Items tagged with FireWire
On paper, Intel's Thunderbolt looks like an easy winner over the relatively new USB 3 standard. The USB extension offers 10x the bandwidth of USB 2 and supports full duplex operation, but is limited to 'just' 5Gbps. Thunderbolt—even the cut-back, copper-wire version that's standard on new Macbook Pros—offers 10Gbps of bi-directional bandwidth. Intel's new standard is up to 4x faster than USB 3, but a new article at Extremetech argues that speed is far from everything. Thunderbolt, the article argues, is dangerously close to slipping into obscurity. As of this writing, Apple is the only company that's embraced the standard. HP, in contrast, announced last March that it would stick...
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When it comes to major connectors, FireWire is pretty high up there on the list. It's obviously not nearly as universal as the Universal Serial Bus (USB), but it's still a well-know, oft utilized port for A/V professionals. FireWire always had a larger grip on the Mac market than the PC market, but even with eSATA and USB 3.0 making it out to market in the past couple of years, FireWire has continued to hang in there. It's declining, for sure, but FireWire 800 has shown to be a fast competitor in a lot of ways, and for creative pros who have already invested in lots of FireWire gear, they aren't about to jump ship. According to a news release out this week from the 1394 Trade Association, FireWire...
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Looks like the big dogs, namely LaCie, Seagate and Western Digital, have some extra competition. The HDD space has always been crowded, and it seems to be a market with ultra-thin margins. But the good ones are staying in it, and hanging in there. Freecom has been dishing out storage options for quite some time, but rarely gets the kind of recognition enjoyed by those other guys. This new drive, however, might just be stylish enough to grab the mainstream attention we believe that it deserves. The new Mobile Drive Mg is described as an "elegant mobile hard drive designed specifically for the Mac market." We're guessing it's aimed at the Mac market due to the all-magnesium enclosure, but there's...
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Apple users often have to wait longer than us PC folk for top-end upgrades or features to become available, but this time the Macolytes might steal a march on the rest of us. According to rumors on the other side of the pond, the next-generation of iMac and Macbook Pro systems will feature both USB 3.0 and the heretofore dark horse candidate—FireWire 3200 (S3200). This new FireWire interface uses the same cable as the older FireWire 800 but offers four times the bandwidth. FireWire isn't discussed much these days, although the original IEEE1394a (FireWire 400) standard is fairly common, even on consumer PC's. Apple has generally ignored FireWire for the last few years, including the interface...
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If rumors floating around the 'Net are true, Intel is set to drop support for the PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus when it launches its next-generation 6-series of chipsets with support for Sandy Bridge-based LGA1155 processors. In case you're wondering, no, neither Sandy Bridge derived processors or their accompanying motherboards will allow for the use of current Core i5/i7 hardware. As far as we're concerned, PCI can't die quickly enough. Intel began working on the standard 20 years ago and made it the preferred interconnect standard for second-generation Pentium systems as early as 1994. By 1999-2000, modern motherboards had all but dropped ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)...
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Here's a survey result that should surprise no one who has fallen in love with a useless but fun USB gadget: the interface is the most popular and most used on both home and business computers.For cell phones, Bluetooth pretty much tops the list.Flash drives topped the list of devices connected to computers via USB, followed by printers and digital still cameras. The survey, conducted by In-Stat, did not delve deep enough, it appears, to determine how many people have the USB toaster or ashtray.For home and business use, 1394/FireWire, Bluetooth, DVI and HDMI rounded out the list of the most popular digital interfaces. But when it came to cell phones, Bluetooth was quite popular — more than half...
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Good morning gang, JeffB stopping by with your morning news update. While Marco is fighting off a bug, or possibly an overdose of pollen, I have a dilemma of a different kind. I took a ride to Top Sail Island off the coast of NC yesterday and didn't bring the sunblock. After walking along the beach for several hours without protection, I am now very well done. Needless to say, there are no quick movements in my future nor any sun going to hit me for a few days. I'm about as red as a tomatoe when I am usually pasty white. Ouch! Want to watch DVDs on your PC in 3D? DDD Group PLC just released a WinDVD add-on component that turns any DVD into a 3D...
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