Details of the third version of the USB system are now available. It will run around 10 times as quickly as USB 2.0 – but comes too late for the launch of Windows 7.

Many computer users know little or nothing about USB, and that’s largely the point. It’s designed as a simple way to connect two devices (such as a printer to a computer) without worrying too much about finding the right plug and, in theory at least, makes it easy for a computer to recognize the device. The current version of USB, 2.0, has been in use since 2000.

The main selling point of USB 3.0 will be speed. Although it’s far short of the 40-fold increase offered by 2.0 over 1.0, the new edition will be approximately 10 times faster than 2.0. While that doesn’t make much noticeable difference to small files (which can already feel close to instantaneous to transfer in many cases), it will make a big difference to activities such as digital video. The people behind USB 3.0 point out that a 25GB movie from a high-definition camcorder will take 70 seconds to transfer to a computer as opposed to the current 14 minutes.

The publicity material for the new system doesn’t mention optical cables, which had been rumored as a possible distribution method. While the traditional wired USB cables will likely be limited to three meters in USB 3.0, using optical cables could greatly extend the length of cabling which is possible without losing speed. This could even make it a viable alternative to traditional Ethernet cabling in home and office networks (though this would need operating system support).

It looks likely the computer industry will adopt ‘SuperSpeed’ as a more marketable way to promote USB 3.0 devices, following on from the ‘Hi-Speed’ device used for USB 2.0. The computer hardware for USB 3.0 should become available later next year, with the first consumer devices using the technology expected in early 2010.

That’s much later than expected and is likely to be too late for the launch of Windows 7. Microsoft has confirmed it won’t have USB3.0 support in the ‘release to manufacturing’ edition (the first version given to computer makers to include on their machines), though it could feasibly include it in an update which Windows 7 users receive the first time they use the system. The firm is still considering whether it will be worthwhile to add USB 3.0 support to Vista as well.

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Entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 3:06 pm under High Definition Formats, Technology.

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