Before you get started, you have to know that in order to buy content from the US iTunes store, you will need to buy iTunes vouchers. Your non-US credit card will not work with the US store, but luckily it is easy enough to buy vouchers through sites like WildTwig. But first you need a US iTunes store account:

How to Open Your US iTunes Account:

1) First off, you obviously need iTunes, and an internet connection.

2) Open iTunes, then go to iTunes Store on the left.

3) Make sure you are signed out of any iTunes account. Make sure the top right of the iTunes store states “Sign In”. If it is signed into another account, click on the account name, and click Sign Out.

4) Scroll to the bottom of the iTunes Store page, and click on the country icon. This can be any country’s flag.

5) Choose United States to see the US iTunes Store.

6) Right now you have a better idea of what content is on the US iTunes store. It is very important to do the following exactly – go to AppStore, and select any FREE app. I will repeat. Any FREE app.

7) You will then be asked to enter your iTunes Account details. Remember, even if you have an existing iTunes account, you have  to recreate one with a different email address. If you do not have multiple email addresses, it might be best to go create one in gmail, or hotmail or whatever free email service you want.

Click on Create New Account.

9) You need to fill in some details. Type in your name, surname, date of birth, etc.

10) On the next screen you need to provide payment details. But in order to have a US account, you need to work with vouchers, because your credit card from another country will probably not work. So under payment type, select “None”. If “None” does not appear, it means you did something wrong, but most probably did not click a free app.

Do not fill in any redeem code (we will get to that later).

Under Billing Address you have to use an actual US address. Our best bet is to use a prominent US Hotel as your address. So maybe according to Apple you might be living in the Ritz New York, or the Beverly Hills Hotel. Just copy the address and phone number. Verbatim.

11) Once you click next, Apple will send you a verification email. (If you set up a new email address, you will of course have to check that new email account.)

12) Check your inbox, and open the email from Apple. From there, click on Verify Now.

13) Once you click that link, you will be taken to a Apple webpage, where you need to reenter your new iTunes username and password. You will then be verified.

14) Once the webpage tells you that you are verified, head on back to iTunes, and open the iTunes store again. If you are signed into your new iTunes account, you can start downloading US iTunes apps.

If you are not signed in, it is simple. Click on the top right on Sign In, and use your new iTunes account details.

15) Remember, this account works with vouchers, with which you need to credit your account in order to buy apps. Before you do that, you can only “buy” free apps. If you want to download movies, series or music, you will also need to purchase vouchers. But don’t worry. we will show you how.

Buying iTunes US Vouchers:

So there you have it, now you can access the US iTunes store without any problems. Next up – how to load credit on your iTunes account.

We here at Bandwidth Blog don’t like to beat around the bush, so we get our iTunes vouchers from WildTwig or iEverything. Simply buy it right through their site, and give them an email address to send the Redeem Code to. Once you have the Redeem Code in your inbox, you have to go Redeem it either from your computer or your iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch:

Computer:

1) In iTunes, make sure you are signed into your US account. If you are not, sign out and sign in with the right account.

2) Click On “Redeem”

3) Go and type the Redeem code exactly into iTunes. Click on Redeem.

4) Your Account should now be credited with the amount you purchased.

On your iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch:

1) Open the AppStore

2) Click on Featured, and then scroll all the way to the bottom. Under Account, make sure you are logged into your iTunes account. If not, click on the account, and sign out. Then sign in with your US account.

3) Click on Redeem.

4) Enter your Redeem account exactly form the email your received. Alternatively, copy and paste the code.

5) You should get a notification that your account has been credited.

Now go ahead, and buy whatever content you want – apps, movies, TV shows, and music!

On Thursday Apple will hold a small event to show off its latest efforts in the education market. Most sources seem to agree that the event will focus on ways in which textbooks can be brought into the digital age of tablets – but Apple might have a few other tricks up its sleeve. The event might also focus on the announcement of new tools that can be used to create these digital textbooks.

The case for digital textbook has been around for a while. Textbooks are expensive to buy, expensive to print and also heavy to carry around. Imagine a student a few years from now just carrying around a tablet, which has his/her textbooks stored. But the aim is not purely to replace existing textbooks – the value will lie in what type of interactivity can be built into a digital textbook. Instead of static images you find in normal textbooks, textbook publishers can now build in interactive features that enable the reader to better understand a particular issue – think videos, 3D models, sound clips etc.

Traditional textbook publishers will probably show off what textbook experiences they are planning for the iPad, while Apple might show some new content creation tools that will make it easier than ever to publish for the iPad. Right now the digital publishing market is also ripe for revolution with publishers being forced to code apps from scratch, or to use tools like Adobe’s Folio Builder. If Apple can build an easy to use, but powerful tool to build interactive textbooks, it will create another market in which Apple can dominate. The iPad is already doing very well, but if Apple can convince publishers to publish exclusively to the iPad, we can expect to see many students to switch to iPads.

But the idea of digital textbooks is not without problems – there are a few things that Apple will hopefully address:

1) Textbooks are expensive. Digital distribution should make it cheaper. Yet you cannot help but feel that publishers might think of iPad users as “well off”. If the digital textbooks are not a lot cheaper than the physical ones, don’t expect massive uptake.

2) Textbooks are boring. The digital versions need to be a LOT better than the physical ones. Think 3D models, social media integration, web links etc. Hell – let go of the “book” idea of flipping through pages.

3) Textbooks have second hand value. Many students get rid of their textbooks after a semester. Now Apple will probably not allow you to sell your “used” digital textbook. But there are a few ways this can be fixed. A subscription model based on a syllabus can work, provided the cost is lower than buying all the textbooks.

4) Textbooks have more perceived value in physical form than other media. Sure, we can easily describe the merits of digital music above physical CDs. But many people still prefer the heft and feel of a book. You know the type – they keep their university textbooks on the shelf until they are old and dusty. Again, the price and digital experience has to be better.

Naturally we should not expect these features to launch in SA – Apple does not really offer a lot of content (if any) to us Africans, but we can only hope. I am pretty sure the typical student would prefer carrying an iPad, than a stack of heavy books.

Yesterday the Apple iPhone 4S was supposed to launch in China, after it was finally approved by the Chinese government. But the number of people who showed up at the Apple retail stores proved to much to handle. Customers was waiting outside in -9 degrees celsius temperatures, and the stores did not open at the normal 7:00 AM time. At 7:15 AM people started chanting “Open the Door!” after an Apple representative announced to the crowd that the phone would not go on sale. The delay sales was not in all stores however, with Shangai getting their allotment on time.

Soon afterward the police had to be called in to calm down the crowd, who started pelting the stores with eggs. Customers were instead told to order their iPhones online, and Apple has decided to not continue sales of the iPhone in stores, in order to prevent unruly crowds forming again.

“The demand for iPhone 4S has been incredible, and our stores in China have already sold out,” an Apple spokesperson told AllThingsD. “Unfortunately we were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd, and to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, iPhone will not available in our retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being. Customers can still order iPhone through the Apple Online Store, or buy at China Unicom and other authorized resellers.”

See our review of the iPhone 4S here.

Source: AllThingsD

I decided against doing a full iPhone 4S review – the simple fact is that the iPhone 4S is not a massive jump from the iPhone 4, and you will be quite familiar with the 4S if you have ever used an iPhone 4. But the thing about Apple fans is that they always want the latest and greatest. Luckily I was up for an upgrade from Vodacom, so here we are.

I am doing this review from the viewpoint of a long time iPhone user – I am comparing it to previous iPhones, of which I have owned every version since launch. While I use different phones with different operating systems almost every week, my primary phone is still an iPhone. I am not comparing it to the latest Galaxy Optimus Black Nexus LTE Droid RAZR Defy Plus. I have great respect for some of the latest Android superphones, but right now I am simply going to address the iPhone 4S from the viewpoint of an iPhone user. So here goes.

The Shape

Unpacking the iPhone 4S is almost the exact same experience as the iPhone 4. In fact, you might want to double check that you have the 4S box. Open it up, and the 4S is also almost a carbon copy of the iPhone 4, except for some differences in the outer antenna edges. The rest is all the same. That might bother some people who wanted a bigger screen or a new design. But you know what – I just don’t care. The 4 and 4S are still stunning phones to look at and hold. They just look and feel better than any other phone out there. The steel and glass just feels higher end than every other plastic phone smartphone. If it aint broke, why fix it? Or wait, speaking about breaking – I might have liked a carbon fibre or Kevlar back like the Motorola RAZR. While that glass is nice looking, it is fragile… If you do go for it, get a decent case. Vodacom was nice enough to bundle a nice little bumper case though.

Out of the box you are faced with iOS5′s new startup screens. If you have used iCloud backup on your old iPhone, you dont even have to connect it to your computer. You still have that option though. Switching from my previous iPhone 4 to the 4S took about 30 minutes, and everything was right where I left it.

Fast

In terms of software, it is pretty standard iOS5 fare – but everything is a lot faster. I was not particularly bothered by the iPhone 4’s speed – it felt zippy enough. But then you use the iPhone 4S, and then suddenly the iPhone 4 just feels sluggish. Everything has tiny speed improvements. There is no delay when scrolling long image rich pages, web rendering is a lot faster, and there are no more dropped frames in graphics intensive games, and load times are all a bit faster.

But while everyone is going on about the A5 dual core processor, it is the graphics that has gotten the biggest boost. There are not a lot of games out there that can already harness all the new GPU power. The only example right now is Infinity Blade 2. IF2 looks good on the iPhone 4, but on the iPhone 4S it is amazing. I cannot wait to see what the game developers are going to come up with – with things like Airplay mirroring (which is built into the iPhone 4S by the way) finding its way into games, we are slowly starting to approach a time where full games consoles might be less and less relevant. (Airplay mirroring allows you to use your TV screen for iPhone games – just do a search for Real Racing 2 and airplay mirror to see what I mean).

The Camera

I am not someone who ever really takes note of a cellphone camera, but the iPhone 4S’s 8MP shooter is one of the best cameras I have ever used. During this holiday period I often found myself reaching for the 4S, even though I had a brand new Canon IXUS and a Nikon D90 SLR with me. The 4S’s low light performance, and awesome macro modes amazed me the most. There is almost no image noise, and the camera launch and shutter is nice and quick – not something I am used to with a phone. Sure, I miss some things like zoom – but the 4S is really starting to give decent point and click cameras a go.

Siri

The other major addition to the 4S is of course the new artificial intelligence personal assistant called Siri. The concept is amazing – simply talk to your phone in natural language, and it actually understands what you are saying. Instead of saying “Is it going to rain tomorrow?” you can also ask “Will I need an umbrella tomorrow?” and it will actually answer yes or no. I found it to be best with very scientific or mathematical questions – “How high is table mountain?”. 1087m apparently.  It of course works with a few silly questions as well – “who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”, to which it answers Spongebob Squarepants. “Who is the president of South Africa?” Oh, it is Jacob Zuma, and Wolfram Alpha gives some additional info about him as well, like his age, presidency term, etc. But it does not show how many kids he has already.

But I found using Siri for built in iPhone functions to be the best part – like saying “remind me to call my wife at 7” will correctly identify who your wife is (it checks you relations in your contacts, or simply asks the first time). Telling Siri to set an appointment with John at 12 on Wednesday will even tell you beforehand if there is schedule conflict. Social convention makes Siri somewhat awkward to use – I did not find myself babbling to my phone in public. I mostly used it when driving (it works great with Bluetooth), or when alone. For example – I simply set my alarm for the next morning with my voice now.

This all sounds great, but the honest truth is that Siri is currently severely stunted anywhere outside the US. Many of the questions that come naturally to us is somehow tied to location – like “How far is it to Green Point Stadium?” – which simply does not work. At a certain point you get so frustrated by the lack of services available to us (even though Google Maps has a lot of content in SA), that you just give up, and stick to only things that are specific to the phone. Dictation still works fine though – so you can use you voice every time instead of using the keyboard. Just click the voice button on the keyboard (yeah, just like how Android does it).

It is worth keeping in mind that Siri is still a Beta product. It is not perfect, and you can see there is still a lot of work to be done. But using Siri makes you wish for the day Apple would open up Siri’s API to app developers. How cool would it be to say “Add note to Evernote” and then simply dictating the rest.

So is it worth upgrading to iPhone 4S?

Yes, the iPhone 4S is a somewhat underwhelming upgrade to the iPhone 4, which does make a person wonder whether it is worth it. To the iPhone 4 user I would most definitely not recommend an upgrade, unless you can already get the 4S for free. Siri and the little bit of additional speed is great, but not worth upgrading from the iPhone 4 for. Up until now every new iPhone had some pretty great reasons to upgrade, even the iPhone 3GS, which was mostly a speed increase. But the iPhone 4S is more about refining the overall experience – it is a tiny bit better in every respect, without changing the great design. Evolution, not revolution.

If you are still rocking an iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4S is a must have upgrade though. The solid metal and glass build, the Retina display, and the brilliant camera is a huge upgrade over the 3GS. Unless you are tempted by Android, I really recommend an upgrade to the iPhone 4S. But that is also the thing about the iPhone – right now the iOS ecosystem is so well executed, it is very tough for an iPhone user to jump to Android.

But this time Apple is also selling the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 new with contracts. So you can buy an “older” iPhone new if you want to save some money. If you are up for an upgrade, I would not recommend the 3GS anymore. While it is a great phone, you don’t have the certainty that Apple would keep pushing out software updates for it much longer. You might be tempted by the iPhone 4 as well – again – great phone, but you might save a R1000 tops. The iPhone 4S contracts are luckily not too bad, especially the Vodacom deals. So if you are free to choose, the iPhone 4S is the one to go for.

Images: Getty, iFixit

Related: If you want to be able download Apps, Music, Movies, TV Series etc from the US iTunes store, even if you live in SA, here is how to do it.

Best Phone: Samsung Galaxy S2

Even the most ardent fans of iPhone have to agree – the Galaxy S2 is a truly great phone. It is very fast, is built well (despite being made of plastic), the screen is beautiful, the camera is excellent – the list goes on. Pricing is also pretty good, and the phone is still great several months later, which you cannot typically say of the Android phone marketplace. You cannot go wrong. Not even Samsung’s bigger and faster Galaxy Note could change our name. Now we just have to get our hands on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Close second: Apple iPhone 4S. Expect our review in the new year.

Best Tablet: Apple iPad 2

The iPad was the first successful touch-centric tablet on the market, and after some growing pains from the phone-only iOS to the larger screened iPad based iOS, Apple merged the two with the launch of the iPad 2. No other tablet comes close when it comes to the interface, app selection and overall build quality. Even more than year after the original iPad has been launched, no other tablet has come close. And the best part – it is priced very well. Close second: The Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet is a might impressive enterprise focussed device.

Best Computer: Apple Macbook Air 13

The Macbook Air is nothing new, but the latest Core i-carrying Macbook Air is truly great computer. Extremely thin, great battery life and surprisingly good performance has many users wondering why they might need a different (or higher end) laptop. The price is still a little high, but it is still great value for money. Sure, gamers will stick to their Alienware class machines, but the Macbook Pro is looking less and less relevant. And before the Apple haters start – we are referring to the hardware and overall performance. The OS is your own choice. Close second: The Lenovo X220 is a great laptop if you are not interested in the whole Apple thing. It can take a few knocks, and it is very fast.

Best Camera: Olympus E-PL3

Here at BandwidthBlog we love our SLRs, but carrying around big ol’ cameras with long lenses quickly get tiring. The Olympus PEN series is still a great range of cameras for people who want SLR-class image quality in a nice compact camera shape. Sure, it is not cheap, but nothing comes close for sheer portability and image quality. The new flexible screen is also great to use for difficult shots. Close second: The Nikon V1 follows a similar principle – but we have not tried it yet.

Best Broadband Product: 8ta 10GB deal

South Africa still has some pretty expensive broadband, and Telkom is primarily to blame for that. That is why we really appreciate it that cellular operators have stepped up to make ADSL look less and less relevant. Last year Cell C did it with their 5GB deal, and this year Telkom’s cellular arm 8ta did it as well. Yes the irony is not lost on us – 8ta offers 10GB of data for R199 per month. Yes, it is a 24 month contract, and you have to be in 8ta’s own coverage map. But if you are, it is really a great deal. 10Gb of data for less than the cost of a Telkom line and the ADSL “line”? Great. Close second: Nothing really.

Best Gaming Device: Xbox 360 Kinect

The XBox 360 has been around for a while now, but Microsoft has to commended for bringing out the Kinect. The Kinect is a truly great add on, and it really breathed some new life into the console market. The Kinect effectively took away the market from the Nintendo Wii, with better graphics and better control schemes. Good thing is that the Kinect is still very new, and there is still some great features that will arrive in future. The Kinect SDK for Windows means you will also see some pretty great things on Windows soon as well. Close second: The Microsoft Speed Wheel is a lot better than we expected – expect a review in the new year. It is a great steering wheel for guys who do not want their lounges to look like a bachelors flat. Use it, put it away.

Best Cheap and Cheerful Product: BlackBerry Curve 8520

The Blackberry 8520 is now officially quite an old phone – in fact many people are on their second 8520 because their contracts could have been upgraded already. Even though BlackBerry had a tough 2011, the 8520 continues to sell like hotcakes. It is a seriously good deal – it costs around R1700 cash, and it is bundled with many of the cheapest contracts by the operators. Combine that with BIS “all you can eat” web browsing at R60 a month, and you have a winner on your hands. Now we just hope that BlackBerry replaces the 8520 with their newer Curve models at the same price point. But 2011 was the year RIM focussed on higher end handsets like the brilliant Bold 9900, but maybe 2012 sees some of that designs trickling down to the Curve. Close second: The iPhone 3GS. Yes, not close to as cheap as the 8520, but still a mighty good phone at the price.

SA Tech Innovator of the Year: FNB

Yes – a BANK. But FNB did a bang up job in 2011. They announced brilliant deals for clients who needed devices like iPads, but most importantly they rolled out mobile apps to the major smartphone platforms. We still find it strange that only FNB has decent smartphone apps - In essence the app provides a more convenient and elegant version of all the commonly used functionality provided by the online banking system. Kudos to FNB for bringing some much needed innovation to the SA banking sector.

So you were so eager to jump on the iOS5 update when it arrived, and now your phone wont last the day? It looks like Apple’s fancy new mobile operating system has been giving a few people very poor battery life. Well luckily Apple has fixed iOS5 with a simple Over The Air update. In the past it was a big mission to update your iPhone, requiring you to plug in your device to iTunes and then downloading a massive ipsw file.

This time it is a lot easier, provided you have iOS5 installed already. First off, make sure you have a battery above 50%, or plug your device into power:

• Go to Settings – General – Software Update
• Click Download and Install.

You can then keep using the phone for other things. The download will happen in the background, and the phone will inform you once it needs to restart.

First off, you have to be connected to a wifi network, as the update is still 40+ megabytes to download. The whole update took us about 5 minutes on a decent internet connection. iOS5 is available on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S (on which it is preinstalled). Any iPod Touch 3rd generation and newer, and any iPad can install iOS5 as well. As a bonus, this update also enables multi touch gestures on older iPad 1′s. Which might be reason enough to get it…

If you have not updated to iOS5, here are some reasons you need it right now.

I’ll always stay connected with Apple. I hope that throughout my life I’ll sort of have the thread of my life and the thread of Apple weave in and out of each other, like a tapestry. There may be a few years when I’m not there, but I’ll always come back.

– Steve Jobs in 1985

What a sad, sad day folks. One of the great technology visionaries of our time have passed away. Steve Jobs was one of the co-founders of Apple, who started the business out of a garage in Silicon Valley. In his early 30′s he was already one running one of the most powerful computer companies, and after a few turbulent years, Apple has grown to become the most valuable company on earth.

This is the man who was responsible to bring everyday things we take for granted into our lives – his company was first to ship with a mouse and the first mass produced personal computer running a graphical user interface. And recently he basically shifted the entire smartphone industry through the launch of the iPhone and the follow up tablet, the iPad.

The statement on Apple.com says it best:

As one of the posters at his already forming vigil in New York put it:

Keep Thinking Different.

Update - Tim Cook’s email to all Apple staff:

Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.

No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.

Tim

Apple iPhone users know that traditionally July is the month to expect the latest iPhone to be announced. We South Africans then typically get it a few months later. So it is pretty sad that so far this year there was no iPhone announced at WWDC, which has always been the case. But luckily in a few hours (19:00 SA time), we will know what Apple has been working on.

There is of course a few things that also needs to be in place before iPhone. First of which is iCloud – Apple’s great new syncing service which will keep all your iOS and Mac devices in sync. Announced in September, the service is a tremendous undertaking by Apple, who has always charged for its cloud based storage. This time round they are rolling it out to everyone, and the the service will be integrated right into the iOS operating system. Users have been testing the iOS5 beta for a while now, and the iCloud services are slowly being enabled. There has not been a lot a of iOS5 Beta updates recently, so expect the software to roll out as Golden Master within the next few days.

What is perhaps more interesting is rumours of Apple releasing a cheaper version of the iPhone. If this is true, huge sales can be expected. For the last two releases of iPhone, Apple kept the older model on the market with a slightly decreased storage capacity at a slightly lower cost. Typically the cost difference was negligible, so most users just opted for the latest model. But in recent times other smartphone manufacturers have started bringing out cheaper and cheaper phones, which was still fairly capable, particularly in the Android camp. Now this might indeed just be the iPhone 4 that is kept on the market.

Sure, people can argue that Apple has always been more expensive than their competitors, but in the mobile market this strategy might not work for them. And the low price of the iPad compared to other tablets already show that Apple can make a high quality product at a lower price. (See our review of the iPad 2 here) So the time might be ripe for Apple to start shipping lower end versions of the iPhone…

This image was taken a while back of a strange looking iPhone - could this be the iPhone 5 or it's new little brother?

So what new can we expect from the iPhone 5? Rumours are pretty scarce right now, but most seem to point towards a larger screen. The current 3.5 inch “Retina” display of the iPhone is incredibly detailed, but it is quite a bit smaller compared to other new phones on the market (just one look at the Samsung Galaxy S2 screen in person to see how great a large screen on a phone can look). A larger screen which still fits in the same size iPhone body will mean that the bezel around the screen would need to be much smaller.

Another point where the iPhone can be improved on is the use of glass on the rear of the phone. Yes, it really looks great, and feels great in your hand. But it is also fragile, so we will have to see if Apple will change its choice of material. Case designers are speculating a return to a curved edges around the rear panel, which means that the phone will feel smaller in hand.

The new iPhone 5 (or iPhone 4s) will almost certainly ship with the dual core Apple A5 processor, and potentially more memory. Other potential features to look out for is adoption of the NFC standard, implementation of “personal assistant” functionality (from Apple’s acquisition of Siri), and improved camera…

So, what features are you hoping for in the next iPhone? 

There is one event that most Apple fans look forward to every year. Hell, if you are at all into smartphones it is a pretty special day (because you know every other smartphone brand is sitting up and taking notice). Problem is that the wait has been a bit longer this year, but now we at least know it is happening: Apple is expected to show off its latest iPhone (or iPhones) on October 4th. The rumour mill has been in overdrive the past few months, with most reports pointing to two possible new iPhones. First off a iPhone 4S, which will be a simple upgrade of the iPhone 4, while keeping the same case design. There is also rumours of a iPhone 5, which will gain a larger screen and a new “teardrop” rear casing.

In typical Apple fashion, the invite is a pretty nice design. It shows off the icons that you typically find on an iPhone, but you need to read a bit more into it. It shows, the date, time and place of the event (that map icon is actually the Apple Campus), with a simple “Let’s talk iPhone”.

What is interesting about this invite is that there is no mention of the iPod, which has always been refreshed by this time of the year in the past. iPhone were typically refreshed in July, and iPods in September. So the “Let’s talk iPhone” tagline might just include some iPod hardware as well.

Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors and scissors beats paper. But  Thunderbolt beats USB 3.0 everytime! Not in the way that USB 3.0 would soon become obsolete because I believe that the “universality” of the Universal Serial Bus would remain for many years to come but one has to admit that the new buzz surrounding this latest quantum leap in serial I/O port seems to be growing.

I suppose I should start with a disclaimer in an effort to reduce the number of comments that would reduce this post to merely a “Mac vs PC” debate, which is pretty much what one would find on most posts that discuss this technology. The reality is that all new Mac notebooks and computers (except the Mac Pro) are equipped with Thunderbolt, as Apple have opted to be an early adopter with this technology, which is incidentally, owned completely by the Intel Corporation. Since Thunderbolt uses the same Mini DisplayPort connector that was already present on most Apple Computers the only thing to tell the ports apart would be the Thunderbolt symbol above the port, as opposed to the DisplayPort symbol. Intel however have plans to roll out Thunderbolt I/O technology on Windows laptops as early as the first half of 2012, as announced last week by the Vice President of Intel, Mooly Eden, making this less and less a debate of proprietary.

Thunderbolt essentially combines the PCI Express bus and the DisplayPort into a new serial data cable that is capable of transferring data at a data speeds of 10 Gb/sec. In simpler terms, it is a data cable that is capable of extremely fast data speeds with compatible devices. Although more than double the data transfer speed of USB 3.0, I believe that it’s true brilliance lies not merely in the high transfer rate that is achievable but in it’s ability to daisy-chain up to 5 devices, one (or even two) of which includes a high definition monitor.

Is this for everyone? Should we all rush out and buy Thunderbolt compatible devices? Luckily manufacturers have made that decision much simpler as the number of Thunderbolt compatible devices remain in short supply. Lacie have led the pack with the announcement of the Thunderbolt enabled “Little Big Disk” which is essentially a 320GB Solid State drive. The fact that it is a solid state drive is significant since it is the only external storage that would be able to utilise the speed of Thunderbolt since most hard drives are comparatively limited in speed. Many more Thunderbolt enabled products were on display at this years Intel Developer’s Forum but the award for most striking (and possibly most expensive at $999) Thunderbolt enabled device would have to go to the new 27 inch Apple LED Cinema Display.

The best part of Thunderbolt is that it is essentially daisy chained version of PCI Express (with massive bandwidth) – so one Thunderbolt connector can branch out into many different connectors. Apple’s Thunderbolt display is a good example of this. Using one Thunderbolt connector, it hosts a massive resolution display which then also hosts USB ports, a Firewire 800 port and Gigabit ethernet port. And of course the obligatory Thunderbolt passthrough port to add even more goodies to that diasy chain. This is great for users of notebooks like the Macbook Air – which have extremely limited connectivity options. Now with one plug a Macbook Air user is instantly connected to all their external devices and gigabit networking. Apple has basically taken the idea of a dock, and put into their display.

The emergence of Thunderbolt is still in it’s infancy but the technological gains are too significant to be ignored. Who would have thought that there would have been a market for Blu-ray considering the storage potential of Dual Layer DVD? Thunderbolt enabled devices would currently cater for a niche market and hence be quite expensive but as with all things in this industry, the prices will come down. When it does, you would want to have a motherboard that is Thunderbolt enabled and USB 3.0 compatible.

Nobody nowadays would want to be seen at a computer with a stiffy drive, it just archaic – Thunderbolt may spell a similar fate for its predecessors.