The next advancement for the USB specification, first announced in January, has been certified by the USB 3.0 Promoter Group. The new specification, to be called “USB 3.1,” will double current maximum bandwidth to 10Gbps while maintaining the backward-compatibility that USB is known for. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group, which comprises representatives from HP, Intel, Microsoft, Renesas Electronics, ST-Ericsson, and Texas Instruments, made the announcement via press release (PDF) today. SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps uses a more efficient data encoding…
Apple Patent Application Describes Merging I/O Ports
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…
How to Create a USB or DVD Installer for OS X
UPDATE: Apple has changed the process for creating a USB installer with OS X Mavericks and the method below no longer works. For OS X Mavericks, see this updated process. With the release of OS X 10.7 Lion in 2011, Apple officially abandoned physical media for its operating system installations. Instead of a traditional disc, customers could now purchase and download OS X directly from the Mac App Store. This approach brought many benefits, such as not having to keep…