Best computer news

It’s not easy to sell one billion of anything let alone a $50 mouse. Logitech today brags it has shipped billionth mouse after in the market for over 20 years. The first mouse from the Switzerland-based Logitech was the P4 (pictured above), which began mass production in 1985 at the company’s birthplace. Logitech reached the 100 millionth mouse mark in 1996, and subsequently, topped 500 millionth 7 years later. The company is now selling at a rate of 376,000 mice per day and 7.8 million every month.

Looking back all these years, we’ve seen several major revolutions: first upgrading serial to USB; adding a wheel for more control over scrolling; moving completely to optical and recently laser sensor from mechanical ball for increasing pointing accuracy; and last but not least, expanding from a single-function pointing device that detects merely two-dimensional motion to a multi-purpose 3D gesture-based controller. Thanks to Logitech (mostly), mouse now becomes an essential part of the lives for mobile workers, hardcore gamers, and even couch potatoes.
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For multi-monitor fans, workaholics, and Bill Gates, two screens may already look cramped with all apps they are running - three is the magic number for these folks. Bill actually has a three screen setup with a list of e-mails on the left monitor, the specific email opened in the center, and a browser on the right-hand LCD. However, if you are just beginning to look into multi-monitor setup, Witech Multi-i Two-channel USB external video card from Korea has you covered.

Think of Witech Multi-i as two IOGear USB 2.0 Video Card squeezed in a single package. The Witech basically has two D-sub connectors for hooking up to two monitors; its on-board dual USB ports are designed to daisy-chain two more of these video adapters. Maximum resolution you get from each video connection is 1400×1050 (interestingly, 1366×768 and 1280×768 are also supported). The Witech Multi-i will require an AC adapter to give the unit juice for all the extra load. Since it is essentially powered by Displaylink core, you can expect Mac compatibility out of the box.
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With the advances of processor, graphics and memory technologies pushing their way from the desktop to the notebook and computer user demands on the rise, it seems inevitable that the notebook cooler market is set to heat up. Today we’ll look at Antec’s latest USB-powered notebook cooler and discover if it can adopt some of the sleek looks of today’s notebooks and still deliver efficient near-silent cooling to make it worth your purchase.
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Creative has been struggling to survive in a world in which people mostly rely on integrated chipsets for PC audio, and carry iPods for portable music. It’s really time to move on. With the new Vado HD Pocket Camcorder, the Singapore-based company seems to be heading into the right direction. Even so, the world now seems to be awash with cheap miniature HD camcorders, including Flip Mino HD ($230), Kodak Zi6 ($179), and RCA EZ300HD ($159).

The Vado HD brings 8GB built-in storage, providing enough space for 2 hours of 720p recording and pulling ahead of the other three in capacity. It sports a 2″ screen, and bundles a HDMI cable for playback on HDTV - a feature that only the RCA can match. Kodak Zi6 provides component output in comparison while the Flip Mino HD has no high-def output to TV. The HD-capable Vado will also be USB rechargeable, and will ship with a removable battery. Despite of the slight advantages of the Vado HD, it certainly will take a lot for the camcorder to make a good impression when all these competitors are armed to the teeth.
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You may sometimes run into embarrassing situations in which you need to use a projector for a PowerPoint presentation, but you realize the video cable is left in the office. You could borrow a VGA cable, if there’s one. So, don’t you wish the conference room is equipped with some sort of a wireless link between the projector and your laptop? This is where the Imation Wireless Projection Link comes in.

The Wireless Projection Link from a company that traditionally makes storage products creates a instant WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) video connection from any notebook PC to a projector within 30 ft. range. Also unique to the Imation are cross-platform compatibility (Vista, XP SP2, and Apple Tiger or better), and an one-of-a-kind zero-install option. The Imation’s driverless operation will come in handy when there’s little time to waste. Last but not least, you get extended destlop and enhanced video support - presumably pushing resolution to 1280×1028 - with an optional driver. If the Imation Link works as claimed, it might be a few steps ahead of the Certified Wireless USB VGA Kit.
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There’s no shortage of hybrid mice on the market. From a mouse that checks your pulse rate to ones that double as a remote, a calculator and a gamepad, we just haven’t seen the last of them, and double-duty pointing devices continue to surprise us with new functionality. So, how about integrating a digital weighing scale into a mouse this time?

It would seem American Weigh has already done this too with the MSC-500 Mouse Scale, which is a feasible solution to quick checking weight of our USB gadgets for our reviews. Its stainless steel, measuring 2.25″ by 2.7″, is revealed by removing the mouse cover. The scale can operate independently with an internal USB rechargeable battery, and weight readings are incremented by 0.1g, 0.005 oz., 0.005 ozt., or 0.1 dwt. And American Weigh wants $59.95 for this.
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Those who can’t long for Guitar Hero but couldn’t afford a Wii, PS3 or XBox 360 can always go with Frets on Fire. While the free, open-source game is meant to be played with a keyboard, hardcore fans now has an option to enjoy the PC knock off of Guitar Hero with a guitar-lookalike accessory. Called Riff Rocker, the wired controller that is designed to milk Frets on Fire followers connects to USB, but is criticized for being too small to hold with both hands.

All the fret buttons are located on the narrow neck; this arrangement makes your fingers cramped together, resulting in a less than pleasant gaming experience. Every Riff Rocker comes with 5 custom game plate stickers for personalization. Perhaps the best advantage of the miniature USB guitar is the hardware cross-platform support - the same with the game itself. If you appreciate miniature controllers, then Aptus has a couple of those with motion control you may dig.
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Have you ever plugged in a USB device only to discover the root port (the ones in the front of a PC case) destroyed everything from motherboard to the peripheral itself? That’s largely because the computer’s USB header is wired incorrectly - the worst case being when the +5V wire swapped with the Ground wire. This is where USBCheck comes in.

When inserted, the USBCheck dongle can check whether the polarity is correct for the power wiring on your USB ports. When the on-board LED emits red light, this warns you polarity is reversed, meaning no way in hell you should plug anything into the troubled port. Even if the LED flickers on and off, that’s also an indicator that you’ve a bad power connection. Paranoid geeks may find the USBCheck to be the first line of defense against sme faulty public PCs at any net cafe, libraries and schools.
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Samsung YP-P2 is universally accepted as the most successful MP3 player in the entire Yepp-series history, so one can expect a follow-up to the Korean company’s flagship touch screen PMP. Early reports now indicate that Samsung does plan to unleash YP-P3 during 2009 CES, and it would seem some of improvements are borrowed from Samsung’s TouchWiz inteface. Basically, TouchWiz centers around a widget tray that can be customized to include shortcuts to complete apps like photo gallery, memo, clocks, and etc.

While the Samsung YP-P3 remains largely the same with a 480×272 3″ screen, the new flagship PMP now comes with haptic feedback, built-in speakers, Bluetooth 2.1 (supposedly supporting A2DP, AVRCP & HFP profile), aforementioned widget support, and an all-new aluminum chassis (in either black or silver). Additionally, the YP-P3 appears to have a touch sensitive bar in place of the P2’s circular LED. Samsung also gives in to customers’ demand to extend audio and video format compatibility to FLAC and H.264 respectively. All these don’t seem much when compared to iPod touch, which now totally rocks with third party apps and games. Perhaps Samsung could invest a decent 3-megapixel camera on the YP-P3 since its nemesis doesn’t have one, yet.
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This guy went through some troubles to add a power-only USB port to his netbook by modding a nifty adapter that borrows electricity from a VGA port. This adapter is going to come in handy when your existing USB devices have occupied all the ports on a notebook, and one of your power hungry device (e.g. USB hard drive) needs extra power. To assemble the so-called VGA to USB adapter, you will need a male-to-male VGA gender changer and a female plug from any old USB extension cable. The important procedure is to connect the RED 5V wire to the PIN 9 on the gender changer; afterward, hook up the BLACK to PIN 10 (GND). After soldering, rest of the steps are simply to fill the connector with EPOXY to avoid breaking the connector accidentally.
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