The Future of USB: 3.0 is Coming
Universal Serial Bus, or USB for short, has become the preferred interface for many of today’s computer peripherals.
USB is great because it offers much faster speeds than Parallel and Serial ports, and with much smaller connectors. There are no pins to bend or break. Best of all, many USB devices can draw power from the computer without the need for a separate power supply.
When USB 2.0 was released in the year 2000, USB devices became much faster than their predecessors with a maximum speed of 480 Mbits/sec. This is also known as Hi-Speed USB. Today, the USB 2.0 interface has been adopted in all types of computer products such as USB flash drives, keyboards, mice, and more.
But what does the future hold for USB? The specifications for USB devices are set by the USB Implementers Forum, a non-profit corporation. At the end of 2008, the Forum published a new specification for USB 3.0 on its website. Here is what we know so far:
USB 3.0 is going to be a big leap forward. The newest version of USB will be faster than ever before, with a top speed of about 5.0 Gbit/sec. That is over 10x faster than current transfer speeds! This has earned it the nickname “SuperSpeed.”
USB 3.0 will also be capable of handling higher power requirements than existing devices. Imagine USB flash drives that are quick as lightning! Imagine all sorts of gadgets like video cameras and HD-capable devices connecting to your computer with unbelievable speed. The future is looking very fast in my opinion.
Look for USB 3.0 to appear in consumer devices around late 2009/early 2010.
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