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The default polling rate for USB with Windows is a lethargic 125Hz with a 8ms response time, which can hardly be considered ideal for many of us. With older versions of Windows there were many patches and work arounds that remedied this situation. Unfortunately, these workaround didn’t work for Vista due to the new security features.

NGOHQ has a post in their forums that explains a way for Vista users to force Vista to use a 1000Hz polling rate that provides a 1ms response time. The process involves installing a couple Vista updates, which you probably already have. Disable Vista integrity check and install a file that is available from the forums. Any changes such as this to the operating system run the risk of fragging your Vista install, so beware.
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The days of wired USB may not be over yet, not by a long shot. Intel at IDF 2007 has announced plans for USB 3.0. That’s actually a continuation of the cable version of Universal Serial Bus. A “SuperSpeed” USB Promoter Group has been formed that is overseeing the completion of the specification. Everything should be finalized sometime in the middle of 2008, with the first devices to hit market in 2009. You may want to add at least 2 years to both dates, given the track record of the previous USB announcements and market penetration.

What makes USB 3.0 so special is that it’s basically built from ground up. It will take care of the backward compatibility, but at its core, USB 3.0 will go for optical interface as its target speed is set at an ambitious 4.8Gbps. To take the best of both worlds, USB 3.0 cables will support both optical and copper interfaces. NEC mentioned USB 3.0 may need to cut in half of its 5m reach in order to hit its goals.

Another thing that dramatically improves the performance and power consumption is the the removal of continuous polling of devices, meaning future USB hosts don’t have to check on the devices like a hawk. Virtual machines will also have the ability to access USB devices without software intervention; a major goal is to make a single USB device functions from multiple resources.
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Put USB and video together, and the first thing you would hear is DisplayLink - the company behind the first true USB video chipset. By compressing on the host PC before sending the lossless video image through USB, you get lag-free 1600×1200 desktop mirror and spanning. The technology current drives Samsung 19″ SyncMaster USB monitor, and now Kensington sd200v Notebook Docking Station with Video.

True to its name, the Kensington isn’t just another USB dock that replicates the ports like USB, mic, and stereo port on your lappy. This one also comes with a VGA port that sends an mirrored image of your desktop on a second monitor. Granted, literally all notebooks and even UMPC does desktop spanning and mirror, yet some people may need a third. So, this dock targets at a rather niche market.

Lastly, the button in front lets you toggles between ‘clone’ and ‘extend’ video mode. The DisplayLink DL-120 video core on this dock supports up to 1440 x 900 max. resolution.
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We have previously covered IronKey encrypted flash drives here at Everything USB. IronKey recently announced that it had launched a new flash drive for enterprise and military use. The drive is called the IronKey: Enterprise Special Edition.

Like the other IronKey drives, the Enterprise Special Edition uses onboard hardware encryption to protect data on the drives and no software or drivers are required to use the device. A Password is required to access the data on the drive. This version is designed to meet and exceed military waterproof standards (MIL-STD-810F). The drive is also made completely from metal for added durability. Capacities available are 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB. Prices range from $79 to $149 and the drive is available now.
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If you really need to label your discs and using your desktop printer isn’t an option and LightScribe just doesn’t cut it, the Dymo DiscPainter may be just what you need. The DiscPainter paints CDs and DVDs that are the ink jet printable type. I have used an Epson printer to print discs before and they didn’t turn out very well mostly due to bad software.

Dymos product is specifically designed to only print discs and it can print at either 600dpi or 1200 dpi. CrunchGear says that it takes about 3-minutes to spin and print one disc at 1200dpi and about 1-minute to paint a disc at 600 dpi and the print quality was about the same. The DiscPainter will be available in October for $279 and comes with the USB cable, three inkjet printable discs and a color ink cartridge that can print about 100 discs. Video demo after the jump.
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The launch of 3.5G USB modems from Three UK is a huge commercial success, with the first allocation being completely sold out within the first three weeks after the modem went on sales on September 4th.

The USB modem is a private branded Huawei E220 that boosts a maximum 3.6Mbps and offers Mac/PC support. The bandwidth is obviously enough for most web tasks, but Three UK’s data allowance for its 25-pound package tops at 7GB after which you have to live with the 10 pence per MB.

From my experience, all images all undergo some form of crazy compression on the server before they are sent to your browser. So expect severe picture quality degradation.
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XBox 360 HD DVD player is a nice add-on considering its low price, ease of installation and cross-platform versatility. It also bundles a Universal Media Remote and a copy of hi-def movie. Vista shipping version even has native driver for it, and it’s becoming more attractive after the recent slash to $179. Now, tipped by an unknown source, Engadget is reporting MS is planning on shipping a revised 360 HD DVD drive next year. I reckon the new drive will match the color of the Elite and will opt for Toshiba recently announced bus-powered HD DVD drive - originally designed for notebooks. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
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After ReplayTV quitted dedicated DVR set-top box business, the company continues to focus on PC DVR software with Hauppauge as its biggest partner. It looks like they want to start selling their own PC TV tuners, and the Personal HD tuner is a start.

Avid HTPC users are fast to point out that the Personal HD has private brand version of the Hauppauge HVR-950 NTSC / ASTC USB tuner, which is technically the same as Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro and ATI TV Wonder 600 USB. In the end, it’s all about the software. ReplayTV tries to convince you that they have the best DVR software and then gets you to subscribe their PC Electronic Show Guide for $20 a year. And without the EPG, the tuner isn’t very functional. Oh, I almost forgot to mention about the multiple channel recording, which involves a second or a third tuner dongle of the aforementioned competing products.

Riding on the popularity of the 2007 iPods and iPhone, ReplayTV touts the Personal HD’s advanced support for those devices. Other features like Smart Channel and Search are nothing revolutionary. If they all work well together, it might worth my $99.
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The iPod is taking over everything from washing machines to exercise equipment. LifeFitness has a new treadmill called the Platinum Club Series Treadmill that has a USB port built-in to allow you to power your iPod, manage play lists, watch videos and more through the treadmills 15-inch LCD.

While you run you can watch a movie directly from your iPod to the 15-inch LCD and a virtual trainer program is built-in as well. I wonder if the trainer tells you to stop watching movies from your iPod and run. At least you can keep your iPod juiced up for those old-fashioned pieces of equipment around the gym thanks to the treadmill. I guess the only real catch is that you need to bring your own sync and charge cable since the treadmill is not equipped with a dock. The treadmill sells for $7999. Ouch…
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Last week LaCie introduced one of the best looked external USB hard drives that we have seen called the Golden Disk. Today LaCie announced a new family of disk drives called the Little Disk family, designed by award-winning designer Sam Hecht. You can get the drives with either 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drives inside a small chassis.

The USB cable is integrated into the design and retracts for storage. A pair of FireWire ports is also included if you don’t have a USB port available on the 2.5-inch combo drives. 1-click synchronization software is included to allow you to keep your important emails and documents up to date; for added security, Windows users can protect their data with AES 128-bit encryption. Capacities for the Little Disk family range from 80GB to 250GB. No matter the storage capacity, all the drives are USB bus powered. If you don’t dig designer products, a down-to-earth Toshiba 200GB USB 2.5″ drive is a decent choice.
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