usb 3.0

Ultrabooks are coming. The first wave of superslim laptops are expected to hit in force by the holiday season. Earlier this week, I spoke with Greg Welch, director of Intel's Ultrabook group, to get a better idea of what an Ultrabook is.

Though Intel won't make Ultrabooks, it will supply the core components, so it is intimately involved in the platform. And, as Welch, describes it, the Ultrabook is "an initiative to advance the state of the art of the notebook experience across several years."

Question: Can you talk about some of the new technologies Intel … Read more

Intel believes ultraslim Windows laptops dubbed Ultrabooks can reach aggressive price points and compete with the MacBook Air, arguably the first Ultrabook.

With the entry-level Air today bottoming out at $999 for an 11-inch model, major PC vendors like Hewlett-Packard, Acer, and Asus must roughly match Apple's build quality at lower prices to draw consumers to the category in large numbers. This issue was raised in a report from Taipei-based Digitimes on Friday.

Intel--which, ironically, is competing with itself in a sense because the Air already uses its chips--believes the industry can get there. "We won't publicly … Read more

Ever since Intel announced Thunderbolt and made it exclusively available to Macs, Windows users have been wondering if they are missing out. The truth is: yes, they are, big-time. I've been working with the first Thunderbolt storage device, the Pegasus R6 from Promise, and find it to be the fastest consumer-grade storage device out there, period. (Stay tuned for my full review, coming up soon.)

On the other hand, since Macs generally don't support USB 3.0, which has been out for a long time and is becoming more and more popular in the PC world, Mac users have also been missing out quite a bit. Many people are wondering which is better, Thunderbolt or USB 3.0. This is a hard question, as Thunderbolt is about more than data storage; it's also about video transport, connectivity, expandability, and synced audio. However, strictly in terms of storage applications, neither is better. Consumers should really have both. The current separation of the two standards is a lose-lose situation for Windows and Mac users alike. … Read more

Regular Cheapskate readers know that I'm a sucker for three things: Wi-Fi printers, big monitors, and flash drives. I can't explain why; it's all part of the giant enigma that is Rick Broida.

If you share my bizarre love for flash drives (or, more likely, you just need extra mobile storage), here's one mighty fine deal: Newegg has the Corsair CMFVY3 16GB USB 3.0 flash drive for $14.29 shipped. That's after applying coupon code EMCKCHH22 at checkout and redeeming a $10 mail-in rebate (which comes in the form of a prepaid VISA card).… Read more

LaCie today announced a new version of its rugged portable drive, the Rugged Mini, which it says is smaller yet stronger than previous versions.

LaCie claims the new aluminum Rugged Mini is 40 percent smaller than previous models, is rain-resistant, and can withstand 1 ton of pressure. The new drive is also now available in 500GB and 1TB capacities, up from just around 100GB previously, and supports USB 3.0.

The drive is bundled with LaCie Private-Public software, which protects data from unauthorized access with AES data encryption.

Like previous drives, the new Rugged Mini is compatible with both Macs … Read more

There should be little doubt that USB 3.0 technology has arrived on PCs after a report released today forecast that tens of millions of devices using the standard will ship in 2011.

"The primary story for USB in 2010 was the emergence of the SuperSpeed standard. 2011 should be a much bigger year for the technology, especially in mobile PCs," said market researcher In-Stat. "This has led In-Stat to forecast that nearly 80 million USB SuperSpeed-enabled devices will ship in 2011."

USB is one of the most widely used connection technologies in the world, found … Read more

Lenovo's top product manager for the popular ThinkPad line says USB 3.0 will go mainstream in 2012, while Intel sees the new Thunderbolt interface gravitating to some high-end nonmainstream laptop models.

This week, Lenovo began selling its ThinkPad X1, a 0.85-inch thick (thickest point), 3.8-pound design based on Intel's "Sandy Bridge" Core i5 and i7 processors.

Beyond the obvious attractions of a svelte, high-powered laptop, the X1 also sports an increasingly popular USB port based on the "SuperSpeed" 3.0 specification. USB is one of the most widely used connection technologies … Read more

In an interview with PC World posted this morning, HP's Consumer Desktops Product Manager Xavier Lauwaert was quoted as follows in regard to the absence of Thunderbolt ports in HP's newly announced desktops: "On the PC side, everybody seems to be content with the expansion of USB 3.0. Do we need to go into more fancy solutions? Not convinced yet."

Thunderbolt, if you're unaware, is a new peripheral device input standard. In development at Intel since 2009 (when it was code-named Light Peak), Thunderbolt debuted this year in Apple's most recent MacBook Pro laptops … Read more

Brian Cooley invades the studio! Bing uses your Facebook social graph to help you make better...Decisions. T-Mobile lets you make Wi-Fi calls for free, but that will probably go away if the merger with AT&T happens. Another reason not to like it. Plus, the Power Point versus Keynote debate rages on!