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SIIG, Inc. Announces New USB Product Line
(Fremont, California;August 14, 1998) Effective immediately, SIIG, Inc. is shipping two new breakthrough products that enable Universal Serial Bus (USB) attachment capability in existing systems. The USB Dual Port PCI add-on card and the USB Hub 4000 are the first products in an innovative product line for SIIG that gives customers the major economic advantage of adding the latest USB innovations to their current systems.
Understanding USB
When personal computers were first introduced, all they needed were the basics: a monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer and modem. Since the number of devices was limited, specific connections for them made complete sense. This concept, that made so much sense yesterday, is by no means as helpful for today's technology.
Now, software/hardware is available that allows consumers to hook up a wide range of device types such as scanners, digital cameras, video, voice recognition, etc. However, adding peripheral devices is still not an easy proposition. You may have to figure out which port to use, install an add-on card, set DIP switches and set those touchy IRQ configurations. The Universal Serial Bus is designed to replace specific cumbersome connections, and enable easy plug and play peripheral connection of just about any device.
How Does the USB Do It?
The Universal Serial Bus provides a single protocol that allows multiple external devices to transfer information across a common bus. While the Plug and Play capabilities of Windows were helpful in managing the configuration of new devices, you were still required to set up drivers, set jumpers on cards, and usually required a restart of the system. The USB architecture, along with Plug and Play capability, offers the flexibility of adding, removing, or "hot-swapping" devices without restarting the system. USB lets you connect many peripherals at the same time. USB connections allow data to flow both ways between the PC and the peripheral, which lets the PC automatically control and deliver the required power to the peripheral. This flexibility and ease of installation will soon become the standard for device attachment with the "Universal Serial Bus". USB is the solution for any PC user who has ever dreamed about an instant, no hassle way to connect a new digital joystick, scanner, digital speakers, digital camera, modem, etc. to their computer.
SIIG has been the market leader in providing computer add-on boards for personal computer systems. SIIG's serial and parallel port boards have become the clear market leaders with their newest release of PCI I/O products. According to Patrick Masterton, Marketing Manager, "As a PC upgrade provider, it is a logical step for us to expand our product line to provide USB products for instant expansion of the PC. The USB family is the beginning of another market niche in which we very soon hope to bring our long standing experience with PC upgrades to establish market leadership".
SIIG's USB line will be expanding in response to market demands as time goes on. The potential for success of this product line is very high for one very good reason: it provides simple solutions for complex upgrade problems. SIIG Marketing defines this characteristic as "Plug and Play - the way it was meant to be."
Market Targets for SIIG's USB Products
The USB Dual Port PCI add-on card and the USB Hub 4000are targeted to meet specific user needs. The USB Dual Port PCI is an ideal solution for those users who have machines produced without standard USB ports. With this card, users can add two USB ports to any system via the PCI-Bus. The USB Dual Port PCI is an example of SIIG's commitment to protecting the value of their customer's current system: it allows the user to take advantage of new connectivity options without having to discard and replace existing machines.
The USB Hub 4000is designed to extend the number of USB devices that can be attached to a system. Even though many new systems are being shipped with two USB ports, as more USB compatible devices become available, systems will need to add more ports. Within the USB architecture, the HUB will allow users to have additional ports, by daisy-chaining devices together, without opening their machines. All they need to do is attach a USB Hub to one of the existing ports (either standard or a SIIG USB Dual Port PCI card) and plug the new devices into the hub.
