Trend Watch: USB Jewelry

“Yes, I love technology
But not as much as you, you see
But I still love technology
Always and forever
Always and forever.”

– Kip Dynamite, Napoleon Dynamite

Just because our first priority is jewelry doesn’t mean that we don’t also love technology. But which do we love more? Oh, we just can’t decide!

And maybe we don’t have to.

Today’s latest jewelry AND technology trend combines both! Some designers have begun designing jewelry that incorporates the latest technology. Take a look at some of this great bling-bling that cleverly conceal a USB flash drive.

We’ve got everything here from a sleek leather bracelet to a blinged-out, dollar-sign pendant, and even some cufflinks for the men out there! And the memory’s blinged-out in a manner of speaking, too – anywhere from one to eight gigabytes! Both the fashionista and the techie in you will be 100% satisfied!

And for those who really can’t decide between bling and bytes, there’s even an engagement ring that puts the “flash” in “flashy!”

Whoever thought it would be so easy to be on the cutting edge of technology and the cutting edge of fashion at the same time?

Promotions Jewelry USB Flash Drive

If lady will see current USB drive she not will fear and not shout but nicely smile. If tech will see it, he will think about ambiguousness - bug as animal, and bug as computer error. In both case one can say Bug USB drive has been nice design (bug coated on jewelry).


Promotions Jewelry USB Flash Drive

Revolutionary New USB Packaging: the Flash Pac USB Case!

USB Flash Pac Case from US Digital Media! Flash Pacs are a brand new USB packaging option that will open your eyes and show you the great benefits to housing your USBs in a 100% unique USB package. Only available from Premium USB, Flash Pacs combine the familiar with the truly amazing.

Each Flash Pac case is roughly the same size as a Blu-ray case and has an outer clear plastic usb sleeve that holds a custom printed entrapment. On the inside are inner clips that are great at holding custom printed inserts or booklets as well as the piece that makes the Flash Pac famous; the USB dock! This USB dock is the physical piece of the case that holds your USB securely while in transit.

Flash Pacs also come in three different varieties. The first variety is a Flash Pac with a USB logo molded into the cases design. This is a great way to let your clients know what little surprise you have in store for them once they open the case. The second variety is a Flash Pac Case without the USB logo. The last variety of Flash Pac is not only able to hold a single USB flash drive, but it can also hold a CD, DVD, or BD! This variety allows you to expand the promotional material and maximize your impact on clients!

‘World’s First’ 3TB Desktop Drive Offers USB 3.0, FireWire

Seagate’s new FreeAgent GoFlex external hard drive is notable for two things other than the excessive use of CamelCase in its name. The first is that it will hold up to 3TB of data, with Seagate claiming a World’s First for this feat of packing bits into an external drive.

The second is that, while the disk comes ready to hook up via USB 2.0, it can easily be changed to fit a combined FireWire 800/USB 2.0 connector ($50) or a USB 3.0 ($40) connector. For those still lacking the faster bus on their machines (that is to say, almost all of us) there is an $80 kit which includes the USB 3.0 connector, a PCI-X card and a cable. These connectors just swap in for the one already fitted.

Better, the price is actually rather reasonable. $250 will buy you the 3TB drive, which compares pretty well to the basic $130 1TB model. Available now, for all of you who like to keep their eggs in one giant basket.
 

McAfee Signs Deal To Secure USB Drives

In an effort to block malware from spreading via USB drives, McAfee Tuesday announced that it has signed deals with a number of secure USB manufacturers to ship McAfee security software on their devices.

"Conventional USB drives and other removable storage devices can allow viruses, worms and other malicious code to penetrate systems," said David Scholtz, senior vice president of worldwide strategic alliances for McAfee, in a statement. "The combination of McAfee anti-virus technology with our OEM partner offerings provides the comprehensive layers of protection required to protect data from loss or leakage, and prevent the spread of malware."

Attackers have recently favored USB drives for precisely that reason. According to a McAfee study released in May 2010, auto-run worms that infect PCs via USB drives or removable memory cards were the most prevalent online threat seen in the first three months of 2010.

Some of McAfee's secure USB relationships predate this announcement, and also hint at all of the levels of security required to actually secure USB drives, both in terms of keeping unwanted malware out and sensitive information in.

For example, MXI Security said that since 2008, it has been using McAfee's encrypted hard disk and biometric software on its secure USB keys. Currently, it said, its drives also work with McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator, a centralized security management console that allows IT managers to set, enforce and monitor security policies for USB devices, including banning unauthorized devices.
 

It doesn't pay to for small and midsize businesses to protect against security threats faced by only the largest companies. Here's how to focus your efforts on the right threats.

McAfee said it now has deals with two-thirds of the world's secured USB manufacturers -- Hagiwara, Kingston Digital Inc, MXI Security, Rocky Mountain Ram, SanDisk, SPYRUS and Yoggie Security Systems -- to install the malware scanning and blocking software on their secure USB devices. Presumably, those manufacturers will also ensure that their own USB devices start off malware-free, unlike promotional (and not secure) malware-infected USB drives shipped by IBM to security conference-goers earlier this year.

More storage demand doesn't have to mean more IT spending How To Reclaim Unused Storage

USB drives, of course, provide malware with a direct route into the enterprise, no network required. Accordingly, said Roy Ramati, enterprise vice president at SanDisk, adding McAfee's technology should help "further enhance security at the enterprise perimeter," by helping curtail the spread of malware via USB drives.

According to McAfee, when a secure USB drive running its anti-malware software gets plugged into a PC, the built-in software will automatically scan the PC for malware. If any is found, the software will block any file transfers to the USB device.

HOW TO - Make a rubber ducky USB flash drive

Rachel sells these little rubber USB mods and she alsos show you how to make your own - "It's really easy to make these fun and friendly rubber ducky flash drives or any other rubber character. I picked up these cute little guys at the 99 cents only store in LA. If you live in the LA area, you might be able to find some there if you're just dying for one just like mine! Otherwise, you can buy one ready-made from the store."

More USB fun: High-class jewelry and colorful flex cables

I’m always a sucker for the versatile USB port — apparently so are you, readers, who made the USB Hygro-thermometer one of the most highly rated posts on this blog — and I came across two more to keep your mouth watering.

First up, the product that should be marketed with “every kiss begins with jewelry USB“: a sterling silver necklace that is actually a 2GB memory stick. It’s part of a German-made, limited edition collection by designers Tonia Welter and Julia Reymann which also includes cuff links and bracelets. Still don’t believe me? Check out the pictures:

Of course, fully customizable might mean fully pricey (there’s no information on the site), so don’t expect a bargain like this next USB cable.

The $9 Smart Cable has a simple formula: Flexible, cheap, and colorful. Not to mention that it doubles as a microSD card reader and is available in three versions supporting mini-USB, mini 18 pin, or Nokia DC 2.0 devices:

What about Jewelry USB Flash drive?

Jewelry for My girlfriend.How about the Jewelry USB Flash drive on http://www.usb-flash-drivers.com ?My girlfriend loves Jewelry very much.She loves it more than I can say.In her opinion, when she wear it ,it will show her super sexy and cute. and i want to give her a suprise .. what about Jewelry USB Flash drive

Last night,She had a row with me.That's my fault.So I want to say sorry and give her a surprise- Jewelry USB Flash drive.

The hot trend in designer jewelry: USB keys

We were only kidding (sort of) when speculating recently about USB drives becoming a niche market for designer jewelers, but we think it's actually come true. The reason: Where previous versions basically added some bling finishes to what otherwise seemed to be plain old USB keys, they're function is now being incorporating into the design.

The latest example comes from Italian designer Roberto Coin, a white gold bauble encrusted with diamonds. But more than just sticking the stones on the case, like some lesser Swarovski item, the "Sparkling Memory" allows the working USB portion to swivel around for actual use.
Sybarites says the jeweler has even deigned to publicize the memory capacity of its 1GB offering, which is more than we can for some of its rivals.

Eco-Friendly USB Flash Drives

It seems that just about everyone these days are going green. People are cutting back on their energy, water, and gas usage as well as installing energy efficient appliances and solar water heaters. Well at Premium USB we would like to remind our customers that there are more ways to go green than just appliances and water heaters. Why not go green with Eco-Friendly USB Drives?

A Jewelry USB Drive may not seem very eco friendly at first; after all it does require energy to operate and does not provide energy like a solar cell, but what USB drives can do is severely cut down on the amount of paper and promotional materials for your next giant campaign. A single flash drive can save you hundreds if not thousands of sheets of paper due to their high data capacity; so imagine how many trees you could potentially be saving by not using paper and using USB drives instead. At Premium USB we would consider USBs paperless design to be fairly eco-friendly.

What about the USB drives material? We get asked this quite a bit from our customers and it is true that some USBs use plastics, rubber usb, and even metal casings to protect the flash memory itself, but there are USB drives that use more environmentally safe materials than others. Take our Bamboo Flip USB drive for example. The outer casing is made from real bamboo, which is biodegradable and less harmful on the environment than plastic or metal flash drives. By choosing an Eco-Friendly flash drives, you can not only cut down on your carbon footprint, but you may be overwhelmed with joy knowing that you helped keep our earth green in the process.

The Bamboo Swivel above was just an example of one of our Eco-Friendly USB drives, but we also carry the Carpenter, the Craftsman, Bamboo Shoot, Bamboo jewelry usb, Bamboo Snap and soon to be added Recycler and Recycler Curve. These new drives are made from 100% recycled material and will be soon offered through Premium USB. All of these drives mentioned are part of Premium USB’s Eco-Friendly USB line titled the “Natural USB” series and are helping lower our carbon footprint on a daily basis. These drives of course can all be customized with custom Laser Engraved printed logos and can come in a variety of colors.

If you are still unconvinced or have any inquiries about how eco-friendly USB drives can help you promote your next big product or service, give Premium USB a call today or post a comment below. We will be more than glad to answer any questions or concerns you might have.

What is USB rubber ducky attack?

USB rubber ducky is a smart device which can emulate a keyboard or a mouse when connected to a computer and can execute a pre programmed instructions.

An example will be, opening the command prompt on windows and then flushing your DNS cache, within a flick of a second which will be absolutely difficult to notice. The dangerous part is that, it can also be used to format one of your drives in a flick of a second.

Since, we have mentioned about it on data loss blog, we could also give you an example of data loss though this new device. Consider, a modified version of rubber ducky, which also has a flash storage in it. It will take a simple command to copy all you documents on to this flash storage by emulating a keyboard and executing the copy command.

The most concerning thing about this device is, that , since the device has its own small processor, which makes itself a computer which then communicates to your computer through a usb port, it can actually work on different platforms other than windows, like Mac, Linux etc.

Here is how a USB rubber ducky looks like ?

So, be careful if see something like this next time in your office.

Why should I be concerned with how fast my flash drive is?

In a nutshell, faster flash drives mean less time waiting to transfer files. Less time spent waiting means more time to be productive and less unwarranted coffee breaks. For those who run applications or entire operating systems directly off a flash drive, it also means that your programs will act much more responsive for even the most basic of tasks.

Why should I be concerned with how fast my flash drive is?

In a nutshell, faster flash drives mean less time waiting to transfer files. Less time spent waiting means more time to be productive and less unwarranted coffee breaks. For those who run applications or entire operating systems directly off a flash drive, it also means that your programs will act much more responsive for even the most basic of tasks.

How fast are flash drives?

This mostly depends on when the drive was released and what memory was being used from which manufacturer, but currently the fastest USB 2.0 flash drives on the market are able to reach read and write speeds of up to 34 and 28 Megabytes per second respectively. Typically the manufacturer-listed flash drive speeds only apply to transfers of large contiguous files, whereas smaller files less than 1MB in size can dramatically slow down transfer rates due to the overhead for each file. Actual speeds are also largely dependent on the USB controller of your motherboard and how many USB devices are simultaneously plugged in.

Older high performance drives up to 16GB in size often use what's known as Single-Level Cell (SLC) memory instead of the more-common Multi-Level Cell (MLC) memory, thereby boosting write speeds for smaller files while simultaneously boosting a flash drive's endurance level. SLC memory is more expensive to implement however and offers less storage capacity for the die area, and over time has lost significant interest from semiconductor fabs like Samsung as consumer demand for larger flash drives increases. To make up for the loss of SLC memory, flash drive manufacturers have implemented a number of tricks including the use of quad-channel dual controllers and to a lesser extent custom drivers.
 

Why not use a portable hard drive instead of a flash drive?

Whereas most 2.5" portable hard drives employ magnetic hard disks with moving parts that can easily break, flash drives are much more durable thanks to their solid state nature, having been known to survive drops of 6' or more on a routine basis and can even survive a load or three in the laundry. A flash drive is also much easier to pocket than a portable hard drive and can attached to a lanyard or keychain, plus they can be significantly less expensive if only a basic model is needed.

Quite simply put, shoppers primarily concerned with storage capacity should stick to portable hard drives for the cheaper cost per GB, while anyone looking to simply move a few office documents, MP3s or handful of movies around from place to place is going to be better served by the portability and durability that is a USB flash drive

What kinds of flash drives are available?

There are many types of flash drives available to suit all different kinds of use, but to keep things simple we'll break things down into five different categories - Generic, High Performance, Ultra Durable, Secure, and Novelty. Of course, these categories are not all mutually exclusive. For example, a Secure flash drive with hardware encryption may also be Durable enough to withstand the crushing forces of a Honda Accord.

 

What we like to think of as Generic flash drives are the most common type sold, build for economy and raw capacity but not necessarily speed, and almost always encased in plastic. With the exception of a few manufacturers like Kingston, just about any flash drive with a product name that doesn't have a Mountain Dew-inspired suffix like "Extreme", "Lightning", "GT", "GTR", "Turbo", or "Ultra" will typically fall into this category. Likewise, any product that has such a suffix or is labeled as a high-end model would fall into our High Performance category and will employ higher-binned flash memory chips and better memory controllers to increase transfer speeds.

Ultra Durable flash drives can be either fast or slow, but are by far the most fun to review because we get to beat the crap out of them, all in the name of journalism! These can be encased either in rubber or a metal alloy to protect against impacts, and they may or may not have a watertight seal for the USB cap. Depending on the design, manufacturer's claims, and your definition of common sense, these babies can withstand drops/throws from the top of a building to a concrete surface below, are more likely to survive several rounds in the washer and dryer (if allowed ample time to dry before use), laugh at the notion of being baked in an oven, and love to be submerged at the bottom of a diving pool. Better still, some can deflect bullets up to a .50 caliber, or withstand the almighty crushing forces of Honda automobiles.

What is a flash drive?

A flash drive is a small external storage device that reads and writes to flash memory, a solid-state storage medium that's both inexpensive and durable. Given that your typical flash drive is the size of an adult's thumb, it's not uncommon to hear of these ubiquitous devices as "thumb drives". Due to their portable nature and near-universal compatibility, flash drives have largely supplanted the floppy diskette as everyone's favorite method for transferring files between multiple computers without the use of a network.

Most if not all flash drives sold today are equipped with a male "A"-type USB plug for connecting to just about every computer sold since 1998, hence the industry term USB flash drive (UFD). That being said, at least two companies were crazy enough to have offered alternatives with FireWire and eSATA/USB combo interfaces, though have largely been phased out leaving USB the undisputed victor.

It should be noted that while newer Solid State Drives (SSDs) share the flash memory medium with traditional USB flash drives and sometimes come equipped with a USB interface, many prefer to keep the two terms distinct from one another due to the large differences in physical size, speed, and price.

 

USB 1.1 Line Extender Kit up to 150ft. via Category 5 Network Cable

Extends any USB device up to 150 feet away the computer.
The mini USB-2 extender extends any USB device including keyboard and mouse up to 150 feet away from the location of your computer, eliminating the 17.5 feet distance limitation of USB. The mini USB-2 send and receive units use one CAT-5 cable for extension and is optimized for applications where two devices, such as the keyboard and mouse, must be operated remotely. Category 5-cables to go with this device Starting from $7.06 for 75FT. Cable
How it works:
The mini USB-2 extender send unit is placed next to the computer. A USB cable connects the computer to the mini USB-2 extender send unit. A category-5 (CAT-5) cable is used to link the mini USB-2 send unit to the mini USB-2 receive unit. The USB peripherals are connected to the mini USB-2 receiver unit. The USB-2 extender can even be used to extend surveilance cameras for security purposes.

USB Miniature Vacuum

Simply connect the Vacuum to any USB port on your laptop or desktop computer.
Two Vacuum cleaning attachments are included - one bristle brush attachment and one flexible rubber, computer keyboard attachment.
Two switch levels - slide the switch to the first level to turn of the LED light, slide the switch to the second level to turn on the vacuum cleaner.
Press the 'High power' button to increase suction power, for vacuuming heavier dirt and dust.
Use the keyboard attachment to vacuum the dust and other particles trapped underneath the keyboard keys, by sliding the squeezable tube between keys.
No AC power source required, powered by USB.

McAfee Signs Deal To Secure USB Drives

In an effort to block malware from spreading via USB drives, McAfee Tuesday announced that it has signed deals with a number of secure USB manufacturers to ship McAfee security software on their devices.

According to McAfee, when a secure USB drive running its anti-malware software gets plugged into a PC, the built-in software will automatically scan the PC for malware. If any is found, the software will block any file transfers to the USB device.

"Conventional USB drives and other removable storage devices can allow viruses, worms and other malicious code to penetrate systems," said David Scholtz, senior vice president of worldwide strategic alliances for McAfee, in a statement. "The combination of McAfee anti-virus technology with our OEM partner offerings provides the comprehensive layers of protection required to protect data from loss or leakage, and prevent the spread of malware."

McAfee said it now has deals with two-thirds of the world's secured USB manufacturers -- Hagiwara, Kingston Digital Inc, MXI Security, Rocky Mountain Ram, SanDisk, SPYRUS and Yoggie Security Systems -- to install the malware scanning and blocking software on their secure USB devices. Presumably, those manufacturers will also ensure that their own USB devices start off malware-free, unlike promotional (and not secure) malware-infected USB drives shipped by IBM to security conference-goers earlier this year.

USB - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

An encapsulated look at the events that effected USB technology in the year 2000, the old problems, the new solutions and a glimpse of things to come in 2001.

For the record, I believe in and fully support USB technology. USB is THE peripheral connectivity solution now and in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, there is no one perfect solution for anything and USB is no exception to the rule. Caveat Emptor!

Microsoft Discontinues Support for Windows 95 On December 31, 2000, Microsoft will officially discontinue support for the Win95 Operating System. From a USB stand point that's probably good news. Win95 USB is an oxymoron. Windows 95 in any revision does NOT fully support USB technology. In 1996 & 97 Mainboard makers started adding USB capability to their product and in response to consumer demand and lack luster PC sales, Microsoft included limited USB support in OEM revisions B & C of Win95. Think about it:

Win95 USB support does not install with the rest of the OS, it's an option that must be added from the control panel.
Optional USB only came packaged on OEM versions of the software and cannot be purchased retail.
Win95 retail and A versions are not upgradeable to USB. There are no service packs that include USB. (The USB upgrade for Win95 is called Win98)
Honestly folks, Windows 95 is not the Holy Grail of operating systems. I ran it for 3 years and I wasn't impressed. Let go and move on to an Operating System that really does support USB.

USB for Windows NT Unlike Win9X and Win2000, WinNT 4, even with the latest service pack installed, does not natively support USB. Some third party software writers and peripheral manufacturers have developed USB drivers for use with Windows NT. The software programs are limited to a narrow product line of simple USB devices. Some USB hardware makers are providing drivers for WinNT use. Conflicts can occur when both forms of NT USB support are combined on the same system. Good news for those who cannot or will not upgrade to the Microsoft USB NT solution, Windows 2000. WinNT USB on a limited basis is finally a reality.

USB 2.0 / High Speed USB - The promise of High Speed bandwidth, 480 Mbps (40X faster than USB 1.1) and true plug and play hardware, inches forward. The new high-speed standard will create a host of new and improved USB devices. Fast external data storage, 10/100 Ethernet, high-speed scanning, video camera quality PC cameras and new products galore will all become a reality in 2001. One can only hope that a historian has played an active part in the development of USB 2.0 lest this promising new technology fall prey to the host end issues that plague USB 1.1. USB High Speed (2.0) is a long time coming. Pray the reason is that its developers have been overly cautious. USB 2.0 Information and News

Wireless USB Wireless technology is all around us. Very soon you will be able to connect wireless products to your PC with a simple USB plug. With new wireless products debuting almost daily, 2001 looks to be the year of the "Bluetooth".

Intel Won't Charge Royalties for USB 2.0 Host specification according to an article in the EETimes. Now the question is: does the royalty free license still include the host controllers passing a compliance program? Scads of incompatibility problems were ultimately created when Intel chose to retain the rights to it's own USB 1.1 host controller type dubbed UHCI (Universal Host Controller Interface). This forced others in the industry to develop the OHCI (Open Host Controller interface) USB host controller type. Two types of host controllers, no compliance testing for these host side devices and the need to deal with the additional host side standard has combined to create USB problems for far too many users.

AMD – Advanced Micro Devices is really giving Intel a run for its money. The new Duron, Athlon and T-Bird processors are proving to be equal to or better than their Intel counterparts. With the added bonus of being both faster and cheaper to buy, Intel has an obvious problem. AMD has a problem too. Socket A and Slot A processors are not supported by Intel chipset based motherboards. (Imagine that) Motherboards that provide support for Socket/Slot A motherboards generally have poor and/or undependable USB support. Be prepared to purchase a PCI/USB upgrade card as a work around for the often-unusable onboard USB host controllers these boards are shipped with. AMD, you’ve really got to do something about this USB problem.

USB Advertising The advertising wizards continue to conjure up unrealistic expectations regarding the capabilities and ease of use of USB (Universal Serial Bus) and USB peripherals. Claims of easy plug and play, 127 devices connected to one USB host controller and works on any computer with USB ports are NOT entirely truthful. USB is NOT necessarily universal. Non-Intel chipset based motherboards tend to have USB problems. This fact alone can negate the claim to easy plug and play. BIOS problems, power management settings, IRQ conflicts, sharing violations and out of spec hardware is also a factor. Can you connect 127 USB devices to one USB host controller? Well, yes and no. Because of bandwidth constraints, a USB host controller is limited to a total bandwidth of 12 Mbps, mixing high speed and high draw USB devices like scanners, Ethernet adapters, web cameras, storage devices and flash card readers can limit the user to just a few of these bandwidth hogging USB devices, nowhere near 127. Conflicting TSR software programs like the ones that control scanner buttons and additional mouse and keyboard functions can further frustrate USB users. The bottom line is: If you have a newer Intel chipset based motherboard with a modern, well written, properly configured BIOS and a Operating System that fully supports USB, come on in, the waters fine. If not, you need to lower your expectations. Owners of the following systems should do their homework before investing in USB peripherals:

Computers with AMD or Cyrix processors old or new
Systems built before 1998
Systems with integrated video, sound and/or communications
Computers with non-Intel based motherboards
Computers without physical USB ports
Portable computers
Thankfully, there are Fixes and Work Arounds for most common problems. Unfortunately, it will probably cost you more money.

Disinformation Bogus solutions, finger pointing and poor product knowledge continue to confuse USB consumers. Unfortunately, much of this disinformation comes from USB peripheral manufacturers themselves. Many manufacturers continue to view customer support as nothing more than a drain on the bottom line. This policy of greed ultimately creates a revolving door for most of the technical support staffers that you, the victim, are permitted to talk to. Low pay, unrealistic demands and bad policy usher the good people out the door pretty quickly. Poor training manuals, ignorance, inappropriate fixes and policies designed to keep you off the telephone send many a new USB user scouring the web for USB Fixes and Solutions. Don’t get me wrong; this is not a condemnation of tech support staffers, far from it. It is a chastisement of the out the door, get the money, it’s not our problem policy; that pervades the computer industry in general. Most USB problems on systems running OS's with full USB support can be traced to:

Poorly written, immature or improperly configured BIOS
Inferior or defective USB host controllers
Drivers and software that have not been fully compliance tested
Non-compliant peripherals
HP Delivers on Promised USB Scanner Drivers - After a long wait, the "New HP" finally delivers on it’s promise to provide Windows 2000 USB drivers for the popular ScanJet 5200. In good old "kick em' where it hurts fashion", HP has decided to charge it's loyal and patient customers a "nominal" fee ($10) for the New Win2000 ScanJet 5200 USB Drivers. HP states that the files are too large to download, thus the fee. I guess they never heard of the concept of the ZIP file or sites like ConXion. MO money, MO money, MO money. BTW That crashing sound you heard was the roof caving in on Dave and Bill's little garage in Palo Alto, CA.

VIA - Continues their tradition of producing the most problematic USB Host Controllers on the market. The forum boards are replete with consumer complaints, inquiries and pleadings regarding VIA USB Host controllers. It seems the new motherboards are as problematic as the old. True to form, all emails sent to VIA asking for assistance are summarily banished to a black hole in cyberspace. I have personally sent at least 100 Emails to VIA asking for assistance. To date I have received one terse, poorly written response suggesting that I “Enable USB in the BIOS”. A New Year resolution is certainly in order for both the VIA Customer Support and USB Development departments. Considering the kick in the pants that Toshiba took last year for defective hardware, I don’t image VIA will be “fessing up” to it’s obvious USB defect anytime soon.

OEM USB Support

I consider myself simply an experienced computer user having started in support, sales and usage of computers in early 1979. I’ve seen system architectures come and go, usually to the better as they have improved greatly over the years. I’ve seen the promised “new” operating systems and computer languages do the same. I still laugh at the marketer’s cry of “A PC in every home within the next 5 years.”
The one thing that has always been an issue for me is the lack of support for products by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM USB.) Some try with call centers… Some call centers even have people who care and try to help the customers or users… Usually, the salaries paid to the frontline representatives are too low to attract or keep knowledgeable people on the phones. And, even with that, the costs per phone call can often exceed the profit from the item. I actually started doing free USB support on the Internet because I disliked seeing the gaps between the System OEMs and the Peripheral OEMs that left the customers without help. I have even tried to include information for “support” personnel, as I have grown weary of customers telling me that their “equipment” support team had no idea about how to correctly resolve their issues.
I have become a “born again” believer in USB technologies. I would like to see the Operating Systems companies doing correct support for the Standards adopted. I would like to see them voluntarily post changes from one version to the next. I would like to see the System OEMs ship their computers with the BIOS properly enabled for USB. I would like to see these OEMs demand that their BIOS be correctly written to support USB and the chips actually support the standards. I would like to see the industry look slightly beyond the “written” standards for computer systems and look at how their product will interface with the whole system and avoid the obvious conflicts that can be generated while still within these “standards.”
I am also a believer in the principals of the Free Market and Capitalism. However, I would like to see OEMs Advertising monies diverted from sports centers, racing cars and the like and see more monies spent on product support and education. (After all guys, nobody’s going to buy a product too complicated to use.) I keep reading that there are thousands of new computer users every day. Without support/ and education for them, the “user experience” is bad. This does your market no good.
While I climb down from my soapbox, I would add one more comment. If you want to proceed with “business as usual,” why not make it a bit easier for those of us doing “free support” to get into your Alpha and Beta test programs or have access to samples. I know that’s not as glorious as sending the products to the magazine folks. Maybe just being able to have a contact that would be able to email back an answer (like most of the smaller companies) would be nice.

Google and Apple at war over mobile advertising

A bitter battle has broken out between Google and Apple over the burgeoning mobile advertising market that both are seeking to dominate.
Google accused its rival of trying to muscle it out of the potentially lucrative platform of the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
The rivals, once close Silicon Valley friends, have fallen out over a proposed change that could hobble Google’s ability to sell and place adverts on devices running on Apple’s latest mobile operating system, which comes out this month.
Apple and Google are competing head-on in the important smartphone sector, with handsets running Google’s Android software gaining market share rapidly.
Under the terms of Apple’s latest operating system, clarified by the company on Monday, critical information for distributing and analysing adverts cannot be shared with services owned by makers of other mobile operating systems. Effectively, this cuts AdMob, Google’s newly-acquired mobile advertising service, out of the iPhone platform completely.
Omar Hamoui, the executive in charge of AdMob, attacked Apple’s new restrictions as a threat to competition. Speculation was rising last night that federal regulators could look into the issue.
Mr Hamoui also warned that the change would decrease the advertisement revenue flowing to the developers of iPhone and iPad applications, a scenario that could drive up the prices that consumers pay for the programmes.
“This change is not in the best interests of users or developers,” Mr Hamoui said. “Artificial barriers to competition hurt users and developers and, in the long run, stall technological progress. We’ll be speaking to Apple to express our concerns about the impact of these terms.”
Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
Both Google and Apple believe that mobile devices such as smartphones eventually will supplant personal computers as the main way that people surf the internet. Both companies have been involved in increasingly outspoken skirmishes against the other in recent weeks.
Google, which dominates internet advertising on the PC, paid $750 million (£515 million) to buy AdMob, partly because of AdMob’s success selling adverts on the iPhone from under the nose of Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive. Apple purchased the mobile ad company Quattro Wireless.
Apple has since set up own ad service, iAd, fuelling Google’s suspicion that its rival wants to monopolise the commercial messages shown on nearly 100 million iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches already sold. iAd allows software developers or ad agencies to embed adverts directly into apps, of which there are more than 200,000 available in Apple’s App Store.
Apple will sell and host the adverts and give developers 60 per cent of the revenue, while keeping the remaining 40 per cent.
iAd will debut on the iPhone and iPod Touch on July 1. Apple has said that it has already attracted iAd commitments worth more than $60 million for 2010 from AT&T, Nissan, Disney and other companies.
It was unclear whether Apple would enforce the restrictions on how the advertising data can be shared, said Noah Elkin, an analyst for eMarketer, a research firm.
“I think what we have here is two companies sparring for control of what is potentially a very big advertising market,” he said. The US mobile ad market is expected to grow from about $600 million this year to more than $1.5 billion in 2013, according to eMarketer.
If Apple’s new rules on mobile advertising data were to create a competitive barrier, it would be likely to attract the attention of antitrust regulators.
After a six-month review, the Federal Trade Commission approved Google’s purchase of AdMob largely because the agency believed that Apple’s entrance into the mobile advertisement market would foster adequate competition. In its approval of the AdMob deal, the FTC vowed to continue to monitor the mobile advert market for anti-competitive behaviour.

MILLIONS OF MOTORISTS FACE £300 BILL TO INSTALL DIGITAL RADIOS AS MINISTERS PRESS AHEAD WITH FM SWITCH-OFF

Millions of motorists will be forced to spend hundreds of pounds replacing or converting their car radios with new digital sets.
The coalition Government is to press on with controversial plans to switch off FM and medium wave radio in favour of digital – leaving much of the nation with no option but to pay out for new equipment both at home and in the car.
Despite serious concerns that the public neither wants nor is ready for the change, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce he will stick with Labour’s plans for a mass switchover in the next five years.
The move will cost consumers hundreds of pounds as they are forced to update and change their analogue radios at home and in their cars, before they become obsolete.
As many as 100 million analogue radios will become largely redundant after 2015 and around 20 million car radios will be useless - leaving many without their favourite stations.
Around 20 per cent of all radio listening happens in cars but only 1 per cent of all cars currently have the capability to receive digital stations.
Motorists will either have to replace their car radios at a cost of some £300 or buy special ‘conversion’ kits that must be attached to the windscreen, often alongside Satnavs, which could also cost more than £100.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has said incorporating digital radios into new models by 2015 would ‘be a challenge, but achievable’ but that still leaves tens of millions of older cars requiring conversion.
Earlier this year the communications committee published a report urging caution on radio switchover.
It said: ‘We recommend that the Government, in collaboration with the manufacturers, should provide guidance to the public on in-car digital listening, including advice on conversion kits available and likely to be available within the timeframe of digital switchover.’
Mr Hunt is expected to reveal his definitive time line and plans for digital radio tomorrow.

The VIA USB Problems Keep Filtering Through

VIA Releases New USB Filter Driver

VIA has released a new version of it's USB Filter Driver. Dubbed version 1.10 the new version replaces the long standing version 1.08. The driver is intended to correct problems with onboard VIA USB host controllers.

Previous versions of the VIA USB filter driver, including the 1.08, have been far less than effective at correcting problematic VIA USB. Compounding the ineffectiveness of the driver is the controversy that surrounds its use. The VIA web site often says one thing while VIA technicians, when you can talk to one, say exactly the opposite. The official written information changes as often as the links on the web site.

CHINA USB has never been a strong suit for any non-Intel based motherboard. Onboard USB 1.1 function is controlled by the Southbridge of a motherboards chipset. Therefore, Intel boards have Intel USB host controllers and VIA boards have VIA USB host controllers etc.. All newer AMD systems use motherboards with either VIA, ALi, SiS or AMD chipsets. VIA is, by far, the most popular among these platforms and as such, the most problematic. For the most part, non-Intel based motherboards are cheaper, offer a wide variety of overclocking and tweaking features and last, but certainly not least, they support AMD processors.

Unfortunately, far too many of these screaming, new, highly rated, overclockable, AMD systems are plagued by their inability to provide proper connectivity for USB game controllers, scanners, printers, cameras, modems or even optical mice.

Although, overclocking is often part of the problem, (setting the FSB to a higher value increases the speed of the PCI bus to a value greater than default, the increased speed often causes USB to choke), far too many non-overclocked VIA systems have non or mal-functioning USB as well. Making matters worse, VIA has never admitted to having a problem with USB. Alas, the forum boards tell a different story.

In the last two years, I've personally written dozens of emails to VIA tech support, left my card at their show booth, talked to their representatives in person and even wrote several times to the President of VIA, WenChi Chen. VIA has yet to follow-up or properly respond.

Hopefully, the new VIA USB Filter Driver will provide a fix for some users. I have my well founded doubts.

To the owners of VIA boards with problematic USB: Good Luck, with the new filter driver, you'll need it.

From the credit where it's due department: SiS and ALi are equally troublesome when it comes to respective onboard USB offerings. Neither has provided a fix or acknowledges the problem.

Read the Readme File Attached to the Driver

Download latest VIA USB Filter Patch v.1.10

Slick: Vaio Zoom Concept is Exactly How We Want Laptops to Look in the Future - Gizmodo

Slick: Vaio Zoom Concept is Exactly How We Want Laptops to Look in the Future - Gizmodo: "This Vaio Zoom laptop concept is one of the coolest we've seen. Featuring a holographic glass screen that goes transparent and a keyboard that turns opaque when turned off, it's slick and beautiful. And sure, a touch keyboard like this would be extremely annoying without haptic feedback and screens like that don't really exist yet, but it's an interesting look at what we'll be playing with a few years down the line. Despite the fact that this isn't an official Sony concept, we still think they should work at making it a reality. Check another image after the jump."