Majority of modern gadgets connect to the computer via USB cable. For nearly 13 years this port has been standard for all external devices. When USB was introduced in 1995, it became clear that this port would replace all those big and bulky connectors that were used in the past. Data exchange speed was growing with every generation: from 12 Mbps in USB 1.1 to 480 Mbps in USB 2.0. Nevertheless, as time goes by, bigger and bigger speeds are needed. Therefore, after 8 years of reigning, USB 2.0 must be replaced with something more modern and powerful, and this new successor will be USB 3.0, which is already developed and soon will be widely supported by hardware developers. What advantages it brings? Let us see.
USB 2.0 was named Hi-Speed, and it surely is quite fast. USB 3.0, however, truly deserves its title Superspeed, because it strongly overlaps the speed of its predecessor! New USB 3.0 devices will exchange data with speed up to 4.8 Gbps, which is ten times bigger than USB 2.0. Another big advantage of new USB port is its ability to receive and send data simultaneously, which is a no-go for previous USB generations. New USB 3.0 will keep the downward compatibility with all previous USB versions, so do not worry if your device will not support USB 3.0 - it will work with it anyways, at supported speed.
New generation of USB connectors opens a wide field of possible adaptation. Speed up to 4.8 Gbps will be enough for HD video and audio signal broadcast, with such speed there will be no more "bottleneck" effect, when USB 2.0 speed is limiting the performance of external devices, such as portable HDDs or external optical drives. The cable will be a bit thicker though, but this cannot be really considered as disadvantage. In any case, small increase in thickness is reasonable for such big increase of speed. There are images of new USB 3.0 connectors, including redesigned miniUSB and USB 3.0 type B. (click to enlarge)
