I remember the early days of the USB-vs-FireWire wars like they were yesterday, although Wikipedia reminds me that they were more than a decade ago (sigh). USB 1.0 arrived in 1996 but didn't begin to see broad adoption until two years later with version 1.1. When FireWire 400 (aka IEEE 1394a) emerged on Apple systems in 1999, its backers scoffed at USB's comparatively diminutive 11 Mbps peak (and much lower practical) bandwidth.
Intel and its partners' response was swift; USB 2.0 came on the scene in 2000. Its 480 Mbps theoretical peak bandwidth, coupled with Intel's refusal to integrate FireWire support within its core logic chipsets, doomed FireWire to niche status in spite of the subsequent emergence of the 800 Mbps IEEE 1394b variant.
Yet as anyone who's used a USB 2.0 hard drive or flash drive knows, the external bus's read and write performance still leave a lot to be desired, especially for video and other large-file-size material. eSATA attempted to address the issue, but its storage-centric focus left OEMs unwilling to adopt it en masse, from both incremental-cost and incremental-connector perspectives. What the industry wanted was an equally versatile but speedier successor to USB 2.0…
…and now it's got two. Yep, another standards war – except not in the traditional sense, as these two are complementary. The USB 3.0 specification was released in late 2008, with first products available beginning one year later. Designed primarily as a replacement for USB 2.0, it delivers 4.8 Gbps transfer speeds, along with discrete transmit and receive data paths. And courtesy of Intel's Ivy Bridge integration, USB 3.0 will soon become pervasive in a diversity of PC platforms and form factors. But more than a year ago, Intel and partner (and customer) Apple productized a copper-based version of an Intel-proprietary interface called Thunderbolt, formerly known as Light Peak.
Each Thunderbolt port handles 40 Gbps of aggregate bandwidth, consisting of two pairs' worth of distinct 10 Gbps transmit and receive lanes. Thunderbolt isn't so much about enabling the connection of discrete storage devices (although it has been used for just that by many early peripherals), but new PC form factors instead. If you have to give up GigE, Firewire 800 and a gigantic screen to build a sleek Ultrabook, Thunderbolt will give you access to those things via an external display. Did I mention that Thunderbolt carries DisplayPort as well as PCIe?
To date Thunderbolt has mostly only appeared on Macs, but the Apple exclusivity period is now over. This year we'll see the emergence of more affordable second-generation controller ICs, resulting in Thunderbolt showing up in a diversity of PC platforms and form factors.
Anand has done several in-depth Thunderbolt peripheral reviews so far. And today we've got two more products up for evaluation; Seagate's 2 TByte GoFlex Desk HDD coupled with the company's just-in-production Thunderbolt Adapter, and Western Digital's two-HDD Thunderbolt Duo. Let's have a look, shall we?
Server shipments rose 7% in 2011 as businesses built datacentres and smartphones and tablets were increasingly used to access web content
ComputerWeekly: IT hardware
Not to be left in the dust by their big national counterparts, regional carriers are also moving onward to 4G LTE, and US Cellular today announced its initial 4G LTE markets and two devices. US Cellular has made a coverage map tool visible with its initial rollout markets, and noted that additional market announcements will happen later this month. US Cellular also makes note of its intent to deploy 4G LTE onto 700 MHz spectrum licensed to King Street Wireless.
A quick check on the spectrum dashboard indicates that indeed US Cellular will likely deploy 4G LTE into a host of 700 MHz Lower A and B block licenses, both of which are 5 MHz FDD. A quick spot checking of the announced markets revealed that most are regions where both lower A and B are held, though Des Moines Iowa has both A and B, so it seems as though 5 MHz and 10 MHz FDD will be the name of US Cellular's LTE game.
King Street Wireless National 700 MHz Spectrum Holdings
The two devices US Cellular has in store are the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE, and the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator, the latter of which looks virtually identical to the Droid Charge we've already reviewed. No doubt the Aviator will turn out to be based on the same hardware platform given the similar choice of air interfaces shared between Verizon and US Cellular (CDMA2000 1x/EVDO and 4G LTE).
Source: US Cellular (Devices), (Press Release)
Businesses are allowing unapproved devices to be used within their business as workers increasingly want to use their own computers at work before companies draw up policies.
ComputerWeekly: IT hardware
The Samsung Galaxy Note hit the UK market in June 2011, but despite at least two versions knocking on the Federal Communications Commission’s door, the FCC is yet to allow the Galaxy Note in the door to the US market; some say that it’s because of the registered bandwidth registration match with AT&T. Others say that the FCC submissions are simply preludes to a Canadian release. For whatever reason, the UK and the European smartphone users are enjoying the feature-rich mobile phone that is touted to be a successful blend of smartphones and tablets. Let’s take a look.
Overview
Multi-taskers unite and rejoice! The Galaxy Note by Samsung maximises, streamlines and combines with the best of both worlds. The large screen enables easy scripting, data management and planning.
With virtually all the best feature of a PDA, a smartphone and a tablet, we’d have to say that the two-pronged blending comparison is one step shy of reality.
Features
The capacitive touch screen enables either finger or stylus input, but the versatility might be somewhat limited by application: Some common applications may work better with a finger, and some do work better with the on-board stylus.
The larger, 5.3-inch screen minimises screen scrolling, and it can be utilized in both landscape and in portrait orientations by application.
It has a brilliant, expanded memo function than beats even the old-time scratch pad and pencil, for the information, graphs, notes and brain scribbles are all saved electronically. The Galaxy Note even allows your handwriting to be digitalised for maximum readability. That lined, paper note pad can’t do that for you.
The screen capture feature is elevated by the ability to write notes on it: Sign portraits, make notes, note ideas – the possibilities extend beyond the horizon.
Noted below, it has the 1.4-GHz Exynos processor – not the 1.5 Snapdragon processor, but users almost overwhelmingly state preference for the 1.4 over the 1.5 ease of use, overall speed and fewer lag moments.
Specifications
Without further ado, here are the basic specifications for this model.
- Dimensions: 146.85 x 82.95 x 9.65 mm (5.78 x 3.27 x 0.38 in) / 178 grams
- Display: 5.3 inches; 800 x 1280 pix resolution; Super AMOLED.
- Memory: 1024 RAM, 16 GB internal, expandable by 32 MB by external card.
- Operating System: Android 2.3 Gingerbread; possibly upgraded to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in later versions.
- Battery: 2500 mAh. Talk*: Up to 13.5 hours (3G); Stand-by*: Up to 820Hr (3G)
- Connectivity: (Differs by country)WiFi. HSPA+ up to 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100. 4G LTE. EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900.
- Camera: Rear: 8 MP; 1080p recording. Autofocus. LED Flash. Digital zoom x4. Front: 2MP.
Additional: FM radio; USB mass storage. Music player but 3D sound via earphones only.
*Battery use times are noted differently from different sources. One source lists talk time as little as “not noted” and 390 minutes or 6.5 hours. The longer range is noted above, allowing partial use of the larger battery for above-average use capability as well as powering the larger screen. By no means is the upper figure to be considered a guarantee of times.
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Samsung Galaxy Note Balances Blend of Three Devices
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