Finalized speedy USB 3.0 spec debuts
25GB in 70 seconds. That’s the torrid transfer rate consumers can expect with devices based on the USB 3.0 specification, which debuted Monday.
USB 3.0 SuperSpeed logo as shown at WinHEC 2008. As reported previously, the USB Promoter Group finalized the “SuperSpeed” USB 3.0 specification today and is doing a “comprehensive review” of the technology at a conference in San Jose, Calif.
Intel, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, and NEC are the leading players in the group.
Among the initial devices, external solid-state (flash) drives and hard drives are expected to be popular. “The first SuperSpeed USB devices will likely include data storage devices such as flash (solid-state drives), external hard drives, digital music players, and digitial cameras,” the group said.
Products aren’t coming until 2010, however. “It is anticipated that initial SuperSpeed USB discrete controllers will appear in the second half of 2009 and consumer products will appear in 2010,” according to the group.
“The USB 3.0 Promoter Group is now accepting adopters of the USB 3.0 specification, which has been finalized at the 1.0 level,” the group added.
As its name (SuperSpeed) implies, USB 3.0 is all about speed. About 10 times more speed, to be exact, than the 2.0 specification.
Here’s data from a slide that Microsoft showed at WinHEC 2008 on November 6:
Transfer of a 25GB HD movie:
* USB 1.0: 9.3 hours
* USB 2.0: 13.9 minutes
* USB 3.0: 70 seconds
But the new specification is a long time in coming. USB 2.0 was launched almost eight years ago. At WinHEC, Microsoft expressed caution about USB 3.0 because finalization has taken so long. Because of delays, “we’re challenged and we won’t have support for USB 3.0 in Windows 7 at RTM (release to manufacturing),” Lars Giusti of Microsoft said earlier this month.
“If you look at the USB 3.0 industry timelines and checkpoints, it really has been a very long, difficult and challenging three-year effort,” he added.
Currently, Microsoft is trying to figure out whether it should support USB 3.0 in Vista or just later operating systems.
Source: cnet
Left 4 dead Game review
Up until recently, multiplayer has carried with it the assumption that we just want to duke it out against our fellow gamers to prove our digital dominance. But at long last, the joys of co-operative multiplayer have made their mainstream surge in a variety of recent titles; including Red Alert 3, Call of Duty: World at War, Resistance 2 and of course, Left 4 Dead. As the game’s title (not so) cunningly suggests, the game revolves around a four player co-op experience.
For fans of B-grade zombie films this is a must-play if only for the myriad of genre in-jokes that infest the game more frequently than the hordes of zombies you must fight off. Make no mistake, Valve wants you to approach this game as if it’s the ultimate, interactive zombie film. When you start up a level you’re greeted with a movie poster that shows-off everything from production credits and lame tagline, to the player name’s and what character’s they are playing as. Whenever a campaign is completed credits roll and begin with a dedication to whatever players didn’t escape the chapter. Right from the get-go Valve has you feeling like part of the whole experience and it doesn’t slow down.full review
The Best Undiscovered Playstation 2 (PS2) Games
f you’ve played all the blockbuster games on the PS2 (or PS3) already and need to dig into the lesser-known-but-equally-exciting games, this is the guide for you. I’ve had long discussions with many experienced PS2 owners in order to determine a list of all the best PS2 games that most people haven’t played (or possibly even heard of). Much like previous entries in the Hidden Gems series, this guide is divided up by genre to help you find games that suit your tastes.
Since the PS2 library is so immense and filled with so many wonderful titles (and also has had a lot of exposure over the years), I wanted to get more particular about which games I include in this Hidden Gems feature. If I were to have compiled this a year or two ago, you would have seen a number of titles that have since gained popularity and edged into mainstream. The games I’m thinking of include Katamari Damacy, Shadow of the Colossus, the Viewtiful Joe Series, Disgea, Okami, Odin Sphere, Guilty Gear, Beyond Good & Evil, and Rez. So when you notice I don’t list these games below, you’ll know why. Instead I hope you find a number of games that you haven’t heard of (or at least not much) that catch your eye and eventually provide you with hours of enjoyment.. full article
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