Frozen Food, Spices, Jams, Caned Food, Live Stock ,
History
The first recorded reference to a vending machine is found in the work of Hero of Alexandria, a first-century engineer and mathematician. His machine accepted a coin and then dispensed a fixed amount of holy water. When the coin was deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever. The lever opened up a valve which let some water flow out. The pan continued to tilt with the weight of the coin until it fell off, at which point a counter-weight would snap the lever back up and turn off the valve.
A vending machine made in 1952.
Despite this early precedent, vending machines had to wait for the Industrial Age before they came to prominence. The first modern coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London, England in the early 1880s, dispensing post cards. The first vending machine in the U.S. was built in 1888 by the Thomas Adams Gum Company, selling gum on train platforms. The idea of adding simple games to these machines as a further incentive to buy came in 1897 when the Pulver Manufacturing Company added small figures which would move around whenever somebody bought some gum from their machines. This simple idea spawned a whole new type of mechanical device known as the “trade stimulators”. The birth of slot machines and pinball is ultimately rooted in these early devices.
Mechanis , ice vending machine .
Newspaper vending machine in Dsseldor , wholesale vending .
After paying, a product may become available by:
the machine releasing it, so that it falls in an open compartment at the bottom, or into a cup, either released first, or put in by the customer
the unlocking of a door, drawer, turning of a knob, etc.
Some products need to be prepared to become available. For example, tickets are printed or magnetized on the spot, and coffee is freshly concocted.
The main example of a vending machine giving access to all merchandise after paying for one item is a newspaper vending machine (also called vending box) found mainly in U.S. It contains a pile of identical newspapers. After a sale the door automatically returns to a locked position. A customer could open the box and take all of the newspapers or, for the benefit of other customers, leave all of the newspapers outside of the box, slowly return the door to an unlatched position, or block the door from fully closing, each of which are frequently discouraged, sometimes by a security clamp. The success of such machines is predicated on the assumption that the customer will be honest (hence the nickname “honor box”), and need only one copy.
Bulk candy and gumball vending
The Vendstar 3000, a typical bulk candy machine
Main article: Bulk vending
Bulk candy machines are entirely mechanical machines that vend a handful of candy, a bouncy ball, or perhaps a capsule with a small toy or jewelry, for one or two coins. The items may be unsorted; in that case what the customer exactly gets is subject to chance. In other instances, the customer is guaranteed a specific type of candy.
The gross margins in the bulk candy business can be quite high gumballs, for instance, can be purchased in bulk for 2 cents apiece and sold for 25 cents. Gumballs and candy have a relatively long shelf life, enabling vending machine operators to manage many machines without too much time involved. In addition, the machines are typically inexpensive compared to soft drink or snack machines. Many operators donate a percentage of the profits to charity so that locations will allow them to place the machines for free.
Bulk vending may be a more practical choice than soft drink/snack vending for an individual who also works a full-time job, since the restaurants, retail stores, and other locations suitable for bulk vending may be more likely to be open during the evening and on weekends than venues such as offices that host soft drink and snack machines.
Cigarette vending
Cigarettes were commonly sold in the United States through these machines, but this practice is increasingly rare due to concerns about underaged buyers. Sometimes a pass has to be inserted in the machine to prove one’s age. In some countries like Germany and Japan, by contrast, cigarette machines are still common. Vending machines were used at airports from the 1950s well into the 1970s to sell life insurance policies covering death in the event that the buyer’s flight crashed. Such policies were quite profitable, because the risk of any given flight crashing was (and remains) very low, but this practice gradually disappeared due to the tendency of American courts to strictly construe such policies against their sellers, such as Mutual of Omaha.
Full line vending
Main article: Full line vending
A full line vending company may set up several types of vending machines that sell a wide range of products. The types of products include candy, cookies, chips, fresh fruit, milk, cold food, coffee, bottles and/or cans of soda, and even frozen products like ice cream. These products can be sold from various types of vending machines that include coffee, snack, cold food, 20-oz. bottle machines, and glass-front bottle machines. Almost all machines accept bills with more and more machines accepting $5 bills. This is a great advantage to the vendor because it virtually eliminates the need for a bill changer. Larger corporations with cafeterias will often request full line vending with food service. Vending companies that offer both have a competitive advantage in acquiring accounts because it makes it much easier to deal with one company for both services.
Healthy vending
Healthy vending machines are machines that offer a range of healthy vending options. They offer a variety of healthy beverage and snack products and typically do not carry products that are high in saturated fat and sugar. Some machines offer whole meals and organic snacks and are typically found in schools and health clubs.
Specialized vending
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.
Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (April 2008)
Some types of vending machines are those that dispense personal products, typically in public toilet facilities. The machines in ladies’ restrooms typically sell some form of absorbent device for menstruation such as a pad or tampon. The machines in men’s rooms, when they are present, are most commonly used for the sale of condoms, though in some locations they may be found dispensing cologne, medicine, small candies, or even pornography. These are often found at toilets used by transient persons in high traffic locations, such as bus stations, shopping centres, airports and service stations.
Safety
A typical American snack vending machine
Most modern vending machines have been extensively tested and designed to inhibit theft. Many of these machines are designed essentially as large safes. Every year, a few people are killed when machines topple over on them, either while trying to steal from them, or venting frustration on them, especially when a malfunction causes the machine to fail to dispense the purchased item or the proper change. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (11 November 1988, p. 2697) documents 15 cases in which men trying to get a can out of the machine were crushed. Three died, the other 12 required hospitalization for injuries such as fractures of the skull, toe, ankle, tibia, femur, and pelvis; intracerebral bleeding; knee contusion; and one punctured bladder. The article states that because the soft drinks are located in the upper half of the machine (so that they can fall into the dispensing slot), the center of gravity of the machine is abnormally high, and the machine will fall after it has been tipped only 20 degrees, a deceptively small angle. A large, fully loaded soft drink machine can weigh over 400 kg (880 lbs.)
There is, also, the issue of using a coin of a foreign currency which has the same size and shape as the coin accepted by the machine to get cheaper merchandise and some times change that might have more value than the originally inserted foreign coin. One remarkable example was the use of Libyan coins of 100 Dirhams and 50 Dirhams denominations in Maltese vending machines in the late 1990s. The 100 Dirham coin was used in place of the 1 Maltese Lira coin which had, back then, a de facto black market value of approximately 10 Libyan Dinars and thus having a staggering value 100 times higher than that of the fraudulent coin. Similarly, the 50 Dirhams coin was used in place of the 25 Maltese Cent which meant 50 folds increase of value according to the black market price. However, the machines were quickly replaced with new ones that could detect the difference between the Libyan and the Maltese coins, especially in touristic areas. Most notably, the 2 euro coin is similar in size to the 10 baht coin (worth only 0.25). Thus, many vending machines in the eurozone will not accept 2 coins, such is the extent of the 10-baht scam.
Innovations
Vending has gone through significant changes over the decades. Many machines are still evolving to take credit cards and monitor machines from afar.
John Greenwick of the Greenway company is a former Mars Electronics employee and former product manager of the first ever bill acceptor. According to him, the industry saw a need for the ability to standardize the acceptance of coins and currency on a global basis. As such, a standard known as MDB (Multi-Drop Bus) was invented. This allows for machines around the…
Hyunda Q90U LCD Computer Monitor ,
Stamp Vending Machines in the UK
Early Designs
In the UK, the earliest SVM was tested in the last years of the 19th Century, but there are no drawings or records appertaining to it and it was quickly withdrawn. The earliest production series machines were introduced under Edward VII in 1907 following experiments with a patented 1906 design by New Zealander Robert J Dickie which was demonstrated to the British House of Lords in 1907. Dickie licenced the sales rights to his new machine outside the British Empire to Kermode & Co, who successfully sold it around the world. SVM mechanisms and cases are described by the UK Post Office using, rather confusingly, two separate alphabetical series of type letters to describe each one. Thus a machine may be described in the format of a “Type B4 mechanism in a Case Type K”.
An early Type A mechanism on display at the Inkpen Post Box Museum Taunton, Somerset
The earliest type vending machine was completely mechanical, deriving power to drive the vending mechanism from the insertion of a suitable coin. Initially the machines were set to dispense only d and 1d stamps. These proved to be quite successful and were in continuous production until 1924, when the improved Type machine was introduced. Type A machines feature elaborate cast brass fronts with the coin value raised against a chequer-plate design in the casting. Type could accept d, 1d or (later) 3d coins and would in exchange, vend a single stamp from a coil stamp roll joined vertically (IE head-to-tail). A number after the letter B denotes a particular pattern or variation in design for the machine. The coin value is indicated on a changeable metal plate near the coin slot as the value and coin size were now variable at the time of manufacture, but not once deployed in the field.
New types Introduced
Following quickly from the Type designs came other combinations of coin-operated machine. In Type , two d stamps were issued in exchange for one penny coin, whilst in Type , one 2d stamp is vended in exchange for two penny coins. These four types all work with long continuous stamp coils. In Type , the machine is set to dispense booklets of stamps. These were introduced for machine-vending shortly before the outbreak of World War II and eventually came to be the predominant type in use. Booklets were first tried out in 1935 as mixed-value booklets of King George V Jubilee stamps in panes of four, interleaved with advertising. These Jubilee books were too large for machine vending at the time.
Heyday of the Stamp Vending Machine
By 1970, there were some 50000 stamp selling machines in use in the UK and many more had been exported worldwide. The basic design remained unchanged from 1905 until 1970, when the Type series was introduced. G.1 was the first odern mechanism and was said by the manufacturer to be designed to fit in the old housings, although subsequent to the prototype it had to be modified and in any case was much deeper than the preceding designs so that it actually required its own specially designed case, designated Type U. Type G machines incorporated many novel features including a Perspex cover sealed from moisture over the stamp coil to prevent the stamps sticking together. In addition the mechanism was driven by the user lifting a large flap over the vend slot. This action primed the machine. It could be set to dispense any number of stamps from one to five against the insertion of a single coin, although in practice this was never done and all Type G machines vended a strip of five values. Initially these added up to 1 shilling, then after 1971, 5 new pence and by 1980, 10p. Changes in postal rates introduced in 1980 meant that all surviving 10p machines were withdrawn from service.
Construction & Use
Types A-E share the same common features that contributed to their success; they all have a stamp feed wheel with pins which accurately interlock with the stamp perforations and they all derive the energy needed to operate the mechanism from the raising of a weight through the insertion of a coin. Type F machines are different in that the coin releases a ull bar which when pulled, forces the next booklet in a stack out through the vend slot. Such mechanisms as Type F and Type G are said to be oin-freed. This proved to be very successful and was used over and over again in subsequent designs of machine up to about 1988, when manufacture of purely mechanical SVMs ceased.
From that time all machines in use in the UK were of the electro-mechanical type. This used a standard mechanical coin-weigher unit and mechanical stacking for booklets, but had an electronic arm on a rotating cam for dispensing the booklets. They were manufactured by Hillday Automation of Attleborough, Norfolk and designated Type B52. Two versions were built with either long or short coin boxes, easily recognised from the length of the case. Initially set to dispense 4 x 25p stamps in a folded booklet in exchange for a 1 coin, different combinations were later employed as postage rates in the UK continued to rise.
These electro-mechanical machines were powered by large internal battery packs which made them expensive to service and more unreliable than the purely mechanical designs. All of these were removed during 2001 and today there are far fewer automated stamp vending machines in use in the UK. As stamp booklets can now be widely purchased from supermarkets, garages, kiosks and newsagents, demand for automatic vending facilities has declined to the point where their continued operation becomes un-economic. Remaining machines are also found inside Post Offices, dispensing 1st and 2nd class NVI stamps from coils for those customers who wish to avoid queues.
Official Document , writing accessories .
In 1949, the GPO were issuing Type B4 machines in 1/2d and 1d denominations, while by 1958 a B4 3d machine had been introduced. P.O. Engineering Dept. notice C.1003 was issued on 22 September 1949, which includes ink drawings to show how the B4 mechanism works. Notice C4111 details how to load it, while maintenance is covered by C5011 & C5164. These documents can be viewed at The British Postal Museum & Archive in London , capsule vending machine .
Attleborough, Norfolk, PO showing a Type F booklet mech and a plated-over housing for a Type G multi-value coil mechanism
A nice pair of Type E wall mounting plates (without hoods) and a B1 1d mechanism in the side of GPO2 the BPMA Mobile Post Office
Two Type U housings with (right) a G2 coil vending mech and (left) a Type H booklet vending mech.
A type G2 coil multi-value vend mechanism showing the mechanical complexity.
A Hillday Type B52 electromechanical SVM
Two mechs in a Type K case - left is the stamp coil mech, right is for booklets at Colne Valley Postal History Museum
The same pair with the case closed; a Type F 50p booklet mech and a Type B4 3d coil mech.
The Type F pillar at Ealing Village, London, showing a 1d B4 SVM incorporated into the design of the box.
References and sources
Notes
^ P.O. Engineering Dept notice C.1003, 22 September 1949.
^ Notice C4111.
^ Notice C5011.
^ Notice C5164.
Sources
Corless, H.C. (1960). Stamps of Great Britain Issued in Rolls and the Machines which Use them. Published Privately, UK.
Robinson, Martin (2000). Old Letter Boxes. Shire Publications, Princes Risborough, UK. ISBN 0-74780446-X.
Morgan, Glenn (2007). Cross Post, Journal of the Friends of BPMA Summer 2007 issue. British Postal Museum & Archive.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stamp vending machines
British Postal Museum & Archive
The Letter Box Study Group
The Colne Valley Postal History Museum
Robert J Dickie - Champion of Automation
Coil and booklet stamps of Great Britain
Categories: Postal system | Street furnitureHidden categories: Articles lacking in-text citations from October 2008 | Articles with limited geographic scope | United Kingdom-centric
Fantasy Semiautomatic Blister Machine ,
Economy
As part of the Argentine recreational coast, tourism is Mar del Plata’s main economic activity with seven million tourists visiting the city in 2006. Mar del Plata has a sophisticated tourist infrastructure with countless hotels, restaurants, casinos, theatres and other tourist attractions. Mar del Plata is also an important sports centre with a multi-purpose Olympic style stadium (first used for the 1978 World Cup and later upgraded for the 1995 Pan American Games), 5 golf courses and many other facilities.
As an important fishing port, industry concentrates on fish processing and at least two large shipyards.
The area is also host to other light industry, such as textile, food manufacturing and polymers. There is a well-developed packaging machines industry, its quality being recognized in international markets. One of these companies was one of the pioneers in the automatic packaging of tea bags, exporting its original machine-designs abroad. Another company also exports its products and sold royalties to other countries.
During the mid 1980s, Mar del Plata saw the birth of electronics factories, focused mostly on the telecommunications field, with two of them succeeding in the international market , heavy duty machine .
Located southwest of the city there are quartzite quarries. The stone is traditionally used in construction (see Architecture). There is a huge area of farms in the rural areas surrounding the city, specialized mostly in the cultivation of vegetables , cnc plasma machine .
Although the area had suffered from a high rate of unemployment from 1995 to 2003, Mar del Plata has seen 46,000 new jobs created from the third quarter of 2003 to the third quarter of 2008, representing an increase of 22%. The 2008 Davis Cup Final was held in Mar del Plata and, after being shuttered for a decade the Gran Hotel Provincial (one of the largest hotels in Argentina) was reopened by the Madrid-based NH Hotels, in 2009.
Transportation
Mar del Plata is served by stor Piazzola International Airport (MDQ/SAZM) with daily flights to Buenos Aires served by Aerolneas Argentinas and Sol Lneas Areas and weekly flights to Patagonia served by LADE.
It has a bus terminal serving most cities in Argentina. There is a train station with two daily trains to Buenos Aires’ Estacin Constitucin.
Summertime in Mar del Plata.
Panoramic view of Mar del Plata from the south.
Vacationers enjoy Mar del Plata’s Bristol Beach, circa 1910.
Coln Avenue.
Highway 2 connects Mar del Plata with Buenos Aires and Route 11 connects it through the coastline, ending at Miramar, 40 km (25 mi) south of Mar del Plata. Route 88 connects to Necochea) and Route 226 to Balcarce, Tandil and Olavarra.
History timeline
Main article: History of Mar del Plata
Pre-Spanish era: The region was inhabited by Gnuna Kena nomads (also known as northern Tehuelches). They were later (after the 11th century) strongly influenced by the Mapuche culture.
1577-1857: First European explorers. Sir Francis Drake made a reconnaissance of the coast and its sea lion colonies; Don Juan de Garay explored the area by land a few years later. In 1742, during the War of Jenkin’s Ear, eight survivors of HMS Wager, part of Admiral Anson expedition, and led by Isaac Morris, lived through a ten-months ordeal before being decimated and captured by the Tehuelches, who eventually handed them to the Spaniards. After holding the Englishmen as prisoners, they returned Morris and his companions to London in 1746. First colonization attempt by Jesuit Order near Laguna de los Padres ended in disaster (1751).
1857-1874: The Portuguese entrepreneur Coelho de Meirelles, taking advantage of the country abundance of wild cattle, built a pier and a factory for salted meat, but the business only lasts a few years.
1874-1886: Patricio Peralta Ramos acquired the now abandoned factory along with the surrounding terrain, and founded the town on February 10, 1874. Basque rancher Pedro Luro bought a part of Peralta Ramos land for agricultural production. First docks also erected around this time.
1886-1911: The railway line from Buenos Aires, built by the Buenos Aires Great Southern reached Mar del Plata in 1886; the first hotels started their activity. The upper-class people from Buenos Aires became the first tourist of the new born village. They also established a local government that reflected their conservative ideals. Build-up of a French style resort.
1911-1930: The residents, mostly new arrived immigrants from Europe, demanded and obtained the control of the Municipality administration. The socialist were the mainstream political force in this period, carrying out social reforms and public investment. The main port was also built and inaugurated in 1916.
1930-1946: A military coup reinstated the Conservative hegemony in politics through electoral fraud and corruption, but in the local level they were quite progressive, their policies viewed in some way as a continuity of the socialist trend. The seaside Casino complex opened in 1939, was designed by architect Alejandro Bustillo, and Highway 2, the main road to Buenos Aires, also dates from this period.
1946-1955: Birth of the Peronist movement. A coalition between socialists and radicals defeated this new party by a narrow margin in Mar del Plata, but by 1948 the Peronism will dominate the local administration. The massive tourism, triggered by the welfare politics of Pern and the surge of the middle class marked a huge growth in the city economy.
1955-1970: After the fall of Pern, the socialists regained the upper hand in local politics; the city reached the peak in activities like construction business and building industry. Massive immigration from other regions of Argentina.
1970-1989: Slight decline of tourism demand, counterbalanced by the increasing of other industries such as fishing and machinery. General infrastructure renewal under the military rule. The radicals become the main political force after the return of Democracy in 1983.
1989-Present: Though the Peronism replaced the radicals in central government amid a national financial crisis, the latter party continued to rule in Mar del Plata. Some resurge of mass tourism in the early ’90s was followed by a deep social crisis in town, with an increase of poverty, jobless rate and emigration. By contrast, the first decade of the 21st century shows an amazingly quick recovery in all sectors of the ailing economy.
Culture
Sea lion, symbol of Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is the most popular destination for conventions in Argentina after Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata has a wide range of services in this sector. The summer season hosts over fifty theatrical plays.
These are the most important shows and festivals:
The Fiesta Nacional del Mar (“National Sea Festival”) with the election and coronation of the Sea Queen and her princesses, which takes place in December as the official inauguration of the summer season.
The Premios Estrella de Mar (“Sea Star Awards”) which honor the best stage plays and shows of the season.
The Valencian Falles week, a local reenactment of the Valencian event.
The Mar del Plata Fashion Show, along with a number of fashion parades that gathers the best haute couture designers.
The Fiesta Nacional de los Pescadores (National Fishermen’s Festival), a colourful display of sea tradition and cuisine.
The Mar del Plata International Film Festival, the only Class-A film’s festival in the Americas.
Mar del Plata has also hosted the 1995 Pan American Games, the 2003 Parapan American Games, the 2005 FIBA Under-21 World Championship, and co-hosted the 1978 FIFA World Cup and the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.
Since 1987 Mar del Plata annually hosts the Mar del Plata Marathon, in early December.
The local Government sponsors a stable Symphonic Orchestra, as well as a Conservatorium and a School of Classical and Modern Dance.
Museum of Fine Arts Juan Carlos Castagnino
The main museums are the following:
The Museum of Modern Art Juan Carlos Castagnino.
The Museum of the port of Mar del Plata Cleto Ciocchini.
The Museum of Natural Science Lorenzo Scaglia, specialized in Paleontology of the Quaternary species around the region.
The Museum of the Sea, which includes one of the most complete collections of sea snails of the World.
Villa Victoria, a vintage wooden house, the former residence of the late writer Victoria Ocampo, now a place for art expositions and classical music.
Culture and Sports Personalities:
Astor Piazzolla, composer and musician.
Juan Carlos Castagnino, painter.
Auro Tiribelli (1908-2006), architect.
Guillermo Vilas, top tennis star in the ’70s.
Ins Arrondo, hockey player, winner along with the national team of an Olympic Silver medal in Sydney 2000 and a Bronze medal in Athens 2004.
Laura Echarte, agricultural engineer, researcher in crop physiology studies, winner of a 2007 L’Oreal-Unesco international fellowship for Women.
Maria Gabriela Palomo, marine biologist, also winner of the L’Oreal-Unesco junior award in 2003 for her works on port-areas environmental pollution.
Jorge Lanata, journalist and writer.
Ricardo Piglia, writer born in Adrogu but raised in Mar del Plata.
Alberto Bruzzone’s workshop
Alberto Bruzzone (1907-1994), painter, was born in San Juan but chose Mar del Plata as his home city.
Hctor Babenco, movie director, who made Hollywood films like Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ironweed.
Homero Crpena (1910-2001), actor, playwright and…
Automatic Three Side Packing Machine ,
Personal computer packages
Early machines such as the Commodore 64 were tape-based, and hence had their games distributed on ordinary cassettes. When more advanced machines moved to floppy disks, the cassette boxes stayed in use for a while (e.g. Treasure Island Dizzy for the Amiga came on a floppy disk in a cassette box).
In the late 80s and early 90s, computer games became significantly more complex, and the market for them expanded enormously. Possibly in an effort to occupy more shelf-space than their rivals, and attract attention with their cover art, games began to be sold in large cardboard boxes. There was no standard size, but most were around 20cm x 15cm x 5cm (around 8in x 6in x 2in). The greatly increasing box sizes may have been justified in some cases. Games such as flight simulators came with extremely large, thick manuals. Others came with elaborate copy-protection systems such as Zool’s circular code wheel, or even a hardware dongle (although these were generally more common on expensive non-game software).
Variations on the “big box” format include a box within a sleeve, such as Unreal, and a box with a fold-out front cover, such as Black & White.
Games re-released as budget games usually came in much smaller boxes common format for Amiga budget games was a thin square box roughly 13cm x 13cm x 2cm (roughly 5in x 5in x 1in).
As PC games migrated to CDs in jewel cases, the large format box remained, though to reduce printing costs, manuals came on the CD, as did many of the copy-protection techniques in the form of SafeDisc and SecuROM. Despite the CD jewel case format having been around since the invention of the music CD, very few full-price PC games were released in a jewel case only. A thicker variation with space for a thick manual was, however, used for most PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast games.
Around 2000, PC game packaging in Europe began to converge with that of PS2 (and later, Xbox and GameCube) console games, in the keep case format in which to this day the vast majority of games are sold. These boxes are sometimes known as Amaray cases, after a popular manufacturer of them. In the US, most PC games continue to ship in cardboard boxes, though the size of such boxes has been standardized to a small form factor. Special packages such as a “Collector’s Edition” frequently still ship with oversized boxes.
In the US, the IEMA played a major role in improving, from a retailer’s perspective, the way most PC games are packaged. In 2000, many retailers were becoming disenchanted with the salability of PC games as compared with their more profitable console game counterparts as products. Oversized software boxes were blamed for a lack of productivity per square foot (the profitability of a particular item sold at retail based upon its foot print). The IEMA worked with leading game publishers in creating the now-standard IEMA-sized box, essentially a double-thick DVD-sized plastic or cardboard box, which effectively increased the profitability per square foot by over 33% and appeased merchants and developers alike.
In creating the new box size the IEMA found itself in the unlikely position of platform guardian (where each console platform had a first-party publisher to oversee standardization matters, PC games by their very nature did not). As such, the industry pressured the organization to develop a platform identification mark which would unify the display and focus the customer’s brand perception. Again the IEMA worked with publishers to create a new standard “PC” icon, and would provide its use on a royalty-free basis to the industry.
In 2004, Half-Life 2 was made available for download over the Internet, via Steam. A physical boxed copy was also sold, though it also required activation over the Internet. Valve Software hopes this method of distribution will take off, as it delivers a greater percentage of the sale price to the game developer than boxed copies. Steam also allows consumers to back up their copy of Half-Life 2 as well as other games that are downloadable through Steam onto CDs or DVDs. To complement this feature many fans have created box coverings for jewel cases that can be downloaded and printed, giving birth to a wide variety of game packaging styles and designs.
Java games for cellphones are distributed almost exclusively via the internet. It is possible that the proliferation of home broadband will lead to electronic distribution for all games in the future, leaving physical packaging a niche market, though game developers cite the unsolved problem of digital rights management as the main barrier to this.
Console packages
The earliest consoles had game cartridges; the Intellivision cartridge packaging featured a box color-coded to the “network” or category of the game (one of several themes, such as “action”, “sports”, etc.). The front cover opened up, book style; on the inner front cover, a slot retained the paper manual - a simple booklet, as well as the poly controller overlays. In the main confines of the box, a plastic tray was recessed into which the cartridge fit snugly. When other companies began to produce cartridges for Mattel’s system, other types of boxes began to appear, such as Imagic’s simple cardboard box, which opened from the top to reveal simple cardboard retainers for the cartridge and rules booklet.
Several console boxes.
Unlike PC games, console manufacturers charge a license fee to anyone developing for their machine, and exert a certain amount of influence in the style of packaging. Nintendo, for example, maintained almost completely standardized boxes for SNES games. PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox game boxes also conform to the keep case form factor.
Games for handheld systems are usually packaged in smaller boxes, to match the portable nature of the machine. The Game Boy Advance’s cardboard boxes are a little smaller than SNES/N64 packaging, and games for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP both come in much smaller, DVD-like boxes.
Box ar , pouch filling .
The box art for Phalanx is notable for its unusual art design , toys sewing machine .
The term box art (also called a game cover or cover art) can refer to the artwork on the front of computer or video game packaging. Box art is usually flashy and bombastic, in the vein of movie posters, and serves a similar purpose. Historically, art featured on the box has been in excess of what the computer or console was technically capable of displaying. Additionally, screenshots on the back of the box often mixed in-game sequences with pre-rendered sections, in the (mostly justified) belief that the appearance of good graphics would increase sales.
On the cover, many things are listed, such as the name and logo of the game, what console the game is for, the ESRB rating (or PEGI for Europe and CERO for Japan), logo of the publisher and/or developer, and quotes from magazines or websites. Sometimes listed is “Only For” or “Only On”, for the Nintendo 64, GameCube, GBA and Xbox consoles respectively, which indicates an exclusive game not found on any other console, although sometimes an event occurs after the official art has been released and the game is no longer an exclusive. An example would be Resident Evil 4’s box art. While originally exclusive to the GameCube, it was later released for the PlayStation 2 (and later the Wii).
As part of the marketing effort to build hype, box art is usually released a few months before the actual game. It is one of the last things made during development, but even so it is common for screenshots to be of parts of the game which did not make it into the final release.
Many people find particular box art as being particularly strange, or poor, such as Phalanx and Mega Man. Often this is the result of art used for a localized version of an import title. Many early releases, especially Nintendo, replaced Japanese art with original US artwork, such as the Dragon Warrior and the Final Fantasy series. The cover of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one example of US art that replaces an Ayami Kojima cover. Recent import titles have made it a habit to retain the original cover art.
The boxes of Nintendo games (NES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, GameCube, DS and Wii) from PAL territories all have a little coloured triangle on their spines, but in each territory it’s a different colour (to show the region that copy of the game came from), Some common ones are: Green = UK, Pink = Spain, Red = France, Light Blue = Italy, Dark Blue = Germany, Brown = Australia. There are 49 different colours. As well as geographic region it also has to do with the language of the box art and booklets; though PAL region Nintendo games are made in Germany, the triangles show the region that the game is shipped to.
Notable packaging
Some games have limited editions packed in tin boxes, like Quake III Arena (30,000 units ), the DVD Special Edition of Unreal Tournament 2004 , the Halo 2 preorder edition, or Half-Life 2 Gold and Collector’s Edition, and the special editions of Final Fantasy XII, Bioshock, Crysis, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
All three games in the Marathon Trilogy came in boxes shaped similarly to triangular prisms.
Flashback had several box designs throughout the world, but at least the UK Amiga version featured a half-sleeve designed to give the box art a 3D appearance.
The Amiga version of Cannon Fodder had camouflaged box art, to fit with its military theme. A pre-release version had the corn poppy flower as its main motif, but critics in the British media took offense, calling it an insult to the British war dead.
Legend of Zelda had a heraldic shield divided into four sections on the front cover….
Wire Straighting Machine ,
cartoning machine is a packaging machine that forms cartons: erect, close, folded, side seamed and sealed cartons.
Packaging machines which form a carton board blank into a carton filled with a product or bag of products or number of products say into single carton, after the filling,the machine engages its tabs / slots to apply adhesive and close both the ends of carton completely sealing the carton.
Cartoning machines can be divided into two types:
Horizontal Cartoning Machin , shaving ice machine .
Vertical Cartoning Machin , used processing machinery .
A cartoning machine which picks a single piece from stack of folded carton and erects it, fills with a product or bag of products or number of products horizontally through an open end and closes by tucking the end flaps of the carton or applying glue or adhesive. The product might be push in the carton either through the mechanical sleeve or by pressurized air. This type of Cartoning machine is widely used for packaging foodstuffs, confectionery, medicine, cosmetics, sundry goods, etc.
A cartoning machine which erects a folded carton, fills with a product or number of products vertically through an open end and closes by either tucking the end flaps of the carton or applying glue or adhesive. Widely used for packaging bottled foodstuffs, confectionery, medicine, cosmetics, etc.
Categories: IndustryHidden categories: Orphaned articles from November 2008 | All orphaned articles | Articles lacking sources from November 2008 | All articles lacking sources
Hand Carving Painted Elephant Key Chain India Art ,
Types of unauthorized access
Accidental association
Unauthorized access to company wireless and wired networks can come from a number of different methods and intents. One of these methods is referred to as ccidental association. When a user turns on a computer and it latches on to a wireless access point from a neighboring company overlapping network, the user may not even know that this has occurred. However, it is a security breach in that proprietary company information is exposed and now there could exist a link from one company to the other. This is especially true if the laptop is also hooked to a wired network.
Malicious association
alicious associations are when wireless devices can be actively made by crackers to connect to a company network through their cracking laptop instead of a company access point (AP). These types of laptops are known as oft APs and are created when a cracker runs some software that makes his/her wireless network card look like a legitimate access point. Once the cracker has gained access, he/she can steal passwords, launch attacks on the wired network, or plant trojans. Since wireless networks operate at the Layer 2 level, Layer 3 protections such as network authentication and virtual private networks (VPNs) offer no barrier. Wireless 802.1x authentications do help with protection but are still vulnerable to cracking. The idea behind this type of attack may not be to break into a VPN or other security measures. Most likely the cracker is just trying to take over the client at the Layer 2 level , gsm pc card .
Ad-hoc network , pci interface card .
Ad-hoc networks can pose a security threat. Ad-hoc networks are defined as peer-to-peer networks between wireless computers that do not have an access point in between them. While these types of networks usually have little protection, encryption methods can be used to provide security.
Non-traditional networks
Non-traditional networks such as personal network Bluetooth devices are not safe from cracking and should be regarded as a security risk. Even barcode readers, handheld PDAs, and wireless printers and copiers should be secured. These non-traditional networks can be easily overlooked by IT personnel who have narrowly focused on laptops and access points.
Identity theft (MAC spoofing)
Identity theft (or MAC spoofing) occurs when a cracker is able to listen in on network traffic and identify the MAC address of a computer with network privileges. Most wireless systems allow some kind of MAC filtering to only allow authorized computers with specific MAC IDs to gain access and utilize the network. However, a number of programs exist that have network niffing capabilities. Combine these programs with other software that allow a computer to pretend it has any MAC address that the cracker desires, and the cracker can easily get around that hurdle.
Man-in-the-middle attacks
A man-in-the-middle attacker entices computers to log into a computer which is set up as a soft AP (Access Point). Once this is done, the hacker connects to a real access point through another wireless card offering a steady flow of traffic through the transparent hacking computer to the real network. The hacker can then sniff the traffic. One type of man-in-the-middle attack relies on security faults in challenge and handshake protocols to execute a e-authentication attack. This attack forces AP-connected computers to drop their connections and reconnect with the cracker soft AP. Man-in-the-middle attacks are enhanced by software such as LANjack and AirJack, which automate multiple steps of the process. What once required some skill can now be done by script kiddies. Hotspots are particularly vulnerable to any attack since there is little to no security on these networks.
Denial of service
A Denial-of-Service attack (DoS) occurs when an attacker continually bombards a targeted AP (Access Point) or network with bogus requests, premature successful connection messages, failure messages, and/or other commands. These cause legitimate users to not be able to get on the network and may even cause the network to crash. These attacks rely on the abuse of protocols such as the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP).
Network injection
In a network injection attack, a cracker can make use of access points that are exposed to non-filtered network traffic, specifically broadcasting network traffic such as panning Tree (802.1D), OSPF, RIP, and HSRP. The cracker injects bogus networking re-configuration commands that affect routers, switches, and intelligent hubs. A whole network can be brought down in this manner and require rebooting or even reprogramming of all intelligent networking devices.
Caffe Latte attack
The Caffe Latte attack is another way to defeat WEP. It is not necessary for the attacker to be in the area of the network using this exploit. By using a process that targets the Windows wireless stack, it is possible to obtain the WEP key from a remote client. By sending a flood of encrypted ARP requests, the assailant takes advantage of the shared key authentication and the message modification flaws in 802.11 WEP. The attacker uses the ARP responses to obtain the WEP key in less than 6 minutes.
Wireless Intrusion Prevention Systems
A Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS) is the most robust way to counteract wireless security risks. A WIPS is typically implemented as an overlay to an existing Wireless LAN infrastructure, although it may be deployed standalone to enforce no-wireless policies within an organization.
Large organizations with many employees are particularly vulnerable to security breaches caused by rogue access points. If an employee (trusted entity) in a location brings in an easily available wireless router, the entire network can be exposed to anyone within range of the signals.
WIPS is considered so important to wireless security that in July 2009, the PCI Security Standards Council published wireless guidelines for PCI DSS recommending the use of WIPS to automate wireless scanning and protection for large organizations.
Wireless Security Best Practices
Though a WIPS is deployed, certain wireless security best practices are recommended for every Wireless LAN deployment. Certain practices may not be possible due to deployment constraints.
MAC ID filtering
Most wireless access points contain some type of MAC ID filtering that allows the administrator to only permit access to computers that have wireless functionalities that contain certain MAC IDs. This can be helpful; however, it must be remembered that MAC IDs over a network can be faked. Cracking utilities such as SMAC are widely available, and some computer hardware also gives the option in the BIOS to select any desired MAC ID for its built in network capability.
Static IP addressing
Disabling at least the IP Address assignment function of the network’s DHCP server, with the IP addresses of the various network devices then set by hand, will also make it more difficult for a casual or unsophisticated intruder to log onto the network. This is especially effective if the subnet size is also reduced from a standard default setting to what is absolutely necessary and if permitted but unused IP addresses are blocked by the access point’s firewall. In this case, where no unused IP addresses are available, a new user can log on without detection using TCP/IP only if he or she stages a successful Man in the Middle Attack using appropriate software.
802.11 security
Main article: IEEE 802.1X
Regular WEP
Main article: Wired Equivalent Privacy
WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy. This encryption standard was the original encryption standard for wireless. As its name implies, this standard was intended to make wireless networks as secure as wired networks. Unfortunately, this never happened as flaws were quickly discovered and exploited. There are several open source utilities like aircrack-ng, weplab, WEPCrack, or airsnort that can be used by crackers to break in by examining packets and looking for patterns in the encryption. WEP comes in different key sizes. The common key lengths are currently 128- and 256-bit. The longer the better as it will increase the difficulty for crackers. However, this type of encryption is now being considered outdated and seriously flawed. In 2005 a group from the FBI held a demonstration where they used publicly available tools to break a WEP encrypted network in three minutes. WEP protection is better than nothing, though generally not as secure as the more sophisticated WPA-PSK encryption. A big problem is that if a cracker can receive packets on a network, it is only a matter of time until the WEP encryption is cracked.
WEP has some serious issues. First, it does not deal with the issue of key management at all. Either the keys have to be manually given to end users, or they have to be distributed in some other authentication method. Since WEP is a shared key system, the AP uses the same key as all the clients and the clients also share the same key with each other. A cracker would only have to compromise the key from a single user, and he would then know the key for all users.
In addition to key management, a recently published paper describes ways in which WEP can actually be broken (eaknesses in the Key Scheduling Algorithm of RC4 by Fluhrer, Mantin and Shamir). This is due to a weakness in RC4 as it is implemented in WEP. If enough traffic can be intercepted, then it can be broken by brute force in a matter of an hour or two. If that weren bad enough, the time it takes to crack WEP only grows linearly with key length,…
Wristband USB Flash Disk-U84 ,
Overview
Parallels Desktop for Mac is a hardware emulation virtualization software, using hypervisor technology that works by mapping the host computer hardware resources directly to the virtual machine resources, allowing each virtual machine to operate identically to a standalone computer. Each virtual machine effectively has its own processor, RAM, floppy and CD drives, I/O devices, and hard disk, essentially all the resources of a physical computer. Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualizes all devices within the virtual environment, including the video adapter, network adapter, and hard disk adapters. It also provides pass-through drivers for parallel port and USB devices.
Because all guest virtual machines use the same hardware drivers irrespective of the actual hardware on the host computer, virtual machine instances are highly portable between computers. For example, a running virtual machine can be stopped, copied to another physical computer, and restarted.
Parallels Desktop for Mac is able to virtualize a full set of standard PC hardware, including
A virtualized CPU of the same type as the host’s physical processor , philips tv tuner card .
A generic motherboard compatible with the Intel i815 chipset , esata pci card .
Up to 8 GB of RAM for guest virtual machines (4 GB total), currently max 512 MB for Linux as guest system because of incompatibilities between i815 emulation and current Linux kernels
Up to 256 MB of video RAM (VRAM).
VGA and SVGA video cards with VESA 3.0 support.
A 1.44 MB floppy drive, which can be mapped to a physical drive or to an image file.
Up to four IDE devices. This includes virtual hard drives that range in size from 20 MB to 128 GB each and CD/DVD-ROM drives. Virtual CD/DVD-ROM drives can be mapped to either physical drives or ISO image files.
DVD/CD-ROM “pass-through” access.
Up to four serial ports that can be mapped to a pipe or to an output file.
Up to three bi-directional parallel ports, each of which can be mapped to a real port, to a real printer or to an output file.
An Ethernet virtual network card compatible with Realtek RTL8029(AS), capable of up to five network interface connections.
Up to eight USB 2.0 devices and two USB 1.1 devices.
An AC97-compatible sound card.
A 104-key Windows enhanced keyboard and a PS/2 wheel mouse.
Version 2.5
Parallels Coherence
The first official release of version 2.5 was on February 27, 2007, as build 3186.
Version 2.5 brought support for USB 2.0 devices, which expanded the number of USB devices supported at native speed, including support for built in iSight USB web-cams. The amount of video RAM allocated to the guest OS was made adjustable, up to 32MB. Full featured CD/DVD drives arrived in this version, which allowed the user to burn disks directly in the virtual environment, and play any copy-protected CD or DVD as one would in OS X. In addition, a shared clipboard and drag-drop support between OS X and the guest OS was implemented. This version brought the ability for users with a Windows XP installation to upgrade to Windows Vista from within the VM environment. A new feature known as Coherence was added, which removed the Windows chrome, desktop, and the virtualization frames to create a more seamless desktop environment between Windows and OS X applications. This version also allowed users to boot their existing Boot Camp Windows XP partitions, which eliminated the need to have multiple Windows installations on their Mac. A tool called Parallels Transporter was included to allow users to migrate their Windows PC, or existing VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels Desktop for Mac.
Netsys lawsuit
In 2007, the German company Netsys GmbH sued Parallels’ German distributor Avanquest for copyright violation, claiming that Parallels Desktop and Parallels Workstation are directly based on a line of products called “twoOStwo” that Parallels developed on paid commission for Netsys, of which it says, Netsys has been assigned all copyrights, according to news sources. The lawsuit claimed that Parallels Desktop 2.5’s compatibility with “twoOStwo”, which was developed for and paid for by Netsys, showed that the two software products are run by essentially the same functional core. When Netsys lost its initial urgency proceeding, in which it requested a temporary injunction from the Landgericht district court of Berlin, it filed a new suit.
Version 3.0
Parallels Desktop features hardware accelerated 3D graphics, and runs many Windows games, including Half-Life 2, shown here.
On June 7, 2007 build 4124 was released as the first publicly available version of Desktop 3.0.
Version 3.0 retained all of the functionality from previous versions and added new features and tools. Support for DirectX 8.1 and OpenGL was added, allowing Mac users to play some Windows games without the need to boot into Windows with Boot Camp. A new feature called SmartSelect offers cross OS file and application integration by allowing the user to open Windows files with Mac OS X programs and vice versa. Parallels Explorer was introduced, which allows the user to browse their Windows system files in OS X without actually launching Windows. A new snapshot feature was included, allowing one to restore their virtual machine environment to a previous state in case of issues. Further, Parallels added a security manager to limit the amount of interaction between the Windows and OS X installations. This version included a long awaited complete “Parallels tools’” driver suite for Linux guest operating systems. Therefore integration between Mac OS X and Linux guest-OS’s has been greatly improved.
Despite the addition of numerous new features, tools and added functionality, the first iteration of Desktop for Mac 3.0 may be missing some of features that Parallels had planned for it. A Parallels, Inc. representative stated at MacWorld in January 2007 that version 3.0 would bring accelerated graphics, “multi-core virtual machines/virtual SMP, some SCSI support, a more Mac-like feel, as well as a more sophisticated coherence mode, dubbed Coherence 2.0″. While accelerated graphics have materialised, Coherence, as well as the overall look and feel of Parallels Desktop for Mac has only changed slightly. Also, SCSI support has not been implemented.
It is currently unknown if these features have been abandoned altogether, or if they will show up in a later build of version 3.0.
Build 4560, released on July 17, 2007, added an imaging tool which allowed users to add capacity to their virtual disks.
Feature update
Parallels Coherence in Expos
Build 5160, released on September 11, 2007, added some new features and updated some current features.
The release focused on updates to Coherence, with support for Expos , window shadows, and transparent windows and the ability to overlap several Windows and Mac windows. Further, Parallels’ Image Tool was updated to allow one to change their virtual hard disk format between plain and expanding. Parallels Explorer was updated to allow for one to automatically mount an offline VM hard drive to the Mac desktop. Some new features added are iPhone support in Windows, allowing iTunes in Windows to sync with it. Users can now mirror desktops or other folders. Further, Mac drives can now be mapped by Windows and sound devices can now be changed ‘on the fly’. Up to 2 GB of RAM can be allocated to a virtual machine, with a total of 4 GB of RAM available.
Parallels Desktop for Mac Build 5608 added support for guest Parallels Tools for Linux in the latest Linux distributions (including Ubuntu 8). It also added support for running 3D graphics in Windows virtual machines on Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.3.
Wine controversy
According to Parallels’ Licensing page, Desktop for Mac version 3.0 contains Direct3D code that was originally developed by the Wine open source project. Wine software is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, which required Parallels to release the source code. Parallels released the modified source code on July 2, 2007, about 2 weeks after the promised release date. A Parallels spokesman explained the reasons for the delay in a message on the official company blog.
Version 4.0
Parallels Modality and Translucent Window
Version 4.0, released November 11, 2008, updates its GUI, adds some new features, enhances its performance by up to 50% and has been developed to consume 15-30% less power than previous versions. Version 4.0 is the first version of Parallels Desktop that supports both 32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems. Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac 3D support includes DirectX 9.0, DirectX Pixel Shader 2.0 and OpenGL 2.0 as well as 256 MB video memory. It also adds support for 8 GB RAM in a virtual machine and 8-way SMP. Parallels Desktop 4.0 introduces an adaptive hypervisor, which allows users to focus the host computer resources towards either host or the guest operating system.
Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac adds some new features such as:
A fourth viewing mode called Modality, which allows users to scale the size of an active guest operating system on the Mac desktop
A new screenshot utility called Clips, which lets users take and share screenshots between the host and the guest operating systems.
Start Menu integration and Automatic Windows Notifications on the Apple Menu Bar.
The ability to use select voice commands to remotely control the virtual machine.
The ability to start and stop a virtual machine via the iPhone. (Requires installing an iPhone application from Apple’s AppStore.)
Since the Version 4.0 release,…
4/8/16 Channel PCI Telephone Recording Card, 1/2 Channel Telephone (Voice) Recording Box ,
Uses
These slots can accept FireWire 800 (1394B), Serial ATA external disk drives, Solid-state drives, Wireless network interface cards, TV tuner cards, soundcards, additional memory and memory card readers, among other things. Asus has recently revealed an external graphics card that can be connected to laptops through the interface, the XG Station. However, these kinds of graphics cards can only be used on an external monitor.
Video graphics cards
According to the ExpressCard website, “We do not expect that a stand-alone ExpressCard graphics accelerator will be developed in the near term. Graphics accelerators currently require more board space than even an ExpressCard/54 module provides, more power than the ExpressCard slot can provide and produce more heat than an ExpressCard module can safely dissipate.”
However, there are products allow one to connect a standard, full-size PCIexpress card (like a modern GPU) to a laptop through the Expresscard slot, utilizing an external case and power supply for the desktop PCIexpress card. See here: http://www.magma.com/products/pciexpress/index.htm , pcmcia sata card .
Form factor , dvr cctv card .
ExpressCard supports two form factors, ExpressCard/34 (34 mm wide) and ExpressCard/54 (54 mm wide, in an L-shape) the connector is the same on both (width 34 mm). Standard cards are 75 mm long (10.6 mm shorter than CardBus) and 5 mm thick, but may be thicker on sections that extend outside the standard form for antennas, sockets, etc. The 34 mm form factor cards fit into both 34 mm and 54 mm card slots via a diagonal guide in the rear of the 54 mm slot that guides the card to the connector. The 54 mm card will fit in only a 54 mm slot.
Adapters are available for connecting an ExpressCard/34 card to a CardBus slot.
Comparison to CardBus
The major benefit of ExpressCard technology over the previous PCMCIA CardBus PC card is a dramatic increase in bandwidth, afforded by the fact that the ExpressCard has a direct connection to the system bus over a PCI Express x1 lane and USB 2.0, whereas CardBus utilizes an interface controller that only interfaces with PCI. The ExpressCard has a maximum throughput of 2.5 Gbit/s through PCI Express and 480 Mbit/s through USB 2.0 dedicated for each slot, versus CardBus’s shared 1.06 Gbit/s bandwidth.
Cardbus to ExpressCard Adapter
In addition, the ExpressCard standard uses lower voltages than the previous CardBus slots (1.5V and 3.3V versus 3.3V and 5.0V).
The ExpressCard FAQ also claims other advantages, including lower cost, better scalability, and better integration with motherboard chipset technology. The ExpressCard interface is not backwards-compatible with CardBus devices, which presents a problem for those who may purchase a new system only to find that their devices do not work with the new slot design.
However, adapters are available for connecting a CardBus card to an ExpressCard/34 or ExpressCard/54 slot.
Availability
A mobile broadband modem integrated into ExpressCard 34
An ExpressCard slot has been commonly included on high-end laptops made since 2006.
Hewlett-Packard began shipping systems with ExpressCard in November 2004.
Lenovo integrated the slot into their flagship ThinkPad T43 in May 2005.
Dell Computer also incorporates this in their Precision (the 17″ models have them exclusively, the 15″ Precisions have both express card and PCMCIA Card slots), Inspiron, Latitude (Latitude D-series have PCMCIA card slots. The D820/D830 have both ExpressCard and PCMCIA card slots), Studio, Vostro and XPS Laptop product lines.
Fujitsu-Siemens began shipping systems with ExpressCard in mid 2005.
Apple Inc. included single ExpressCard/34 slots in every MacBook Pro notebook computer from January 2006 through June 2009, At the June 8, 2009 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference the company announced that the 15-inch and 13-inch MacBook Pro models would replace the ExpressCard slot with a Secure Digital card slot, while retaining the ExpressCard slot on the 17-inch model.
ASUS has also replaced the PC Card slot with an ExpressCard slot on many of its new models.
Sony also began shipping systems with ExpressCard with its new laptop VGN-SZ and FW product line.
The Acer Aspire laptop series also has a single ExpressCard/54 slot on most new models.
Panasonic incorporates ExpressCard/54 slots in all the fully rugged and semi-rugged models of their Toughbook brand of portable computers.
Gateway notebooks (ML3109 and later) also ship with ExpressCard 54 interfaces.
Because of the lack of backward compatibility, some laptop manufacturers have chosen to release models incorporating both CardBus (PCMCIA, PC Card) and ExpressCard slots. These include certain models of Acer Aspire, Toshiba Satellite, Dell Latitude and Precision, MSI S42x and Lenovo ThinkPad Z60m, R52, T60 and R61.
A large number of ExpressCard devices were presented at the CeBit trade show in Germany in March 2005. In November 2006, Belkin announced that it is launching the first ExpressCard docking station, which uses the PCIe part of an ExpressCard connection to enable 1600×1200 video and the USB part to provide USB, audio and network ports. This points to the ability for ExpressCard to allow more capable non-OEM docking stations for laptop computers.
Recently Sony has introduced its Vaio TZ model, which incorporates ExpressCards. Also the Sony Vaio FZ and Vaio Z series has the ExpressCard 34 Slot integrated in them. Sony also uses the ExpressCard/34 form factor for the flash memory modules in its XDCAM EX/SxS based camcorders, making the copying of video data between these cameras and ExpressCard-equipped laptops easier. For this reason, Sony also offers a USB-based SxS reader for desktop computers.
The new Toshiba Satellite P and X 200/205 series of laptops and desktop replacements have an ExpressCard/34 slot since April 2007.
ExpressCard 2.0
Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (September 2008)
ExpressCard 2.0 Standard was delivered March 4, 2009 at CeBIT in Hannover. It complies with PCI-Express 2.0 and SuperSpeed USB, which is part of the USB 3.0 specification. It is backwards compatible with current ExpressCard modules and 2.0 ExpressCard modules will work in current slots. ExpressCard 2.0 products are expected to be in the market in 2010.
Consumer take-up
There is a perception that the ExpressCard slots on laptops are under-utilised[citation needed], with little consumer take-up of hardware using the slot compared with the very popular USB 2.0 connection sockets found on all current computers. As of 2009, Apple has removed ExpressCard slots from all of its laptop models except the 17-inch screen MacBook Pro[citation needed]. Compared with USB hardware, ExpressCard hardware is less obtrusive. Typically, an ExpressCard accessory can be left permanently installed, as the laptop can be stored in its case with it still in place. ExpressCard plug-in hardware available includes TV tuners, mobile broadband cards. Media remote control units are available that use the ExpressCard slot to store and recharge. [dead link]
Notes
^ As of 27 April 2007. Source: http://www.pcmcia.org/order.htm
^ “NEWCARD Reborn As ‘ExpressCard’”. http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3077821. Retrieved on 2009-02-25.
^ http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/qa.jsp
^ http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/cebit2009.jsp ExpressCard 2.0
^ http://shopper.cnet.com/remote-controls/hp-mobile-remote-control/4027-7900_9-31860035.html
External links
Official Home Page for ExpressCard Technology from PCMCIA
v d e
Memory cards
CompactFlash (CF) JEIDA Memory Stick (MS/MS-PRO) miCard Microdrive (MD) PC Card SmartMedia (SM) SxS Universal Flash Storage (UFS) USB xD-Picture
MMC/SD
MultiMediaCard (MMC) Secure Digital (SD) miniSD microSD
Memory card reader
Comparison of memory cards SD Card and MultiMediaCard family comparison
v d e
Computer data bus standards
Computer bus standards (desktop)
S-100 bus I2c ISA Zorro II Low Pin Count HP-Precision Bus EISA VME64 NuBus TURBOchannel MCA Sbus VLB PCI HP GSC bus Zorro III InfiniBand UPA PCI-X AGP PCI Express QuickPath Interconnect HyperTransport
Computer bus standards (portable)
PC Card ExpressCard
Storage bus standards
ST-506 ESDI Parallel ATA DMA SSA Serial ATA Serial ATA 2 SCSI Serial Attached SCSI Fibre Channel iSCSI
Peripheral bus standards
Apple Desktop Bus MIDI RS-232 DMX512A 16550 UART UART RS-422 (serial port) IEEE-1284 (parallel port) EIA-485 USB eSATA FireWire Fibre Channel USB 3.0 Camera Link External PCI Express x16
Categories: Computer buses | Standards organizations | MotherboardHidden categories: Articles to be expanded from September 2008 | All articles to be expanded | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from June 2009 | All articles with dead external links | Articles with dead external links from June 2009
Iron Oxide Red 129,130, Iron Oxide Green / Black ,
History
The JetDirect was first introduced in March 1991 (code named QuickSilver) with the LaserJet IIIsi network printer (code named Helios). This interface, MIO (Modular Input/Ouput) was designed from the ground up with the IIIsi to create a mainstream full function high performance networked printer. The initial MIO interface card supported Ethernet and Token Ring physical layer variants and various networking protocols over an AUI/BNC connection. Initially, a separate card was required for each protocol needed, such as TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, or DLC/LLC. The most common communication uses TCP port 9100. The following year the team applied the technology to the legacy accessory slot on the LaserJetIIs and IIIs (XIO) XIO(Extended Input/Output). Not until 1994 would MIO interface cards be released that could support more than one protocol per card.
The next development releases added connection interfaces. In 1992, a card with both RJ45 and BNC connectors was released, and in 1993, the first external JetDirects were introduced with a parallel interface. This enabled JetDirect cards to connect to almost any printer, making that printer network-capable. In 1995, the Ex plus 3 was released, with 3 parallel ports on one network interface, allowing 3 printers to share 1 network address.
1997 saw the new numbering format for both internal and external JetDirects. Internals began the 6xx series with the release of the 600n, multi-protocol card that supported TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, DLC/LLC, and AppleTalk over a token-ring network; along with the 1760x series external print server - also multi-protocol. An Ethernet version of the 600n was released in 1998. In 1999, the JetDirect autoswitch was introduced.
1998 also saw the release of 170x, the first value-line print server aimed at smaller companies that did not necessarily need full networking - only TCP/IP or IPX/SPX support. This was followed in 2000 by the JetDirect 70x home print server , mmc sd memory card .
615n serie , buy network card .
In 2002 HP released the 615n series of Internal EIO print server. This model featured a new chipset manufactured in Singapore that had an issue to do with either overheating or data overload. Otherwise known as the ASIC issue, this meant the 615n card could fail without warning, and when it failed, would completely shut down, appearing to vanish from the printer entirely. Functionality can be restored in most cases by removing plastic end and heating it component side up in an oven at 400 degrees F. for 5 minutes[citation needed].
Soon afterwards, HP began to do a per-item replacement policy that has ended as of October 31, 2008, when all known 615n cards were at least 4 years old and at such time HP felt it had taken appropriate corporate responsibility for a defect in manufacturing.
The 615n cards most directly affected were the units installed in the Laserjet 2300, 4200 and Color 4600 series. Those cards appear to be most prone to failure.
Any 615n series card can fail, but it is up to HP to determine if the failure is due to the chipset or some other factor. It is recommended to call them or contact them through the Web site and they will proceed to do some simple troubleshooting steps to determine if the failure is due to the chipset or some other cause. If it is proven to be the chipset, HP would be able to replace the card under warranty with an as-new card (nominally a 620n) which can save the customer upwards of US$350 at current (2007?) retail prices.
External print servers
Model number
Printer ports
Network ports
Network protocols
Firmware
Notes
EX Plus
One Parallel
10Base-T Coax and RJ45
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, and DLC/LLC
Flash EEPROM
BOOTP & DHCP Client
EX Plus3
Three Parallel
10Base-T Coax and RJ45
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, and DLC/LLC
Flash EEPROM
DHCP Client (not BOOTP)
170x
One Parallel (IEEE 1284.4)
One RJ45 10Base-T Ethernet
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, and DLC/LLC
Non-upgradeable
175x
One USB 1.0
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet
TCP/IP, AppleTalk, LPD (Windows and Mac OS only)
Non-upgradeable
Discontinued in favour of the en1700
300x
One Parallel (IEEE 1284.4)
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, and DLC/LLC, IPP, FTP
2 MB
Two models available; the standard RJ45 model, and the OfficeConnect model, designed to integrate into the 3Com OfficeConnect network family of products OfficeConnect model now discontinued
310x
One USB 1.0
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, and DLC/LLC
2 MB
Discontinued in Favor of the en3700
en1700
One USB 2.0
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet
TCP/IP, AppleTalk
2 MB
Limited Firmware flashable for USB connectivity to certain HP printers
en3700
One USB 2.0
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, and DLC/LLC
4 MB
500x
Three Parallel (IEEE 1284.4
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet, one BNC (10Base-2)
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, and DLC/LLC
2 MB
Discontinued in favor of the 510x
510x
Three Parallel (IEEE 1284.4
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk, and DLC/LLC
2 MB
Same product as the 500x, except no BNC connector and ROHS compliant
wp110
One Parallel (IEEE 1284.4)
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet, Wireless 802.11b
TCP/IP, AppleTalk, IP Direct mode, telnet, SLP, IGMP, BOOTP/DHCP, WINS, SNMP, HTTP, Auto-IP, and Apple Rendezvous
2 MB
Discontinued
380x
One USB 1.0
Wireless 802.11b
TCP/IP (IP Direct Mode, LPD, FTP, IPP), IPX/SPX, DLC/LLC, and AppleTalk. Also NDS, NetWare Bindery, NCP, telnet, SLP, IGMP, BOOTP/DHCP, WINS, SNMP v1 and v2c, and HTTP
4 MB
Discontinued in favor of ew2400
ew2400
One USB 2.0
One RJ45 10/100Base-TX Ethernet, Wireless 802.11b/g
TCP/IP, IPX/SPX Direct mode, AppleTalk, IP Direct mode, LPD printing, telnet, SLP, IGMP, BOOTP/DHCP, WINS, SNMP, HTTP, Auto-IP, and Apple Rendezvous
4 MB
Internal print servers
MIO
MIO (Modular Input/Output) was the first technology developed by HP for its laser printers to enable the addition of peripheral cards such as JetDirect.
Model number
Network ports
Released
Notes
C2059A/B/C/D/E/T
???
Outdated; must be replaced with J2550B, J2552B, J2555B, or J2556B
J2337
???
Can be upgraded with J2546B SIMM or J2549B SIMM
J2338
???
Can be upgraded with J2546B SIMM or J2549B SIMM
J2339
???
Can be upgraded with J2546B SIMM or J2549B SIMM
J2340
???
Can be upgraded with J2546B SIMM or J2549B SIMM
J2371
???
Can be upgraded with J2546B SIMM or J2549B SIMM
J2372
10Base-T
Can be upgraded with J2546B SIMM or J2549B SIMM
J2373
???
Can be upgraded with J2546B SIMM or J2549B SIMM
J2550A/B
10Base-T
1 November 1996
“A” version can be upgraded to “B” version with a firmware update
J2552A/B
10Base-T, 10Base-2, and LocalTalk
1 November 1996
“A” version can be upgraded to “B” version with a firmware update
J2555A/B
Token Ring
1 November 1996
“A” version can be upgraded to “B” version with a firmware update
J2556B
10/100Base-TX
J4100A
10/100Base-TX and 10Base-2
1 February 2000
J4105A
Token Ring
1 February 2000
J4106A
10Base-T
1 February 2000
LIO
LIO interfaces were developed by HP as a corporate response to the strictly internal MIO and EIO development path. The LIO interface differs from MIO/EIO in that the card is wrapped in an external plastic casing and is hot-swappable. The LIO backplane technology is based on a low power/low-voltage (<1-volt) differential signaling technology.
200m 10/100 Base-T (Supports only Windows and Apple Mac, fixed firmware)
250m 10/100 Base-T (Full support for Netware and Un*x, firmware upgradeable)
280m 802.11b Wireless
EIO
EIO (Enhanced Input/Output) is a modular interface developed by HP for its printers to expand their capabilities. EIO does not just serve JetDirect cards, but EIO hard drives and the EIO Connectivity card for adding communication ports to the printers as well. EIO utilizes the 3.3V signaling technology of the Conventional PCI bus and is significantly more energy-efficient than MIO technology. EIO print servers will not work in LIO slots, nor will the LIO print servers work in EIO slots.
600n 10Base-T/10Base-2 EIO Card (J3110A, J3111A, J3112A, J3113A) (Discontinued)
610n for Ethernet/802.5, DB9, RJ45 (J4169A, J4167A) (Discontinued)
615n 10/100TX (J6057A) (Discontinued)
620n Ethernet/Fast Ethernet (10/100Base-TX, 802.3) (J7934A, J7934G)
625n Ethernet/Fast Ethernet/Gigabit (10/100/1000Base-TX, 802.3) (J7960A, J7960G) (Discontinued)
630n Ethernet/Fast Etnernet/Gigabit (10/100/1000Base-Tx, 802.3) IPv6 (J7997G) replacement for 625n
635n Ethernet/Fast Ethernet/Gigabit (10/100/1000Base-TX, 802.3) IPv6/IPsec (J7961A, J7961G)
680n 802.11b Wireless (Discontinued)
690n Ethernet/Fast Ethernet/Wireless (10/100Base-TX, 802.3, 802.11b, 802.11g) IPv6/IPsec (J8007G) (New July 2008)
Other JetDirect products
bt1300
The BT1300 is a Bluetooth compliant network adapter for network-ready parallel or USB printers….
Recycled Paper Greeting Cards ,
B communications device class (or “USB CDC”) is a composite Universal Serial Bus device class. It provides a single device class, but there may be more than one interface implemented such as a custom control interface, data interface, audio, or mass storage related interfaces.
The communications device class is primarily used for modems. However it also supports ISDN and Fax machines. It also supports plain telephony applications for performing regular voice calls.
Additionally this device class supports computer networking akin to a network card, providing an interfaces for transmitting Ethernet or ATM frames onto some physical media. Microsoft Windows versions prior to Windows Vista do not support the networking parts of the USB CDC, instead promoting Microsoft’s own derivative named Microsoft RNDIS, a serialized version of the Microsoft NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification). With a vendor-supplied INF file, Windows Vista supports USB CDC and USB WMCDC .
This class is generally implemented in embedded systems like mobile phones to achieve more than one functionality from the device, so that a phone may be used as a modem, Fax or network port. The data interfaces are generally used to perform bulk data transfer.
References
^ Support for the Wireless Mobile Communication Device Clas , pcmcia tuner card .
External link , usb sim card .
USB-IF’s Approved Class Specification Documents
Class definitions for Communication Devices 1.2 (.zip file format, size 2.61 MB)
Class definitions for Communication Devices 1.1
a good guide (linux-oriented) about USB host-to-host, CDC ‘ethernet’ class and RNDIS
USB CDC ACM/ECM, RNDIS Drivers
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Categories: USB | Computer hardware stubs
