Icy Dock Stylish USB 3.0 Enclosure Takes Any 2.5" HDDs or SSDs
With ever increasingly capacity and low-power consumption of 2.5" drives, it's likely a matter of time before 2.5-inch based portable storage will overtake 3.5" desktop counterparts in popularity. Here's a Icy Dock USB 3.0 enclosure with a convenient tool-less design that allows users to swap between different 2.5" SSD or HDDs without a screwdriver. Designated MB668Y3-1SB, the drive is enclosed in an aluminum body which you can pull the rear end (oddly, it's in plastic) to reveal the internals. The AC adapter hole and micro-B USB 3.0 connector on the rear are left relatively unprotected.
The enclosure can reportedly support up to 750GB 9.5mm 2.5". If you are going to plug this into a USB 3.0 port, the Icy Dock will likely not require auxiliary power whose source relies on a DC-to-USB A cable. For backward compatibility with USB 2.0, the Icy Dock can make use of the said cable to draw additional power from another port. For $40, this is truly a bargain considering you also get a leather pouch, 3 years of warranty and that brand name USB 3.0 products still carries premium pricing.
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Canadian Team Induces Fear Due to Old Flaw in USB
A wise man once told me, "All computers are vulnerable from the console." This was in relation to the brash PC/Mac/Linux security wars that were raging. This meant that as robust as security was, there really hadn't been anything secure enough to completely protect a device that had been physically accessed. Social engineering continues to be one of the most underrated aspects of computer security and by far the easiest to abuse. A team of Canadian engineers sought to further expose this weakness by altering the hardware of a standard USB keyboard to broadcast the keystrokes with blinkenlights. The operating system doesn't have any way of knowing that the hardware has been altered and thus the data processed by this keyboard has been completely compromised. Other more obvious devious that better illustrate the potential of mal-hardware are annoy-a-tron USB devices available to miscreants with a credit card. These devices report that they are a keyboard and send random keystrokes to the computer to annoy and enrage. They can take days to be discovered, due to nothing actually being wrong except that a device that looks like a flash drive acting like a keyboard. Just make sure that you are paying as much attention to what's coming in the front door as well as what's coming in over the wire.
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Texas Instrument Building up USB 3.0 Arsenal
Texas Instrument is about to become the latest to enter the USB 3.0 market. The fab has announced the immediately availability of a USB 3.0 PHY. Short for Physical Layer Transceiver, TI's TUSB1310 PHY is excepted to provide a wide range of peripherals such as PMPs, digital cameras, webcams, camcorders and smartphones a clear upgrade path to USB 3.0. There are quite a few other integrated solutions yet they are controllers targeted exclusively at direct attached storage (DAS) market. Now those controllers are now strengthened with USB Attached SCSI (UAS) to boost speed by as much as 35%. This is something flash drives, RAID-0 drives and SSDs can take advantage of. Texas Instrument is also readying a number of USB 3.0 solutions including two x1 PCI Express xHCI controllers; 4-port USB 3.0 hub chip; and SuperSpeed USB to SATA 3.0 bridge. They will likely hit market in the next few months.
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Logitech USB Headsets, Now Enhanced with Skype's Super Wideband
Logitech announces today more headsets that support Skype's new audio compression and quality system. Now running on three of their latest USB headset models, Logitech has even adopted the Super Wideband technology for their own video chat program, Vid. Super Wideband extends the dynamic range of voice frequencies allowing for a more realistic sound to be sent. The resulting richer sound is clearer and doesn't have that mechanical compressed feel to it. At the same time, the Super Wideband system is network aware and adjusts the quality of sound up and down depending on network congestion. This means that you can be sure that you will always have the best possible quality sound without sacrificing vital bandwidth. There's one caveat: Super Wideband only works with Skype 4.0 and Logitech's Vid. The trio of wired headsets: the H360, H530 and H555 are the newest in three of Logitech's most popular lines which will supplement ClearChat-series. Perfect for business or games, they feature a slender frame and medium sized ear cups for good sound isolation. All three sport an adjustable microphone that can be rotated completely out of the way when not needed. They are available for order now from Logitech's online store now. Prices range from $54 to $89 depending on which style appeals to you most.
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