I've been one of the many clamoring for the K1 USB host solution in this forum. I have received the cable, and I hope those waiting will be satisfied soon.
I bought a tablet to use as a small computer when traveling. I have a laptop and netbook, yet I wanted something even smaller that could still do email, access the web, gather and manipulate pictures from digital camera, read and write data on thumb drives, etc. The goal was to reduce the volume and weight of stuff in my carry-on bag. That load has grown with a bigger camera, second camera, flip video, binoculars, cell phones, GPS, glasses, etc. that I lug about on leisure travel.
I bought the K1 to fulfill this need even though it didn't have a 'female' USB connector. It was a very nice tablet with great function and excellent price on sale. I didn't understand the implications of USB host vs USB device. I thought there would be some work-around, gender changer, etc. to do what I want. That was naive.
Every USB gadget I have has either a male or female connection, but not both. Examples:
USB hosts: desktop PCs, laptop, netbook, printer server, ...
USB devices: thumb drives, camera card readers, Flip camera, GPS, keyboard, mouse, printer, tablet, MP3 player, iPod, ...
The function I was looking for in a tablet made it the first piece of hardware I owned that needed to be both a USB device and USB host. This is a key difference.
How about other tablets?
I haven't investigated iPads previously. I prefer open-source to control-freak rigidity, so I only shopped for Androids. I just learned that the alimighty iPad, now 3 generations old, doesn't have a general purpose USB host cable or adapter available from Apple! There is a camera connector, but it can't be used with a thumb drive according to Apple's support site. That may not be totally correct, but the data file types supported are restricted. There may be hacks and 3rd party solutions, but none are available from Apple.
Samsung didn't offer a USB host adapter for their Galaxy Tab 10.1 initially.
New territory is being broken as tablets evolve. I hope Lenovo and other manufacturers have learned from this. Many customers want to use the tablet as more than a computer accessory, they need to be a stand-alone computer with USB host capability as well.
Regards...
