USB Duet connects UMPCs
PLX Technology thinks its newly unveiled USB Duet cabling technology is revolutionary because it allows UMPCs and other devices to quickly and easily establish XP/Vista PC-to-PC connections through a standard USB cable.
It’s certainly eye-catching to see the TufTab V7112XT UMPC appearing as a removable storage device when hooked up to an Xbox 360 and giving the console complete access to video files stored in its shared folder, but the USB Data Cable included with all Samsung Q1 UMPCs has been doing the peer-to-peer thing for more than a year already.
What Samsung’s cable can’t do, however, is what PLX has dubbed the EZ-Dock. Like its name implies, the EZ-Dock function enables a second PC to "dock" onto a UMPC and share a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. I can’t quite wrap my head around it yet, but I assume the technology includes a simple way to switch between machines to make the peripheral sharing useful.
I don’t know what any of this means, but maybe you do:
"USB Duet technology is based on the PLX NET2280, a programmable peripheral controller optimized for fast data transfer between the PCI and USB buses. Fully compliant with the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and PCI 3.0 specifications, and available in a small 8x8x1mm FPBGA package, the NET2280 is ideal as an interface for intelligent USB 2.0 peripherals using PCI as the internal or local bus."
I like that USB Duet doesn’t require a special cable, but how will users get the technology in the first place? The TufTab UMPC used in PLX’s demonstration at WinHEC 2007 was "enabled" with it, so it doesn’t appear to be as simple as, say, installing some software and then just reaching for a standard USB 2.0 cable.
Or does it?
[via Gadgetell]
