Posts Tagged ‘USB’

Polymer cables vs USB and Thunderbolt

Polymer cables could replace Thunderbolt & USB, deliver more than twice the speed from r/gadgets

https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/03/08/polymer-cables-could-replace-thunderbolt-with-105-gbps-data-transfers

Researchers are working on a cabling system that could provide data transfer speeds multiple times faster than existing USB connections using an extremely thin polymer cable, in a system that echoes the design path of Thunderbolt.

While the “increasingly bulky and costly” copper could be replaced by fiber optic cables, that introduces its own issues. As silicon chips have difficulty dealing with photons, this makes the interconnection between the cable and the computers more challenging to optimize.

The polymer can also use sub-terahertz electromagnetic signals, which is more energy-efficient than copper at high data loads. It is believed this efficiency brings it close to that of fiber optic systems, but crucially with better compatibility with silicon chips.

It seems plausible that such a system could be employed for a future Thunderbolt-style connection, allowing it to go far beyond the current 40Gbps upper limit.

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more on USB in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=usb

Nokia tablet

Nokia N1 Android tablet: an iPad mini lookalike with the first reversible USB port

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/nokia-unveils-n1-android-tablet-an-ipad-mini-lookalike-with-the-first-reversible-usb-port-9867400.html

Visually the tablet is a dead-ringer for the iPad mini, but the N1 actually manages to be both thinner and lighter than Apple’s tablet – just 6.9mm thick and weighing in at 318 grams.

The N1 looks very healthy spec-wise, with a 2.4GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and 8-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras on the back and front.

‘Z Launcher’ software: essentially a customized lock screen that studies your habits to give you the right app at the right time of day (eg, email in the morning, Instagram at night) while also letting you launch apps by scribbling the first letter of their name.

The N1 is launching first in China February 2015 for $249 (around £160 – the same as the iPad mini) but it’s not clear when it’ll be making its way to the US or UK.