JP/18/ZATNI1
USB 'OTG': Let's do away with the PC
Zatni Arbi Contributor/Jakarta
I got an interesting gift during one of my recent trips: A 40 GB external USB hard disk.
That was a heck of storage capacity for me, as I do not usually store video and music files. For comparison, My IBM ThinkPad T40 has a mere 30 GB hard disk. Even the hard disk on my Synology Network-Attached Storage (NAS) DiskStation is 20 GB, and so far I have used only 5.15 GB of the total storage capacity to backup all my data files.
I am sure you have seen these mini storage devices, as they have been around for a couple of years. The one I got was a Consus 2.5 Smart Disk. Inside, there is a 2.5-inch hard disk made by Samsung.
The power is drawn from the host computer through the USB cable. If it does not get enough power from one USB port, you can connect it to two USB ports at the same time using an included Y- cable.
The device has the intelligence to start and shut down each time the Y-cable is plugged or unplugged. If two USB ports still cannot supply the necessary power to spin the hard disk, I can use an AC adaptor.
There is no button on the Consus enclosure. I have to use Windows Explorer to copy, back up and delete files on the Samsung hard disk. It means that this device, despite its large data storage capacity and practicality, will require a desktop PC or a notebook.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were buttons and menus, for example, to backup photo files straight from a digital camera, or to copy music files from an MP3 player?
It turned out that the USB developers have thought of that, too. Why not? USB is now a standard feature of every new notebook or desktop PC on the market. The USB ports enable you to connect potentially hundreds of peripherals to your computer, including a keyboard, mouse, TV tuner, printer and scanner.
They have enabled computer makers such as AsusTech and Shuttle to design really tiny computer boxes, because now you no longer need six to eight internal expansion slots. AOpen, another Taiwan company, has even designed a mini PC computer even smaller than the news-making, US$ 500 Apple Mini.
Called "USB On-The-Go" orOTG", it is a supplement to the USB 2.0 standard. Its development started in 2001, and now the USB OTG-compliant devices have begun to trickle.
One of the main benefits of the USB standard is that you can get rid of proprietary peripherals. For example, on my shelf I still have an IBM WorkPad C3-which is actually a Palm Pilot III PDA. I bought a Palm keyboard for it so that I could type notes without bringing a notebook to the seminar room.
At that time, the collapsible keyboard was very cool, and I became the center of attention each time I used it with the WorkPad. Today, as I am no longer using the WorkPad anymore -- the Palm keyboard has also become part of my gadgets collection.
Thanks to the general USB standard, I can just use any USB keyboard with any USB-compliant PDA. If I get myself a new PDA, I will still be able to use the same keyboard. It does not have to end up sitting on my shelf.
Now, the main benefit of USB OTG is that it allows tiny USB gadgets such as a mini hard disk to take on some host functions. For example, a small hard disk can be used to directly copy image files from your digital camera (see the article on 3PM Photo Manager).
Usually, one end of the USB cable has the mini-USB jack so that it can be used with tiny devices such as a pocket camera, a smartphone or a PDA. Another important feature is that a USB OTG- compliant device consumes very little power.
Like my Consus/Samsung 2.5-inch external hard disk, the device may rely on the power supplied by the host computer. In most other mobile devices, it may rely on an internal rechargeable battery.
What would the USB OTG standard bring us in the future? I would not be surprised if soon you can once again leave your notebook at home. You can connect our powerful PDA or smartphone to a USB hub, and connect all the other peripherals including a full-size keyboard, a mouse, an external hard disk, a pair of USB speakers, a Webcam and even a flexible and foldable monitor to the hub.
The idea should sound very attractive, because the USB peripherals are not proprietary and can still be used even after you upgrade your PDA. Backing up data from PDAs and smartphones will be much easier, as you will no longer require a PC or a notebook. Just connect the USB OTG backup hard disk, press a button, choose a menu item, press another button and it is all done.
Don't you think mobile computing will be more fun then? Besides, PDA makers will love this as well, as it may revamp their currently dwindling sales.