I’m a huge fan of Thunderbolt. A single wire carrying both DisplayPort and high-speed PCIe data is an incredibly elegant approach to minimising cable clutter even if you don’t need the blistering speed, especially when you can use an Apple Thunderbolt Display as a hub for your USB devices.
I also admire clever tech. The reason you can daisy-chain up to six separate devices is because Thunderbolt automatically multiplexes and de-multiplexes the signals as needed. Thunderbolt 2 takes this approach one step further, combining two 10Gbit/s channels into a single 20Gbit/s connection, with the the Thunderbolt controller again doing all the work. It’s impressive stuff.
A fast, clever technology developed by Intel and enthusiastically marketed by Apple ought to stand a fighting chance at mass-market adoption. Sadly, there’s so far not much sign of this happening. It’s all looking rather reminiscent of Firewire … Expand Expanding Close
Apple has updated its third-party USB adapter trade-in program page to note that the program is worldwide. Apple originally only noted support for the program in China and the United States.
The company then updated the page to share that customers in Australia ($14 AUD), Canada ($11 CAD), France (10 €), Germany (10 €), Japan (￥1,000), and the United Kingdom (10 €) are eligible as well.
Now that the program has officially begun, Apple has providing special discount pricing for official Apple USB charging adapters for several more countries (shown above). Not all of the countries have official Apple Retail Stores, but the program will take place at select authorized resellers as well.
Image via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanghaidaddy/4444779602/in/photolist-7LLE85-bjGce9-7LLExS-7X3TR7-9WWqCL-bepqXP-9XBTYw-7VzKHA-bepqTv-bepqP2-bepqJc-bepqD6-bepqxF-7zrnxR-7zv8s1-cSjqLL-81gkaM-9w9Hfc-bDqzWX-ercVuv-eNUGCf-bfoHWa-9aXhCK-8T4TuB-byHASi-ebuyCS-a65L1S-dBQrY9-e39tKK-aqUYwc-drrKYZ-8xouBm-8xov7q-azkgHt-a65L3f-a62UpF-a62UoB-a62UmB-a62Unn-a65L4s-dRhAY6-dyRScD-dyXkiq-ddkczz-9iCbpz-9iFiQC-7TmVNY-9nuiGM-dHJig2-dHJhxp-dHJhG8/lightbox/">Flickr</a>
Our concern that widespread adoption of USB 3 might leave Thunderbolt out in the cold now looks even more likely as the USB 3.1 – aka Superspeed USB – specification has been announced. This allows USB transfers of up to 10Gbps, the same speed as the original Thunderbolt standard.
Thunderbolt is technically superior to USB 3 – combining PCIe, DisplayPort and power signals into a single cable – and the recently announced Thunderbolt 2 version (which will debut in the new Mac Pro) doubles throughput to a blistering 20Gbps. And Thunderbolt can deliver that bandwidth to more than one device at a time. But technical superiority alone is no guarantee of success, as the history of Betamax or Firewire demonstrates … Expand Expanding Close
The New Trent Travelpak 4000mAh plug in adapter makes a handy replacement to your iOS device AC USB adapter. I’ve been using the Travelpak 4000mAhfor about 3 months now and find it to be the perfect travelling companion for my phones, tablets and other USB-charged devices. At 4000mAh, you’ll get about 2 full iPhone charges. At 5V/2A, you’ll also get a speedy charge on your iPad, though not as fast as possible. For those focusing on iPad charging, there are bigger versions that come in the 7000mAh and 11200mAh sizes. In fact, the bigger 6000mAh has more ports, a more convenient form factor, and costs less ($39.99). Need more than that? Time for some Hyperjuice.
What’s nice here is that the portable Travelpak can charge two USB devices at the same time while plugged in. It has a nice bright 5 bar light system telling you if it is charging or how much charge it has left (making it a night-light as well). What’s even nicer and contrasts from other plug/batteries is that it turns off when unplugged and only starts charging again when you hit the power button on the side. Where typical generic AC USB batteries will drain unless they are powered down, these will automatically turn off.
On the down side, when the plug is extended, the 4000mAh version can cover up the other plugs in a wall outlet or surge protector making this aspect of the design puzzling. Still, the other plusses far outweigh this technical oversight. It appears that the new high end 6000mAh and 11200mAh form factor fixes this issue and at a cheaper price, it is hard not to recommend this version.
Numerous globalsites are running images this morning with what the posters claim are plastic backings of upcoming ‘value’ iPhones. Because of the lack of any evidence that these are real we’re running these only for discussion. As Mark said last night, these could be anything.
The iPhone 5 debuted last October and along with it so did the Lightning port. Since its launch there have been few third party accessories created due to Apple’s tight control over the the new technology. Today, the popular consumer electronics and car audio company, Scosche, officially launched their line of Apple approved Lightning accessories. While other companies are already offering official Lightning cables, this launch by Scosche is of particular interest because they are the first to offer both car chargers and wall chargers (5W and 10W) as well as a retractable cable.
Some Apple users have been quick to jump on generic Lightning cables to save a couple bucks, but given what we learned today it seems that the best route is to buy an Apple approved Lightning cable. Supported devices include the iPhone 5, iPad mini, iPad 4, and 5th Gen. iPod Touch. Schosche’s Lightning accessories are available online from Schosche (10% coupon here) and from major retailers such as AT&T, Wal-Mart, Staples, and Fry’s. Skip below if you’d prefer to just win some cables…
Giveaway
If you haven’t stepped out and bought any Lightning accessories you’re in luck because we are giving away 3 of Scosche’s brand new products. First up is the strikeDRIVE 12W car charger ($30 value) which features “… a 3 foot coiled cable that provides the freedom to use a device as it charges without tangles and clutter.” The second giveaway is a strikeBASE ($30-$35 value), “wall charger [that] features a 3 foot long cable and flush folding wall prongs for added portability.” Lastly, we will be giving away the retractable strikeLINE PRO ($25 value), which extends up to 3 ft. To be entered to win any of these items all you need to do is comment (helps if you follow 9to5Mac on Facebook and Twitter – 9to5Toys too ;) on this post and we will select 3 random winners this Sunday evening. All winners will be contacted via a private message and Scosche will handle the deliveries..
When Apple first announced that it would replace its old 30-pin connectors with the new, smaller Lightning standard, it took quite sometime for accessory makers to get on board. Accessory manufacturers had trouble producing Lightning-compatible products until cracking a unique authentication chip Apple is using in the new standard. Apple wouldn’t authorize official Lightning products until months later, when Apple briefed accessory makers at its MFi summit in November. Today, in a story from The New York Times, major Apple accessory maker Mophie outlined how Apple is keeping tighter control over companies making products for iOS devices with Lightning. It also warned Apple could potentially disable unauthorized Lightning products with a software update:
When a hardware maker signs up with Apple’s MFi Program, for companies that make accessories for Apple products, it orders a Lightning connector component from Apple to use in designing the accessory. The connectors have serial numbers for each accessory maker, and they contain authentication chips that communicate with the phones. When the company submits its accessory to Apple for testing, Apple can recognize the serial number.
The chip inside the Lightning connector can be reverse engineered — copied by another company — but it probably would not work as well as one that came from Apple, Mr. Howe said. Apple could also theoretically issue software updates that would disable Lightning products that did not use its chips, he said.“That’s one thing Apple is good at: controlling the user experience from end to end,” Mr. Howe said. “If you’re buying something in an Apple store, it’s gone through all this rigorous testing.”
Forbes posted an article on Tuesday that gave some updates on the highly successful launch of the evasi0n jailbreak tool straight from its creators. After having officially released the jailbreak yesterday at noon, according to stats from Cydia’s Jay Freeman, around 1.7 million people have decided to jailbreak their iOS device. Perhaps more interesting is a description of how exactly the four members of the evad3rds team were able to get the job done. Team member David Wang, aka @planetbeing, walked through the process with Forbes:
Evasi0n alters the socket that allows programs to communicate with a program called Launch Daemon, abbreviated launchd, a master process that loads first whenever an iOS device boots up and can launch applications that require “root” privileges, a step beyond the control of the OS than users are granted by default. That means that whenever an iPhone or iPad’s mobile backup runs, it automatically grants all programs access to the time zone file and, thanks to the symbolic link trick, access to launchd.
Wang described the entire process from finding the initial exploit in the iOS mobile backup system to accessing Launch Daemon and getting around code signing and restrictions at the kernel layer:
Once it’s beaten ASLR, the jailbreak uses one final bug in iOS’s USB interface that passes an address in the kernel’s memory to a program and “naively expects the user to pass it back unmolested,” according to Wang. That allows evasi0n to write to any part of the kernel it wants. The first place it writes is to the part of the kernel that restricts changes to its code–the hacker equivalent of wishing for more wishes. ”Once you get into the kernel, no security matters any more,” says Wang. “Then we win.”
We have played with and enjoyed a few products from Kanex in the past, and today the company showed off its latest USB 3.0 charging solution at Macworld with the DualRole. The product is a super lightweight and very portable bus-powered USB3 hub that packs three extra USB 3 ports and a Gigabit Ethernet adapter. That means you’ll be able to add a Gigabit Ethernet adapter to your Retina MacBook Pro or MacBook Air and have an extra three USB ports on hand.
9to5Mac went hands-on with the DualRole today during Macworld, and we definitely want one for ourselves. Anyone who travels knows how nice it is to connect via Ethernet when hotel Wi-Fi gets sketchy, and it’s certainly nice to be able to carry around an additional three USB 3.0 ports in your pocket at the same time. DualRole also provided an optional 5V power adapter to offer a little extra power to the USB ports, and the built-in cable tucks away nicely when not in use. DualRole is selling for $69 through the Kanex website, but it should also land next to the company’s lineup of other solid products on Amazon shortly.
Imagine if the 32GB iPad only had that much free space?
When we posted a comparison of the iPad 4 and Microsoft’s new $999 128GB Surface Pro, Apple was yet to introduce its new 128GB iPad with Retina display. Apple announced this morning that the new iPad model would début Feb. 5 starting at $799, and that’s an attractive offer for those considering a Surface Pro when it goes on sale Feb. 9. Making the new 128GB iPad an even more attractive option for pros looking at more storage, Microsoft confirmed today that 45GB of space would be dedicated to Windows 8 and preloaded apps. This leaves customers of the 128GB Surface Pro with 83GB of free storage (via Engadget):
“The 128 GB version of Surface Pro has 83 GB of free storage out of the box. The 64GB version of Surface Pro has 23GB of free storage out of the box. Of course, Surface Pro has a USB 3.0 port for connectivity with almost limitless storage options, including external hard drives and USB flash drives. Surface also comes pre-loaded with SkyDrive, allowing you to store up to 7GB of content in the cloud for free. The device also includes a microSDXC card slot that lets you store up to 64GB of additional content to your device. Customers can also free up additional storage space by creating a backup bootable USB and deleting the recovery partition.”
Today is the first official day of NAMM in Anaheim, and we are already started to see a few Apple-related products pop up. The most interesting is the new lineup of interfaces from Apogee, including updated One, Duet, and Quartet models that all include new features, specs, and iPad compatibility with support for any Core Audio app. iPad compatibility comes thanks to Apogee’s new Maestro app:
Apogee’s new free Maestro app for iOS brings total hardware control to iPad. Designed to create a seamless transition between Mac and iOS, Maestro’s design was customized for each device; iPhone, iPad and Mac, ensuring an intuitive user interface across every platform. The app includes all the same essential functions available on the Mac including low latency monitoring. Maestro can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store on your iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad.
Starting with the One, the refreshed USB interface now features two inputs, the ability charge your iOS device, Apogee’s Maestro control iOS app, optional battery power, and updated mic preamps and AD/DA converters. It also includes a built-in mic and breakout cable to connect a 1/4-inch cable or XLR. One will be available in March for $349.
The new Duet, a four output, two-input USB interface has been given a refresh, and, like the One, it now includes a USB port for device charging and iOS connectivity. It also works with Apogee’s new Maestro iOS app, and it includes a full-color OLED display like previous versions. It will be available in February for $595. It also includes a breakout cable for XLR and 1/4-inch connections.
Lastly, Apogee is updating its 4 IN x 8 Out USB Quartet interface to take advantage of Maestro control software for iOS and Mac and offer full iPad compatibility. The refreshed Quartet will be available in February for $1,295, and a firmware update will bring iOS support to existing users at the same time.
The One, like the other updated Apogee interfaces, comes with a 30-pin cable, so you’ll need an adapter for Lightning devices.
We went hands-on with the new ENERGI Backpack from Tylt, a company with products we’ve enjoyed in the past, in the video above. There are many power bags on the market that include built-in batteries to recharge your mobile devices while on the go, but we were quite impressed with these new backpacks from Tylt. They are hitting the market for between $150 and $200 at the end of March. They include a 10,400-mAh-lithium ion battery with the ability to charge up to three devices at once and dedicated pockets for your iPad, iPhone, iPod, and MacBook.
Eton, a company known for its hand-cranked, turbine-powered radios and audio accessories, today announced a few interesting new solar powered products for iOS devices. The new lineup includes the Rugged Rukus, and the Rukus XL (pictured above), two new solar-powered Bluetooth speakers, both of which include the ability to charge devices through a built-in USB port and more. For those familiar with Eton’s already available Rukus Solar speaker, the new models are essentially its bigger and smaller siblings, but definitely left us impressed at the CES Unveiled event… Expand Expanding Close
Ahead of CES 2013 taking place in Las Vegas next week, popular dock/speaker manufacturer iHome has teased its first Lightning-enabled line. The iPhone 5, iPad mini, and fourth-generation iPad enabled speakers are set to be shown off in-depth at the company’s booth next week, something many speaker manufacturers will look to do to highlight their Lightning-enabled products. The first is the iDL100 Triple Charging Stereo that will ship for $149.99 and be able to charge two devices through Lightning docks, and it features a USB dock for other devices and a 3.5MM headphone jack. Secondly, iHome will unveil another one of its retro boomboxes for $199 (as seen below). The iBT44 features wireless capabilities with Airplay, which uses Bluetooth to stream audio, and it sports USB charging. You bet we’ll take a closer look at CES next week, as the iDL100 with its triple charging looks especially interesting. Expand Expanding Close
California-based audio accessory maker NYNE is getting ready to show off its latest line of bluetooth speakers, docks, and home audio products at CES next week, but for the past month I’ve already had the chance to play with one of its latest creations- the NB-250 water-resistant Bluetooth speaker.
There is a ton of competition among Bluetooth speaker manufacturers, but a couple have been able to make their way to the top of the majority of recommendation lists, including our own. NYNE’s main competition in my eyes is Logitech and Jawbone, two well-known accessory makers with high-quality, sub $150 bluetooth speaker products on the market. After having hands on time with both the $140 Jambox from Jawbone and the $99 UE Boombox from Logitech, NYNE’s NB-250 does have a few things going for it. First is design… Expand Expanding Close
As we approach Christmas and the end of the year, we thought we would throw together some of the more interesting review items we received over the past months.
First up is the $29927-inch AOC LED IPS super slim monitor (I2757FH) that has a vague Mac aesthetic with a silver stand and ultra-thin bezel around the edges. This one comes with two HDMI ports, a VGA port, AUX audio ports, and some small speakers. The 27-inch IPS LED display is very nice, but it is obviously not as crisp as a Thunderbolt Display of the same size. And, after some adjustments to the default washed-out look, I was very happy with the color representation. Front capacitive controls are easy to deal with, and overall build quality is very nice, especially for AOC, but the downsides include: the lack of a USB hub, it is not easily wall-mountable, and the super small and poor tiny 4W speakers. You are definitely going to want to have separate speakers.
This AOC display would be best suited in an office/dorm room/bedroom doing double duty as a PC/Mac external display and perhaps display for an Apple TV/Cable box. Recommended at $299, or check out the USB Display link powered 22-inch display
Philips today announced four new Lightning-based speaker docks for Apple’s latest iPhone 5, iPad Mini, new iPods, and fourth-generation iPads. We had a chance to look at and listen to these at a special briefing yesterday, and we can confirm they sound every bit as good as they look:
Philips Lifestyle Music System (DCM2067) – an elegant and slim design that looks good in any modern interior. As well as charging and playing music from Lightning enabled devices through its retractable Lightning dock; the system also includes a CD player and FM radio. Even with its slender footprint, the system delivers 20W RMS power to provide a great sound performance.
Philips Portable Docking Speaker (DS7580) – slim and compact enough to fit in your bag, it features Philips’ wOOx technology that provides a rich and deep bass. Precise tuning between the speaker drivers ensures a smooth transition between low- to mid- and high-frequencies. With a built-in battery that lasts for approximately eight hours you can enjoy your music anywhere.
Philips Bedroom Docking Speaker (DS1155) – has a 360-degree design, providing rich omnidirectional sound to fill your bedroom. The clock display of the docking speaker automatically synchronizes with the clock of your Apple device, and the speaker also includes a USB port at the back of the speaker allowing users to easily charge a second mobile device.
LaCie announced today that it is releasing a refreshed version of its best-selling hard drive with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connectivity. Known as the LaCie d2 USB 3 Thunderbolt series, LaCie is offering a 3TB model for $299.95 and latest 4TB 7200rpm hard drive option for $399.95.
According to LaCie, the new d2 offers speeds up to 180MB/s:
Get the fastest speeds available on Mac and PC thanks to the USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports. The LaCie d2 performs at speeds up to 180MB/s, twice as fast as FireWire 800 and nearly four times faster than USB 2.0. These speeds allow the user to transfer a 10GB project in less than one minute, back up a computer in record time, easily edit video in demanding applications and browse through photo libraries without delay. Plus with 256-bit AES encryption the data is always secure.
Talk about good timing. A few days before Sandy hit our town, Hyper sent me its new MacBook + iOS charging external battery device, the Hyperjuice MBP2-100.
Hyper has made external MacBook/Air/Pro batteries for years, and if you’ve ever been to an Apple (or any big technology) keynote event, many of the live bloggers have their rigs hooked up to them. HyperJuice’s latest line, dubbed the “MBP2 series”, expands on the capabilities of the big power batteries…
With Apple’s latest MFi summit taking place earlier this month to school accessory makers on adopting Apple’s new smaller Lightning connector standard, many accessories from reputable companies are quickly starting to roll out. Unfortunately, the delay in getting the new standard out to third-party accessory manufacturers means many well-known companies might not get a product on the market in time for the holidays. Some that have released products are unable to keep up with demand and ship before the Dec 25.
For those of you looking for a Lightning dock, car chargers, adapter, or any other accessory before the holidays, we put together a guide to all the Lightning accessories currently available to order.
Many of the products below are also discounted for Black Friday and through the weekend: Expand Expanding Close
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