We excited about the new addition to the USB 1.1 Extender product line: USB Rover® 1850!

By going beyond the desktop, the USB Rover® 1850 extension system is ideal for use with USB peripherals including: keyboards, mice, interactive white boards, and game controllers.

The USB Rover® 1850 extension system is ideal for use with USB peripherals including: keyboards, mice, interactive white boards, and game controllers.

• Plug and play. No software drivers required
• Three (3) year warranty
• Designed and FCC/CE certified in North America
• Supports all major operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
• Reliable operation with more USB devices including USB 1.1 web cameras and USB hubs
• Provides support for any full-speed (12 Mbps) or low-speed (1.5 Mbps) USB device

The USB Rover® 1850 supplies better USB performance and USB device support, allowing users to extend USB 1.1 connections up to 40 meters over a single Cat 5 cable (85 meters may be achievable with low-speed HID devices such as keyboards and mice).

Examples of how the Rover 1850 1.1 extension solutions can be applied:

Interactive Whiteboards

Professional Video/Audio
Video/Media Source Computer in a Centralized Control Room

Remote Desktop
Extending KeyBoard and Mouse

For more information about this or any other USB and Video extension solution products, don’t hesitate to contact sales@icron.com.

When slot machines require servicing or need to be upgraded, they are left sitting unused on the casino floor not generating revenue. Icron’s ExtremeUSB® technology can significantly reduce machine down time by creating a centralized service location.

To service slot machines, a technician must be dispatched to the casino floor next to the device.  If machines are non operational and not serviced immediately, they cannot be used to generate revenue. If machines are serviced promptly, this results in disruption and distraction for nearby players.

With a remote service model, the machines are easily serviced or upgraded from a central location. No player interruption or distraction is necessary and the machines are quickly upgraded, maximizing up time and revenues.

Icron Technologies’ ExtremeUSB® offers transparent connectivity to a centralized service computer at distances of up to 10 kilometers. This technology enhances the player’s experience by minimizing disruptions and maximizing serviceability. Less time is spent by the technician servicing each machine, and players enjoy more time playing.

ExtremeUSB® connects the slot machine’s computer, keypad, touchscreen, card reader, printer or other controls to a centralized location. Information is quickly uploaded or downloaded transparent to the players resulting in no distraction or disruption.

Further, service costs are lower since a technician isn’t spending his  or her time going to each machine. The time it takes to deploy a machine decreases since the management is centralized, and revenue increases because machines are operational in a shorter period of time.

Time spent deploying the machines and servicing them is substantially reduced. By centralizing the service location and  enabling connectivity to multiple machines at one time, costs of servicing, monitoring, and upgrading are greatly reduced.

Icron’s ExtremeUSB® makes it possible. We provide a variety of USB connectivity solutions to fit your specific design and business needs. Icron is focused on helping you enhance your customer’s experience and can help you improve efficiency and maximize revenue.

If you liked to learn more about our ExtremeUSB® products such as the USB Ranger® 2200 Series, please drop me a line!

In addition to product news video series, Icron has developed a Product News video of our EL4500. The EL4500 adds efficiency to the workplace and provides best in class, high definition DVI video, audio and USB 2.0 connectivity for PCs.

EL4500 features include:

• High Definition video with no video degradation over distance
• DVI input and output
• Three USB 480Mbps ports supporting all USB 2.0 device types (including isochronous)
• Stereo audio
• LAN connectivity or 100 meters over Cat 5 cabling
• True “Plug and Play” (no software drivers required)
• Support for all operating systems
• Support for additional USB hubs and devices
• Optional rack mount kit

See below to review our video of this exciting product!

If you have any questions about this product or any other Icron products, please email us for more information.

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

Before the holidays, Icron developed another video presenting  USB over DisplayPort.

You can also see our view on our YouTube channel!

Also, in case you didn’t know we are attending the International CES show in Vegas! If you are there, stop by our booth (South Hall 1, Lower Level # 20560) to review our product lines and see demos of the following:

• New 20-meter USB 3.0 Active Extension Cable which utilizes Icron’s LionsGate ASIC and leverages Icron’s USB extension technology, the active cable extends USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 connectivity well beyond the USB 3.0 specification distance limitation of three meters
• Advanced USB over DisplayPort technology, which delivers DisplayPort video and USB 2.0 capability over a standard DisplayPort cable
• New uncompressed video and USB KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) extender product

If you’re at the show, please stop by and say “hi”!

CES is one month away and companies are rushing to complete all of their preparations for the most important consumer electronics show in the world. Many companies, including Icron begin preparations for CES in the summer in order to ensure everything is ready to ship to the show by late December.

This year expect to see lots of new connected TVs, 3D TVs, new mobile devices, and different sized tablet PCs. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will kick off CES this year with a preshow keynote address at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 5 in the Las Vegas Hilton Center. In previous years, Microsoft used the CES keynote stage to launch major products including Xbox, Windows Vista and its Sync technology partnership with Ford. Verizon CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, also has a keynote on January 6, no word if he’ll be announcing the rumored Apple iPhone for the Verizon network.

Rounding up the keynotes will be Boo-Keun Yoon, Samsung President and General Manager of Visual Display Business and Alan Mulally Ford Motor Company President and CEO. 2011 promises to be another year for amazing new technology and product announcements at CES.

Icron has two CES announcements about new products (USB 3.0 extension and uncompressed 1080p video extension) and we’re demonstrating them as well as USB over DisplayPort at our booth, LVCC South Hall 1, Booth #20560.  We also have a press event titled  “Future of Connectivity: Unveiling New Video and USB Technology”.  Write to us if you’re interested in viewing our new product demonstrations or attending the press event (no press credentials needed!).

If you haven’t registered for CES yet, you’ve missed the free registration period, but if you’re an Icron customer, write me and I’ll see if we have any passes left.

See you at CES 2011 and have a great holiday season!

The USB 3.0 final spec was published in late 2008 but it’s taken some time for USB 3.0 to materialize in the market. With multiple USB xHCI Host Controllers and IP available from companies like NEC, TI, and Synopsis and the Taiwanese manufacturers, we’re starting to see USB 3.0 products appear in the market.  The recent announcements of USB 3.0 motherboard integration by companies like ASUS and Gigabyte will certainly help accelerate the demand for OEM’s to implement USB 3.0 into devices as well.

Advantages of using USB 3.0:

• Speed– USB 3.0 is roughly about 10 times the performance (max.) than USB 2.0This is achieved because USB 3.0 is essentially an overlay on top of the D+/D- USB 2.0 wires, adding 2 additional sets of wires that carry USB 3.0 data only. With each differential pair taking care of one half of the communications (either host to device or device to host), the system delivers full duplex communications as opposed to the half duplex communications of USB 2.0.  There are some efficiencies in this method that help reduce power requirements (e.g. removing the need for polling) although new connectors and cables are obviously required to support all the additional internal wires.
  

  Source: www.ptgrey.com

• Power – Additional powering capabilities, namely increased bus power support:  150 mA vs. 100mA for unconfigured, 900mA vs. 500mA for configured devices (configured/unconfigured referring to software drivers) for powering devices without an external power supply.

• Performance – Early performance of USB 3.0 products seems to be varied from as low as a 3X performance boost to up to the expected 10X.  Performance is derived from the performance of each individual component in the system, namely the specific host controller (they aren’t all created equal!), connector/cable (you need a 3.0 cable and connector to get 3.0 speeds) and the device itself (and its specific USB 3.0 PHY implementation).

The USB 3.0 devices we’re seeing in the market today are mostly external hard drives, web cameras, and flash drives, it will be interesting to see what other device types migrate to USB 3.0 as certainly not all will given the cost adder.

As USB Extension experts for over 12 years, Icron will develop USB 3.0 extenders in the future, we’d love to hear from you on what types of devices you think will move to USB 3.0 and if you have any need to go beyond the 3 meter (10 feet) range of USB 3.0.

To read more on USB 3.0 and it’s future for business, go to IT World Canada

(left to right) Icron CEO Robert Haefling with presenter Francis Chang of Blake, Cassels & Graydon

Icron’s USB over DisplayPort technology for desktop and mobile computing has been recognized by BCTIA (British Columbia Technology Industry Association) for the most promising pre-commercial technology – what an honour! Not only did we win this prestigious award, this technology was a finalist in the category “Excellence in Product Innovation”. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canadian government has increased investments in technology with a $1.4 billion budget for new science and technology funding.  Additionally, there are several organizations in Canada promoting technology innovations:

1.   Canada Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA Alliance)
CATAAlliance mandate is to grow the revenues of its members, connect members with investment and partnership opportunities, and promote technology innovation.  They have the Innovation Nation program and Innovation awards. 2010 winners will be announced at the 25th Annual CATAAlliance Innovation Awards Event on May 19, 2010 in Ottawa. Read the rest of this entry »