Connectivity & Cloud - Page 19

Sharing peripherals in an office or a home with many computers across a network can be a challenge. However, sharing things like printers and external hard drives can save lots of money compared to buying multiple devices.

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Silex Technology has unveiled a new way to share up to 15 USB devices across a network using a Gigabit connection. The Silex adapter is called the SX-3000GB. The device has two USB ports and a single 10/100/1000 Ethernet port to connect to a wired or wireless network.

You have to use a USB hub to share all 15 devices the adapter can support. The two USB ports built-in have a combined power output of one amp. The adapter works on Windows and Mac systems and is available now for $99.

CES 2010 - Later this week during CES we will be visiting OCZ to get a look at their newest products on display at the show, but something just hit our inbox of interest.

With CES coming up there are hoards of new flash drives and other gear hitting the market that support USB 3.0. Most of the new products I have been seeing lately are USB 3.0. Today a new flash drive turned up form Team Group called the X092 that is not USB 3.0.

There is a lot of talk today about AT&T's new USBConect Lightning 7.2Mbps Cellular wireless device. For the most part the only thing of note is the 7.2Mbps speed. The rest is a pretty boring USB device. It is powered by a Sierra Wireless Chip.

The thing that many are missing though is that, although the new product will hit the streets on November 22nd, the network to support it is not there yet. In fact by the end of 2009 there will only be a handful of cities with support for the new speed. AT&T hopes to have the new 7.2M wireless service rolled out in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami.

Another interesting thing to note is that there is no mention of the iPhone 3G S. This device was touted at one time as being ready for AT&T's next network upgrade. With the lack of mention it does make you wonder if it really will be able to take advantage of the new speeds or if it will still have to rely on the current spotty 3G network. Hmmm, now that I come to think on that; why doesn't AT&T fix their current network before spending money on a new one? Well, I suppose they may think that they will try and kill two birds with one stone. I just hope that the coverage of the new network ends up better than the current one.

There is a new batch of information out on Intel and USB 3.0. Today it is an e-mail that was sent to TG Daily. Somehow the line "We [have also] learned that Intel is postponing USB 3 introduction until 2011" has become a confirmation of a delay of USB 3.0 by Intel.
We contacted Intel to ask them and were told they have not announced any delay and that the delay talked about on TGDaily was a rumor. Now that does not always cover the issue, just because a company has not announced a delay does not mean there is not going to be one.

There are a couple of issues behind this one. Intel was one of the authors behind the XHCI specification and need USB 3.0 for LightPeak. On the surface it would seem to show that there would be no reason to delay the release of USB 3.0 in a chipset. The other is that NVIDIA is currently in a legal battle with Intel over their manufacture of chipset for Nehalem, Lynnfield and future CPUs that do not use FSB.

It would seem given these items to be little more than NVIDIA thumping their chests and saying they are better than Intel and that Intel is bad and stifling competition and innovation. Bu, is that what it really going on? As we have written many companies are finding ways to put USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 on their boards. This means that there should be no noticeable delay in the uptake of USB in the market.

Solutions from Asus and GIGABYTE will hit the market in the next month or so and like the implementation of USB 2.0 (and 1.0a before that) will be the entry for this new specification. It is also important to note that AMD does not have a USB 3.0/ SATA 3.0 chipset implementation yet either. I have been told this is because Intel is blocking it but, I am not so sure I buy into that. After all if the information I have is accurate we should see USB 3.0 from AMD slightly before Intel. If Intel was blocking it then it would be the reverse.

A-DATA has today announced a very cool self-developed application it calls OStoGO. This allows one to easily set up an A-DATA branded USB Flash Drive to install Windows 7; particularly handy if the user doesn't have an optical drive and / or likes to decrease the install time by using a quality high-speed flash drive.

Today we visited the Taiwan Broadband WiMAX 2009 trade show in Taipei City and got a look at a range of different devices and applications which are somehow broadband or WiMAX related.

(Video at the bottom) Today we were invited to the GIGABYTE headquarters here in Taipei. We were given an exclusive hands-on look at its upcoming and refreshed Intel P55 Express based motherboards for Core i5 and Core i7 Lynnfield based Socket 1156 processors. Namely, we are looking at the P55A-UD6 and the P55A-UD4P.

The adoption of any new peripheral technology requires a few things to happen. The first is the need to form a viable idea, the next is to establish some form of standard and the third is partner support in the form of supporting hardware, and follow on products. It is usually this third item that causes products to fail.

In the case of USB 3.0 we find that products are coming but there does not seem to be any built-in support for them yet. The reason, according to the ranting of a senior technology manager at what is being called a "top tier PC Manufacturer" , is that Intel is not planning to include support this new technology in its chipsets until 2011. This bit of news has yet to be confirmed or denied by Intel, which is nothing new as they rarely comment on rumors like this or on future products.

AMD and NVIDIA have commented on this and say that Intel is purposely dragging its feet over this and delaying the release of this new standard. Now I can see NVIDIA getting annoyed with this as they are stopping chipset design and manufacture for now, but AMD can implement it on their own time frame.

In fact I would think they would want to do this as it will give them an advantage in the market (something that Intel does not have). It is also important to note that Intel's new Light Peak will need USB 3.0 to operate properly (from what we understand) so it would not make sense for them to delay this standard any longer than needed. This little drama is something we will certainly want to keep an eye on as the first group of USB 3.0 devices are launched and ship.

Remember that very cool Optical interface that Intel showed off at IDC called Light Peak? Well after some digging we found out that this is sort of a spin off idea of a much older concept and one that Apple is very interested in(as we said at the time it would explain the used of the Hackintosh).

At IDC Intel did not give any time frame for the launch of the product. This is not surprising as the demo was in the very early stages (if the state of it is any measure).However we have read some new information that could indicate that Light Peak is closer to reality than it currently seems.

The information comes not in the form of a leak from Intel or Apple; instead it is all about the cable that would be used for connections.
Foci Fiber Optic Communication, is a maker of the new Light Peak optical cables as well as other parts associated with the new connectivity standard. They are saying that the parts and hardware will be ready some time in 2010.

The problem with that date is standardization. Intel wants to work with the USB-IF to make sure their Light Peak is covered and part of a larger standard. This makes it much easier to implement and also to market. This process could take a few years to complete. So, while the hardware might be ready, it looks like the delay is all in the paperwork at this point.

Once Light Peak is out, it could conceivable eliminate the need to all of those extra cables needed just to connect your system.

As a kid, I remember cartoons where the evil mainframe computer would take over the world by using a laser (of course an evil laser!) to tap into the world's systems and forcing the hero to save the day.

This is exactly what Intel is working on; well except for the laser and the evil part. Today at IDF, Intel showed a new method for connecting mobile systems to an existing network of devices. The new technology is being dubbed "Light Peak" and could allow mobile devices to connect to storage, display, networking, audio and pretty much anything you can conceive.

The new standard uses an optical connector (hence the laser reference) that is capable of sending up to 10Gbps at distances of up to 100 meters (about 333 feet). The idea is to reduce the number of ports and connectors needed for mobile devices (remember we talked about moving all of the PCI-e family onto the CPU?) and replace them with a single one that can pretty much do them all.

I do not think I will ever get tired of saying this, the future of computing is looking pretty cool right now!

A long time coming, USB 3.0 sees its first product certifed, an xHCI host controller from NEC. Certainly nothing to jump for joy about, but it's a start.

Engadget have spoken to a Jeff Ravencraft whom is the president and chairman of the USB-IF (responsible for overseeing certification procedures) and from what's been said on his part, USB 3.0 based products will start to surface in the market by early 2010, but with this host controller apparently available now in the open market, we may well see some manufacturers speed things up for a shorter time frame.

Intel is planning to show off some USB 3.0 devices at IDF. There will be everything from a Laptop from Fujitsu to a camera that will run off of the high-speed USB port.

USB 3.0 is the next generation of the Universal Serial Bus standard that was first introduced at the end of the Windows 95 era. USB was touted as the best thing since sliced bread despite not having proper drivers for most of the operating systems out. Windows 95 was the big product from MS and it required the installation of an upgrade (to version b) to get USB support.

Of course things are a little different now with the move to the newer standard. The devices that are being built to run off this are faster and more demanding. For example with the new SuperSpeed USB standard we will see (for the first time) a USB Attached SCSI Protocol. This will allow greatly increased throughput on external drives with reduced latency for better and more consistent transfer of data.

Video cameras will also get a nice boost, especially HD cameras. AS we move towards higher and higher resolutions (like 4k and 8k) the need for a fast connectivity standard is even more important than ever.

But while we will see these devices demonstrated at IDF it will still be some time before the actual products hit the streets.

I have worked with PoE (Power over Ethernet) and even wrote up both sides of this handy little feature that uses you network to provide power to remote devices. This is a great feature, but has absolutely nothing on what I saw today.

This is HDMI over Ethernet using a standard IP network. The device that makes this possible is called the Projector Connector and can send up to HDMI 1.3 Lossless over any standard IP/Ethernet network. As long as you are running Cat 5/6/7 cable you are set.

The Projector Connector can also handle up to three switches between the source and the display. This gives you up to 1,000 Feet to play with between points.

For any home theater buff this is a dream come true as the Projector Connector can also send an IR control signal right back down to the source. You can have multiple transmitters as long as you are using a managed switch with VLAN/IGMP support (like the TRENDNet TEG-160WS).

The Projector Connector with an IR Emitter will set you bad about $310 ao HDMI over IP will not come cheap

Looks like the broadband service in South Africa is not as fast as a single laden swallow. So it is certainly not faster than an un-laden swallow, or two swallows holding something between them. Now a European swallow...

Alright I will stop with the Monty Python bit. However it is funny that someone in South Africa discovered that it was faster to attach a USB Flash Drive to a carrier pigeon than it was to try and send the file by the local broadband carrier.

The data in question was a 4GB Flash drive that was attached to a young carrier pigeon. The bird named Winston then had to fly 60 miles to deliver his data. At the same time the file was being uploaded across an ADSL line.

Winston arrived with the data in a little over an hour while the internet upload took almost twice as long to complete.

Telkom (the local provider) says that they have offered solution to fix the speed issue (which I am pretty sure are much more expensive) but so far none of these have been accepted.

His should be no big surprise, after all whenever I call to complain about anything with my ISP they offer to "fix" it with a more expensive package.

WooooHooooo! Finally, after a few months and a few Class Action Lawsuits AT&T is going to extend the blanket of MMS to their service for the iPhone.

This is great news for anyone that is tied to the Exclusive iPhone carrier. When the iPhone OS 3.0 and 3G S launched on June 19th this year it was bathed in "hard sell" for the new and exciting features. Including such ground breaking things like Cut, Copy, and Paste, tethering, and of course MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service). Now while everyone else in the world was able to use these pretty much at launch AT&T said sorry, you'll have to wait until end of summer.

No one is sure why as every other AT&T phone sells with this technology, but AT&T stood firm. Well in the last month or so AT&T and Apple have had to answer a number of lawsuits for false advertisement. That seems to have spurred AT&T to finally offer the service.

Of course we will still have to wait for tethering, According to AT&T their network cannot keep up with the demand. This all on its own begs the question "If AT&T's network cannot provide proper bandwidth and support for all of the iPhone's features; why should they be the only ones allowed to sell it." At this point the exclusive deal with AT&T is directly hurting consumers and needs to be looked at much closer by regulators.

So what do you get the Geek who has everything? Normally I would say a date with a real girl but barring that I would say that a 49 port USB hub would about cover it.

Yes, you read right. There actually is a USB hub with a full 49 ports on it. The device is being made by Cambrionix and is selling under the inspired name of "49 Port Professional USB Hub." And can be picked up for around $650 US dollars.

It is actually being marketed as a development and testing hub (which makes sense really) and appears to be a useful tool for mass testing of USB flash drives.

For the consumer or super geek this is perfect for all those USB keys you might have laying around. You will need a full ATX-2 Power supply to make everything work. But you will be the envy of all the other geeks on your block.

Despite the bad news that SATA 6G might not hit the retail shelves until after September we do have some good news. It looks like we might see some new USB 3.0 boards hitting the market soon.

A picture of what is supposed to be an Asus P6X58 is floating around the Internet showing off tow of these high-speed ports. The chip behind them is the NEC µPD720200.

The new ports are blue instead of black (I wonder how that will work on the boards that have been making USB ports Yellow).

As of right now there are no available USB 3.0 devices but once there are more boards out that support the standard the devices will start hitting the shelves.

Interestingly the pictures also show SATA 6Gbps, but there is no mention on if this is using the same Marvell controller that is being removed from the P55 boards or now.

Ghost has finally moved out of the Alpha stage and into Beta. The cloud based virtual desktop is free to use and features a few nice tools for productivity and for fun.

We took a quick look at G.ho.st and found it useable but unfortunately a little slow for our tastes. The OS looks like a linux distro and has a "Go" button and the usual desktop icons. You can upload documents and files to your Virtual G.ho.st drive.

This allows you to work on them from any Web Connected computer. It was opening uploaded files that we found to have the biggest issue. The default system has Zoho for document editing. It tool over 5 seconds to open and display a short rtf (rich text font) document and was unable to display a pdf we used.

Images were not a big problem but the larger the image file, the slower it loaded.

We did not play with the mail or IM client yet but imagine the issues inherent with relying in your internet speed could potentially limit the usefulness of this new Cloud OS.

G.ho.st stands for Global Hosted Operating System, it was founded in 2006 and is made up of a team of Palestinians and Israelis. This team has had to do much of their work through phone and video conversations as travel between the two states is very controlled. Still the team has proven that Palestinians and Israelis can work together to accomplish something global.

Sugar Labs, the open sourcerer which came up with the software for One Laptop per Child's (OLPC) little laptop has now announced it has bunged its OS onto a USB stick which can be used on any old computer. Literally.

Sugar on a stick, as it's being called rather sweetly, can be run directly from a 1GB USB drive, giving kids a veritable candy mountain of collaborative educational software to play with. The stick, unwrapped at the LinuxTag conference in Berlin, aims to sugar coat the market with free software, according to its Sugar Labs developers, who only recently broke off from OLPC.