USB 3.0 Revealed

by Matthew on January 12, 2008

USB 3_0
USB 2.0 is way cooler then the previous version as it could run up to 480Mbps. However, that is going to be smashed through soon due to the release of the USB 3.0 standard. This new standard will be capable of transfer speeds up to 4.8Gbps which is a HUGE leap of 10 times. The 3.0 specification should be with us early this year with products arriving in 2009 – 2010. USB 3.0 will be backwards compatible with 2.0 and 1.1. Also it will feature some more efficient protocols which will shut down to preserve power when not in use. The cables will be parallel optical which allows for the higher speeds. Bring it on!

Via: TheGadgetBlog



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Gadget Venue 2008 Roundup Post
at 9:08 am

{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }

1 colbert at 11:23 pm

I cant wait to see gadgets that go that fast…phew

2 BU5T4 at 7:54 am

Great now I will need to upgrade all my equipment again. Just what I need.

3 Mr.Bill Gates (now retired) at 8:29 am

wow, looks exactly live the USB 1.0 and 2.0, i think it`s a fake.

4 Ryan at 9:40 am

Aw man. Can’t wait to see this. Giving firewire a run for its money

5 Matilda at 11:10 am

How about designing the darned things so one side of the connector has a funny shape so you can plug it in by feel?

Speed is nice, but wouldn’t it be nice if it were as easy to plug in as a 1983 phone line?

6 Jimbo at 11:42 am

Ryan are you blind??

7 MatthewT at 11:51 am

Amazing, gonna have to pick up a hub when they come out.

8 TheManInTheShed at 12:08 pm

Mr.Bill Gates (now retired), you are a moron. usb 2.0 looks just like 1.0 didn’t it? So Why would it not make sense for 3.0 to look like the others. The only real difference is that it uses fiber optics.

9 Dan at 12:27 pm

This standard seems vaguely pointless right now, as most devices cannot read or write more than 30Mbps. USB2.0 is faster than necessary for these devices. I don’t see USB3.0 being necessary or widespread very soon.

10 Colm at 1:37 pm

Excellent suggestion there, Matilda

11 A. Alaalas at 7:30 pm

Matilda is right; although the current standard has a imprint on one side, while reaching around the back of a case or even a laptop, which way is up is not always evident.

12 Randy at 11:16 pm

Dan, so you’re telling me a SATA Hard Drive wouldn’t benefit from USB 3.0?.. .only 30 mbps ?

13 mehmet at 2:36 am

Amazing, gonna have to pick up a hub when they come out.

14 Bransby at 5:31 am

Bust 4, read the article properly, you don’t have to upgrade anything, it quite clearly states it’s backwards compatible with usb 1 and 2. Dan, that’s a fair point, but with flash memory capacity increasing all the time, it’s probably a good idea to have a USB standard that can cope with those kind of speeds. I think this is great, USB works well and it’ll be good to see it stick around for a while into the future.

15 Simon at 9:14 am

There’s a big difference between GBps and Gbps, namely ‘bytes’ and ‘bits’. 4.8 Gbps is 4.8/8 (600 MBps), so really, it’s only just 1/4th faster than USB 2.0, not 10 times, artard.

16 Mike at 1:27 pm

It is a 10x jump in speed. USB 2.0 runs at 480 Mbps, not 480 MBps. 2.0 runs at 60 MBps.

17 Don at 2:47 pm

If you really LOOK at the picture, you can see it isnt the same as usb 1.2 or 2.
Did you just NOT NOTICE the 5 leads in towards the rear of the connector labeled USB_3?

18 jiji at 9:08 pm

I want to know more detail info.

19 Logan at 2:52 pm

Hey just wanted to throw it out there, I think USB 3.0 is going to take up 2 USB 2.0 ports on the computer to get the desired speed of 3.0, not 100 percent on that but I’ve read about that being the case a few times
- Also the only thing that competes with this at the moment is really eSata with speeds of 3 Gbps, we’ll see what happens

20 PD at 12:21 am

As far as I know there is no optical, involved just 5 extra wires and USB 3.0 will utilize all 9 wires (2 grounds), 1 power line upted to 900mA, a dedicated transmit pair for the usb 3, a dedicated recieve pair for the usb 3, and the usb 2 data pair which can switch directions back and forth although in the usb 3 use I think it is single direction, which direction I am unclear on. The cable will be about the same thickness as an ethernet cable. the maximunPC article has a cutaway view of the cable.

21 terry at 3:31 pm

With e-sata found built in on many brands motherboards, I think USB3 will remain a favored step child with little REAL potential for me

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