A few years ago, no one could have imagined that in the near future, computer technology would be superseded by mobile gadgets. Not so long ago, in May 2013, there was a “turning point” in the market for computers and mobile devices, such as tablets, smartphones and transformers (tablets with a plug-in keyboard) in favor of the latter. Yes, it's hard to believe, but, according to the procurement department of Euroset, people really buy modern tablets more often than full-fledged PCs. Why is this happening?
The fact is that advanced Android-based devices have impressive functionality and are able to replace a number of tasks that only a computer could handle before. For example, using a smartphone or tablet, a user can browse web pages, watch movies, play games, and type text. In addition, cheap models cost only a few hundred dollars, which means that almost everyone can afford such a device. Of course, for complex tasks, such as programming, editing video and photos, complex mathematical calculations, a PC is more suitable, but not everyone does it.
What do mobile devices “know”?
The power of modern gadgets is very impressive. Many of them have processors with four cores and a frequency of more than two GHz, several gigabytes of RAM, an excellent video accelerator, capable of processing games with incredibly beautiful graphics, etc. All this allows you to play HD-video, process pictures from high-quality cameras, play in games and more. Smartphones are equipped with built-in hard drives (often 64 GB) to store content, in addition, almost all models support flash cards that can expand the gadget's memory by several times! Not impressive? Let's move on! Almost any modern device can be connected to a TV, printer, camera, flash drive and other equipment. How? The most common way is to connect devices using the USB OTG standard. Of course, there are other ways, for example Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth, but these are wireless standards, which, although more convenient, are not so in demand due to the high price of devices that support them.
What is USB OTG?
This is an extension of the well-known USB 2.0 communication standard, which is designed so that the user can easily establish communication between peripheral devices without using a computer. Which is very, very convenient. The full name of this technology is OTG USB 2.0, as you might have guessed.
And what's the catch?
USB OTG technology requires investment from the manufacturer. She needs a more "sophisticated" jack for connecting a USB-cable. By the way, a charger is often connected to this connector. Naturally, the gadgets that come with this equipment are more expensive. On the so-called "budget", the buyer is unlikely to find this feature. At the same time, almost all mid-range devices are already equipped with USB OTG.
Where to go and where to look?
A USB OTG cable is extremely rare to find in a box with a brand new gadget. But you should not be upset, because in almost any more or less reputable electronics store you will be given a large selection of such cables. There you will find both Chinese “rattles” and well-proven adapters from well-known manufacturers such as Samsung, LG and Sony.
How to choose an adapter, and is it always necessary?
First of all, you should pay attention to the type of jack in your smartphone or tablet. Most often, this is a small 2 by 7 mm connector called Micro-USB. The cable required in this case, respectively, will be called the Microusb USB OTG. Older devices can be equipped with mini-USB. This is a slightly larger physical socket, which requires another cable. The second important point is the choice of length. Think about why you need a USB OTG wire? If you connect devices such as flash drives and other drives to your smartphone, you should not take a long cable, since the extra wire will constantly disturb you. If you want to connect the gadget, for example, to a TV, then perhaps you should think about a longer version so that you do not have to constantly approach the TV in order to rewind or pause the movie. In addition, a long cable is necessary if you are going to play games on a smartphone, displaying an image on a TV (so that you do not have to control the heroes while sitting at a distance of 20 cm from the TV screen). It is worth mentioning that in some tablets even a standard USB-jack is sometimes found, such as on a computer. In this case, the adapter is not required at all, because the peripheral device can be connected directly to the tablet.
What is a USB OTG adapter?
This is a regular USB cable, on one side of which there is a connector for connecting to a smartphone or tablet, and on the other, a chip to which you can connect a full 12 mm USB 4. In principle, the USB OTG cable simply increases the physical dimensions of the device connector, making it standard. Why, then, ultra-modern devices are not initially equipped with full USB? The fact is that every manufacturer is trying to make the gadget as thin, compact and, as a result, mobile. Installing large connectors is simply not practical. Only for this reason the mini- and micro-USB connectors mentioned above were invented.
Devices that can be connected to mobile devices
The USB HOST OTG function uniquely allows you to connect flash drives up to 32 GB to almost any gadget. However, with large drives, such as portable hard drives, the volume of which can reach up to two terabytes, only powerful devices can handle it. Printers and cameras are connected without problems, but often for this you need to install additional software. Mice, keyboards, joysticks, even a game steering wheel can also be connected to modern gadgets. The connection to the TV or monitor is established through a system of two cables. In addition to Micro-USB OTG, you also need an HDMI cable, or a Micro-USB – HDMI adapter. Interestingly, nothing prevents you from simultaneously connecting multiple devices to your tablet using such a connector.
The complex of devices of modern man
Well, here we got to the most interesting! What can you turn into anything other than entertainment, an unusable (as many people think) tablet or smartphone? In a practically full-fledged computer with a lot of advantages over a simple desktop PC! So, we need a smartphone or tablet, an OTG cable, a USB hub and a bunch of peripherals. It is worth mentioning that the Chinese "trinkets" are unlikely to withstand the load from the complex that will be described below. For this reason, it is recommended to pay attention to world-famous adapter manufacturers. For example, Samsung USB OTG cable and Apacer or Asus USB hubs.
Well, let's get started? It is necessary to connect the OTG cable to the device, to the wire a splitter, and to it is already a keyboard, mouse, printer, monitor, etc. In a word, everything that the soul desires. As a result, we get an alternative to the computer!
What gadgets will “pull” such a load?
Devices that the user intends to use in the manner described above must be powerful. But this is not the main parameter of choice. Yes, an extra processor core or gigabytes of RAM will not hurt anyone, but they are useless if the USB port supports connecting only one device. Be sure to look at the service manual before buying and find the relevant information. The choice of device is complicated by the fact that, due to the still small number of enthusiasts trying to "create" a full-fledged computer from mobile gadgets, sellers are often extremely poorly informed about the OTG function in general, not to mention the exact specification of a specific port. Unfortunately, in most cases, the buyer will have to "rummage" in the instructions himself, but you must do this, otherwise, as they say, you can stay with your nose.
Pros and Cons of an Alternative Solution
The obvious minus of the mentioned system is only one - the inability to perform resource-intensive tasks that require programs that are designed exclusively for desktop versions of the Windows operating system. Plus much more. Firstly, electricity. A phone or tablet PC consumes much less energy than the system unit of a full-fledged PC. Secondly, mobility and access to data anywhere. You can always take a tablet, and even more so a smartphone, wherever you go: to work, to school, university, travel, etc. Thus, your data, films, music and other content are always with you, and you can control it even while sitting in a trolleybus or subway. An equally important factor is the lack of noise in the house when using the mentioned system. There are only a few tablets that have coolers, which, of course, are noisy, but they can be attributed to experimental samples, so the average user definitely will not have to worry about extraneous sounds.
Issue price
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the price of many gadgets is very modest. There are even models that have decent functionality with a price tag of just $ 200. Of course, these will be Chinese or South Korean devices, but do not be scared. Recently, their products have become much more reliable, and the word "China" in an electronics store should not scare an informed buyer. The modern leader in the field of mobile devices, definitely Samsung and Apple. Despite the fact that the top devices of these companies have different operating systems, their functionality is similar, but the situation is different with the cost. Samsung Galaxy S5, for example, can be found for 25 thousand rubles, or even less; a similar situation with tablets. As for Apple, for some reason their products are very expensive, especially here in Russia. Prices for tablets can reach up to 40 thousand rubles, or even more. This happens due to the fact that the goods are brought to us from America, and sellers have to pay a duty, in addition to transportation costs.
Modern standards
Back in 2008, the USB 3.0 specification was introduced. This is a modification of the available USB 2.0 data transfer technology. It allows you to transfer information much faster, but requires more current. Unfortunately, this technology was adopted rather sluggishly. Only three years later, the mentioned standard began to be massively applied to computers. The queue came to mobile devices quite recently. Therefore, there are still few devices compatible with the third USB standard. Of course, there are OTG USB 3.0 cables, but they are not so easy to find. Naturally, if only possible, it is advisable to choose this particular standard for wired communication, and this also applies to simple computers. USB 2.0 will go out of business sooner or later, just like laser disks, it's just a matter of time. We will make a reservation only that it is not necessary to go in cycles in this point. Choose gadgets with USB 3.0, despite the fact that they cost much more than the alternative version. But! You can give 500 rubles for this characteristic, but if the manufacturer has “increased” more for the function, feel free to choose something else, because the above-mentioned standards are completely compatible with each other and differ only in the speed of information transfer.
Conclusion
The mobile device market has overtaken even the computer market. Technology continues to evolve. The number of cores has been lost, smartphones are equipped with displays of incredible resolution, which sometimes even exceeds HD, the internal memory can be 64 GB, and the operational memory - four. And this is far from the limit! The wide possibilities of tablets and smartphones will soon become unthinkable, because now the “box”, which easily fits in your pocket, can replace a computer, entertain us with movies and music, show us the way through GPS and much more. And various devices, such as a USB OTG adapter, will help to further expand the functionality of gadgets.