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Apple Releases Free, OS-Independent, FireWire SDK
mcwop writes "Apple announced the release of a free FireWire SDK for embedded devices. The kit is not OS-dependent. Is this a response to the release of USB 2.0 or is Apple simply trying to keep a steady stream of FireWire devices coming? What effect will this have on FireWire b? What are the effects on the Open Source community developing FireWire interfaces? Time will tell. Nonetheless this is an interesting development."
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USB is just for peripherals, use firewire if you need to shift loads of data from one place to another _FAST_.
True. However, the article is talking about USB 2.0, which moves data at 480 Mb/s, vs. the current (?) firewire speed of 400.
It's too bad firewire didn't catch on more. Had Apple not been greedy with the name, I think it would have become the standard in the PC world too. People just have a hard time understanding/remembering "IEEE 1394."
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Free? Not really, unless you count "evaluation" as free. Or perhaps I'm looking at the wrong thing, hard to tell.
/. that the person and reviewer both actually *read* the information before commenting on it.
Platform Independent? FireWire is, Apple's SDK is not (last I checked).
FireWire SDK. Yes, defiantly.
Well, I guess it *is* too much to ask on
I guess it would also be too much to ask for a link to the actual press release.
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Ciryon
Dood. Your problem isn't with FIREWIRE. Your problem is with HP'S SHITTY IMPLEMENTATION of firewire. If yer gonna waste our bandwidth bitching about something off topic, at least get who yer hating RIGHT.
Ah people read the license, http://developer.apple.com/firewire/FireWire_RefPl at_Eval_Lic.pdf
Its not Free as in Beer or as in Free to reuse cod entirely..
I hoping Jbos wises up an offers it as open source both the sdk and the ref platform.. but I will not hold my breath
Don't Tread on OpenSource
Although USB 2.0 may be 480 vs FireWires 400 MB/sec, there are other beneifts to FireWire (other than FireWire 2, at 800 MB/sec, should be out and about this year) like: 1. You don't need a computer to use FireWire. One FireWire device can connect directly to another FireWire device without a workstation. Although we don't see much implementation of this - it would be conventient. How about a FireWire port on my car stereo to connect my iPod? 2. FireWire can carry POWER as well as data. WHen you plug an iPod in with it's FireWire cable, it charges as well as trasmits data through the same cable. In fact, if you should need to recharge away from your computer, the usual AC plug for recharging is a FireWire cable. I do think that Apple fucked up when they made licensing the name so expensive. Instead of one name "FireWire" everywhere you go, you see FireWire on Apple's, iLink on Sony computers and cameras,...etc. With all these different names, nobody realizes how pervasive it is. SOme PC users don't even know they have FireWire, and most Mac users don't know they have "1394".
I think he was referring to Apple being greedy in the past. I believe that prior to this announcement, using the name FireWire cost the OEMs $1-2 per product.
Firewire is not just a high speed connection for copying files to your iPod or from your camera, it has capabilities that go far beyond. A very good application for firewire is as a cluster computing interconnect.
Among other notable features Firewire has ability to do direct memory access without CPU intervention. It is a very low latency interface. This is a critical factor in tightly coupled clusters using things like MPI (message passing interface).
Apple would like to see people develop firewire as a topology for MPI. I'm not saying this is THE reason for this sdk release, but it certainly is A reason.