USB 3.0: Coming...soonish

If you love USB cables (and who among us doesn't?), chances are that you've been waiting with baited breath for news of USB 3.0, the new USB spec which is slated to arrive later this year. As you'll recall, USB 3.0--or SuperSpeed USB, as it will be called--will add a second fiber-optic channel to compliment USB 2.0's copper channel, boosting "data transfer rates more than 10 times" while maintaining backward compatibility with USB 1.1 and 2.0. That means data speeds of "around 4.7Gb/s" compared to USB 2.0's 480Mb/s limit. So when can we expect SuperSpeed USB? According to the Register, "An initial USB 3.0 spec is due to be reviewed later this month," while "[t]he full USB 3.0 specification is expected to be completed by the end of June 2008." Don't throw out that USB 2.0 hub yet, though: while the spec will be published this year, devices supporting the new technology probably won't start sprouting up until late 2009 at the earliest. In the meantime, check out the Register's gallery of USB 3.0 jacks and sockets, as spotted on the CES show floor.

For more on SuperSpeed USB:
- see this article from the Register