dongle

At CES last month I encountered Digital Innovations' ChargeDr, a small USB dongle that promised to do the seemingly impossible: boost the power output of a typical USB port, thus allowing it to charge an iPad (or other tablet).

I got it home, tested it, and discovered that, hey, it actually works! Technically speaking, there's no actual power boosting going on, but who am I to argue with this weird science? Without the dongle, my iPad says "not charging." With it: "charging."

And my tests bear out the claim. My iPad 3 went from 30 percent to 75 percent in about 2.5 hours. Not bad for a lowly USB port.… Read more

According to a post on the Transformer Prime XDA Developers forum, Asus will soon release an attachment for the Prime that will "address the GPS function and be a fully usable GPS that will lock onto many satellites and keep their lock with Wi-Fi active."

The post goes on to indicate that the proposed dongle will be offered for free and will arrive in mid-April.

Though the original post was copied from an e-mail exchange with a purported Asus rep, no official announcement has been made by Asus.

Back in Feburary, we gave Asus the chance to address … Read more

For the last few years, every major manufacturer has been offering a proprietary Wi-Fi dongle to add wireless connectivity to certain HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and other home theater products. And they all cost way too much money.

Somehow, all of the manufacturers have settled on the same price--$80--for their respective Wi-Fi dongles, despite the fact that tons of PC-based USB wireless adapters are available for $10 at Newegg.com. Manufacturers can get away with the high price because they're not interoperable; Samsung's dongle doesn't work with Sony products and vice versa. If you need a Wi-Fi … Read more

Though the benefit of the 4G cellular data connection is clear, it's much faster, mobile users might still want to opt for a 3G service because 4G coverage is still limited.

There's now, however, a solution that takes care of this dilemma: the new Sprint 3G/4G USB 250U mobile broadband modem.

Sprint and Sierra Wireless announced the device Tuesday, calling it the first on the market to offer the much higher data speeds where 4G coverage is available, and 3G speeds where it is not.

The 3G/4G dongle comes in a rather compact design with 180-degree … Read more

A few months ago, we reported that Logitech was getting ready to launch an accessory that would allow its IR-based Harmony remotes to control the PS3, which only has a Bluetooth wireless interface. Well, according to Logitech, the Harmony Adapter for PlayStation 3 is a couple of weeks away from hitting stores in North America. Europe will see a July launch, while Australia will get it any day.

Logitech has a blog post up that offers a full FAQ on the $59.99 adapter, but the long and short of it is the accessory simply converts your Harmony's IR … Read more

It appears as if Logitech is about to silence the complaints of thousands of PlayStation 3 owners who are frustrated with the system's lack of an infrared port. Those with Harmony remotes--or any universal remote for that matter--up until now have had to rely on clunky, hacked-up IR-to-Bluetooth USB dongles for their all-in-ones remotes to take control of their PS3. It seems the Logitech Harmony Adapter for PlayStation 3 will play nicely with the line Harmony remotes right out of the box.

Among our largest concerns is whether the new device will have the capability to power on … Read more

The iPhone Dev-Team has posted a new video that demonstrates the use of a dongle to boot a second generation iPod touch that was jailbroken.

The dongle is required to boot your iPod Touch when it isn't tethered to your computer. Otherwise, the current jailbreak requires that you tether the iPod touch to a computer. The dongle makes the solution portable for use while away from your computer.

This interesting and complicated development for hacking and jailbreaking the iPod touch might be an example of things to come as Apple persists in his view of jailbreaking as illegal.

You might balk at the $130 price tag, but this time more actually means better. The Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro combo puts two of our favorite products together in one package: the Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Keyboard and the Logitech MX 1100 Cordless laser mouse.

Both products received very high marks from their respective editors, and the MX1100 mouse even managed to win an Editors' Choice award. This time around, we're sticking to our guns and rewarding this winning combo as well.

One of the most significant hardware changes in the bundle that we don't speak much … Read more

It's the rare notebook that doesn't have Wi-Fi, but not all models offer Bluetooth. Though not a critical feature, the short-range wireless technology is handy to have for things like cordless mice and cell-phone tethering (i.e., using your phone as a modem). Meritline has a teeny-tiny USB-powered Bluetooth adapter on sale for just $7.99 shipped.

What I love about this thing is that it's so teeny-tiny: Just a rounded little nub. You can leave it plugged into a USB port and barely know it's there. This is a Bluetooth 1.2-compliant adapter with a … Read more