"USB 3.0 is set to deliver data-transfer speeds of up to 5Gb/s, initially over tweaked connectors and wiring and, later, over optical links."

zakharm

Exactly how much faster will this be than usb 2.0

utube2007

So would this be compatible with Gizmos currently in production?

Example..:

will i be able to connect my iPod with a new cable, and connect it with 3.0? or do certain things need to be reformatted to handle the new bus speeds.. (i.e. the hard drive)

Sexpun Tocome

@Sexpun Tocome: From everything i've heard, it will be backwards compatible just like usb1.0 with usb2.0

@Eruanno: Yes. Theoretical speeds are pretty much never going to be seen. Lets be honest, anything over 480Mbps will be nice though!

I can't wait for usb 3.0! Adios firewire

wolfenstein-3d

@zakharm: Isn't that -theoretical- speed rather than how fast it actually is?

Eruanno

@wolfenstein-3d: Firewire is going no where

@Sexpun Tocome: Should be backwards compatible. But to get the speed from the new spec, both device and port on PC would need to be 3.0.

Geisrud

@wolfenstein-3d: Until USB outdoes Firewire in sustainable transfer speeds you'll see it around for a while.

Still looking forward to USB3

Absent Blue

Well. This is all nice and relative. Faster throughput for even more data.
Atleast it's not subject to licensing fees like USB2.0, IEEE1394a/b, DVI...
Can't wait for the notebooks with USB 3.0 and Displayport (mmm, that 17" Lenovo could use USB 3.0...)

SigmundTheSeaMonster

speed isn't everything. firewire is superior in actual use. no need for a computer host and all that. course they got greedy with licensing:(

I'm just happy that Intel is making it royalty-free. Now there is no (good) reason why all the other companies need to make their own type of USB 3.0.

M.A.X.

@Absent Blue: yeah it may be around but its not going anywhere. Unless someone *cough* Apple *cough* commits to it full-bore, it's never going to be close to USB, even with faster speeds! Although even if they do commit it would probably be a bad idea (see: betamax).

and i think USB3 is going to dominate firewire speeds (although i don't know how fast the new firewire is supposed to be)

(whips off glasses)

"Why with power like that we could make a USB humping dog with enough output to...change everything as we know it!"

(picks up phone)
"Get me Washington, at once!"

strider_mt2k

So, with a draft specification published, we should expect to start seeing some hardware, like with 802.11n? Also, how fast can USB get before your average, say laptop hard drive is the bottleneck?

itchytooth

@strider_mt2k: While hilarious, you did make me wonder what the power output will be. If it goes higher than the current 5V that would be great for me!

My USB fans need power, MORE power!!!

Apparantly 2.0 USB (at least) is suppose to be compatible with the female 3.0 plug. I'm excited as 3.0 will give you ten times as much speed transfering then 2.0. And more voltage power as well, yay.

And everybody here is worried that the LHC will rip a hole in the universe. USB 3.0 is way more likely to do that. The universe just wasn't meant to handle that kind of data power. This is so fast, that data gets to the recipient before it's even sent. Actually I'm not geeky enough to say much more than, meh.

jkr's bold comment

backward compatibility FTW pls

vertigo

@: For real. I see much better throughput w/ Firewire and what I learned from a friend was that they differ in how (read: through where) they transfer data. All I know is when I'm moving 20GB of data on Firewire I can multitask, my computer doesn't slow down at all (except of course if I'm using the very files I'm transferring). However over USB 2.0? Forget about it, chews up CPU resources.

Usama

As long as the connector is the same I don't care. Apple screwed up with FireWire by making the newer 800 ports completely different. But USB is more popular so I'm glad to see we won't need to have a totally new connector when 3.0 starts shipping in new computers.

Jasoco

@: I'm sure it'll be uber fast in the end, probably faster than any planned incarnation of Firewire, but that's pure speculation. But the fact is Firewire is a mainstay when it comes to video and them video buffs could care less about USB. The reason is because of it's sustainable transfer rate as opposed to USB's burst transfer rate. It's the same reason why internal software arrays are favored in editing machines over the logically superior external fibre-channel arrays.

Now maybe USB3 will be good enough to handle ridiculously high uncompressed resolutions, maybe they just don't care cause it's the niche that Firewire has firmly seated itself in. Fact is it's where Firewire gets it's royalties: they charge much higher than USB currently does and they get away with it cause it's hardware spec is necessary for some. If you want a cheapy data-transfer port go USB, why pay twice as much for one that doesn't do anything more than you need?

Absent Blue

The USB's power level! Its...its....ITS OVER 4000...MB/s

daftrok

@SgtToastie: Its not the 5 Volts you have to look at its the Amperage. Current USB 2.0 maxes at 0.5 mA and some devices (especially external drives) are already being stumped by that limitation: thats the only real thing stopping higher capacities reaching new drives (the current max being 320GB)

Now if they brought the power to 2 amps (equivalent of 4 full power USB ports), it would theoretically power my 3.5" Hard Drive (ok, also if they brought it up to 12V).

Grand, faster transfer speeds (w00t) but especially for laptop consumption, more power means less time sitting around an AC outlet (y'know, until you run your battery dry with the power hungry thing) come on Intel I want to hear about USB 3's new power standard!

Overheal