Speedy New USB Spec Ready To Roll In 2009Speedy New USB Spec Ready To Roll In 2009

Would you rather watch paint dry than wait for files to transfer to and from your USB devices? Relief is on the way -- and its name is USB 3.0.An information.com story posted Tuesday has details on the recently-approved, super high-speed USB 3.0 specification: "The SuperSpeed USB specification, officially called USB 3.0, has been completed, paving the way for manufacturers using the popular connector technology to significantly boost data-transfer rates between devices.

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group released the final spec Monday at the SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif. The specification, a technical road map for manufacturers to follow in bringing USB 3.0 to market, now goes to the USB Implementers Forum, which is the managing body for USB specifications."

The revised USB standard will support data-transfer rates up to 5Gbps, which is about 10 times faster than the speediest USB 2.0 devices. Real-world mileage will vary quite a bit, of course -- mostly on the downside of that theoretical max -- but USB 3.0 devices should eliminate the waiting time for real-world video, photo, and other fat-file transfers.

In addition, changes to the way USB 3.0 devices interact with a host PC should reduce the overhead imposed on the CPU -- a small but potentially significant performance boost, especially on netbook computers and other super-portable devices.

According to the standards body responsible for maintaining the USB spec, USB 3.0-capable controllers will hit the market in the second half of next year. That will allow motherboard makers to build the technology into their products, and you can expect to see USB 3.0 capable PCs, as well as flash drives, external hard disks, and other devices using the new spec, by early 2010.