camera delivers 21 frames per second, fits in pockets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
When we set out to get hands-on with a hard drive, of all things, you can bet we’re going to do more than just pick it up and marvel at how lightweight it is. Here at a gdgt event in New York City, we spotted G-Technology’s new Mac-friendly USB 3.0 drives on display and immediately got to work running some speed tests on the thinnest of the bunch, the G-Drive slim. Though transfer rates varied, both download and upload speeds tended to hover around 95 MB/s, and that was after ten or so runs in the Blackmagic benchmark. (Next time we’ll bring a USB 2.0 cable to test a backward-compatible setup.)
According to a company rep staffing the event, the other drives in the lineup, the G-Drive mini, mobile and mobile USB 3.0, should deliver similar performance. Really, the differences here are in the specs: the G-Drive mobile and mini have FireWire ports, and all three offer more storage (750GB to 1TB, as opposed to 500GB for the slim). Design-wise, all the drives on display here seemed fairly impervious to scratches, and that rubberized band around the edges also makes the devices feel a little less delicate. On that point, you can check out the hands-on photos to see what we’re talking about, though you’ll just have to take our word on the speed testing.
Zach Honig contributed to this report.
Hands-on with G-Technology’s Mac-friendly, USB 3.0-packing G-Drive slim originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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