Sep 12

Corsair’s ear-straddling HS1 headset earns high marks in early reviews

Posted in: headphones, headset, review, sound, Today's Chili, usb

You had to know that Corsair wouldn’t stride into a new product category with just so-so hardware. Its new HS1 gaming headset has been sent out to a couple of UK reviewers and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Both Hexus and Bit-tech praised the circumaural (made to fit around, rather than on top of, your ears) design for its weight distribution and memory foam-assisted comfort, while also giving the thumbs up to sound quality. Bass reproduction is said to be somewhat weaker than desirable, but the bundled software gives you plenty of adjustment options. It’s a shame that you’ll have to install the drivers in order to avoid the in-line remote control blinking madly at you, and it’s also not too awesome that you won’t be able to use the mic on a Mac, but so long as these vices don’t bother you unduly, you should find the $99 investment in an HS1 set more than worth it. Hit the links below for more detailed impressions.

Corsair’s ear-straddling HS1 headset earns high marks in early reviews originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Sep 2010 09:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBit-tech, Hexus  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Sep 10

Lenovo Power Hub stuffs four powered USB ports into your laptop charger

Posted in: charger, charging, lenovo, peripheral, thinkpad, Today's Chili, usb

There’s really no better way to say it: the item you’re peering at above is genius. Lenovo’s Power Hub is a sight for sore eyes, and a product innovation we’ve needed for decades. Put simply, this ThinkPad charger (compatible with 90W and 65W machines) has a breakout USB cable that plugs into a single USB socket on your machine; from there, you can plug four USB devices directly into the power brick. At long last, laptop users can charge / sync their phone, their iPod and their MiFi all at once — and yeah, that last port is most definitely reserved for your treasured Hello Kitty warming blanket. There’s no word on if (or when) Lenovo will start bundling these chargers with their machines, but at least this thing is more than a concept — it’s available to order right now from the source link at $74.99. So much for counting that ultraportable out due to having “only” one or two USB ports, eh?

Gallery: Lenovo Power Hub

Lenovo Power Hub stuffs four powered USB ports into your laptop charger originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLenovo Blog, Lenovo (purchase link)  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , ,
Sep 09

LaCie embraces USB 3.0 with world’s smallest hug, ‘world’s smallest’ HDDs

Posted in: external hard drive, ExternalHardDrive, hard drive, HardDrive, Today's Chili, usb, usb 3.0, Usb3.0

LaCie’s bringing its monkey out to play again today, announcing a USB 3.0 version of the Rikiki and a new Minimus portable hard drive. Both come in slick aluminum enclosures, with the Rikiki looking unchanged from its predecessor, but of course inside they pack the extra vroom vroom of the latest USB spec. Unlike Iomega, LaCie isn’t shy about price premiums here, as the Rikiki USB 3.0 model costs $100 for 500GB (versus $85 for the 2.0 SKU) and the Minimus offers a terabyte in exchange for $130. Both will have larger options as well, a 1TB Rikiki and a 2TB Minimus — with correspondingly elevated levies, we’re sure.

Gallery: Lacie Minimus USB 3.0 product images

Gallery: Lacie Rikiki USB 3.0 product images

Continue reading LaCie embraces USB 3.0 with world’s smallest hug, ‘world’s smallest’ HDDs

LaCie embraces USB 3.0 with world’s smallest hug, ‘world’s smallest’ HDDs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLacie (Rikiki USB 3.0), (Minimus USB 3.0)  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Sep 08

CalDigit brings USB 3.0 AV Drive to the Mac, still working on peace in the Middle East (video)

Posted in: Apple, Mac, Today's Chili, usb, usb 3.0, Usb3.0, video
CalDigit brings USB 3.0 AV Drive to the Mac, still working on peace in the Middle East (video)

With Intel showing signs of jumping on board, USB 3.0 is looking more and more like the one next-gen interconnect to rule them all. Them all except for Apple, of course, who has notably thrown its support exclusively behind Light Peak. The chums at Cupertino have no interest in newer, bluer revisions of USB, but enterprise storage firm CalDigit thinks that many Apple lovers will. It has developed USB 3.0 PCIe and ExpressCard adapters (plus the necessary drivers) that will bring 5Gbps transfers to Macs, and is releasing its CalDigit AV Drive to match, up to 2TB of external storage with 145MBps transfers. (It also sports FireWire 800 compatibility if you’re not ready to cross the interface picket line just yet.) That PCIe adapter will set you back a not entirely unreasonable $59, while the 1TB external drive is $199. No price on the ExpressCard adapter or 2TB version yet, but all are said to be shipping presently.

Update: As bhillyer70 pointed out in comments, these are now available in the CalDigit store. The 2TB drive will set you back $299, while the ExpressCard adapter is listed at $69 and sports this somewhat troubling disclaimer: “CalDigit does not guarantee USB 3.0 performance on all Macs or when used in conjunction with third party products. The driver has been optimized for CalDigit certified products.” Perhaps we should re-open those peace talks…

Continue reading CalDigit brings USB 3.0 AV Drive to the Mac, still working on peace in the Middle East (video)

CalDigit brings USB 3.0 AV Drive to the Mac, still working on peace in the Middle East (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Sep 07

Intel may finally be ready to embrace USB 3.0

Posted in: intel, plans, roadmap, rumor, speculation, Today's Chili, usb, usb 3.0, Usb3.0

It’s September so that can mean only one thing in Intel land: IDF. The second of this year’s Intel Developer Forums is this year preceded by speculation that the big blue giant’s next motherboard reference design — codenamed Cougar Point — will include USB 3.0 support. Intel’s relationship with the 3.0 interconnect standard can at best be described as strained, but motherboard and laptop makers haven’t shied from integrating it into their wares and as the number of devices supporting SuperSpeed increases, it’s becoming somewhat inevitable that Intel would have to play ball as well. At least until Light Peak shines its “instant obsolescence” ray onto USB cables next year. Then again, bear in mind China’s Commercial Times has been wrong before, so let’s not credit this as fact until someone with a blue name badge tells us so.

Intel may finally be ready to embrace USB 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDigiTimes  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Sep 04

Samsung’s new Wireless USB chipset enables HD streaming with less power

Posted in: arm, samsung, sd, Today's Chili, usb, wifi, Wireless

It’s a beautiful combination, really — lower power consumption, and support for high bandwidth applications. That marriage is evident in Samsung’s newest Wireless USB chipset, which was built around Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology and designed to enable high-def streaming between a mobile host device and a tethered device for viewing. According to Sammy, the two-chip solution will be aimed at cameras, camcorders, TVs, PCs, tablets, beam projectors, portable HDDs, Blu-ray players and handsets, and given that it can handle a theoretical high of 480Mbps with an average power consumption of less than 300mW, even the weakest smartphone battery should be able to stream at least a single episode of Family Guy to the tele. Mum’s the word on who all will be lining up to adopt this stuff, but since it’s slated to hit mass production in Q4, we’d say those details should be worked out right around CES 2011.

Continue reading Samsung’s new Wireless USB chipset enables HD streaming with less power

Samsung’s new Wireless USB chipset enables HD streaming with less power originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Sep 03

Lacie MosKeyto streamlines portable storage, invites bad puns

Posted in: flash, flash drive, FlashDrive, Mini, Today's Chili, usb, usb drive, UsbDrive

Lacie’s keeping up its eccentric branding strategy today with this pest-inspired new USB key. Measuring a mere 20mm in length and 10 grams in weight, the MosKeyto is ready to all but disappear once you plug it into your computer, and it’ll outdo its physical counterpart by not only sucking data down but pushing it back out should you want it. Basically, it’s yet another miniaturized USB drive and can be owned today, starting at $18 for the 4GB version. 8GB will set you back $28 and there’s a 16GB variant to come as well. Got all that? Good. Now buzz off.

Gallery: Lacie MosKeyTo press images


Continue reading Lacie MosKeyto streamlines portable storage, invites bad puns

Lacie MosKeyto streamlines portable storage, invites bad puns originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLacie  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Sep 02

Toshiba StorE TV+ drive connects up to 2TB of media directly to your HDTV

Posted in: Today's Chili, Toshiba, usb, wifi

Feel like connecting a HTPC or even one of the many streamers to your HDTV is overkill? Toshiba’s new StorE TV+ is prepared to quietly retain up to 2TB of media (in various formats, check after the break for specs) until called upon, when it can play them back via HDMI, no connected PC required. It can also connect to PCs or other DLNA devices (like, coincidentally enough, Toshiba’s new HDTVs) networked via Ethernet and the included WiFi dongle or load files directly from memory cards and USB drives. Even with all that, a lack of access to internet video sources makes the £199 MSRP a tough sell even ith 2TB of space at the ready, but if it works its way into a TV bundle then there may be buyers willing to bite when it ships next month, while an eSATA hard drive only StorE.D10 model will follow later this year for an unknown price.

Continue reading Toshiba StorE TV+ drive connects up to 2TB of media directly to your HDTV

Toshiba StorE TV+ drive connects up to 2TB of media directly to your HDTV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Aug 31

Corsair sails into gaming headset waters with noise-isolating HS1 cans

Posted in: audio, headphones, headset, sound, Today's Chili, usb

For some people, the association of Corsair and quality PC components is so strong that they’d buy anything that bears the triple sail logo. It makes perfect sense, therefore, for the company that made its name by producing memory sticks to diversify its portfolio even further, this time into gaming headsets, with the introduction of the HS1. It’s a USB headset offering multichannel audio via 50mm drivers, a noise-isolating closed design, noise-cancelling and articulating mic, and inline volume and microphone mute controls. Aside from the larger than usual drivers, we’re not seeing anything particularly unique here, but that ethereal quality component is rarely apparent on black and white fact sheets. Availability is said to be immediate, though our quick pricing investigation threw up only a UK pre-order for £84 ($129). So yeah, Corsair’s certainly pricing the HS1 as a premium product.

[Thanks, Mark S.]

Continue reading Corsair sails into gaming headset waters with noise-isolating HS1 cans

Corsair sails into gaming headset waters with noise-isolating HS1 cans originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceCorsair  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Aug 31

PhoneSuit Primo Battery Cube review

Posted in: feature, Features, review, Today's Chili, usb
PhoneSuit Primo Battery Cube review

Smartphones are getting ever smarter and batteries ever better, but it seems that the poor things can just never catch up. It’s a thankless, tireless job powering your gadgets, and sometimes those cells need a little help. That’s where external batteries come in to lend a hand, giving your gadget those few precious extra hours of life — enough for you to find your way home after that impromptu third encore sing-along that seemed like it would never end. The $40 Primo Battery Cube from PhoneSuit is one of the latest, a 1,000mAh reserve tank for your thirsty mobile. But is it worth making room in your pocket for? Read on to find out.

Gallery: PhoneSuit Primo Battery Cube

Continue reading PhoneSuit Primo Battery Cube review

PhoneSuit Primo Battery Cube review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: