Is eSATA a doomed standard?

The Register had a commentary about the external SATA, or eSATA, interconnect. I saw a kit featuring eSATA interfaces at a computer fair recently, and this naturally caught my interest. Unfortunately, the eSATA is merely an interim idea and the coming of USB 3.0 is set to "kill it off," according to Hans Christoph Kaiser, who is Verbatim's EMEA business development manager. 

Despite its superior transfer speed over the fastest currently available USB standard, eSATA devices continue to require a separate power cable. A move by the SATA-IO group to extend the standard to deliver power via the same cable has yet to bear results, more than a year after the decision to work on it was announced. Probably due to that fact, most PCs and laptops being sold at the moment don't even come with built-in eSATA ports.

In contrast, the USB 3.0 specifications have already been finalized. With a wire speed that is 50 percent faster than eSATA, consumer products are expected to arrive as early as 2010. Ultimately, USB 3.0 could kill eSATA.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at The Register

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