superspeed usb
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USB 3.0 logos now being handed out to certified wares
Aww suki suki now. With CES 2010 leaning around the corner and refusing to leave our periphery, we're getting more and more evidence that the January trade show will be a launching pad for a new suite of USB products. Several months after the first USB 3.0 cables curiously went on sale, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has announced the availability of the USB 3.0 Compliance and Certification Program. What's that mean? It means that a program is now firmly in place to provide compatible wares with a SuperSpeed USB logo, which in turn means that USB 3.0 gear is that much closer to retail shelves. So, who's anxious to slap a USB 3.0 PCI expansion card into their shiny new PC? [Via HotHardware]
Darren Murph09.01.2009
ASUS kills USB 3.0-laden P6X58 motherboard for reasons unknown
Such a shame, no? As has become all too common in the uncertain world known as ASUS' R&D lab, it looks as if yet another promising product has been canned before it ever had a chance to truly live. After the aforementioned company's P6X58 Premium motherboard set the world ablaze just over a week ago, primarily due to the USB 3.0 sockets shown there on the left, the mainboard has reportedly been canceled for reasons unknown. According to a report over at The Inquirer, an ASUS spokesperson claimed that the mobo had been shelved "not for any particularly interesting reasons," leaving us to wonder when we'll ever see a motherboard equipped with that so-called SuperSpeed magic. Our true emotions are captured nicely in the video just past the break.[Via HotHardware]
Darren Murph07.30.2009
Linux gets first driver for USB 3.0
The NEC USB 3.0 controller is due to hit the streets this month, and already Sarah Sharp (the, um, "Geekess") has been able to crank out a Linux driver for the device. Sharp states that she is "working with Keve Gabbert (the OSV person in my group at Intel) to make sure that Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Red Hat" pick up the driver, meaning that Linux users will likely be the first to have their Super Speed dreams become a reality. Are you a hardware manufacturer with some hot USB 3.0 controller prototype that wants to out this guy through its paces? Hit that read link to get started.[Via Ozel Web Tasarim]
Joseph L. Flatley06.11.2009
NEC Japan announces its SuperSpeed USB 3.0 controller
Have you got that USB 3.0 cable on your hope chest, just killing time until your SuperSpeed dreams become a reality? Well, that day is almost at hand: NEC has just announced details for the first USB 3.0 controller. The µPD720200 chip is backwards compatible with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0, with the company making samples available this June at $15 a pop (including Windows drivers). Look forward to seeing peripherals hit the streets soon after. Until then? Like the rest of us, you'll just have to keep on keepin' on.[Via Everything USB]
Joseph L. Flatley05.18.2009
The nerdiest SuperSpeed USB 3.0 details yet
We've been hearing about SuperSpeed USB 3.0 since CES last year, and now that the spec's been officially released, we're getting way more details at this year's show -- like new power features, which include the elimination of device polling to enable an energy-saving "virtual sleep" mode, more juice for bus-powered devices, and the ability to charge a completely dead device, which USB 2.0 can't do. According to Intel's Jeff Ravencraft, the spec is designed to last for the next five years, with room to pump 25 gigabits per second over a hypothetical optical connection. Sounds sexy -- we'll see how well this stuff demos when the doors open.
Nilay Patel01.07.2009
Symwave to demo USB 3.0 external storage solution at CES
We get the feeling that Symwave won't be the only outfit at CES 2009 showing off the flashiest revision of the USB protocol, but it will reportedly be the first to showcase USB 3.0 transfers to and from an external storage device. 'Course, we've already seen that SuperSpeed USB works (and works quickly), so we'll be most interested in seeing what external HDDs it relies on to make the magic happen. After all, the protocol can't gain traction without a small swarm of supportive devices on the market, right?
Darren Murph12.31.2008Wireless USB / USB 3.0 exhibitors to be out in full force at CES
So here's an interesting one. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) will be pumping up two standards at CES 2009: one with great potential for the future, one that'll be lucky to survive the rest of this decade. Despite setbacks for Wireless USB, the USB TechZone will be showcasing the latest and greatest in cordless USB, though we suspect we'll be spending most of our time checking out the progress on SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0). Hit the read link if you're interested in seeing what involved firms will be taking part, and keep it locked right here for live coverage as the mayhem unfolds in early January.
Darren Murph12.30.2008
USB 3.0 demonstrations dazzle: uncompressed 1080p transfer proves simple
You've been adequately teased with what all USB 3.0 (or SuperSpeed USB, as we tend to refer to it) can do, but a gaggle of companies took the chance in San Jose, California to really demonstrate just how quick the protocol is. Most notable was the demo by Synopsys, which prototyped an HDTV video transmission system based on USB 3.0 and showed to wide-mouthed onlookers that an uncompressed 1080p feed at 30 frames-per-second could be whisked along at around 450Mbps. Sure, USB 3.0 has wireless HD to watch out for, but given that said technology is currently on track for an August 2298 release, it could really do some tethered damage in the meanwhile.
Darren Murph11.19.2008
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 spec officially released, first chipset demonstrated
It's been nearly a year since we first saw the USB 3.0 connector make an appearance at CES, and after months of corporate infighting, spec-polishing, and technical navel-gazing, the future of consumer peripheral connectivity is here -- in the form of complete specifications and a demo. Yeah, so maybe SuperSpeed USB isn't making the most dramatic entrance ever, but hey, it doesn't have to with 4.8Gbps transfer speeds, improved power management, and backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 along for the ride. As expected, the first wave of devices won't hit until 2010, but Symwave's giving attendees of this week's SuperSpeed conference a taste of tomorrow with a demo of the Quasar USB 3.0 chipset, which is targeted at "sync-and-go" devices like phones and media players. Sounds lovely -- now if you'll excuse us, we have to go back to mourning the death of FireWire 400.[Via Gearlog] Read - SuperSpeed USB 3.0 spec released Read - Symwave demos first USB 3.0 physical layer device
Nilay Patel11.17.2008
USB 3.0 specification to be formally unveiled this month
We've already got the controller specs, now we just need the full-on protocol specs. Speaking at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Los Angeles, USB-IF president Jeff Ravencraft reportedly stated that he expects the "final specifications to be made public on November 17," and given that said day will mark the opening of the SuperSpeed USB Developers Conference in San Jose, we'd say it all jibes pretty well. Now, how many months will we have to wait before manufacturers can actually get the hasty new ports into machines?
Darren Murph11.06.2008
USB 3.0 data transfer demonstrated at IDF
Now that you know everything there is to know about the forthcoming rendition of your favorite port, there's just one little question left to be answered: how does it perform in the real world? Fresco Logic demonstrated a data transfer using the newfangled technology at IDF 2008 via a "self-developed software development platform." The results? Just over 350MBps. Not bad for a dry run, huh?
Darren Murph08.21.2008
Intel appeases haters, reveals USB 3.0 controller specification
What's with all the hate, guys? For months now, AMD, NVIDIA and a host of other caps-locked companies have been harshing on the chip maker for withholding critical information in relation to the USB 3.0 controller specification. At long last, Intel can finally throw up its left hand and ask those pundits to talk to it, as the outfit has finally unveiled the Extensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) draft specification revision 0.9 in support of the USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed USB) architecture. The spec hopes to provide a "standardized method for USB 3.0 host controllers to communicate with the USB 3.0 software stack," and it's being made available under RAND-Z (royalty free) licensing terms "to all USB 3.0 Promoter Group and contributor companies that sign an xHCI contributor agreement." So, are we all happy now?
Darren Murph08.14.2008
ExpressCard Standard 2.0 accommodating faster speeds soon
Somewhere in a dark corner at CeBIT, PCMCIA managed to let out a whisper that informed a few flies on a nearby wall that ExpressCard Standard 2.0 was on the way. Today, however, we've received confirmation that said update is on track for a "second-half 2008 / early 2009" delivery. Put simply, v2.0 is "being developed to accommodate the significantly faster speeds increasingly demanded by today's high-performance mobile technologies," and we're also told that it will comply with PCI-Express 2.0 and SuperSpeed USB, which is "planned for release later this year as part of the USB 3.0 specification." For the paranoid, you can rest assured that the new release will be very backwards compatible, though we aren't told when to expect hardware that will reflect the changes.
Darren Murph06.03.2008
Intel's USB 3.0 and Wireless USB 1.1 target speeds announced: so long Firewire?
Intel's announced USB 3.0 specification could push throughput beyond 4Gbps (300MBps) at the application level while introducing Quality of Service in support of HD video streams. Besides supplanting Firewire once and for all, a clear goal of the new "SuperSpeed USB" is to keep up with the transfer speeds of flash chips. "We don't want to be the bottleneck in the system," says Intel's Jeff Ravencraft who is overseeing the 3.0 initiative. Intel, HP, Microsoft, NEC, NXP, and TI will present the initial spec for a design review in November with first silicon to be stamped in "early 2009." While the new interconnect (pictured) will remain backward compatible with USB 2.0 and prior devices, new cables laced with an optical link and a max length of 2-meters will be required to take advantage of those high speeds according to a senior engineering manager with NEC. Meanwhile, a 1Gbps throughput is being targeted with Ravencraft's other baby: Wireless USB 1.1. Sounds great, but with existing 480Mbps Wireless USB silicon only achieving about 40Mbps in practice, Intel would be wise to focus on efficiency, not theory. Of course, it's all just a lot of smack-talk 'til they deliver, but with Apple running Intel inside now, Sony putting USB in their camcorders, and eSATA proliferating for external disks... well, Firewire's days sure seem numbered. [Via EETimes and The Inquirer]
Thomas Ricker09.19.2007