USB 3.0 -- 10 Times Faster -- In the Works for 2009

Thu Nov 8, 2007 10:12PM EST

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USB, that little rectangular plug that can be found on just about every computer peripheral cable you come across, is one of the biggest success stories in the history of computing. Ditching the slow serial and parallel cables of yore and replacing them with a fast, universal standard that could draw power and allowed connecting of dozens of peripherals without rebooting... well, it was genius. When USB 2.0 arrived, with much faster performance, it got even better. It's not hyperbole to say that USB, despite its humble status as a mere connector, is one of the most important computer technologies to ever be invented.

Well, USB fans, things are going to get even more interesting and soon. USB 2.0 may be fast enough right now, but with more high-definition video products arriving and bigger and bigger files being transferred, that won't be the case forever. Enter USB 3.0, which moves the bandwidth needle from 480Mbps to roughly 4.8Gbps, 10 times faster than the current version.

The new standard, which was recently demonstrated using a new optical cable (but the same connector), will be backward compatible with older USB formats and promises better power efficiency, too, in order to decrease the load on portable devices. Possibly in the works: Better ability to charge devices over USB, some of which still require an A/C adapter or two USB connections to draw enough juice.

Specs are planned to be delivered early next year with commercial availability for 2009. Just do us a favor and clearly label USB 3.0 products with an appropriate logo this time! (USB 2.0 got caught up in a mini scandal when vendors started labeling USB 1.1 products as "USB 2.0 capable," with vendors later claiming they only meant the products worked with USB 2.0 connections. Fail!)

LINK: USB: The next generation 

Comments on USB 3.0 -- 10 Times Faster -- In the Works for 2009

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  • 6 Posted by windowsxphomesp2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    Will there be USB 3.0 support in Windows XP,because Windows XP will be in extended support in 2009?

  • 7 Posted by cnull on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    simon - good point, sloppy writing on my part. corrected!

  • 9 Posted by mxj_97 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hope they can really boost the amount of juice that can be pulled through. I have a G15 keyboard that has 2 usb ports on the back, of which I am unable to use anything that draws power because the G15 already consumes the max output.

  • 10 Posted by tpcshadow on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:18PM EDT Report Abuse

    Although most of you might think 4.8 Gbps is fast remember that it will never achieve that speed. Current USB 2.0 is 480 Mbps yet the average transfer speed you will achieve is around 24 Mbps. So with USB 3.0 I wouldn't expect to see transfer speeds much higher than 240 Mbps....

  • 11 Posted by rafael_fischmann on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    What would you use it for? 4.8Gbps? No disks can push that much data, what other device needs anything near that bandwidth? Network replacement is the only thing I can thing of, and even that is iffy. Gig-E does a fine job, and is already available. 10Gig-E is become more available. USB typically relies on the CPU for much of the work, pushing that kind of bit rate onto the CPU is a mistake. Gig-E/10Gig-E are already building in offload features. Let them do their job.

  • 12 Posted by pauldy on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    Commands to the usb device are the only things that usually travel through a cpu register before making it to the usb device but block data transfer modes are often simple DMA requests that don't involve the CPU except for any setup or tear down that is required for the transfer. With that there are plenty of uses for USB at these speeds like multiple monitor support at higher resolutions with better response times. Commenting there is no use for such speed is about like Bill Gates saying no one will ever need more than 640k of ram. Give us the speed and we will figure out something to do with it.

  • 13 Posted by zoma on Thu Sep 3, 2009 11:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    Is your name really Null, or is it a pseudonym?

  • 14 Posted by retardray on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hey faster data rates and cheap prices. whats not to like. With the fiber optics it's most likely to get a longer reach too.

  • 15 Posted by rem736 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    not specific to usb 3 or anything, but why do people say 10 times faster when they actually mean 10 times as fast. in this case, 10 times faster would imply 4.8 gigabits + 480 megabits. people reporting on tech stuff should know better. if i travel to a particular place and it takes me 1 minute while it takes someone else 10 minutes, i would have arrived 9 minutes faster than the other guy, not 10 minutes faster. so my speed would be 10 times as fast as the other guy, not 10 times faster.

  • 16 Posted by curryman90 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    I like the idea of getting faster speeds through USB, don't shun away by thinking they're going too far or you'll just be limiting yourself.

  • 17 Posted by gil_michlin on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:09PM EDT Report Abuse

    http://digg.com/hardware/USB_4_0_Expected_Max_Speed

  • 18 Posted by m_owais449 on Fri Nov 13, 2009 11:17AM EST Report Abuse

    Hi, can anyone tell me plz as to why they are claiming 10 times faster like 5Gbps, and why not 3Gbps or 4Gbps, as the fact is that 5Gbps is not achieved yet then why??? thanks

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