The way in which we shuttle files back and forth between our mobile devices and home PCs is changing, but changing to what? Just as the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 spec gets ready to be baked in natively to chipsets from Intel and AMD, both companies are also looking at Thunderbolt (Intel) or equivalent alternatives (AMD), but where USB 3.0 has an advantage is in cost.
There's nothing fancy to see here, just a nifty adapter to upgrade your HDMI-less notebook or desktop with HDMI output. The USB 3.0 to HDMI Adapter comes from Zotac, a company out of Hong Kong best known for its Zbox line of mini PCs. The idea of converting a USB port into HDMI is simple and convenient, and boy do we love our conveniences.
If you were hoping to see some SuperSpeed USB 3.0 announcements at this year's CES, you're in luck. Toshiba has your back and on Monday trotted out its new TransMemory-EX series of USB 3.0-compliant flash memory products that take advantage of the SuperSpeed specification with read and write speeds of up 22 times and 18 times (respectively) faster than USB 2.0.
You knew it would only be a matter of time before SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connectivity arrived on smartphones and tablets, and that time is coming. Not tomorrow, not next week, and not even next month, unfortunately. But by the end of the year or early next year, USB 3.0-enabled handsets will begin to trickle out, the USB Implementers Forum said at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
We like solid state drives (SSDs) because of their blazing speeds. We like SuperSpeed USB 3.0, also because of its speed. And we like external form factors for their convenience (and speed, if you happen to be a fast runner). Super Talent wanted to find out what happens when you put the three together and what the company came up with is its new Storage POD Mini, "a portable SSD that will change how you think about external storage."
You can argue the Earth is flat or that man never really landed on the moon, but if you really want to avoid looking foolish, then don't tell anyone Intel is deliberately stalling USB 3.0 long enough for LightPeak to drive a stake in the competing transfer interface. Actually, Intel has long held that the two aren't really competitors at all, and putting its money where its mouth is, Intel went out and received SuperSpeed USB 3.0 certification for its upcoming 7 Series and C216 chipset families.
Antec is willing to bend over to backwards if that's what it takes for you to be able to use those blue colored SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports on your new P280 or Eleven Hundred computer case. The problem for some users is that their motherboards don't support USB 3.0. Rather than render those front panel USB 3.0 ports useless, Antec tells us it's willing to ship USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 adapters to P280 and Eleven Hundred case owners at no cost.
The new Raider case from BitFenix is supposedly the world's first to feature four SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports right on top of the chassis, the company claims, and until we can prove otherwise, we'll go ahead and take BitFenix's word for it. "Aggressive cooling" was another focus point when designing the Raider mid-tower case, and it sports no less than three premium BitFenix Spectra fans with sickle-shaped fan blades and low noise operation.
Toshiba is trying to cover all the bases with its new Canvio 3.0 portable hard drive line. These drives ship in 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB capacities for local backups, support fast transfers via SuperSpeed USB 3.0, support plug-and-play operation, and come pre-loaded with cloud-based backup software.
You have third-party chip makers to thank for your USB 3.0 ports, a handful of which stepped up to the plate while AMD and Intel work on baking SuperSpeed USB 3.0 support into their chipsets. VIA Labs is one of those companies, and its 4-port VL800 and 2-port VL801 SuperSpeed USB Host controllers are now officially certified by the USB Implementators Forum (USB-IF), the non-profit organization whose mission is to maintain the USB spec and run a compliance program.Connect with MaximumPC
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