Tag: USB

Article

Gadgets like these could benefit from chargers that are part of interior designs

King Living’s Smart Sofa Charges Your Smartphone, Remembers Your Seating Position

My Comments

King Living had put forward a “home-theatre” 2-person recliner sofa of the kind you would have in a “Gold Class” cinema. But they integrated USB charging in to this sofa so you can charge your smartphone or tablet or avoid compromising its battery runtime while you are using it.

But this kind of idea hasn’t been really explored by companies who manufacture furniture and general appliances for the home. Here, you could have a lamp or electric fan of the kind that sits on a table or desk being equipped with a 2-port or 4-port USB charger that is part of its base  Or you could have a freestanding trouser press that has the ability for you to charge your smartphone from it while your good pants are being pressed.

Similarly, a furniture maker or interior designer could come forth with a USB charging station that is integrated in to the furniture in the same way that some bedheads came with integrated bedside lamps or clock radios or some bedside tables came with clock radios. This was facilitated with various manufacturers releasing products that are designed from the outset to be integrated in to furniture. In a similar way, some people integrated car stereos that were powered by 12V power-supplies in to furniture to provide an integrated look for secondary-area audio entertainment.

This can be approached with so-called “reference-design” USB and wireless charger products that simplify the process of integrating in to existing designs and circuits. The circuits could come in to their own with furniture that has integrated electrical circuitry like a massage chair or appliances like a table lamp. They may have to be factored to allow for use with low voltages or with mains voltages so there isn’t the need for a separate power supply to be designed for applications that just have AC voltages. As well, they would have to be supplied in “short-form”

Once this is achieved, it could cut down the number of wall-warts that have to exist in the kitchen or office just to charge your gadgets.

Article

Thanks to USB Type-C, external MacBook batteries may finally arrive (update) | Engadget

My Comments

Laptops could be benefiting from external battery packs like this one

Just after Apple had premiered their latest iteration of the MacBook laptop, the computer press have been focusing on this computer being equipped with a USB Type-C connector as its only connector. Subsequently, Google premiered their latest iteration of the Chromebook i.e. the Chromebook Pixel which also has this connection and were making murmurs about this for the Android platform.

Both these computers use the USB Type-C socket as a data / video / power socket and it is an example of things to come for ultraportable notebook computers, because of the low-profile design of these sockets. What is to be the advantage of this connection and the associated USB Power Delivery device class?

USB power via a Type C connector to be the norm for ultraportable computers

Look at what has happened with the smartphones which have come with USB-ended power cables and battery chargers having USB sockets on them. It has led to innovation in how the battery charger is designed because there isn’t any worry about different voltages needed for different smartphones or other gadgets.

For that matter, a highly popular charger type for smartphones especially is the external battery pack which connects to the smartphone’s charging socket. Most of them can be connected to another charger that plugs in to AC power or a car’s cigar-lighter socket to charge up, then they can either charge up the phone’ onboard batteries or provide extra runtime power for that device.

This kind of power universality hadn’t reached laptops yet but, thanks to USB Type C and Power Delivery, it will. These designs will call for a standard fitment and set of power specifications which will open up a common requirement for power supply devices.

The article highlighted the possibility of manufacturers supplying power-supply devices that work with a large number of laptop computers without having consumers worry about whether the power device will work properly and safely with their laptop. They even extended the possibility of external battery packs that are terminated with the USB Type C connector so that one can benefit from longer running time from these batteries.

They also highlighted the fact that Apple would be moving away from its MagSafe power connections just like they have with their Apple Desktop Bus connections. What I see of this as well is that it’s not all about keeping within their own universe but “working beyond” with everyone else. The billion-dollar question yet to be asked is whether Apple will dump the Lightning device-side connection on their iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices when they release subsequent generations of these devices, or are this considered by Apple and their fanbois as the “crown jewels” and have to have Apple’s own connections?

Articles

First Pictures Surface Of The Reversible USB Plug Of The Future | Gizmodo

Meet the next-gen USB cable that could sweep away all others | CNET

Previous coverage

USB Type C To Be A No-Worries Device Connection

From the horse’s mouth

USB Implementers Forum

Press Release (PDF)

My Comments

USB data / power cable to be eventually replaced with the USB Type-C data / power cable with the same plug each end

Just lately, the USB Implementers Forum have shown first pictures of their next-generation cable and connector which would have symmetrical connection abilities.

It was mooted last December as a connection solution for today’s computing needs. Here, this is about providing data and power to today’s smartphones, tablets and Ultrabooks using a very-low-profile connector the same size as either the Micro-B connector used on your Android smartphone or the Apple Lightning used on a recent-issue iDevice. The size will also appeal to increasingly-low-profile peripheral devices like portable hard disks, keyboards and mice and would also benefit monitor and smart-TV designers when it comes to connecting peripheral devices to these units so you don’t have to worry which way to plug the USB plug in.

It also underscores a reality with the USB standard where the USB cable will end up as a high-speed data transfer cable and a power-delivery cable that supplies enough power to run a notebook computer or high-capacity external hard disk by supporting the kind of scalability required for these setups.

Other advantages being shown here include an audible click for successful connection as well as being able to be plugged and unplugged 10,000 times. The former feature would help in that the user is sure the device they are connecting is firmly plugged in especially if they cannot see the socket they are plugging it in to, such as one installed at the back of a device, The latter feature would be of importance to sockets installed on mobile computing devices and accessories as well as “walk-up” connection sockets installed on the front of static equipment. Here we are thinking of smartphones being connected to a charging device regularly and frequently or USB thumbdrives being plugged in to the front of a desktop computer or printer. Both situations may start to lead to USB connections starting to become unreliable over time.

As mentioned previously, there will be cables available that will have a Type-C connection on one end and either a Type Standard-A, Type Standard-B or Type Micro-B connection on the other end. This will allow you to connect existing devices to newer devices bestowed with these connections. The articles even said that some newer devices will also be equipped with one of these connections along with a previous-standard USB connection in the near term.

Who knows what this year will bring for designers of low-profile devices where the power/data connection style will become more suited to this application.

Articles

Upcoming USB Type-C connector won’t have “right” and “wrong” sides | Gizmag

From the horse’s mouth

USB Promoters’ Group

Press Release (PDF)

My Comments

USB data / power cable to be eventually replaced with the USB Type-C data / power cable with the same plug each end

A new USB equipment connector is in the process of being designed and will be called by the USB Promoters’ Group by the middle of 2014. This is to cater for technology equipment that is becoming smaller and thinner while also allowing for quick worry-free connections.

This connection will be the same size as the existing USB Micro-B connector used on most smartphones or the Apple Lightning Connector that Apple uses on their latest iDevices. This will cater for devices that are acquiring an increasingly-low profile such as the smartphones, tablets or Ultrabooks or even peripherals like some external hard disks and keyboards.

The socket will be designed so that you don’t worry about which way you plug it in and the patch-cords will have the same connection on each end so you don’t have to worry about which end of the cable you are using, in a similar vein to the RCA connections used on most stereo equipment.

Of course, the standard will also define the patch cables that allow you to connect equipment that has the USB Type-C socket on it to equipment that has commonly-available USB connections like the Type A found on computers and USB power supply equipment or Micro-B connections found on the smartphones or USB hard disks.

As we are seeing the USB connection become the universal power-supply connection for many different gadgets. Here, the USB Type-C connection will also allow for scaleable power-supply and charging situations and to provide further support for improved USB bus performance. A commonly-raised question that could surface is the power-supply performance for particular USB patch cables especially as we find smartphones not charging as quickly with some cables compared to others given the same power-supply equipment.

Of course, this will cause a requirement for power-supply standards for mobile devices to be revised because of the current standard supporting only the Micro-B connection on the mobile equipment and Type-A on the power-supply equipment. As well, we will be ending up with USB Type-A to Micro-B and USB Type-A to Type-C as power/data cables for most of our gadgets in the near term.

Product Page

sockITz.com.au sockITz

My Comments

A common reality with many of today’s personal electronics is the requirement ot use wall-warts to charge up or power these devices from AC power. Recently there has been a push by the industry to make the USB device-power standard the required standard for supplying power to mobile phones and similar devices. This is underscored with standards-compliant mobile phones being required to be equipped with micro-USB input sockets as the only power-input sockets on these devices.

Similarly, the agenda is to have the battery charger not being supplied as a standard accessory with the phone. This is to encourage us to use the charger that came with our previous phones as the current phone’s charger.

A new company has taken this further by supplying to the Australian and New Zealand market a double power outlet that also has an integrated USB charger for two devices. This outlet, supplied by sockITz, is intended to be installed as a new or replacement power outlet, allows us to charge or power two phones or similar devices while powering two AC-operated devices.

The outlet, which is finished either in classic white or with an aluminium front and either black or white switches and socket surrounds, also satisfies the zero leakage test with shutters that come over the USB sockets and shut off power to the charger circuitry when a device is unplugged from the USB sockets.

Of course, an ordinary old “sparkie” would have to install these outlets and they are best used in the office, kitchen or beside the bed, They would also go well with public spaces like cafes so that people can “top up” their gadgets on the go without carrying a wall-wart battery charger with them.

Personally, I would like to see this concept taken further with desk lamps and electric fans that have a self-powered USB hub in their bases so these devices can work as mobile-phone chargers or USB peripheral hubs. These kind of standards don’t just satisfy environmental friendliness but open up paths for real innovation and thinking “out of the box”.

I am reposting this to make sure that the link to the product review is working properly for RSS, email and Facebook subscribers

Article

Gear4 speaker dock supports USB audio for Jelly Bean at Google I/O 2012 (hands-on video) — Engadget

My Comments

An iPod-enabled music system that can also benefit from Android’s new USB Audio interface

Apple iOS users have had the advantage of also having a USB single-wire or docking connection between their iOS device and accessory equipment, with the ability to channel the sound data, the control signals and power to their device using the same connection. This has built up the iPod / iPhone accessory market very strongly with the accessories allowing the user to start and stop the music or move between tracks and folders on their iPod or iPhone using the control surface that the accessory provides.

People who used Google Android devices were limited to an analogue or Bluetooth audio link between an amplification device and their smartphone or tablet with support for transport control if the phone was connected via Bluetooth. They typically had to run a separate USB cable if they wanted to supply power to the Android device from that accessory.

Now the latest iteration of the Android platform, known as “Jelly Bean” and version number 4.1, supports USB Audio. This is similar to how a USB speaker system or external sound card can work with most desktop operating systems. It can then allow a large manufacturer base to develop “Android-friendly” audio playback equipment like speakers, Internet radios and hi-fi amplifiers / receivers in a timeframe that allows the device to be “ready-to-market” quickly.

What could be looked at

Communications audio

There are some questions I have about this kind of setup. One is whether the USB Audio functionality in Android Jelly Bean can allow for communications audio as well as audio content from the media player program. This would be of importance with automotive applications where the USB Audio link could be used as an alternative to Bluetooth for hands-free telephony in the car.

Device control

The other issue to look at is exposing the accessory device’s control surface as a control point for the Android device’s communications and media-playback functions. This situation would be of importance for accessory devices which have other audio or video sources like broadcast tuners, optical-disc players or USB Mass-Storage device connection. In the automotive context, it also extends to nearly all car infotainment setups that allow the user to make or take a call using the controls on the dashboard.

Here, it could be feasible for the accessory to control the media player or phone user interface using either the screen on the Android device or using the controls on the accessory. Here, it could allow for “basic” transport control and metadata display on the accessory device while advanced “search and play” can be performed on the Android device. Similarly, call-progress control can be managed using controls on the dashboard with the ability to, when the car is parked, commence a call on the Android device’s touchscreen.

Similarly, MirrorLink or similar techniques culd allow the accessory device to be configured or controlled in an advanced manner using the touchscreen on the Android device. It could come in handy with A/V equipment which may need specific configuration and setup procedures or Blu-Ray players that may expose “second-screen” interactivity functionality on the handset.

Conclusion

At least, Google have integrated commonly-accepted open standards to add functionality to Android in a manner as to rival the established Apple mobile-device platform and stimulate a healthy competitive design environment.

The current situation

USB storage device types

Single-volume USB devices

Most USB memory keys and similar devices do present themselves to your computer as a single volume or “logical disk”. In Windows, this would be represented as one drive letter and volume name for the device and a Macintosh would show up one extra drive icon on the Desktop when you plug the device in. These devices do work well with specific-function USB host devices like printers or audio/video equipment.

Multiple-volume USB devices

Single USB socket on Kingston Wi-Drive to connect two logical volumes

But there are devices out there that don’t present themselves as a single logical volume. These can range from a memory key or external hard disk that has been formatted as two logical volumes to USB memory-card drives that have multiple slots for the different card types and devices that have fixed storage and a memory-card drive. It can also include mobile phones and MP3 players that have internal storage but also have a microSD card slot.

The former situation is best represented by the Kingston Wi-Drive which I just reviewed here. It presented itself as two logical volumes – one being a read-only volume for the Wi-Fi access point user interface and another for users to store their data at.

How different hosts handle multiple-volume USB devices

Regular computers

This class of device would show up as two or more different drive letters and volume names in Windows or show up as two or more drive icons on the Macintosh desktop. You may have to make sure each volume is safely dismounted in the operating system before you disconnect the device from the computer.

Specific-purpose devices

USB memory key used to play music in a NAD C446 Media Tuner

But an increasing number of specific-purpose devices are being equipped with USB ports for connecting USB storage devices to. This typically allows you to print documents or photos held on the USB storage device or play / show audio-video content through the screen and/or speakers attached to or integrated in the host device. Infact this setup is used in cars as a preferred alternative to the multi-disc CD stackers that used to exist in the boot (trunk) or dash.

Some devices even write to the USB storage device, typically to store configurations, recorded audio / video content or locally-cached BD-Live online data.

The main problem with these USB storage devices that present themselves as multiple logical volumes is that most of the specific-purpose devices cannot successfully mount the multiple-logical-volume devices at all.

Typically, they would give up the ghost at such attempts, as I noticed with the Kogan WiFi Digital Radio when I tried to connect the Kingston Wi-Drive which had some music on it to the radio. As well, the host-device manufacturers stipulate that you cannot try to use such storage devices with their devices. One person I talked to tonight mentioned that he had to be careful about how he formatted the USB memory key he used for storing music to play in his car’s stereo system.

What can be done

The idea of mounting multiple volumes of the common file systems could be investigated with these dedicated-purpose devices. Here, it could allow the volumes in the device to be presented as multiple “disks” if multiple suitable volumes exist. They could then be listed using a generic “USB+number” name for unlabelled volumes and the volume name for labelled volumes. Most applications would need to mount and use one volume at a time whereas some applications may allow for concurrent multiple-volume access.

The volume-selection option could be provided as part of selecting the files or folders to work with or, in the case of audio-video applications, the USB port used by the multi-volume storage device could be “split” as extra logical sources for each eligible volume.

Conclusion

This may require a small amount of extra code so that different volumes at a physical interface can be enumerated and made available but the idea of supporting multi-volume USB storage devices by dedicated-purpose host devices could be worth investigating.