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Oculus explains how room-scale VR taxes your USB ports
We've been dealing with USB for about two decades now, and to be honest, we're not usually asking that much from it. Plug in an adapter, microphone or game controller, then keep it moving. All of that changes, however, when it comes to virtual reality. As Oculus explains, plugging in a bunch of room scale sensors sends enough data through the ports to potentially overwhelm the 400MB/s capacity of the controller chip on your motherboard. Because of this, the answer isn't to simply plug in a hub and get more high-speed USB 3.0 ports, in fact, Oculus says you should probably get good results by using two USB 3.0 connections, plus one older USB 2.0 port if you need to go beyond two sensors to get some more mobility in your VR experiences. The blog is currently helping gamers get through the setup process, so go ahead and check out all of the posts to make sure everything is positioned and working correctly.
Intel may finally be ready to embrace USB 3.0
It's September so that can mean only one thing in Intel land: IDF. The second of this year's Intel Developer Forums is this year preceded by speculation that the big blue giant's next motherboard reference design -- codenamed Cougar Point -- will include USB 3.0 support. Intel's relationship with the 3.0 interconnect standard can at best be described as strained, but motherboard and laptop makers haven't shied from integrating it into their wares and as the number of devices supporting SuperSpeed increases, it's becoming somewhat inevitable that Intel would have to play ball as well. At least until Light Peak shines its "instant obsolescence" ray onto USB cables next year. Then again, bear in mind China's Commercial Times has been wrong before, so let's not credit this as fact until someone with a blue name badge tells us so.
First USB 3.0 product gets certified, floodgates get closer to breaking
You heard it here first, folks: SuperSpeed USB is a reality. 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. And hey, for those who know a thing or two about building a product to spec, having a legitimate host controller could sure come in handy. We spoke to Jeff Ravencraft, president and chairman of the USB-IF (the group that oversees certification and the like), and he stated that (officially) the group is still anticipating end products to hit shelves in early 2010. That said, this here host controller is available now in the open market, and he did confess that a number of manufacturers would likely try to get USB 3.0-equipped wares onto store shelves before that magical day in December.He also noted that a smattering of companies would be showcasing USB 3.0 gear at upcoming trade shows, with 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 making a stop at IDF later this week. Aside from the aforesaid ExpressCard adapter -- which will let existing lappies enjoy the spoils of SuperSpeed USB -- he also noted that a PCI card would be available for desktop users looking to add a few sockets to their rig. We were also informed that USB 3.0 receptor ports will play nice with USB 2.0 cables and gadgets, albeit at USB 2.0 speed; additionally, USB 3.0 wares will be able to connect via older USB 2.0 sockets, though again at a slower rate. We've got to say, the dual-backwards compatibility is pretty sweet.We also asked him about cabling and the general market transition to USB 3.0, and he did note that USB 3.0 cables will be physically different inside. In other words, a USB 2.0 cable cannot carry data at USB 3.0 speeds, end of story. To enjoy USB 3.0, you'll need a USB 3.0 receptor port, a USB 3.0 cable and a USB 3.0 product; if you swap any of those pieces with USB 2.0, everything slows to USB 2.0 rates. Jeff also noted that the USB-IF would be coordinating the release of end products and cables, and he even said that older USB protocols may actually never completely fade from the market. After all, wireless keyboards would never need USB 3.0 speeds unless some sort of display were integrated, and particularly in cheaper products, using an older USB chipset could help keep costs down and MSRPs lower. So yeah, USB 3.0 is officially here, but the public can't play with any USB 3.0 gear just yet. But if our hunches are correct, we'd bet on at least one or two big players pushing out SuperSpeed-packin' wares before the year ends.
NEC produces Wireless USB host controller, on the hunt for end products
Oh sure, Wireless USB products are out there, but they're pretty far out there. We're talking deep back shelf type stuff. NEC Electronics is hoping to get the cord-free version of the well known peripheral standard into more and more gizmos by cranking out the uPD720171 Wireless USB host controller. The unit was designed with the PCI Express bus interface in mind, and it can also provide laptops with connectivity via the ExpressCard slot. The company claims that the $10 device can handle transfers up to 480Mbps within a range of three meters, but you'll be waiting a little while yet before testing out said claim in a finalized product.[Via SlashGear]
NVIDIA and friends working on alternate USB 3.0 spec, SiS joins in, Intel uninvited from everybody's birthday parties
Remember middle school? These guys do. NVIDIA, AMD, VIA and now SiS (only two capital letters? Not trying hard enough) have all teamed up in a fight against Intel of truly pubescent proportions. Intel has denied accusations of hiding the USB 3.0 spec, since it's not their spec to hide, and claims it has no obligation to disclose its actual host controller specification before it's ready. This apparently has the other chip makers scrambling to make their own host controller, so they aren't beholden to Intel's schedule. That could cause problems for the end product -- if they don't build theirs exactly like Intel's, and with Intel's already being on the market by the time they're done, they'll have to return to the drawing board and possibly delay their release by nine months. They claim this could give Intel two years of zero competition in the USB 3.0 space, but Intel figures since it plans to release the spec for free, is investing heavily in its development, and isn't done yet anyways, it doesn't owe those companies a thing. This just gets better and better.
