Gadget Guru March 2011
What is a USB for?
USB, Universal Serial Bus, is
a way of connecting electronic devices together. Introduced in 1996
for computers, it's become a standard connector for mobile
phones, digital cameras, MP3 players and more or less anything else
you can plug in to a computer. It was designed to replace the
(then) multitude of connectors on the back of computers, and it has
largely done so - now there are very few computer peripherals that
don't work via USB. There are three versions of USB, called
simply 1.0, 2.0 'HighSpeed' and 3.0 'SuperSpeed'
which has only just been released. Very few computers and other
devices use the 3.0 standard, most using version 2.0, although the
three are backwards- and forwards-compatible - that is, you can
plug your old types of devices into the new sockets and they'll
work, and vice-versa. The difference between the three is the speed
of the connection, with the newer ones being much, much faster than
the old ones - each version is approximately 10 times faster than
the preceding one. This doesn't matter very much most of the
time, but will make a difference when, for example, you're
transferring hundreds of holiday photos from your digital camera to
your computer. Also, if you plug several devices into a USB
'hub' which allows you to plug several devices into one USB
socket on your computer, they'll all run at the speed of the
slowest one. Note that there are also three types of USB connector
at the moment (with more coming for the new 3.0 type), regular
full-sized USB, Mini-USB and Micro-USB. The first it the usual type
you find on computers, the latter two are used by mobile telephones
and other small devices. Most come with the appropriate cable, but
be careful if you ever need to buy a replacement.
I'm fed up with having to type my contacts back into
my mobile telephone every time I get a new one. Is there some way
to transfer them from my old one to the new one?
You can do this a number of
ways. First, your telephone should have a way of saving contacts on
its SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card - the small,
thumbnail-sized microchip which plugs into the back of your
telephone and which 'personalises' your telephone handset
with your number. If you routinely save new numbers to your SIM
card instead of the telephone itself, they'll automatically
transfer over to your new handset when you change it. If your
numbers are already on your telephone, check in the menus or on the
handbook and you should find a way to transfer them across to your
SIM card. This doesn't help if your phone's stolen though,
so many operators also offer a way to save your contacts on their
website, either by plugging your telephone into your computer or
'over the air' direct from your telephone. You can then
download them to your new telephone. Check with them for details,
but be careful - some charge for storing the numbers and/or the
service. Finally, if you can connect your telephone to your
computer you may be able to store your contacts on your own PC -
iPhones do this automatically, for example. Check your
handbook.
Is there any way I can listen to the music on my MP3
player on my car radio?
Check first to see if your
car radio has an 'input' socket, sometimes called an AUX
socket which looks just like a headphone socket - if it does, you
can connect your MP3 player directly to it using a cable with what
looks like a headphone plug at each end - you can get them for a
few pounds in electronics stores. Also, if you have an iPhone or
iPod some cars come with specially fitted sockets you can plug them
into. If you have an older car with a cassette player, you can buy
a widget with a headphone plug at one end and what looks like an
audio cassette at the other to play your MP3s. And if none of these
applies, look for an FM transmitter. You plug this into your MP3
player directly or via a cable (they have either batteries or plug
into your cigarette lighter) and it transmits a radio signal from
your player to your car radio. You tune the transmitter to a
frequency where there are no radio stations in your area and your
radio to this frequency. Remember that the transmitter needs to be
picked up by the car's aerial, not the radio unit itself so be
careful where you site it.
Tips...
Tabbed browsing:
When clicking a link on a web page, you may want to keep the
existing page open so you can return to it. Try clicking the link
with your right mouse button, then left clicking on 'Open in
new tab'. You'll see towards the top of your browser that
this opens a new 'tab' in your web browser whilst leaving
open the existing page. Click on the tab at the top to read the new
page.
Internet radio: You can listen to most radio stations on the Internet now - check the BBC's web page at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/ for a list of all their stations, or the website of your favourite station for listening options. Many smartphones also allow you to listen to radio stations this way.
Play CDs on DVD player: If you have a DVD player but no HiFi, you can usually play music CDs on it too - just pop in the CD, turn on the TV and voilà!
Alt-Tab to change programs when boss arrives: For those awkward moments when you're looking at a non work-related website (or playing Solitaire...), you can quickly switch away to the spreadsheet you should be doing by holding down the Alt key (just next to the space bar) and hitting the Tab key. This brings up a list of all your open programs - keep hold of the Alt key and press Tab repeatedly until you get to the program you want.
Noise-cancelling headphones: If you fly or
travel a lot by car as a passenger, listening to your MP3 player
may pass the time but outside noise may bother you. Try a pair of
noise-cancelling headphones - battery-powered, they actively add
'negative' noise to what you're listening to to cancel
out background sounds. They work very well with constant noises
such as car and aeroplane engines, unfortunately less well with
squabbling children.
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