Apple is pursuing new technologies that would allow the company to combine multiple interfaces, such as USB and SD Card, into a single port, according to a U.S. patent application published Thursday and noted by AppleInsider. The Apple patent application, filed December 23, 2011, is titled “Combined Input Port” and describes a unique port that can receive “different types of connectors, memory cards, or plugs.” The application’s images focus on the combination of a USB type A connector and SD…
Professional and amateur photographers alike have long been faced with the fact that the speed of flash memory cards has outpaced the commonly available means of copying the data contained on those cards to their computers. Until only recently, Secure Digital (SD) or CompactFlash (CF) card readers were primarily based on USB 2.0 or FireWire interfaces. Now, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt-based options have reached consumers at reasonable prices, and today we’ll take a look at one: the $17.99 Anker Uspeed…