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Texas Instruments just put a chip through the heart of Intel’s Thunderbolt folly with their new HD3SS2521 DockPort controller. This little $1.85 chip both vastly simplifies the user experience and shines a harsh light on what Intel can’t do with a closed and 75x more expensive solution. If you haven’t been paying attention, DockPort is the sane and open answer to Intel’s still broken and anti-user Light Peak/Thunderbolt interface. Formerly called Lightning Bolt, DockPort was AMD’s answer to the non-solution that Intel tried to spin Thunderbolt as. Several years in Thunderbolt is achieving some of the features promised at release...

This is a test. A test of the brilliance, perseverance and perspicacity of the tech gurus here on FR. Whoever gets me working again will get a $20 donation to FR in his/her name. I have a box I built about two years ago that has Windows XP SP3 on it.I used to be able to hook up my Canon ZR80 camcorder to it and capture video. I have used Pinnacle's Studio 9 and also Windows Movie Maker.I haven't tried to capture video in a while and yesterday, well, you guessed it. It wouldn't work. My PC will not detect...

After waiting around for what feels like ages, USB 3.0 can now say it has its first certified product in NEC's xHCI host controller. We know this may not be the most exciting first product to get the all-important seal of approval, but you've got to start somewhere... a number of manufacturers would likely try to get USB 3.0-equipped wares onto store shelves before that magical day in December... a Buffalo external hard drive, an ExpressCard-to-USB 3.0 adapter and even a full-on laptop with a functioning USB 3.0 port... USB 3.0 wares will be able to connect via older USB...

Pros: Beautiful looks, great screen, innovative touchpad, lightCons: Expensive, no expansion, sealed batteryBuying advice: Apple has cut a lot of corners to meet its goal of the thinnest laptop. If you don't mind paying a high price (as usual bulked up further in the UK) and living without no CD drive and only one USB slot, then go right ahead. Apple Macbook Air With various rumour sites predicting a subnotebook Macintosh for weeks - and months in some cases - it didn't come as a surprise when Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the company's new super-svelte laptop at his Macworld...

The IEEE 1394 Trade Association has announced a new FireWire specification that the group claims is capable of delivering up to 3.2Gb per second of throughput. The new interface (officially known as S3200) is directly based upon the 1394b/FireWire 800 standard and uses the same physical connectors, arbitration, and protocols as its predecessor. In theory, this should allow vendors to roll out S3200-capable silicon in a very short amount of time. (As a clarifying point, please note that while 1394a and 1394b are largely considered synonymous with FireWire 400 and FireWire 800, the terms 1394c and S3200 refer to two...

Intel's USB 3.0 is set to come on stream and the new standard promises to deliver up to 4.8Gb per second, as Techworld reports. This makes USB 3.0 ten times faster than 480Mb/ps USB 2.0. USB 3.0 also dwarfs FireWire 400 and 800 speeds - it even outpaces the mooted, but stillborn (at present) FireWire 1600 and 3200 standards, that have been in the works for some time. FireWire does have advantages as a peer-to-peer networking protocol, which supports IP, for example. It can also talk directly to devices like digital video cameras. But USB and FireWire connectivity is used...

I need to transfer all my stuff from my Mac Mini to another, newer Mini so that I can pass mine on to a friend. My son, who knows how to do these things, lives in Hawaii and just had his cell phone stolen, so I can't go to him for help. I know to buy a Firewire cable, and I will do so today. Can anyone tell me what are the steps to do this? I just switched to Mac last year, so go slow with me. :D Feel free to PM me if you'd rather, or we can...

What's the best way to connect peripherals? USB 2.0 or Firewire? Which connection method is more frequently used in connecting devices to a computer? Recommendations, please. Thanks.

I'm looking for a DVD/VCR combo with Firewire. Not a computer peripheral, but a stand alone unit. Does anything like this exist? All I've been able to find with Firewire is a dual deck VCR.