MagNeo is a "MagSafe" connector for USB Type-C

If you were a fan of Apple's MagSafe plug, you'll may want to check out this MagNeo magnetic plug for USB Type-C.

Apple to ditch "old" USB sockets on new MacBooks?

After removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7, it looks like Apple is about to do it again on its new MacBook line, removing the older USB sockets and relying just on the newer USB Type-C socket.

USB Killer is already being sold and will destroy nearly everything with a USB port

If you thought the worse that could happen when you plug in a USB pen into your computer was to risk a virus infection, you'll now have to take even greater precautions, as it might completely fry your computer (or any other device).

Cheap USB cable destroys Chromebook Pixel

Trying to save a few bucks can quickly destroy thousands, as a Google engineer recently found out while testing USB cables.

Sony combines dual-USB flash drive for PCs and smartphones

Do you remember when you had to lug around cases of floppy disks and CDs with your essential software and data? Probably not. Nowadays a single USB flash drive does the trick and it has become the most common device to transfer data around.

However, with the growing usage of mobile devices, the USB flash drive we so much love has now become nearly useless to transfer data between PCs and smartphones/tablets. That is... unless you use one of the curious dual-USB pen drives from Sony.

This "2-in-1" flash drive has both a regular USB connection as well as a micro USB plug hidden behind its cover. That means you can easily plug it into your PC; and then quickly detach it and connect it to your smarphone (using a File Manager app - or the one provided by Sony).

This USM-SA1 flash drive is available in 16 and 32GB versions and in different colors, and has a recommended price of €22 and €37 (in Europe).

USB will have reversible plug - like Apple's Lightining

Just admit it out loud: USB plugs are a pain to use. They might be ok if it's for something you connect only once (like a keyboard or mouse), but when you have to do it multiple times per day, like a USB memory sticks or a micro USB cable to charge your smartphone... Murphy's Law will ensure you'll try to push it thr wrong way 90% of the time, before reversing it and try the other way. Thankfully, it seems this will soon be a thing of the past, with the arrival of a new, reversible, USB plug.

Coming hand in hand with the new USB 3.1 revision, there will be a new USB Type-C plug - which willl allow us to simply plug it one way or the other (like the Lightning plug on Apple's devices). Yes, this will also mean you won't be able to use your existing cables and devices (though I'll assume there will be some kind of adapter available), but sometimes... it best just to assume there's no way to keep pushing forward without making a clean break with the past.

The only thing I'm worried about is if they don't thoroughly think about this new plug, and within a couple of years they'll once again be asking us to change to the new-new USB Type-D plug that will be "better/faster/easier" to use. If you're trying to do it right, then at least make it so we won't have to worry about new cables and plugs for the next decade.

Having said that... can't wait to finally get my hands on these new Type-C USB plugs, and laugh back at Murphy's face for not once again having to reverse a wrongfully placed plug. :)

USB Charger Monitor on Kickstarter

Not every USB charger is alike, nor are the USB cables we use to charge our portable devices. If you're wondering why sometimes you smartphone can be fully charged in under an hour and sometimes it takes "forever", you'll love to know you can figure it out using this small USB passthrough dongle that popped up on Kickstater: the Pratical Meter.

You just insert this dingle inbetween your USB cable and USB plug, and you'll be able to see how much "juice" is flowing.

In the case of an iPhone, the difference between having just a single led lighted up or all of them is the difference between charging it up in 1.5h... or having to wait 8h. But the best part is that you can use this power meter to measure any other kind of portable device using a USB charger.

For instance, if you're out on the woods relying on a solar USB charger, you'll be able to see at a glance if you're actually charging up your device.

For just $19 dollars, including a fast charge USB cable with miniUSB, microUSB, and Apple plug; there's not much to say against it. I've already backed up the project - now I just have to wait till September and hope they don't face any unexpected delays.

Powerless USB Cables

I've had a few issues with cables then and again, but this weekend I found myself getting to the bottom of an annoying issue I was suspecting.

Having to do a lot of reviews on my portuguese website "Aberto até de Madrugada" I usually prefer to use my own charger and micro USB cables to charge most devices - that way I won't have to deal with "which cable belongs to which box".

However, this past week I had a lot of devices coming in, and I had to use some "new" micro USB cable from the "cable drawer" that I had barely used before.

After leaving a smartphone and a tablet charging for a while, I noticed something odd... They were exactly at the same battery level they were in the first place! They were not charging at all!

At first I suspected it might be the power supply (although its rated at 2Amps)... but after a few experiments - and to cut a long story short - the problem was the cheap micro USB cables I was using!

To be absolutely sure, I even tried a Apple micro-USB adapter on those to try and charge an iPhone - and it  immediately complained "charging not supported on this device". Just by replacing the cable, everything charged as it should.

I didn't get to splice up the cables, but I suspect that if I do I'll find hair-thin conductor cables inside - with lots of plastic surrounding it, to make it appear "high-quality". And some friend have also reported that in some cases they noticed other cheap low cost USB cables getting really hot when trying to charge devices... which might become a real fire hazard in case they melt and/or short out.

So... next time you're considering buying those sub-$1 USB cables, you better think twice and see if it really worth the risk!

IsoStick - Optical Drive Emulator in a Pen Drive

It's not that hard to find great projects in KickStarter, a site that allows anyone to make their dream come true with the help of everyone. This IsoStick is one such project and will certainly appeal to everyone still lugging around boot CDs and DVDs.

Unlike the traditional "complexities" associated with booting ISOs from a USB drive, this IsoStick may look like a pen drive to you, but will be seen as a plain-old regular optical drive to your computer.

Better yet, you can copy multiple ISO files onto it, and you'll be presented with a ISO selection menu whenever you're booting from it.

It may not be cheap but... considering you've probably one of those guys/gals that spent well over $300 on your first CD-Rom Drive... it will help put this IsoStick cost into perspective, right? :)

SpinTrack Rotary Control with USB

For true hardcore fans, games like the mythic Arkanoid only makes sense when played with a rotary control like the one in the arcade machine. That's really the only these kind of games "were meant to be played!"

(Just like Missile Command only makes sense when played with a giant trackball! :)

If you're building or assembling your own arcade cabinet or classic game emulator, you can easily keep the original feeling by using one of these SpinTrack with USB.

Better yet, these kind of controllers will be quite useful not only for gaming, but for lots of other applications as well. Audio and video editing really can benefit from a rotary control as well.

So... if you ever come across a project where a "spinner" would come in handy, now you know how/where to get one.

USB Lego Minifigure

Although it's no shame to keep playing with LEGO at older ages (truth be told, I just wish I had the time to explore some of those amazing things you can do with Lego Technic), today I present you a safe way to carry an iconic classic Lego minifigure with you at all times - without causing awkward staring from your colleagues.

This small Lego minifigure is in fact a 2GB USB Flash Drive.

Sure, you could probably find a 8 or 16GB USB pen for the same price... But would that pen bring back all those nostalgic memories from yesteryears? :)

PIC24F with Ethernet, USB and SD

It's no secret most people will use an Arduino for their electronics project. But, it's no secret Microchip's PIC range of microcontrollers are also quite common and popular.
When you start toying around with it, sooner or later you'll be wishing for more... and that includes things like an SD card to load/store data; a USB port to interact with a PC; or even an ethernet connection for networking. So, I present you this WEBSD.

Some of thing you can do with it:

1. An Touch keyboard, usable as a standard USB keyboard.
2. A Video Game ( pong and snake games) , with TV output, and connection to a PC Keyboard ( the old PS/2 ) for control.
3. Picture frame,  reads pictures form the SD card and show them on the TV.
4. Controling a 5 volt LCD and some leds, with just 3 wires ( the MCU is 3.3V)
5. Web server, where you can see some status of the board as temperature, the position of a Pot and a Button,  control some leds and the LCD ( all this from the internet)

I'm sure you'll be able to come up with some pretty cool ideas of your own to take it even further.

USB Alert - Never Forget your Flash Pen Again

If you're like me, you've already lost a couple (or more) USB Flash Pens, by simply forgetting about them after you've attached to someone else's PC.

Well, if you're tired of repeating the same mistake, one solution can be this USB Alert.

This small program reminds you of any connected USB storage devices whenever you lock, loggoff or shutdown your PC.

Hopefully, that will be enough to keep you from leaving a USB pen filled with personal data laying around.

[via 4sysops]

iPad 3-in-1 Camera Connection Kit

No matter how useful your iPad might be, there are a lot of people that are constantly annoyed whenever they need to connect it to their cameras or USB, memory card devices..

Sure, you can (must) spend some extra dollars for Apple's own "Camera Connection Kit" to get USB and SD card connections.

But, what if you could use just a single adapter for both tasks, and even get a freebie microSD slot in there?

That's exactly what you get with this 3-em-1 USB, SD and microSD adapter for iPad.

Can be yours for $29.90 and will surely be a lot easier to carry around.

iPad USB Typewriter

For the most nostalgic among you, here's something you'll definitely love: the USB Typewriter!

Available in complete form or in kit, this allows you to bring your old typewrite skills back to life and hear its characteristic sound once again-
You can use it with any computer with an USB port... and even with an iPad, turning it into a virtual piece of paper.



Não sei porquê... mas assim de repente fiquei com uma vontade de "metralhar" numa destas velhas máquinas... Alguém tem uma para oferecer? :)

Panda USB Vaccine

As you're probably aware, virus and malware are a growing concern for many users.
You're using your computer just like on any other day... and then suddenly you notice weird popups and warning bugging you every few seconds.
Surprised, you start backtracking your actions... what did you do that might have caused this to happen?

... and then you realize... all you did was use a USB pen from a friend a while back...

Yes... in some cases that's all it takes. In its eagerness to make thing "easy" for users, Windows automatically executes some special files whenever you insert a new media device like a USB pen... and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that's one of the preferred methods for virus and malware to spread around like wildfire.


But here's a nice small (and free) tool that can help you with that: Panda USB Vaccine.

This util makes your USB Pens resistant to this type of attack, by creating a special - and safe- autorun file that can't be modified or deleted. Meaning... nothing else can use it for nefarious intent.

Sure, even though malware can't use the autorunfile doesn't mean you can't have other files on the pen infected - that's why you'll still need to use a up-to-date anti-virus program. But at least, it will help prevent it from spreading around using this autorun method.

Anti-Fail Flipper USB

Admit it: how many times have you failed in plugging a USB device because you're holding it the "wrong way"?

It just can't be helped, Murphy's laws dictate you'll invariably getting it wrong every single time you try it.

Unless... you're using one of these UltraTek USB Flipper sockets!

Basically, you get a doubled USB connector allowing to you plug a device any way you want it - it just works.
So simple that it every USB device should use the same concept from now on! :)

Belking Micro Auto USB Charger

I know there are lots of option when it comes to USB car chargers, but I'm sure you'll all agree this micro auto USB charger from Belkin to much more interesting than most.

You can get your own for $15 USD ($20 with an iPhone/iPod cable.)

There's also a buklier version with 2 USB ports, which might be more useful... but certianly won't look as good as this micro-sized one.

A-Data Dual SSD/HDD USB/SATA Enclosure

There's only one thing better than one SSD... two SSDs in Raid configuration.

And that's exactly what A-Data is doing with its new 3.5" enclosure box capable of using two 2.5" drives inside (either SSDs or traditional HDD) and making it a single RAID drive. 

You can then connect it to your PC via USB or Sata.

Thats a very good way to get rid of any surplus 2.5" notebook drives you may have laying around...

USB to NAS Adapter

This sure will come in handy.

This USB-NAS adapter from Addonics allows you to easily transform any external USB storage device into a NAS.

Meaning, you'll no longer need you PC turned on to share your external HDDs on your network. You just plug a couple of drives into your network and you'll have instant sharing throughout your house.

And best of all, it costs just $55 USD.