The dio Naked Reversible USB cables

May 20, 2015 | Comment

Reversible USB cables are, it seems, a lot like buses – you don’t see any for ages and then two come along in quick succession. Just last month I wrote about the Belaycord and now here is the dio Naked from moopti.

Like Belaycord this is also being offered through a Kickstarter campaign and as of writing there are just over two days before that closes. Rather than have to wait for mine to arrive (I have backed the project) moopti kindly sent me a sample to review which arrived today.

The first thing you notice is how well the … Read the rest

Belaycords Reversible USB Lightning Cable

April 6, 2015 | Comment

My Belaycords Reversible USB Lightning Cable arrived this morning and I’m pretty impressed and also left with the question why hasn’t this been done much, much sooner.

USB connectors have had one major problem (until the USB C arrived) in that they had to be inserted the right way round and when you were most likely to be doing that round the back of a PC in a dark corner it was bound to lead to frustration. It seemed that you had a 50/50 chance of getting it right but ended up always 100% wrong!

The Belaycord overcomes that … Read the rest

Apple Branded USB Stick

June 19, 2012 | Comment

I recently wiped my MacBook Air and restored it to factory settings, a process that was necessary but added a few grey hairs to my head.

Delivered with my MacBook Air was a neat little USB stick that contained a recovery image for Snow Leopard, however, this was superseded with the introduction of Lion that creates a recovery partition on the hard drive itself. So I did the restore entirely from this recovery partition, at least that was the theory, something and I am still not clear what, went awry in the process and Internet Recovery kicked in. This simply … Read the rest

My “other” USB Key

October 7, 2009 | Comment

Following on from yesterdays post the above is what I carried around before the “Key” key.

While it did have the advantage of being credit card sized and so would fit into my pocket and did have some sort of geeky street cred (or so I like to think), it was when I pulled it out at a business meeting that eyebrows were raised.

I can’t quite give up my Tardis USB key just like it would be difficult to give up my Tardis 4-port hub…… Read the rest

USB Key Key

October 6, 2009 | Comment

Yes it looks like an ordinary house key (well if you don’t look too closely) but in fact it is a USB memory stick cleverly disguised to look like a house key.

I don’t often have call for a memory stick these days but when you need one they are invaluable and to have one always around without having to dig into your gadget bag only to find you have left it at home would be great.

In the past I have tried to attach memory sticks to my key ring but they always broke off due to having weedy … Read the rest

FREETALK Everyman USB Headset for Skype

August 10, 2009 | 2 comments

I have found myself using Skype more and more recently, particularly since some good friends have moved to Australia.

Over the years I have used a number of ways to make Skype calls. I have used the speaker and microphone on my netbook, a VoIPVoice Cyberphone-w handset and a Polycom Communicator.

The laptop only experience is ok but the sound is very tinny. The Cyberphone and the Communicator are both excellent devices but I don’t like holding the handset on long calls, particularly when they are video too and the communicator is really better suited for conference calls and … Read the rest