Best computer news

One of the pioneers of flash drive once predicted thumbdrive would hit 128GB by 2010. It would seem this day will come soon than expected. Kingston, following Corsair, Kanguru and Super Talent, released 64GB and 32GB Data Traveler (DT150). Being one of the latest and largest flash drives around, the DT150 likely uses MLC to lower the cost, but tries to compensate for the inherently slower NAND chip with with an advanced dual-channel controller. Cosmetically, the Data Traveler has hexagonal design printed on hard glossy plastic.

As of this writing, NewEgg.com has both 64GB and 32GB listed for $129.99 and $69.99 respectively, and there are already people buying them as user reviews come back somewhat favorably. Reported speeds are rated at 30MB/s read and write at 8MB/s write. This is going to take a full 16 minutes just to copy a 8GB Iron Man 1080p Blu-ray rip to the Data Traveler. Let’s hope price dives as NAND demand quickly falls so we can all get a cheap 64GB flash drive.
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Disney must be out of their mind when they think people will shell out $118 for a USB humidifier – even if it’s modeled after Stitch from cartoon Lilo and Stitch. Perhaps the USB gadget is a retail experiment how far fans with deep pocket would go to complete their Disney collection. The Stitch USB Humidifier itself shows the big mouth of the the alien protagonist where the cool fog silently projected into the air. We haven’t quite figured out where you pour in the water – preferably distilled type. The Stitch – presumably an ultrasonic humidifier – will need to be cleaned regularly to avoid bacterial contamination. Are we being too serious? Move on now…
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Envision something that combines a collapsible table and a USB laptop cooler, and you’ll see this Laptop Cool Table. While it doesn’t carry a cool name at all, the rather unique notebook accessory turns your lappy into a portable desktop by raising it with quick adjusting legs to a comfortable level. The two built-in USB-powered fans help cool the laptop, and the elevated laptop stand reduces the chance of developing sore wrists and back pain.

The USB Laptop Cool Table requires no assembly, and its independently-adjusted legs can be extended vertically and horizontally, allowing you to set the table on any surface (i.e. desk, bed, couch). The unit weighs at about 2.5 lb., and measures at 18″ x 11″ x 1.1″ when folded flat. There’s no word on pricing, but we imagine the cooler table will retail for twice price of these regular USB notebook coolers.
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With only a handful of UWB fabless players remaining, the industry (and Wireless USB for that matter) couldn’t possibly take anymore bad news. Good news comes today, finally. Staccato announces merger with Artimi, and secures new round of funding of $20M. Amid the economic downturn and times of tight credit, consolidations seem to be the only way of survival companies like Staccato and Artimi.

The 5-year old UK-based Artimi has everything bet on ultra-wideband semiconductor products, but we haven’t seen the company has any high-profile OEM customers. Staccato however has been successful in bringing out a product-ready, single-chip CMOS WUSB solution that meets requirements for worldwide deployment, unlike the ill-fated WiQuest. So far, Alereon, Staccato and Wisair are the ones that are are likely to survive from what we’ve seen.
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USB 3.0 is here alright. What comes along with the SuperSpeed USB is the new ExpressCard 2.0 whose official group, PCMCIA, earlier promised the standard would be released as soon as new USB spec is published. ExpressCard 2.0 like its predecessor is closely tied to PCI Express 2.0 and USB 3.0 specs, and will take full advantage of both standards. While it is essentially the extension of PCI-E, most consumer-oriented ExpressCard adapters are actually USB-based (e.g. HSDPA modems, flash cards, TV tuners) for cost-cutting reason.

ExpressCard 2.0 hasn’t been exactly published yet, as PCMCIA probably has just received the USB spec like everyone else. The group will soon begin to finalize the release and make it available to members in early 2009. Presumably, SuperSpeed USB-equipped laptops will inherently come with ExpressCard 2.0 slots when they start shipping in 2010. We can’t wait to see the first SSD that works on both ExpressCard slot and USB 3.0 port. This is going to be one killer application.
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Old school gamers love the nostalgic feeling from playing games of the 80s and 90s, even in emulated mode with the state-of-the art gaming mouse and keyboard on a duo-core computer. Obviously, a few of us would go as far as bidding for an original Atari console, but at least we can now get a controller that the mimics the feel of the classic joystick.

Compatible with virtually any emulators whether they be Mame, Daphne, or Stella, the aptly-named Legacy USB joystick looks exactly like an Atari controller from the 80s (or is it 70s?), but ressurected in the 21st century, it interfaces with a PC/Mac/Linux with USB. The Legacy however comes merely with a single button. Luckily, the circuit board provides an 10 internal contact points for wiring up to the same amount of additional fire buttons. If a $400 Wii is out of your budget for this year Christmas holiday, then maybe get yourself a $14.99 Legacy USB joystick along with free ROMs floating on the Internet.
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Zboard is perhaps one of the most versatile gaming keyboards of all time with removable keysets, anti-ghosting for 7 simultaneous keystrokes, and drop-n-drop macro editing. Being the ‘official’ input device for games like Battlefield 2142, Counter-strike and several other RTS, the Zboard whose company has been devoured by SteelSeries has been brought back to life to conincide with the release of World of Warcraft: Warth of Lich King.

A default keyset allows you to type as you would on a QWERTY keyboard, and the specially developed gaming keyset is tailor made for the 10 million strong WoW fan base. For existing Zboard owners, the WoW: Warth of Lich King keyset is available separately for $19.99, while rest of the WoW population can get the complete keyboard bundle for $69.99. There is also a mousepad to go with the specifically themed keyboard. We reckon it won’t be long until SteelSeries will try to milk with a WoW mouse.
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Callpod Drone is no ordinary Bluetooth 2.0 USB adapter. Classified as a Class 1 device, the dongle can boost up to 10 times the range (or 100m/328 ft.) of other lower-powered equivalents. The extended range is quite useful for audio purposes as Callpod Drone comes built-in with A2DP and AVRCP Bluetooth profile for stereo streaming and remote control respectively.

The $49.99 adapter actually operates out-of-the-box, meaning it works indepedent of the Bluetooth software stack inside Windows Vista, Mac or even Linux. Your computer simply sees the Drone as a USB speaker and simply routes the audio accodingly. (This sounds very much like how the retired Logitech Wireless Music DJ works.) You’ll need additional driver to use the Drone on Windows 2000 and XP. Last but not least is the automatic BT headset detection and pairing – a process that will save you 30 seconds.
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Lenovo is known to take good care of its ThinkPad users’ data with enhanced laptop security features, and it now extends the protection to portable storage. Aptly named the ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive, the mobile unit employs a physical numeric keypad lock allowing users to type in their passcode to retreieve their data.

Unlike some PIN-protected flash drive, the ThinkPad USB HDD features full-disk 128-bit AES encryption so it’s not so prone to hacking through drive disassembly. Up to ten unique user ID’s and one admin can be assigned to access the 3″x5″ bus-powered drive. Of course, if the drive allows individual partition protection, that would be even better for collaboration. The ThinkPad USB drive will arrive in mid-November at $179 for the 160GB and $219 for the 320GB.
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There’s certainly no shortage of USB TV sticks, whether they be ASTC DVB-T, or DMB-T. Yet none of them supports multi-digital broadcast transmission standard, as some business travelers request. AVerMedia now seems to have a product that fills the void, by debuting a USB TV stick that can receive DMB-T as well as DVB-T signal. DMB-T is a standard backed by the Chinese government while DVB-T is favored by European countries as well as Taiwan. So, if you split your time between Europe and China (incl. Hong Kong), the AVerMedia DMB850 Plus might be what you need. Americans and Canadians obviously should be waiting for a version supporting at least the ASTC.

The DMB850 Plus additionally offers real-time H.264 conversion to QVGA iPod format, not only the quality you want to save your HD stream into. But to enjoy the high-def time-shifting and 16-channel preview, you would also need a Core 2 Duo 2Ghz or faster. The USB TV dongle comes a high-gain antenna for on the go mobile TV reception. No word on pricing nor shipping date. Somehow, we have a feeling the DMB850 Plus will have limited availability.
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