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Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

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Re: Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

#31

Post by AceJohnny2 »

guelo wrote: post #28

Good to see the little teeth on the plug are gone, they were the main failure mode for micro-usb cables.

That was their purpose. It was either that or put the teeth in the female port, on your expensive device and impossible to replace when (not if) they broke down. Put them on the cheap and easily replacable cable was a wise design decision.

http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/18552/why-was...

Having no info on the mechanical properties of the Type C connector, I'm curious (and a bit skeptical) about how that'll live on.

Re: Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

#32

Post by desdiv »

pyre wrote: post #27
stormbrew wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> to things like Magsafe on the MacBooks Unfortunately, the owner of patents on magsafe is unlikely to allow that to happen.

The patent could probably be challenged. Magnetic power connectors existed prior to MagSafe (e.g. you don't want hot oil from your deep fryer to spill on you if you trip over the cord), so the patents seem more like those "X but on a computer "-type patents.

I fully agree with you that the MagSafe utility patent is a paper tiger, but unfortunately in this case Apple still hold a design patent on the general MagSafe connector shape[0]. So anyone is free to make their own magnetic power connectors, it just can't have five pins in a line that matches the exact sizes that Apple has chosen.

[0] http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2012/12/apple-wi...

Re: Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

#33

Post by 300bps »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #14
doczoidberg wrote: post #5

Even better than USB 3.1 is Wigig and wireless charging. Broadwell does support Wigig. Where are the Wigig docking stations now?

Wireless charging is pretty lame in that it only works I suspect Wigig will be as popular as WiDi, another Intel wireless technology: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiDi Keep in mind how long it took Bluetooth to really take off and work reasonably well between devices (4.0 IMO): http://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/History-of-Bluetooth.aspx (Bluetooth is 15 years old). I remember having a Nokia 6600 back in 2003, with a S…

Wireless charging is pretty lame

I've had a Lumia 928 for about 19 months now and I have to disagree. I haven't plugged the phone in - to anything - since I bought it. I find just thunking the phone down onto the Qi charger much more convenient than fiddling with cables. Some day we'll look back on wires in general and laugh at how primitive we were.

Re: Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

#35

Post by Synaesthesia »

valarauca1 wrote: post #18
baldfat wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Latest rumor is Apple's Air is going to have only one USB 3.1 port for everything. http://9to5mac.com/2015/01/06/macbook-air-12-inch-redesign/ No maglock power supply, no display port, just the one port.

Its kinda limiting. That's means I have to lug a hub around with me at all times, a spare port would be nice for phone charging, usb drives, etc.

Shades of the original iMac, which ditched everything in favour of just USB.

Re: Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

#36

Post by baldfat »

valarauca1 wrote: post #18
baldfat wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Latest rumor is Apple's Air is going to have only one USB 3.1 port for everything. http://9to5mac.com/2015/01/06/macbook-air-12-inch-redesign/ No maglock power supply, no display port, just the one port.

Its kinda limiting. That's means I have to lug a hub around with me at all times, a spare port would be nice for phone charging, usb drives, etc.

Steve Jobs is smiling from wherever. The more things removed the better for him. Personally I never have owned a laptop and still love my mouse, keyboard and three monitors.

Re: Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

#37

Post by post_break »

pdpi wrote: post #9
deskpro wrote: post #7

What I'm excited about here is monitor hubs. You plug your monitor into a power socket, and peripherals into the monitor's USB ports. You arrive at work, and only need to plug your laptop into the monitor. The monitor hub sends power and data from peripherals to your laptop. Your laptop sends video to the monitor all through the same cable.

Yeah, that's basically what Apple offers today on their thunderbolt monitors (except those still need a separate power cable). Hopefully we'll actually see a wider adoption of the concept once it's on commodity USB-C instead of the massively expensive thunderbolt.

Only problem I've seen is that the thunderbolt hubs cost over $200, plus the cost of the cable. And even then they only have a few ports.

Re: Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

#38

Post by baldfat »

fuzzywalrus wrote: post #12
Someone1234 wrote: post #2

If laptops can charge via USB, international travel will be so much nicer. USB has already made international travel much better (thanks to 90% of your key electronics being USB, and international USB adapters being cheap and reliable, or heck just buy a local one in each country, they're $5/each). Most laptops have a "brick" which works in most countries, but you still need to find the correct local cable or have an…

I'd like to see an interim conversion adopted for charging from USB3.1 to things like Magsafe on the MacBooks. In the dark days of laptops, stepping on the power cable could end your laptop, USB 3.1 looks like it'd be a return to that if used as a primary charging source. Other than that, USB3.1 looks fantastic. Thunderbolt 1.0 speeds, big power, and much better connector.

Also the makers of magsafe are possibly ditching it for usb 3.1 if the latest macbook air rumors are true.

http://9to5mac.com/2015/01/06/macbook-air-12-inch-redesign/

Re: Reversible USB Type C connector and 10 gigabit USB 3.1 are here

#39

Post by pgeorgi »

stormbrew wrote: post #30
pyre wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The patent could probably be challenged. Magnetic power connectors existed prior to MagSafe (e.g. you don't want hot oil from your deep fryer to spill on you if you trip over the cord), so the patents seem more like those "X but on a computer "-type patents.

Oh I agree, the patents are ridiculous, but I think if any of the big manufacturers were willing to make a go of it, they'd have done it by now. That said, I think the specific innovation they rest their patent on is that it can be inverted. Under current patent doctrine that might be enough, and I suspect people wouldn't be very happy with a non-invertable magsafe-like.

Make it a triangle that can be plugged in in any _three_ directions.
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