Tuesday, November 6, 2012

j5 Create's Clever Ultrabook KM Dock - PC Magazine

What looks like a flute and works like a Swiss Army knife? j5 Create's JUD500 Ultra Station 3.0 ($129.99), a USB 3.0 peripheral that serves as a plenty-of-ports desktop docking station for an ultrabook or other laptop and also lets that laptop control and transfer files to and from a desktop or other PC.

Plugging into a notebook's USB 3.0 port and an AC outlet, the silver cylinder provides one USB 2.0 port and two USB 3.0 ports, one with smartphone battery charging capability, along with 3.5mm speaker and microphone ports and a 10/100BaseT Ethernet jack. You can also connect a VGA or HDMI external monitor (though not both at once), with resolution up to 1,920 by 1,200.

CES 2012That's pretty standard docking-station fare, but the Ultra Station also features a mini USB port for connection to another computer—either Windows or Mac—using j5 Create's Wormhole technology as seen in the JUC100 Wormhole KM Switch.

The link lets you use one computer's keyboard and mouse or touchpad to control both, changing focus simply by moving the mouse cursor from the edge of one screen onto the other, and drag and drop files between the PCs. The clipboard works to cut, copy, and paste text between systems, too.

The Ultra Station 3.0 looks like a smart solution for someone who carries an ultrabook or other portable but returns to an office desk, particularly if that desk has a desktop PC on it.