F irewireDirect has announced a FireWire 800 CardBus/PCMCIA adapter. The card requires a Type II slot, as can be found on most PowerBooks, and provides 9-pin connectivity for FireWire 800 devices. FireWire 800 is the second generation of FireWire, with theoretical speeds of up to 800 Mbps . It should be noted that no shipping FireWire 800 devices can hit that limit, as of yet, but FireWire 800 offers throughput substantially higher than USB 2.0, Intelis competing technology. The device also offers a standard FireWire port for legacy devices. The adapter can also provide bus power through an optional power adapter. From FirewireDirect:
FirewireDirect.com, Inc. announces the industryis first FireWire 800 CardBus/PCMCIA adapter for Type II slots. The new FireWire 800/1394b CardBus Adapter offers 2-Ports, a 9-pin FireWire 800 port for connecting new 800Mbps FireWire 1394b devices and an independent legacy 6-pin port for 400Mbps FireWire products.
The separate legacy and 800Mbps ports are capable of supporting up to 63 devices and with no negative performance impact on the newer, faster FireWire devices while maintaining compatibility with existing cables.
800Mbps FireWire possesses all the same features that make FireWire the standard for digital data transmission and storage, but FireWire 800/1394b doubles the performance. The new card is fully compliant with this new implementation of the FireWire standard, offering speeds of up to 800Mbps (twice as fast as the existing FireWire standard) along with enhancements to data integrity that will make FireWire 800 even better suited to digital video and audio work.
The new FireWire 800/1394b CardBus employs the latest and most powerful Texas Instruments (TXN)OHCI-Lynxchipset.
The card is priced at US$94.95, and the optional power adapter is priced at US$19.95. You can find more information on the adapter at the companyis Web site. FirewireDirect has also added FireWire 800 cables, which the company is offering for US$19.95 with the purchase of FireWire 800 products.