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Vantec ezShare Adapter

Gordon Mah Ung — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0500

This is the Air Jordan sneaker of sneakernets

Don’t be fooled by the Vantec ezShare’s unassuming looks. This simple six-foot white cable with its Type A USB plugs on either end is actually one of the easiest ways to quickly moves files between two computers. Just plug one end into an available USB port on a box running Windows (XP and up), and plug the other end into the second box.

A Windows Explorer–like app will auto-launch on each machine, letting you drag and drop folders and files between the two PCs. If this sounds an awful lot like Data Drive Thru’s Tornado (reviewed November 2007), that’s because the two products are pretty similar. The file-explorer UI and software functionality of both products are virtually the same. It’s close enough that we have a pretty strong suspicion that the underlying chipsets and software come from the same factory in China. There are a few key differences, though.

The first is the construction. The Tornado has auto-retracting cables, making it a nice portable package. On the other hand, the ezShare works with Macs. That’s right, by plugging one side into a PC and the other side into a Mac (10.4 or greater), you get the same Windows Explorer–like view and ability to drag and drop files between the two machines. That’ll make it even easier to switch from OS X to Windows 7 this fall!

We compared our original Tornado with the ezShare by copying files between a Win XP ThinkPad T60 Core Duo notebook and our midrange Core i7 Dream Machine running Windows 7 64-bit. It was virtually a tie, with both transfer cables taking about 530 seconds to move a 9GB file from the notebook to the desktop. Actually, we’re happy to report that we could even move the large file; after we published our review of the Tornado in 2007, some people reported problems moving files larger than 4GB, and we even subsequently experienced occasional issues when using Windows XP 64-bit. Data Drive Thru was never able to replicate the problem, however. It now seems likely that the culprit was some obscure configuration of the OS, as we didn’t experience any such conflicts with Windows 7.

A simple Windows Explorer-like interface pops up on both machines when copying files.

We also tested the ezShare with smaller transfers and moved about 1.34GB of image files in 96 seconds—top-notch performance for USB 2.0 transfers.

So what’s not to like? The ezShare’s presentation doesn’t exactly impress. While the Tornado makes for a tidy package, the ezShare looks like a plain, run-of-the-mill cable. But at $27 vs. $50 for the Tornado, we’ll live with the ugly cable. And with Mac compatibility thrown in to boot, the ezShare is an obvious winner. Now all it needs to win a Kick Ass is Linux support.

Intel's Light Peak Optical Cable Technology Has 100Gb/s Potential

Ryan Whitwam — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:24:28 -0500

If you thought USB 3.0 was going to be fast, just wait for Intel’s Light Peak technology. The new optical interconnect standard was just shown off at IDF. Light Peak is capable of 10Gbps of bandwidth, with a theoretical upper limit of 100Gbps. At the initial offering of 10Gbps, you could transfer an entire Blu-Ray movie in about 30 seconds.

The standard would also be capable of multiple operations on a single cable. This is all possible over a cable that can be up to 100 meters long. The Light Peak technology consists of a controller chip, and an optical module that converts light to electricity and vice versa. Intel claims that current electrical cabling is reaching the limits of speed and cable length, something Light Peak can circumvent.

Intel hopes to see the technology adopted for use in PC’s as well as handheld devices. They believe adoption could happen quickly, as Light Peak is complementary to existing technologies. As for a shipping date, Intel claims components could be going out as soon as 2010.

Everything You Need to Know About USB 3.0, Plus First Spliced Cable Photos

Norman Chan — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:45:00 -0500

No doubt you’re familiar with the Universal Serial Bus – we ranked it as our top PC innovation of all time. But what do you know about the next version of this ubiquitous interface? USB 2.0 (otherwise known as USB Hi-Speed) boosted the original 12Mbps data rate to 480Mmb/s over eight years ago, and now USB 3.0 (dubbed USB Superspeed) is set to multiply that bandwidth tenfold. Intel released the Extensible Host Controller Interface to hardware partners last week after some reported disputes with AMD and Nvidia (who, afraid Intel would have a jump start in incorporating the tech in chipsets, threatened to develop their own USB standard). But how does this affect you? We dug up some new information about USB 3.0, got our hands on the new connectors, and even took a look inside the new cables.

(Edit made to clarify xHCI release)

USB 3.0 will be backwards-compatible with USB 2.0

Like the upgrade from USB 1.1 to 2.0, the new 3.0 connectors and cables will be physically and functionally compatible with hardware from the older specs. Of course, you won’t be able to maximize your bandwidth unless you’re using a USB 3.0 cable with Superspeed devices and ports, but at least plugging a 3.0 cable into a 2.0 port won’t blow up your PC. The spec’s compatibility lies in the design of the new connectors. USB 2.0 cables worked off of four lines – a pair for in/out data transfer, one line for power, and the last for grounding. USB 3.0 adds five new lines (the cable is noticeably thicker), but the new contacts sit parallel to the old ones on a different plane, as opposed to being adjacent to them. This means you’ll be able to differentiate between 2.0 and 3.0 cables just by looking at the ends.

At first glance, the USB 3.0 connector looks just like the 2.0 design

The maximum speed of USB 3.0 is 4.8Gbps

It’s true: USB 3.0 SuperSpeed will be 10 times faster than the 480Mbps limit of the 2.0 spec. The example Intel likes to give out when talking about the new speed is that transferring a 27GB HD movie to your future media player will only take 70 seconds with USB 3.0, while it would take 15 minutes or more with 2.0. Keep in mind that you’re only going to be able to take advantage of this speed if your portable storage device can write data that quickly. Solid state devices will benefit most from the speed boost, while magnetic hard disks will be limited by their RPM and corresponding read/write speeds. Also, new Mass Storage Device drivers will have to be developed for Windows to take advantage of the spec.

The USB 3.0 A and B-side connectors

Uploads and downloads are kept on separate data lanes

Remember those five new lanes we mentioned earlier? With USB 3.0, two new lanes will be dedicated to transmit data, while another pair will handle receiving data. This not only accounts for the significant speed boost, but also allows USB 3.0 to both read and write at the same time from your portable storage device. In the old spec, the pair of lanes used for data transfer weren’t split between send and receive – they only could handle traffic in one direction. Bi-directional data transfer will be very useful for syncing up information on PDAs and storage backup.

The packed guts of a USB 3.0 cable -- note that the cable will be about as thick as a ethernet cable

USB 3.0 will charge more devices, quicker

Not only will USB 3.0 cables facilitate faster transfer speeds, but they’ll carry more power, too. The USB-IF recognizes the growing number of portable devices that charge via USB (cellphones, MP3 players, digital cameras), and have bumped the power output from about 100miliamps to 900 milliamps. That means not only will you be able to power more than 4 devices from a single hub, but the increase current will let you charge up heftier hardware as well.

USB 3.0 will be more power efficient

One of the mandates of the new spec is more efficient power-usage protocols. USB 3.0 abandons device polling in favor of a new interrupt-driven protocol, which means non-active or idle devices (which aren’t being charged by the USB port) won’t have their power drained by the host controller as it looks for active data traffic. Instead, the devices will send the host a signal to begin data transfer. This feature will also be backward compatible with USB 2.0 certified devices.

A look at the mini connector that'll connect to cell-phones and other portable devices

The spec that Intel released mid-last week is only 90% complete. Ravencraft says that they expect the spec to be finalized by Q4 of this year. Hardware partners are expected to have USB 3.0 controllers designed by mid 2009, and consumers won't see the first end products utilizing the spec until early 2010 (though a late Holiday 2009 push for new products isn't out of the question).

What about Wireless USB?

With the internet in a USB 3.0 frenzy (keep in mind we won’t see hardware for a year), the USB-IF’s other iniative – Certified Wireless USB – often gets lost in the shuffle. Wireless USB technology has largely stayed away from the spotlight since the 1.0 spec was first completed in 2005. It’s not surprising, since adoption from hardware markers has been slow – the Wireless USB promoter group has only certified 75 products, with only 45 of those actually consumer end products that you can find in stores. Belkin, Dell, IOGEAR, and Kensington are a few of the partners that have signed on board, releasing hubs that unfetter your existing USB devices.

At this week’s IDF, Intel will be releasing more information about the next Wireless USB spec, version 1.1. Here are the key updates to the new spec:

- Support for NFC. Near Field Communication technology is a short-range, high-frequency spec while allows for wireless data transfers between devices up to 20cm apart. The 400kbps data rate of this tech obviously won’t do any heavy lifting, but instead will be used for proximity-based device association and connection establishment. One of the big pitfalls of the existing Wireless USB spec is that syncing up devices to a hub or host takes too long. NFC will allow devices to “swipe to connect,” similar to how new credit cards can register with cashiers just by brushing against a sensor.

- Speed and power usage optimizations. Power is one of the big concerns for Wireless USB, since no one (not even Tesla!) has figured out a practical way to transmit power wirelessly. Wirelessly connected devices like speakers or monitors will still need an external power source, but battery-powered peripherals will be able to sit idle longer.

- Ultra-wide band (UWB) support. Wireless USB already runs in the 3GHz frequency range, which allows it to theoretically transfer data at speeds of 480Mbps at 3 meters and 110Mbps at 10 meters. Bluetooth, in comparison, operates at 2.4Ghz. UWB support will boost the frequency of Wireless USB to the 6GHz and up range, which lays the groundwork for higher data rates and throughput in the future (though at the cost of range).

We also got a demo of Wireless USB in action, running natively on a Thinkpad X300 laptop. The Thinkpad synced up with a nearby Belkin dock station, which had audio and video jacks that were connected to speakers and a LCD display. A WMV file streamed high definition video and five-channel audio to the hub and recipient devices, and playback was pretty smooth (though interference did cut in occasionally).

Another dock station from Kensington demonstrated similar features, offered a DVI port for video in addition to Stereo audio and 5 USB 2.0 ports, and includes a transmitting dongle for non-wireless USB integrated systems. Video streaming took most of the bandwidth, and we noticed that wireless video was capped at 1680x1050 resolution. Still, the setup was impressive in that it gave the laptop more mobility. We could definitely imagine using our laptops in bed while streaming video and audio to devices across the room. The docking station is a little pricey at $230 – hopefully prices will drop as more products are released to market.

Look for more USB 3.0 and Wireless USB coverage this week as we hit up the Intel Developer’s Forum!

Data Drive Thru Tornado

Gordon Mah Ung — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:33:39 -0600

We’ve seen various USB transfer devices over the years, and for the most part they’ve been clunky and sloooow. Not so with Data Drive Thru’s Tornado, which blew into our Lab and impressed the hell out of us. Essentially a coiled, flat USB 2.0 cable that retracts into a plastic housing, the Tornado works by plugging into the Hi-Speed USB ports of two PCs running a newer Windows OS (Millennium, 2000, XP, or Vista). A basic file-transfer application executes from a bit of flash memory in the device, which allows you to simply drag and drop files between the two rigs. Similar cables from other companies force you to install software to transfer files.

The snazzy part, though, is how fast data moves across the cable. We copied about 4.2GB of data from a Raptor X drive installed in our zero-point Athlon 64 FX-60 to a notebook PC in 3:28 (min:sec). Using a crossover cable hooked up to the Gigabit ports on both machines, the same transfer took an additional minute. The company claims that the Tornado is one of the few flat cables that can actually meet the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 specs for shielding, and thus, the device can burn up the data-transfer rates. Other flat cables actually leak enough data to cause speeds to plummet, as corrupted data must be resent. We tested this claim using generic retractable USB 2.0 cables and, indeed, a slew of transfer issues cropped up—but didn’t occur with the Tornado.

The flat USB cable retracts into a case to make a nice, neat package. This design is our one complaint about the device though. The cable retracts so far into the case that it’s difficult for people with stubby fingers to pull it out. Elven folk will have no such problem.

That’s a minor complaint, though. The Tornado gives you easy and fast file transfers without the need of additional software and should fit right into any tech’s toolbox.