Just and idea...

with the USB port on the TI-84+/SE, it will be possible (very difficult, though) to write assembly programs to communicate with standard USB devices. It might be possible to write assembly code to have some sort of interface with USB keyboards, mice, external Compact Flash card readers?, etc.

Anthony

I was thinking of this too. It would be cool if TI supported some sort of USB memory card/stick, then people could have 2GB calcs if they really wanted to.

Probably not. The one major problem with USB is its fundamental one-way-ness. You must be either a master or a slave. I have yet to see a single gizmo that can do both through the same port.
I would guess that the port has some ugly, non-USB-compatible way of detecting that it's connected to another calculator; it's conceivable that it could temporarily act as a 'master', but it can't possibly handle all the functionality of a full USB controller. Even if you could directly access the port, which I'm sure you won't be able to do, the CPU isn't nearly fast enough to emulate USB, either.
However, that is not to say that you could not conceivably hack the port and build a real USB hub for the thing... there's nothing stopping you from doing this through the ordinary link port, either...

For everyone talking about the USB capabilities of the 84+/SE and 89Ti, it will probably be a USB B port - the square ones. This means no USB Flash sticks or SD cards without a converter. And i haven't seen a USB B to A converter. Ever.

P.S. I'll bet it's USB 1.1. 2.0 would be a waste.

hmmm... I have seen a male flat-wide USB (A?) to male square-USB cable before, which was used to connect a USB scanner to a computer. Although it may be a cable that can handle both types, it might make it more difficult to handle the signals from. For example, a USB memory stick is usually built with a USB A, but the different USB type of the TI-84+/SE might make it more difficult to handle the signal.

Anthony

Yes, the flat one is "A".

There are websites (I have a database on my computer) that are dedicated to cables and adapters. First, look at pchcables.com, national-tech.com, homestead.co.uk, cablesnmor.com, trianglecables.com, cables.com, and shop.store.yahoo.com/cablesonline.

so, wait, what's the 84, then? The 83+? kinda lame...

wait a minute, why do i care? I quit calc programming ^_^' check my site for furthur info and a cool hand-drawn (by me, bye me) pic ^_^

There is no 84. They made it the 84+ and 84+SE for nomenclature reasons related to features.

ah ha! so i was right!

Hmm, won't the up/down arrow keys being put together hinder some program's compatiability, such as Dance Revolution. It would not be possible to press both buttons at the same time...or would it?

Are the keys connected? It looks to me like they're just close together.

You're right....

comment stealer!!!

Any program assuming you can press [up] and [down] at the same time is NOT portable, as it will NOT work on a TI-92+ (nor on an old TI-92).

I like the 92+'s dir keys, though, it's easier to press keys like UPLEFT and DOWNRIGHT.

so with the usb port could you theroretically make a computer controller or mouse compatible with the calc?

Heh... I'd rather use a normal USB keyboard than a mouse on the calc... you'd have to have it ignore most signals from the mouse if you wanted it to be usable... high DPI mice on a 160x100 screen?

I wouldn't using my 64meg USB stick drive. Who cares about the 2.7meg if i can have 64 :)

Also I would like to see some USB updates for TIGCC. I would more than love to program USB drivers for the TI-89Ti.

Uh oh
I just realized that the USB port on the calc might be type-b. (For those of you unfamiliar with this standard its like a square plug with two rounded corners.)
(Sorry for the triple post...)

thats like the small end thats goes into your digital camera right?

Correct. The "normal" USB plugs (the ones on your mouse, USB key, etc.) are type A.

I thought it would be a long time ago. Heh, I wonder if there's anything that uses type B USB ports?

Yes: a PC.

USB being a fundamentally polar protocol, I can't see it being possible to hook up USB peripherals (directly, anyway) (except TI calculators, it seems!) to the port.

Yes, that has me a bit wondering..."The TI-89 Titanium comes prepackaged with a mini USB unit-to-unit link cable, as well as a USB connectivity cable."

I haven't researched whether such a thing is possible, but perhaps there is a way to get it to communicate with arbitrary devices? If two calculators can interface through the USB port but also to the computer, then they must be able to connect devices directly through standard USB...

Not necessarily. They could use the TI protocol over the USB cable for communicating between calcs, and a USB host chip acting as a slave for communicating with a PC. They probably don't use a bidirectional USB host in the calc to keep costs down.

We may have to splice a type-A extender to a type-B cable, and figure out some sort of inverter. This'd allow type-A cables to be plugged into the type-B connecter, and maybe even run.

That hadn't occured to me yet, it's indeed very likely that people will abbreviate Titanium to Ti.
I know how confusing 83, 83-, 83+, 83+SE and all the other names for that line of calcs quickly become *), and now we have a TI89 and an 89TI.....

*) Not to mention that '8x' refers to 82 through 86, but not 89. Unless ofcourse the '8x' is the beginning of a file extension, then it means 83+/83+SE.

I usually write 8x (x<9). On occasions I listed them all, but now that we have even 2 more models to list, it is starting to become an annoyance. :-)

How about 82 thru 86? That used to be a bit weird as it kinda implied you meant the (then-non-existant) 84 too, but that is solved now. :) (Btw, 82 thru 86 also makes it clear you don't mean the 80 or 81.)

hey does it mean dat transfering files form a computer or calc be faster, or will it still stuck at low transfer speed...?

You can already make a fair amount of serial/ ps/2 hardware compatible with the calc using the regular IO port.