Universally Known as the USB

The Universal Serial Bus is one of the most well known and most universal device in the computing world. Almost all of our gadgets have some kind of a USB built in, whether it be the charger we have on our smartphones or our own portable flash drive.

The development of the USB started in the early 90s when the USB 1.0 was released. There were two types, the low speed (1.5 Mbps) or the high speed (12 Mbps). Respectively, these were powerful speeds at the time but were not enough. So, the collective group of computing powerhouses that were developing this next generation standard – IBM, DEC, Microsoft, Intel, NEC and Nortel – went back to work to finish the USB 1.1 Full Speed. The only difference this version had was support and compatibility. Microsoft was very friendly with the current technology and continued to work with it.

By the end of 2001, a group called USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) released the USB 2.0 which is 40x faster than the previous version, the USB 1.1 Full Speed (12 Mbps -> 480 Mbps). It was originally named as the High Speed USB but later was renamed to Hi-Speed USB. The Mini-A and Mini-B connectors are introduced and expanded the abilities of the USB. Many features were created to truly improve the use of the USB such as On-The-Go USB and our useful Battery Charging Spec. which lets your device to be charged into a power plug. Cellphone companies took advantage of this because with such a smal form factor, it definitely helped them decrease the size of their phones (and for some reason, phones are just getting bigger nowadays).  From then on, the USB just took over. Eventually, the USB will become so universal (my last joke, I promise) that the CDs that we have will be obsolete. Imagine buying a video game that’s on a USB! USB 2.0 is still used today in almost 10 billion products and that doesn’t count a billion of smartphones and USB flash drives that almost everyone owns.

Now, the USB 3.0 has entered the game. At approximately 5 Gbps, this is at its finest! One noticeable difference between the USB 2.0 and 3.0 is the port colour. It is blue, which differentiates your USB version (go ahead, take a look at your USB drives). It began on September 2007 when Intel, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, NXP, Texas Instruments and Semiconductors started working on the next-gen USB. By November 2008, they released the 1.0 version. By then, the USB-IF took care of the other business. In 2012, processor companies (Intel and AMD) fully integrated their support for the SuperSpeed USB. Right now, the USB-IF is planning to finish the job by increasing its power to 10 Gbps! 

The USB is universally known. It will surely continue to improve from its older versions. All we need to do now is wait for it.

Keep Chewing!

XBOX One vs PS4 – Specifications

This is a three part series on the XBOX One and PS4. Part 1 will be Specifications, Part 2 will be Features and Part 3 will be Games.

A new generation of gaming consoles have been revealed this year. Sony revealed the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft revealed the XBOX One. Both are huge upgrades compared to their predecessors, but only one can achieve true greatness. Which one will it be?

Before entering this very sensitive topic, I must say that I will do my best to be as unbiased as possible considering I am a one sided PS3 gamer.

Part One: SPECIFICATIONS

Let’s take a look at the specifications.

XBOX One

The XBOX One holds an 8 Core MS custom processor with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM. It also has a 500 GB Hard Drive. The 802.11n Wireless with WiFi Direct is a standard. There is no information on what their GPU is, although a Microsoft rep has told IGN “AMD is our primary partner for the custom silicon that makes up our GPU/CPU SOC that is the heart of the XBOX One.”(Source: IGN)

They also include their typical cross game chat (party chat) that came along with the XBOX 360. With the new USB standards, built in USB 3.0 ports are a must for the system. It has a Blu-ray and DVD drive. Lastly, it has your typical HDMI input and output port that supports 4K and of course your good old optical output.

PlayStation 4

The PS4 boasts the 8 Core AMD Jaguar with 8 GB of DDR5 RAM. The PS4 also has 500 GB of HDD storage. It has a different networking hardware: IEEE 802.11 b/g/n. The GPU is an AMD next-gen Radeon based graphics card/engine.

It has two built in USB 3.0 ports, an auxiliary port, an HDMI port and an optical port.

Processing Factor

Recently, XBOX Product Planning Executive Albert Penello said that comparing specifications is meaningless. “It’s not going to matter,” he says. He also mentioned the generation of gaming when 16 bit and 32 bit battled. Surely, in that time, there was a huge difference. I beg to differ, Microsoft.

I found this video by WoodysGamertag to be very informative. It compares the processing power between the PS4 and XBOX One.

For now, I must say that the PS4 is taking the lead with specifications. It holds true to being slightly more powerful than the XBOX One (based on CPU and GPU power).

All specifications are subject to change.

From Sand to Silicon

Let me establish my feelings for Intel. This should sum it up.

While looking through some YouTube videos, I found this Intel video about microchips. I really enjoyed this video because of the way they showed how they are made and what they do with it. Intel is pretty good with this stuff, especially showing off their products. Take a look at the Silicon Photonics video that I featured a while ago. It shows off 128 GIGABITS! Amazing!

Here’s the video!

My HP Pavilion M6

This is REV TECH! This time, it’s about my HP Pavilion M6.

Specifications

Name: Hannah Patricia – HP Pavilion M6
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor: AMD A8 4500M APU @ 2.2 GHz with AMD Radeon Dedicated Graphics (1GB)
RAM: 8GB

Pretty good right? It comes with HP CoolSense engineering so that the airflow within the system is smooth, thus making it cooler in any situation. This allows me to game for hours and not worry about the heat hurting my processor and motherboard.

The on-board RAM is great! It works well with my gaming and surfing the internet. The processor is pretty good overclocked at 2.2 GHz. The AMD Radeon Dedicated Graphics is awesome. The video is smooth and sleek.

It also has Beats Audio built in for maximum music power usage! I love the audio on this thing although I only have my JVCs.

With its sleek design, its beautiful to look at. At first, it does look like a Macbook, but it’s better than that. Ten times and more.

*I understand that this one has an Intel processor. No difference whatsoever.

The laptop also came with Adobe Premiere and Adobe Photoshop. It was a bonus! The graphics support these programs very well and rarely freezes.

With the power A8 processor, the built in dedicated graphics, sleek design, Beats Audio and free Adobe editing software, this one is a keeper!

FINAL VERDICT: 8.7 out of 10

A great laptop overall. Worth the buy at $749! Awesome right?

Keep Chewing!

Intel’s New Baby

For some who do not know, Intel has a new baby: Project Haswell.

While scrolling to find a good Chewy for this week, I found this great laptop from Lenovo. It’s an IdeaPad with a built in Haswell processor.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y410P

Now, considering this is some serious competition, I need to know how is AMD going to retaliate. I want to see their new processor, considering I support them very much. I still enjoy Intel, but I’m an AMD guy.

Hopefully, AMD reveals something. They need it now more than ever. It’s a big waiting game for Intel and AMD, but most importantly, for the hardcore PC users.

Keep Chewing!