You’d be hard-pressed to find a piece of technology as ubiquitous as the USB (universal serial bus) cables/connectors. Whether you’re a casual tech user or a career professional, this has provided a versatile, durable, and reliable option for data transfer to help connect computers to peripherals. In fact, there are over 10 billion USB products in the install base, with 3 billion USB products being shipped per year. Equally important is the role that USB plays in providing power to connected devices. A historical look at USB shows how the technology has grown to become so commonplace, as well as the pain points that power innovations like USB-C. So, from the origins of the technology to USB Type-C, here’s a walkthrough for you.

USB Historically

The origins of USB as we know it begins in 1994. 7 tech companies, (DEC, Intel, Nortel, NEC, Microsoft, IBM, and Compaq), worked together to try and create an industry standard to connect digital devices. Hard as it is to believe, there was a point where this wasn’t the case, creating compatibility nightmares for many setups. The companies’ main focus was a combination of durability, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness.

Fast-forward to 1996, and we saw the first release of USB, USB 1.0, in January. Note that this is a lot slower than USB as we know it. The low-bandwidth version had 1.5 Mbps in terms of connections, while the faster version went at 12 Mbps. It may seem difficult to comprehend now, but in those days, they were considered fast.

Naturally, though, as technology advanced, so did the demand for more speed in terms of data transfer. This was the primary driving factor behind the advance to USB 2.0 in 2000. This new version increased the speed by around 40 times to 480 Mbps. This made USB suitable for devices like printers or webcams that transferred that higher amount of data. 2000 would also bring another major innovation for USB, with the first flash drive, having a grand total of 8 MB of storage. However, compared to floppy disks and other methods of storage, it was a huge leap.

In 2008, USB changed things up yet again, advancing to USB 3.0 for even faster data transfer speeds. This model hit speeds of 5 Gbps, roughly 10 times faster than USB 2.0. Later, in 2012, we would also see a major leap in terms of power delivery specifications, meaning that USB cables could now power complex devices like portable hard drives and notebook PCs. Combined, these technologies created another explosion of USB products and adapters, to try and bring all these different devices together.

Another side-branch of the history that would happen around this time is the advent of micro- and mini-USB. Many smartphone makers and manufacturers were trying to make smaller and smaller devices to meet demand, to the point where conventional USB connections were too large. These new items allowed smartphones to use USB technology but will be supplanted by the new USB-C connector, which has all the power and durability of conventional USB, while being small enough to fit these devices.

USB-C And The New Age

On that topic, how exactly did USB Type-C become to be? A lot of this started with talks between HP, Intel, AMD, and Microsoft when while they were developing the USB 3.1 update. In time, dozens of other tech companies would take part, making USB-C a truly collaborative effort. The hallmark of this, on top of having the USB 3.1 technology, is the fact that USB-C is completely reversible, putting an end to the days of plugging the wrong end in or plugging it upside down.

Brad Saunders, the chairman of the USB 3.0 promoter group, notes that in terms of the USB-C physical connector design, it was driving by several connector suppliers who collaborated openly on the design. He adds that there was a lot of interest in how the connector works, in particular, in regards to signal integrity and radio frequency interference/mitigation.

The type-C connector first became a concept in July of 2013 and ended up becoming a finalized spec on 2014. While it may look similar to conventional USB cables at first, there are a lot of changes that drove it. One, as we mentioned before, was the growing smaller sizes of various devices. Not only does USB-C help with compatibility, but is also future proofed for new smartphones and tablets as well.

The goal for the early stages was to try and focus on marketing USB Type-C connectors for mobile devices and laptops, where the size was the biggest concern, however, the experts knew that in time, desktop PCs would make the transmission as well. Part of this is due to ease of use, with all peripherals and devices running off the same cable. But power also plays a major role as well. For example, your average USB-A connector is limited to 10 Gbps across a single channel of data. USB-C has more wires and higher frequency, meaning that it’s a lot easier to add more functionality and speed. As a result, USB-C is already positioned to support the next wave of USB upgrades, something anyone can benefit from.

The technology doesn’t stop there, either. One major concern with the adoption of USB C is how to manage all the cables and dongles needed to take advantage of the new tech with legacy hardware. A USB C docking station is the perfect answer. By resting a laptop into a USB dock, you can emulate a desktop setting while managing to run several different peripherals and adapters through one USB-C cable.

Overall, USB’s history is a testament not just to the technology, but all the different minds that came together to create it. It’s something worth musing about the next time you find yourself connecting a flash drive or absent-mindedly charging your phone.

usb-c usb-c cable usb type-c usb c dock usb c docking station

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Our homes reflect us and our personalities. When our friends or family visit our house, what they see helps them determine our interests, conditions, and just who we are in general. For example, if you walked into someone house and saw a collection of baseball equipment, you’d assume they are passionate about baseball.

So, if you’re into technology, you may have thought about adding smart devices or other forms of technology to your room. With this article, I want to talk about devices that fit well with your living room. I mean, that is the room where many of your friends or family will visit often.

Let your friends and family know the convenience and comfort that tech can bring to your home with these 5 upgrades!

A Crystal-Clear TV

An essential piece of tech for your living room is a TV. More specifically, a nice 4K TV.

Fortunately, we don’t live in the times where a good 1080p TV could cost you thousands of dollars. Nowadays, you can buy a good quality 4K TV for a few hundred dollars, relatively cheap compared to a couple years ago.

With a 4K TV, shows and movies will be smooth and crystal-clear, letting you and your friends become immersed in the latest season of Game of Thrones or the latest Marvel movies.

VPN Router

While not as luxurious as a 4K TV, think of employing a VPN Router as a replacement to your current router.

See, home is also a place where we should feel safe, but our networks are constantly in danger of being intercepted or our data being stolen. With a VPN router, your data is constantly being hidden from anyone who may be snooping on your network. So, if you want to feel even more secure, a VPN router seems like a no-brainer. There are routers that come with a VPN installed optimized, but you can also download one and configure it yourself. Premium VPNs are always more trustworthy than free ones but can sometimes be pricey. To get the best of both worlds, do your research and look for VPN deals and offers online before you subscribe.

Ambient Lighting

Our outside environment impacts how we feel mentally. If a color is too “aggressive”, as if it’s too bright, then we can get excited or energetic. Color also works the other way around. If you feel like your living room won’t let you relax as you should, consider investing in ambient lighting.

With ambient lighting, you can set a glow throughout the room, the color depending on how you’re feeling. Want to create a dark, horror vide? Orange and red are your friends. Want to feel at peace and relax after a hard day at work? Set it to green and take a nap. Ambient lighting is worth the investment.

Convenient TV Setup

You got that 4K TV mentioned earlier, but now what? A convenient way to get any streaming service or shows you need is by the use of a streaming device such as a Roku stick, Chromecast, or Amazon Fire Stick.

With these, you don’t need to worry about any antennas or receivers. All you need is a TV and a network the stick can connect to. Little hassle means more time to sit back and watch TV!

Gaming on the TV

On the other hand, maybe you don’t watch TV. When you get home, you immediately run to your desk and sit down to enjoy Dark Souls or the latest Battlefield title. If that’s the case, you can still use a good quality TV to your advantage.

If you don’t feel like sitting at your desk, then use a Steamlink. With the Steamlink, any game that you play on your PC can be transferred to the TV signal. While your PC is running the game, the display is moved to the TV, letting you sit back on the couch and playing on a much bigger screen than your monitor.

No matter the type and size of a business, network security is one of its most important aspects. Delivery, maintenance, and security of content and services is essential, and that just won’t be possible without network security. There are plenty of types of cyber-attacks out there, and without the necessary tools to defend yourself, your vulnerabilities can be easily exploited. There many reasons why having good network security is important and here are some of them.

Keeps your data safe

Practically every business today has an online presence. That can be in various forms, like social media, websites, and blogs. However, the more you rely on yourself and your own infrastructure, the more you are susceptible to attacks – unless you properly defend yourself. Investing in the protection of your cyber infrastructure is paramount because if you don’t, your data can be compromised. That will lead to huge losses for you and your customers, who might end up never trusting you and your services again.

Better performance

One of the things many customers dislike is trying to access a website that is unresponsive and slow. While there can be several reasons why that’s the case, no customer will be understanding enough to simply wait. Best-case scenario is they return after a while, but in some cases, they never do. If your website and services aren’t performing well, that might be due to exploits and attacks. That’s exactly what better security will protect against.

You’ll be much more reliable

Neither employees nor customers want to interact with a business that isn’t reliable. That means if their info and data isn’t secure, they’ll go to a different business where it’ll be safe and secure. That’s why it’s smart to use the help of companies like Memset when it comes to vulnerability assessment. You’ll always be up to speed on what’s happening under the hood, and you’ll be able to react to any threat accordingly. That might not be a threat coming from the outside but rather due to some misconfiguration on the inside, but it’ll be something that you can react to as soon as it happens.

There won’t be any disruptions

There’s always the possibility of some group or individual targeting your business. The hard truth is that will almost certainly lead to unnecessary disruptions in your business if you haven’t been secured properly. Those disruptions might be anything from files missing to time offline. Your clients and customers will definitely appreciate you being there whenever you’re needed, and that’s absolutely thanks to your security team. That also helps boost your reliability, and in the long run, it’ll turn out to be profitable and beneficial to your business.

Taking good care of your cyber-security has only positive sides. It’s definitely something all businesses should implement as quickly and as efficiently as possible. It’ll lead to a safer business, and in turn make your business a lot more successful.

To read more on topics like this, check out the technology category.