Now that Intel’s brought together the world in a harmonious USB 3.0 Standard, here’s a first look at the new connectors brought to us by MaximumPC. Ten times faster than the old USB spec, USB 3.0 can transfer a 27GB file in just 70 seconds. Plus, with more “lanes” of data within the connector, new USB will be able to simultaneously send and receive information—that might not sound like much, but the old USB couldn’t do so. This first shot is of the A and B-side USB connectors (the normal USB and the fat one often used in printers). This second shot is of the new mini USB:
Yes, it looks a lot like a tiny HDMI cord.
The biggest benefit of USB 3.0, however, may be the new power management options. First, USB peripherals in standby will no longer be drained of their power while periodically checking in with your PC. That means less battery drain for laptop users, and to make things even better, this more efficient communication strategy will be backward compatible to USB 2.0 devices as well.
The other major power upgrade is that there’s a whole lot more running through the wire. The spec has been bumped from carrying 100 miliamps to 900 milliamps, meaning that we can expect faster charge times on USB devices along with less worrying about how many power-needy devices are plugged into our hubs.
For more of the nitty gritty on USB 3.0, hit up Maximum PC’s excellent rundown on the new tech.