Skip to main content

Universal Serial Bus

See All Stories

Google engineer’s testing of USB-C cables ends as bad cable fries his Chromebook & test kit

Site default logo image

Update: Leung has resumed testing with a repaired test device, but for now can only weed out bad cables for now as he still doesn’t have a working Chromebook.

Google engineer Benson Leung was doing a great job at distinguishing the good, the bad and the ugly where USB Type-C cables are concerned, exposing ones that failed to meet the proper specs as well as others that were just plain dangerous.

Unfortunately his testing has now come to an abrupt end as one particularly bad cable resulted in significant damage to both his Chromebook Pixel and the USB PD sniffer devices he was using …


Expand
Expanding
Close

Best Black Friday Google Deals: Chromecasts $24, 13″ Chromebooks: $150, Nest, Wear Watches and lots of Android

Site default logo image

9to5Toys is rustling up the best deals around the web for Black Friday and there are a lot of nice bargains for Google fans. Google Play’s Store deals are now live but they are matched and often surpassed by retailers such as Amazon and eBay…

First up, you need to make sure every HDTV in your love ones house has a Chromecast. Currently $24 at Amazon and $23 at NewEgg, you can venture into a Staples and get one for $25 then use  with a 25% off printable coupon to get it to $18. Costco will also give you a $10 Google Play card and charge you $25. You’ll get 2 months of Hulu and 3 months of Google Play with every Chromecast purchased.

Next, you’ll want to make sure you have yourself a Chromebook and Google is hooking up all new Chromebook users with 1TB of Storage for 2 years ($240 value)

Adorama’s ebay store has the below Asus 13-inch Chromebook with Gigabit wifi for $150. Specs:

  • 10 Hours Incredible Battery Life.
  • Gigabit Dual-Band 802.11AC ultra-fast Wi-Fi.
  • Intel Dual-Core 2.16 GHz Processor with 2 GB RAM.
  • 13.3″ HD LED Display. HD Webcam.
  • USB 3.0, USB 2.0, HDMI, SD Card Reader, & Bluetooth 4.0.
  • 16 GB local flash storage, 100 GB Google Drive storage for 2 years.

Amazon has the Haswell Acer Chromebook C720 for $149.99 shipped at Amazon or at Best Buy.  That is the best price we’ve seen on a new Chromebook.

Amazon also has an HP Chromebook for $149.99 shipped. This one comes with a USB charging and a nice slim design and a screen that gets great reviews. Specs:

  • Samsung Exynos 5 Processor 1.7 GHz
  • 2 GB DDR3L SDRAM 16 GB Solid-State Drive
  • 11.6-Inch Screen, Chrome OS, 6.25-hour battery life

Need something bigger?

Acer’s new 13-inch Chromebooks are just $169.99 (an impressive $80 or 32% off). Available in 3 colors.

Need a Wear Watch? It will be hard to beat LG’s G Watch dropping down to $99 but all Google Play watches will get a $50 Google Play Credit when purchased from the Play Store today.

Android and Nest deals are below:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Toshiba introduces 13.3-inch 1080P Chromebook 2 with 11.5 hour battery life, 4GB RAM and Skullcandy speakers

Site default logo image

 

Toshiba upped its already solid Chromebook game today with the aptly-named Chromebook 2 laptop. With an optional 1920×1080 pixel display, Haswell processor, 4GB of RAM, HDMI AV out and AC/Bluetooth 4 wireless, it ticks most of the boxes on what you’d want on a high end laptop. It even claims 11.5 hour battery life and new forward facing speakers designed with help from Skullcandy.

It comes in starting at $249 for the 720P 16 Model and is set for release on Oct. 5

Spec sheet follows:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Acer announces $179 Chromebox appendage, launching late Sep in U.S. and Canada

Site default logo image

Some of us are old enough to remember when desktop computers were large towers that you stored under your desk; these days, you can hide the desktop PC behind your monitor.

Acer has today announced a new Chromebox based on its C7 series Chromebook, the Chromebox CXI. The compact format makes it suitable for mounting on a monitor stand … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Moto 360 wireless charging dock revealed, serves as bedside clock

Site default logo image

This is what the Moto 360 wireless charging dock looks like, according to Italian site Gadget.net – and it certainly looks persuasively real. Assuming you can choose to show the time as well as the charge state, the dock effectively turns the smartwatch into a bedside clock while it’s charging overnight.

The blue circle around the outside of the watch face shows the charge level. Looking at the rear of the dock, we can’t see any detail, but it’s likely that it’s some kind of USB connector … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Review: Is Amazon’s Fire TV the Android gaming machine you’ve been waiting for? (Video)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DfrPAAaSLU]

Amazon’s new Fire TV set-top box may seem like every other solution on the market, but there’s one big difference. Fire TV has built-in gaming features that will allow you to play compatible Android games that are available within Amazon’s app store. The bad news is, if you’ve previously purchased any of the compatible titles from the Google Play Store, you’ll need to repurchase them from Amazon. Check out the video overview above for an overview and demo of Fire TV gaming.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Ice Cream Sandwich ported to the Droid Bionic in alpha build

Site default logo image

A faithful developer on the DroidForums has ported Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to the Droid Bionic. The Ice Cream Sandwich port is based off Cyanogenmod 9 that was also used in the Ice Cream Sandwich port to the Kindle Fire and more. As of today all seems to be working well and dandy in this alpha, except 3G/4G data, camera, and stable USB mounting support. This might be worth checking out if you are daring, or in the mean time, you can wait for the official release by Motorola in early 2012. For those interested in installing, hit up the DroidForums for the full list of details.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Sony GoogleTV/BluRay for $180 + Free shipping

Site default logo image

From 9to5toys.com:

PC Connection Express offers the Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player with Google TV, model no. NSZ-GT1, for $199.99. Coupon code “Deal10Blu” cuts it to $179.99. With free shipping, that’s $20 under our mention from two weeks ago and the lowest total price we could find by $9, although most merchants charge $200 or more. It features support for the Android-based Google TV service, 1080p upscaling, 8GB of built-in storage, 802.11n wireless and Ethernet connectivity, four USB ports, HDMI output, and more. This device is currently being updated to the new GoogleTV 2.0 with Apps and more.


Expand
Expanding
Close

AT&T’s flagship Android, the Atrix goes free

Site default logo image

As far as AT&T is concerned, the Atrix is about the best Android Smartphone you’ll find (no disrespect to the monsters Infuse and Inspire).  In my February Fortune Review I called it the new”King of the Androids” for its qHD display and dual core processor while still being smaller than a Galaxy S.  A lot has happened since then

Today, 9to5toys.com posts one heck of a deal:

With activation of a new 2-year contract, Amazon Wireless offers the Motorola Atrix 4G Smartphone for AT&T Wireless for 1 cent with free shipping. That’s $50 under our April mention and the lowest total price we’ve seen for this phone. (It’s also a current price low by $100.) Sales tax is added where applicable. Features include a 4″ 960×540 color touchscreen, 1GHz dual-core processor, 5-megapixel camera, 720p video capture, microSD card slot, 16GB internal memory, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, Adobe Flash 10, USB 2.0 connectivity, and Android 2.2 OS (FroYo). A $36 activation fee applies.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Original Android Phone, HTC G1, new in box: $138

Site default logo image

From 9to5toys.com:

The original G1 Android phone just hit Heights via Ebay for $137.95 new in the box without a contract. While Google and T-Mobile have long left the G1 off their update lists, the folks in the mod community have it running Gingerbread with many of the fixings.

The T-Mobile G1 weighs 5.6-oz. and features a 480×320 touchscreen LCD, 3.2-megapixel digital camera, QWERTY-style keyboard, 3G support, Wi-Fi, One-Touch Google Search, Bluetooth 1.2, microSD slot, USB connectivity, and Android OS.

A new G1 in the box could also make a keepsake for the nostalgic Android fan.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Motorola XOOM 32GB WiFi Android Tablet: $500

Site default logo image

Update: Ended

From 9to5toys.com

Today only, until 4 pm ET, MacMall via eBay Daily Deal offers the Motorola Xoom 32GB WiFi Tablet with Google Android 3.0, model no. 00001NARGNLX, for $499.99 with free shipping. That’s $73 under our mention from two weeks ago and the lowest total price we’ve ever seen for this tablet by $31. (It’s also a current price low by $73.) This 0.51″-thick tablet weighs 1.6 lbs. and features an NVIDIA Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor, 10.1″ 1200×800 touchscreen LCD display, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, front and rear cameras, accelerometer, gyroscope, microSD card slot, up to 10 hours of battery life, micro USB and HDMI connectivity, Android 3.0 Honeycomb, and more.

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications