Created in 1996, the Universal Serial Bus or USB quickly became the preferred technology for computer peripherals. With the introduction of USB 2.0 in April 2000, computer users rejoiced that their go totechnology had become even faster and easier to use. And now with USB 3.0 products becoming more prevalent, consumers are excited to see what enhancements have been made to the tried and true technology. Here’s what you need to know about how USB 3.0 is different from USB 2.0, and why it matters.

USB 3.0 is 10 Times Faster than its 2.0 Predecessor
The main benefit to USB 3.0 technology is that it is approximately 10 times faster than USB 2.0 technology. And while this increase in speed may be virtually unnoticeable in some products, like your USB 3.0 keyboard, there are certain types of peripherals that will showcase the speed upgrade, namely portable and external hard drives.

Consider this: If you’re backing up a large music or image collection, or you’re creating a copy of your video files, transferring these files via USB 3.0 will take much less time than performing the transfer via USB 2.0. USB 3.0 is able to transmit nearly 5 Gbps, whereas USB 2.0 is capable of transmitting 480mbps of data.  Because of its much faster speed, a backup that may have taken a USB 2.0 drive more than 15 minutes in the past can now be completed in just over 1 minute on a USB 3.0 drive.

USB 3.0 Ads Additional Functionality but Stays Backward Compatible
Though the wiring that goes into the USB 3.0 cables is different than USB 2.0 wiring, the plug that connects to the USB outlet remains standard, providing full physical and functional backward capability. This means that your newly purchased portable USB 3.0 hard drive will work just fine with your older laptop that only has USB 2.0 ports. However, in situations like this, the USB 3.0 product will perform at the same level as a USB 2.0 product, so speed and power benefits will not be fully realized.

In the computer world, it’s common knowledge that your system is only as fast as its slowest component, and this certainly holds true when talking about USB 3.0. In order to reap the greatest benefits in speed, your receiving device will need to be able to function as quickly as the USB 3.0 device sending the data. For example, if you’re using a USB 3.0 external desktop hard drive to back up data to a machine with a magnetic hard drive that writes data at 7200 RPM, the process will be slowed considerably. However, if you’re backing up that same data to a solid state device like a flash drive, you’ll likely be pleased and impressed with the speed of the transfer.

USB 3.0 Allows for Bi-Directional Data Transfers
Another difference between USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 comes in the form of its signaling method—USB 2.0 uses a polling mechanism where USB 3.0 uses an asynchronous mechanism. In layman’s language, this means that USB 3.0 is capable of simultaneously sending and receiving data, while USB 2.0 can only handle only one direction of data at any time. This particular difference is likely to be the most noticeable in cases involving transferring data between USB hard drives, as bi-direction data support isn’t an issue in less complex USB devices like the standard computer mouse.

USB 3.0 Includes Power Management Improvements
Enhanced power management is also available in USB 3.0, making these devices more efficient and less costly to operate than similar USB 2.0 devices. Using about 1/3 of the power necessary for a USB 2.0 device, USB 3.0 devices are built to shift into a lower power state when not being actively used by the device. Additionally, USB 3.0 technology has a higher energy capacity, allowing the technology to power more devices from one hub and to effectively handle hardware with more robust power needs.

— About the Author —

Dan Coppen is a business technology writer. Follow him at @dancoppen for more tech insights.

With over 77% of internationally traveling Internet users departing from North America, there is a high demand for affordable, instant Internet access in countries worldwide. Since nationally based Internet service plans via USB airport card do not usually include international usage, and in fact can incur high costs of roaming charges when used internationally, international travelers must find an alternative to their national USB airport cards for Internet access abroad.

Out of an estimated 1.9 billion Internet users worldwide, nearly 29% are using international Internet while traveling abroad. This means that international leisure travelers are constantly faced with the hassle of searching for a wireless hotspot or Internet café, while the companies paying for international business travel must compensate for expensive international roaming fees so their employees can work from anywhere abroad and continue to correspond with their constituents back home.

International mobile WiFi service and Internet air cards offer a solution to the necessity of uninterrupted Internet service for travelers abroad, from the comfort of hotel rooms, condos, restaurants, and anywhere else you could possibly wish to use your laptop and other WiFi enabled devices. However, purchasing a year-round international mobile service plan is unrealistic and unaffordable for most business and leisure travelers, especially since many international travelers still spend the majority of their time in their home countries.

International Internet service providers offer quick, easy, and affordable access to the Internet worldwide with wireless data rentals for international travelers. Two types of 3G broadband wireless Internet service device rentals are available:

1. USB Modem air cards provide 3G network Internet access at a speed of 7.2 MBps for use with your laptop. The flash-drive sized air cards plug into your USB port and provide instant Internet access from any location after the initial software installation.
2. Mobile Wireless Hotspots provide 3G network Internet access at a speed of 7.2 MBps for up to five WiFi enabled devices at once with unlimited data usage. The rechargeable smartphone-sized device provides four hours of uninterrupted service, connecting wirelessly and instantly to your laptop and other WiFi devices.

How the rental service works: Three or more days before your departure you request your preferred device and it is shipped to your home, arriving 1-2 days before you leave so you can install the necessary software and test the device. If your trip is scheduled last minute, you can request overnight shipping for your device. Your service begins the day of your scheduled departure and ends the day you return. You send your device back in the prepaid, labeled envelope the day you return. Your credit card is charged after the device is returned undamaged. Insurance is available for your rental device, and business solutions are available for companies with frequent and multiple international travelers.

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About the Author: Erick D. Smith is a technology blogger living in San Diego, California who writes for XCom Global, which provides mobile hotspots for international Internet access. If you plan on traveling abroad and want instant Internet, consider renting one of XCom’s Internet air cards.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have been working away at putting the 3.5mm audio port on the iPhone to many other uses other than playing music, including the ability to display EKG readings on the 3.5″ Retina Display. While this isn’t one of the first products we’ve seen that extends the functionality of an iPhone using the audio port, it certainly is one of the most interesting. The code for interfacing with the “HiJack” is free, open source and available under the BSD licensing scheme. The research team has advised that they will be reviewing project proposal ideas and providing 20 project-taskers with hardware in order to develop and continue research.

This project provides developers, DIY’ers and other researchers access to external hardware without going through the Dock Connector API and without jailbreaking the device, all for the extremely cheap (if done in large volumes) price of $2.34 for the hardware.

If you are the person who performs a lot of copy paste operations, to and fro from your USB drive to your computer’s hard disk – you are going to love this free little tool called USBFlashCopy.

The program lets you automatically copy all the data from your USB drive or any other drive letter to a folder in your computer, whenever you insert a removable drive in your system.

For example: I have two computers at work which are not connected via a local area network connection. Hence, I use a 8GB USB drive to move files from my laptop to the desktop, several times a day. The process is painful – insert the USB drive, open “My Computer”, navigate to the USB drive, select all files, Control + C, navigate to the target folder and then paste them. Too much monotonous steps !

At the end of the day, I need a simple program which can automatically copy all the contents to a custom folder in my desktop, whenever I insert a USB drive to my computer. Following are the steps involved to use USB FlashCopy

1. After you have downloaded USBFlashCopy, run the executable and double click the system tray icon. The program needs no installation.

2. Choose “Run on windows startup” >”For all user” option.This is useful because you don’t have to search for the executable whenever you want to auto copy all the data from the removable drive.

3. Click the “media files” option to reveal the settings of USBFlashCopy.

4. Now you have to select the drive path or drive letter in which the automatic copy job will start. Select the desired drive letter and choose “skip” for the other drive letters that are assigned to your hard disk partitions.

5. Hit the “OK” button and you are done with the settings.

Now you need to save the current settings to a configuration file, insert the thumb drive and the program will throw in an options window as shown below:

Click the “New profile ” option and choose the correct destination path of the custom folder in the next window, as shown underneath:

All done, now all you have to do is insert the USB stick and wait for USBFlashCopy to do it’s job.   Whenever your system detects a removable storage, USBFlashCopy will automatically copy all the data to the custom folder defined earlier. You will see the following pop up window near windows system tray:

Techie Buzz Verdict

Awesome ! At least saves a lot of time when you do a lot of copy paste operations from one computer to another.

Techie Buzz rating: 4/5 (Excellent)

Today, Nokia has launched a new accessory for their Symbian^3 running handsets the Nokia Digital Radio Headset, DAB. The DAB digital radio headset offers a better and clearer reception, less interference from other channels and better sound quality. This accessory will support all Symbian^3 phones which have USB OTG (On-The-Go) feature like the Nokia N8 and C7 etcetera.

The adapter will also support third-party earphones if they have a 3.5mm jack. The DAB digital headset will also allow users to handle their calls, DAB channel and volume controls without unlocking their phone.

The software to use the DAB digital headset will either be pre-loaded on your Symbian^3 device or will be available as a free download from the Ovi store. The accessory will be available in most parts of the world except for the US and South America.

However, before purchasing this accessory, users should make sure that the DAB service is available in their region/country.

[Windows only]: USB Drives are very vulnerable to data loss, a malware attack and you may lose all the data. It makes sense to use a handy USB backup tool and regularly sync the content of your USB drive with a folder in your computer.

Consider a scenario, you work in multiple computers and rely on using a USB drive for carrying important documents, programs and files. At the end of the day, you want to create a backup of your entire USB drive so that if you lose any data, you can restore the data using the last backup.

You may also want to create a local folder on your computer and sync it’s content with the USB drive.

Enter BackUpAnyWhere a free portable program for Windows which lets you perform automated USB backups and sync the content with a folder in your computer. Run the program and you will be asked to choose a directory for the backup:

Hit Set directoryand choose a directory from your hard drive where you want the USB data to be copied:

Now hit Start backupand sit back while the files are copied. The software will mirror all the content of your USB drive in the specified directory on your hard drive.

Apart from a backup tool, the utility also supports synchronizing folders between the flash drive and a directory on your hard drive. When you run the program for the second time, you will be shown the option to either backup your USB drive or choose to sync the content with a directory:

If you want to automate the backup job, remember to select the check box Automated mode. Now whenever you plug in the USB drive, the backup process will start on it’s own.

Related reading: How to Backup USB Drives using a USB Image tool

Techie Buzz Verdict

The software works great but one drawback spotted you can’t pause or stop the backup once it starts. I would love to see a list of files that are backed up being shown in the program interface.

Techie Buzz rating: 4/5 (Excellent).

The Nokia Conversations blog has uploaded a new video, which shows off the video editing prowess of the Nokia N8. The Nokia N8 is the first phone from Nokia to sport a 12-megapixel camera. Along with the 12-megapixel camera, the device also has a Xenon flash. The Nokia N8 arguably has the largest camera sensor size ever found in a phone. The phone can record 720p HD videos at 24fps.

In this new video, the bundled video editing application of the N8 is demonstrated. Users can edit photos on the Nokia N8 as well. The inbuilt photo editing application allows users to crop photos, add frames, emoticons, add text to an image etcetera to give the photos a more personal touch.

The inbuilt video editing application allows users to create movie by joining multiple video clips, as well as photos. Users can add transitions between video clips, as well as to each scene of the video clip. At the end of the video, Chris Bennetts also demonstrates USB On-The-Go (OTG) feature of the Nokia N8.

The in-built video editing application of the Nokia N8 might be good, but it still can’t match iMovie video editing application for the iPhone.

If your workplace conditions are too busy and you fear someone else might peek into your system when you are away, Predator will be useful. This program uses a simple USB stick to lock and resume Windows sessions.

You insert the USB drive and and run Predator when Windows starts. Whenever you want to lock your computer, just remove the USB stick. The Mouse and Keyboard are disabled and the screen goes black. You come back and plug in your USB to restore the display and work as usual.

You may think – why not lock computer using a password and hitting the Window key + L   shortcut?. There is no harm using Windows password to lock the computer, but there are some disadvantages. First, you have to type the password while resuming a Windows session. Second, if you do not change your password regularly, trespassers may notice and know about it.

With Predator, you don’t have to type anything. The USB drive becomes the only key to your computer.

How to Install Predator

Download Predator and unzip the package. Run the set up and install the program in the C drive ( Do not try to install in any removable drive, it won’t work).

You will be prompted to insert the USB drive and choose a password as shown below:

Click “Ok” and choose a password in the subsequent window as shown below

After that, choose the USB drive and hit “Create Key”. You are done wih the set up process.

When you start Windows and want to use your USB drive as a key, simply insert the USB drive and remove it after a couple of seconds. Windows will be locked and can be unlocked by using only your USB drive.

Security Features of Predator

Predator logs all the events in a log file so you can read the log file and know if someone tried to intrude your system while you have been away. Anyone trying to copy your USB drive and unlock your computer will be disheartened because the security codes are changed by Predator frequenty. Moreover, Predator disables the Windows task manager so that nobody can kill the process by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del.

Techie Buzz Verdict

Predator does what it says and works perfectly in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. If you lose the USB drive, you can regain control as Predator lets you set a password which will unlock session if your USB stick isn’t available. I love the simplicity of the application and this is a must use tool for those who work in an unsecured environment.

Techie Buzz rating: 4.5/5 (very good).

Most of the time, if we do not need a file or folder on a PC, we select it and delete it using the Delete button on our keyboard. The files are then placed in the Recycle Bin. These files that are placed in the recycle bin can be restored. This is helpful when we have deleted some files by mistake, because we get another chance to get them back. The problem arises when we delete a file which happens to be on our USB drives, since the system recycle bin do not cover those drives.

iBin is a free utility that manages the files deleted from your USB drives. So, in other words, it can be stated as a portable recycle bin for your USB drives. This tool will ask you to confirm the delete operation whenever you try to delete any file from the USB drive.

Download iBin and unzip the pack on your USB drive. All you need to do is, run the app as you start using your USB drive. You will find a system tray icon as soon as it starts working. For every deletion attempt on USB drive files you will be prompted with a window shown below.

If you want to restore a deleted file just double-click the tray-bar icon of the app and the iBin Dumping Management window opens. You can select a deleted file and press the Recycle Data Selected button to restore that item.

Techie Buzz Verdict :

iBin is a free utility for all Windows operating systems. It serves a purpose of confirming any delete operation (for files on USB drives), which is a very common (and petty) mistake committed by us. This tool may not be that useful for someone who prefers permanent deletion (Shift+Delete). Hence, the app is judged according to its usability.

Techie Buzz Rating : 3.5/5 (Average)

[via DownloadSquad]

Installing an OS usually requires a bootable CD/DVD. With Windows 7 you can skip using a CD/DVD for installing and instead make use of a USB drive, this is particularly helpful for people who use netbooks which do not have a optical drive.

If you are looking for a easy way to copy over the Windows installation files to a USB drive a handy freeware called WinToFlash can come in pretty handy.

WinToFlash provides users with a wizard that will import the contents of a windows installation CD and copy over the files to a USB drive making it a bootable replacement for a optical drive. This application cal also be used to create a bootable USB drive from a LiveCD.

WinToFlash makes creating a bootable USB drive a piece of cake.

Download WinToFlash [via on10]