Best computer news

For years, trying to watch programs from your cable or satellite set top box on your Mac is quite a challenge for most mouse potatoes. While Mac USB TV tuners mostly come with S-video and composite for analog video input, they don’t have IR blaster that relays signals from the tuner to the set-top box, this makes scheduled recording across different channels near impossible. Those tuner dongles are also incapable of capturing HD content; this just makes the whole experience even less appealing.

Here comes Elgato EyeTV HD. The external bus-powered USB box (not a dongle) isn’t your average USB tuner; in fact, it doesn’t even contain a TV silicon. Enclosed inside the EyeTV HD is H.264 encoder that captures in real-time analog audio from two-channel stereo jack and analog video from either component or composite input. This is how EyeTV HD got its name as component can carry 1080i signal. An IR beamer is located on the back to change set-top box channel on the Mac. Lastly, the USB encoder box works in conjunction with the bundled software to convert source simultaneously into iPhone as well as iPad-friendly format on the fly. With the free iPhone companion apps, you can even watch live TV on the said Apple mobile devices. We suppose $200 isn’t too much to ask for a bridge between TiVo and Mac; a H.264 encoder; and software that streams live broadcast to an iPhone.
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Wait! I know what you’re thinking from the photo, that this is yet another 3.5″ hard drive fitted in some boxy enclosure. Well, to that extent you’d be right, but what of the bundled real-time backup system, low drive acoustics and trouble-free SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connection? Do I have you attention now? Good. Walk with me in my in-depth review as I explore everything the Samsung STORY Station 3.0 external hard drive has to offer, after the jump.
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Everything USB (everythingusb.com) is looking for technical writers to provide content relating to computer peripherals and USB technologies (i.e. USB 3.0). We are particularly interested in someone who can provide in-depth product reviews (you can check out some of our reviews here, here, here and here), and we like to give priorities to applicants who are expert users of mass storage, camcorders, digital cameras, PMPs, input devices (e.g. mice, keyboards), gaming controllers and video capture products.

We expect:
• Comprehensive, well-researched reviews
• Able to use a good mix of multimedia content
• An excellent, natural English writing style

To be eligible, you must meet the following requirements:
• Extensive knowledge on a wide variety of peripherals
• Windows 7 and/or Windows Vista Home Premium / Ultimate
• A relatively high-end PC

Payment:
• $125 to $175 USD per review, depending on the product type
• Monthly payment

How to apply?
If you are interested, please contact Ian Chiu at this address gimmeajob@everythingusb.com with samples of your previous work, your location, and reasons you would be a good fit at Everything USB.

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After the recent merger of Renesas and NEC Electronics, AMD has decided to merge NEC’s USB 3.0 controller into all the future versions of their motherboards. AMD had been working on their own USB 3.0 chipset but seems to have opted for the more popular NEC silicon. AMD will be incorporating this chip into all future mainboards, which should go a long way to reducing the cost of the added technology, lowering the barrier for adoption. This puts AMD in direct position to quickly profit from any burst of USB 3.0 adoption.

Intel is still unfortunately lagging behind perhaps waiting for user demand to increase to a certain point. While USB 3.0 solves power and bandwidth problems that are still holding device development back, manufacturers still seem reluctant to make the push over to USB 3.0. Even when backwards compatible option wouldn’t keep them from losing any current customers. Maybe the USB-IF needs to get some more marketing material out there to convince the public that USB 3.0 devices can run on USB 2.0 computers. Keep up the good work AMD. We, the people, promise to catch up as quick as we can.
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HP’s USB Media Docking Station makes for a perfect travel desk. They’ve loaded a really nice USB 2.0 docking station into a nice traveling workstation. The HP USB Media Docking Station packs up into an almost laptop bag friendly solution which will in fact almost certainly needs its own bag for transportation, but it folds up pretty compactly. You’ll find that it matches the brushed copper finish of their current laptops. The stand will hold your laptop (up to 17″) at about a 45 degree angle facing you, giving you plenty of room to set up a USB keyboard and mouse as well as elevate the screen to a more neck friendly eye level.

The stand also hides a very full featured docking station, similar in features as Toshiba DynaDock U10 and Kensington sd400v. Connect a USB cable to the docking station, and you’ll have a desktop’s worth of features at your fingertips. There’s a VGA monitor connection to give you a 2nd display; the interface is powered by DisplayLink DL-195 that supports resolutions up to 1920×1080. If that makes you feel like watching movies, you’re in luck. HP has included an Altec Lansing 2.1 sound system for rich but side mounted speakers. There’s also the requisite 4-port USB hub and RJ-45 network adapter. You’ll only need to connect the one USB cable to gain connection to all the other peripherals. Unfortunately, this stylish setup will cost you a pretty penny. At $179, this is one of the most pricey docking stations we’ve ever seen. HP quality is worth a premium, but it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth the coin.
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A lot of extremely high tech products come across our newsdesk but sometimes it’s the simple things that are the most awe-inspiring. Scosche has re-engineered the USB charging cable of the iPhone into something elegant in its simplicity with the Flipsync. The iPhone, arguably the most popular cell phone on the planet, has its own Apple dock connector. Add to that the myriad of other USB cables we already need to carry around for our USB drives, Blackberry or digital cameras and we’ve got a real mess forming. This cable clot can quickly make your life miserable. Scosche has condensed all this mess down to a pebble. The size of a car remote fob, the Scosche Flipsync takes the cable and turns it into a pebble.

The Apple connector and the USB plug are tucked away until needed and become a roughly 6 inch charging cable fit for any Apple product, provided the USB port has enough juice to power it. Once you’re done charging drop this back into your bag with your other pet rocks. Let’s hope they come up with a matching set for the other 3 top cable types. At $19.99, this might be a little steep for a single short cable. It’s not too much more than a new cable, if you end up in the market for a new one.
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Gefen never ceases to amaze us with its high-end, niche product. This time, the company outs the first USB to DVI HD video card with enough horsepower to drive even a 2K monitor. 2k has a max. resolution of 2048×1152 while still maintaining 16:9 aspect ratio. There are a handful of 23″ and larger LCD monitors capable of displaying this number of pixels, but we thought people who may need this kind of display are those willing to spend extra on uber-powerful video cards. Our guess is that Gefen USB HD video card is pretty high end in this respect.

There’s no doubt in our mind that Gefen selected DisplayLink DL-195 for the card. With the DL-195′s dual core decode engine and second generation DL2+ lossless graphics compression, you could have up to six displays simultaneously. If your notebook has two USB host controllers, then hot-plugging two of these Gefen HD video cards shouldn’t be any problem. Each USB 2.0 host should supply enough bandwidth for 2k resolution output provided you don’t try to play a full-screen 1080p video on it. The Gefen USB to DVI HD video card goes for $149, and is commerically available now.
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Plug Blob or Flow into a USB port and their big LED eyes will start glowing. Caress them gently and they will start to wink. Touch it again, and their eyes will start blinking wildly. A third time will make it sleep.
Did..did it just have an orgasm and fall asleep?
Product Page (£35 or $50/June Pre-Order [...]

Surround sound is a tricky business when it comes to USB headsets. With a siren’s call that promises unadulterated sound and 7.1 performance without the need to dish out for an expensive sound card, these headsets can are often sought after by budget and laptop gamers alike, only to be plagued with in-game compatibility problems. Will Creative’s Sound Blaster Arena Surround be the sub-$100 white knight to free us from our stereo confines? Read my in-depth review of this virtual 7.1 gaming headset to find out.
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Due to the problems with RSI claims and pains, everyone is trying to build a better mouse. The folks at Smartfish came up with a better keyboard and mouse that look amazing. They’ve also taken a shot at making a new mouse which has been picked up by Maxell. It’s called the Maxell ErgoMotion Mouse, and it’s effectively a mouse sitting on top of a very short joystick. The ErgoMotion Mouse is a bit more elegant than it sounds. The mouse is only slightly raised above what would be a normal mousing position and has two buttons and a scroll wheel like most normal mice. Instead of moving the mouse around in the two dimensions afforded by your desk, you tilt the mouse to control the cursor.

The mouse can freely slide on your desk but that movement doesn’t translate to cursor movement, it’s only the tilting. The first hands-on report of the experience was less than promising though. While left and right tilting are purportedly just as easy as advertised, tilting forward put too much pressure on buttons and caused some accidental clicks. This might be cured with some more time to get used to the new style but it could be too much to handle. If your wrists are aching this might be worth a try. Any change in motion should help alleviate RSI even if it’s not immediately natural like mousing as we know it. It should retail for the reasonable price of $49 in June.
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