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Posts Tagged ‘usb 3.0’

The Promise of USB 3.0 Looks More Certain in 2012

Friday, December 16th, 2011

USB 3.0 or SuperSpeed USB as it is often referred to has gotten off to a bit of a sluggish start but the announcement this week by the USB Implementers Forum that Intel’s new “Ivy Bridge” 7 Series Chipset has achieved USB 3.0 certification is likely give it a real shot in the arm in 2012.

Superspeed USB has been so named because it delivers a 10 fold increase in data transfer speeds compared to the current USB 2.0 standard but to achieve these speeds everything from the PC, to the cable to the peripheral or storage device connected to the PC must support the USB 3.0 standard.

Whilst we’ve seen a number of smaller PC manufacturers launch PC’s with USB 3.0 on-board the lack of any Intel based

USB 3.0

USB 3.0

solution has held the market back. The market needs Intel to deliver 3.0 support to drive competition and to bring USB 3.0 prices down.

Some sceptics have also suggested that the Intel has been dragging its heels to allow its own high-speed connection technology called Thunderbolt to get established. Thunderbolt is twice as fast of USB 3.0 and is a joint development with Apple on whose products it is already being shipped.

Mainstream PC’s with Intel’s Ivy Bridge chips onboard and support for Superspeed USB 3.0 are expected to start hitting the shops in May/June 2012. From this point on things will start to get interesting because all of a sudden USB 3.0 will be within reach of most people buying a PC, in fact within a few months it will be the de facto standard on any PC purchased.

With Intel’s support in 2012, USB 3.0 will move into the mainstream and the peripherals and cables that we use with our PC’s will also start to move over to the new Superspeed standard. It won’t happen overnight because un the short term USB 3.0 products will inevitably carry a price premium but within a couple of years USB 3.0 will just be the expected standard and referred to not as USB 3.0 but USB.

For the Promotional USB Flash Drive sector there is unlikely mass change to USB 3.0 flash drives simply because in the short term (next 12-18 mths) they will carry a price premium that most companies won’t want to pay for a “give-away” product. Equally, there is little point paying for a premium high-speed product until you are sure that most people you give them to are able to benefit from the higher speeds on offer. We’re some years away from the ubiquitous use of USB 3.0 and until that time or until the factories stop manufacturing USB 2.0 sticks the standard for promotional USB flash drives will be USB 2.0 – after all, these will still work on USB 3.0 PC’s they just won’t work at the high data transfer speeds.

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The Promise of USB 3.0 Looks More Certain in 2012

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Microsoft Announce that Windows 8 Will Integrate USB 3.0 and Complicate the Thunderbolt Battle

Friday, September 16th, 2011

The Microsoft BUILD conference is in process this week and Microsoft have already released the first set of information on Windows 8. Surprisingly for Microsoft the reviews have so far been quite positive, although it is not completely finished so we will have to wait until it’s release expected around mid to late 2012.  Amongst many drastic changes that Microsoft have planned for the new operating system is the decision to support USB 3.0 from the launch of Windows 8.

Windows 8

Microsoft have normally been quite sluggish in adopting new technologies but they have announced that Windows 8 will carry a built in software stack to natively support USB 3.0.  This is much more meaningful when you understand that in the early days of USB each new drive would come with its own driver that would have to be installed onto every computer that it was used with until Microsoft developed the native driver which put an end to the hassle.

Thunderbolt vs. USB 3.0

This announcement complicates the battle between thunderbolt and USB 3.0 but does add a little more ‘umph’ behind USB 3.0.  However, at the Intel Developer Forum on Wednesday Asus and Acer, two big names in PC hardware, promised systems supporting Thunderbolt as soon as early 2012.  That again equals the score in the USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt battle.

Despite the movement of hardware companies to support either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt the state of affairs is still very much a chicken and egg situation.  No matter the choice of computer connectivity that is chosen by computer manufacturers if external devices and accessories are not made for that connectivity type then the port on the computer is made redundant.  However, external device and accessory manufacturers are not going to make products with a specific computer connection if the computers do not support it.

It’s for that reason that Microsoft’s announcement to support USB 3.0 and Acer and Asus stating that they will support Thunderbolt is very important.  Apple’s decision to fit all new computers with Thunderbolt and no USB 3.0 is a very brave but possibly rewarding move.  It also has to be wondered what connectivity will come as standard with the new iPhone and iPad?  Will Apple try to force Thunderbolt upon users by making the new devices only Thunderbolt compatible, will they make it with dual compatibility or will they not risk their telephone and tablet market dominance over a connectivity battle?

Whatever the outcome, we are keeping a close eye on it to understand the connectivity of the branded memory sticks of the future will be.

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Microsoft Announce that Windows 8 Will Integrate USB 3.0 and Complicate the Thunderbolt Battle

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Thunderbolt Flash Drives – Myth or Reality

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Back in February Intel announced a new High Speed technology called Thunderbolt™. Thunderbolt supports data transfer speeds of up to 10GB per second, which means you could transfer a full-length HD movie between two devices running Thunderbolt in around 30 seconds!

Although Intel announced its Thunderbolt was a joint development with Apple so its no surprise that most of the new products launched by Apple since the announcement have included Thunderbolt. (new iMac, new Macbook Air, new Macbook Pro).

Considering that USB 3.0 is only just beginning to reach the market the announcement of Thunderbolt took many by surprise and raised doubts over what will emerge as the dominant standard for peripherals and data transfer – the thought of another VHS Vs Betamax tussle is not something the industry needs just now.

Thunderbolt Flash Drives

Thunderbolt Flash Drives

Whilst USB 3.0 products are backwards compatible with USB 2.0, Thunderbolt is completely different; different cables, different connectors and completely different protocol, so USB products, including USB flash drives will not work with Thunderbolt.

Here are a few basic facts to consider about Thunderbolt:

  • Thunderbolt I/O technology gives you two channels on the same connector with 10 Gbps of throughput in both directions.
  • Thunderbolt transfers data up to 20 times faster than with USB 2.0, up to 12 times faster than with FireWire 800 and twice as fast as USB 3.0
  • A range of Thunderbolt storage peripherals are already available including storage products from Lacie (Lacie’s Little Big Disk)

Talk in the market is that Intel has so far failed to build support for USB 3.0 into any of its motherboard chipsets. If this is the case just where does this leave USB 3.0 and are we on the verge of seeing portable storage drives that use Thunderbolt technology?

To confuse matters further HP (the worlds largest producer of PC’s) has announced that it is sticking with USB 3.0 because it has wider support in the market. They’re not saying “no” to Thunderbolt just yet but instead they seem to be keeping a “watching brief” on it.

With the amount of influence Apple and Intel carry in the PC and tablet market at the moment you have to assume that at some stage a Thunderbolt Flash Drive is going to appear. Exactly when and at what cost is anyone’s guess but for now most people seem content with their standard USB 2.0 flash drives.

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Thunderbolt Flash Drives – Myth or Reality

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Will We See Thunderbolt USB Flash Drives Any Time Soon

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Last week saw the announcement by Intel of a new High Speed technology called Thunderbolt™  – its aim is to deliver high-speed data transfer capabilities and support for high-definition (HD) video connection in a single cable. The

Thunderbolt Flash Drives

Thunderbolt Flash Drives

“Thunderbolt” cable and protocol supports data transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps which put simply will enable the transfer of a full-length HD movie in around 30 seconds!

The technology has been a joint development with Apple so its no surprise that it will make its first appearance in the new MacBook Pro series which co-incidentally, was also announced last week.

Of course Apple are not new to developing new fast data transfer solutions with Firewire 400 and Firewire 800 being clear examples but this jointly developed solution leaves everything else looking like a poor relation. For example Firewire 800 supports data transfer speeds of 800 Mbps (twice that of USB 2.0) and even the new USB 3.0 standard only manages 5Gbps.

Considering USB 3.0 is only just now beginning to reach the market the announcement of Thunderbolt has taken many by surprise and raised doubt over what will emerge as the dominant standard for peripherals and data transfer moving forward.

Whilst USB 3.0 products are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 the Thunderbolt standards are completely different (different cables, different connectors and completely different protocol) so USB products, including USB flash drives will not work with Thunderbolt.

USB 3.0 flash drives are only now beginning to appear on the market and are still carrying quite a heft “early adopter” premium. Whether Thunderbolt will or can spawn an equivalent to a USB flash drive is not clear but a Thunderbolt Flash Drive with data transfer speeds of 10Gbps would revolutionise the portable data storage space.

For now most people are likely to be content with regular USB 2.0 flash drives and companies that use these USB flash drives for promotional purposes need not worry about Thunderbolt because its simply too early in its development and adoption cycle for it to be considered. For now at least USB remains king but its going to be an interesting couple of years.

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Will We See Thunderbolt USB Flash Drives Any Time Soon

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USB 3.0 Branded USB Memory Sticks

Friday, January 21st, 2011

USB 3.0 is here, its may not arrived with much of a fanfare and its arrival might, in the short term at least, be more interesting to classic early adopters but its arrival is significant and will have a bearing on the promotional USB memory stick market.

The reason why the arrival USB 3.0 is significant is because USB 3.0 flash drives read and write at 10 times the speed of comparable USB 2.0 memory sticks. But there is also a further and more subtle change heralded by the arrival of USB 3.0 and that is the ability of USB sticks to send and receive data at the same time

So, if you want your branded USB memory sticks to carry loads of data and be able to “play” this data quickly then

USB 3.0

USB 3.0

you’re going to love USB 3.0. Because they transfer data at 4.8 gigabytes per second they are ideal for handling large file formats like videos, music and digital photos. Running full motion, HD adverts directly from a USB 3.0 stick is going to be easy and will create all sorts of interesting creative opportunities for advertising agencies.

Although support for USB 3.0 started to appear on new PC’s in 2010 its only going to start being rolled out on most PC’s this year. If your PC is not equipped with USB 3.0 then you won’t have to dump your PC or Mac to benefit from the performance improvements but you will have to install a new PCI card to upgrade it to USB 3.0 – this is normally pretty easy to do and the cards will be relatively cheap.

If you don’t have USB 3.0 on your PC or Mac but you’re given a USB 3.0 memory stick the stick will still work but it’ll just work at USB 2.0 speeds.

In the short term the only drawback of using promotional USB 3.0 memory sticks is cost. As with all new “tech gear” its expensive when it first comes out and at the moment there is quite a premium to pay for USB 3.0 sticks. Give it another 12 months and the price differential between 2.0 and 3.0 will start to close rapidly and with 2-3 years all promotional USB flash drives will be USB 3.0.

The challenge in the intervening period is to get your creative hats on and think about how you can best use the improvements in speed and interaction offered by these new USB memory sticks.

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USB 3.0 Branded USB Memory Sticks

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Kingston Launch SuperSpeed USB 3.0 USB Flash Drives

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

USB 3.0 has been in development since 2007 and is the next major revision to the Universal Serial Bus technology. Designed from the ground up to have the same ease-of-use and plug and play capability offered by USB 2.0 but with a whopping 10X performance increase in data transfer rates. The speed improvements are achieved by using a technology that has been dubbed “SuperSpeed” – this allows multiple streams of data transfer and boosts its peak bandwidth to 4.8 Gb/s (~572 MB/s).

All new USB 3.0 devices will be compatible with standard USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 ports but if you connect a USB 3.0 device to an old UBS port it won’t run at the SuperSpeed transfer rates. To only way to get benefits of SuperSpeed is to use USB 3.0 devices, cables and USB ports with a USB 3.0 host controller.

USB Flsah Drive 3.0

USB Flash Drive 3.0

To put the speed improvements into context if you transferred 100 albums from a PC to MP3 player using a USB 2.0 you would expect the transfer to take around 2 minutes. If you transferred the same albums using a PC equipped to support USB 3.0 and used USB 3.0 cables connected to an MP3 player (next generation USB 3.0) then your transfer time would drop to around 15 seconds!!

USB 3.0 is likely to be welcomed by users wanting to save and move HD video files around. This format by its very nature is data intense and therefore moving files around via USB 2.0 can take some time.

Although Intel have stated they will not support USB 3.0 until late 2011 but in the interim USB 3.0 upgrade cards, USB

USB SuperSpeed

USB 3.0 SuperSpeed

3.0 cables and USB peripherals will start to trickle into the market. One of the first mainstream USB 3.0 products to be released is a USB flash drive from Kingston Technology – named the Data Traveller Ultimate it has a read speed of 80MB per second and a write speed of 60MB per second!

With a hefty price tag and scarcity of PC’s that will deliver the real USB 3.0 benefits on offer it’s a product that’s likely to appeal to the early adopters but very few others.

USB flash drives are incredibly popular products not only for personal use but also within the promotions and corporate gift sector where literally tens of millions of branded USB flash drives are given away each year. In this sector the much higher costs for USB 3.0 mean we’re unlikely to see USB 3.0 flash drives adopted for the next few years. So, if you’re interested in getting a USB 3.0 flash drive anytime soon then you’ll need to dip into your own pocket to buy one (and the other components needed to really take advantage of the benefits on offer from SuperSpeed USB 3.0).

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Kingston Launch SuperSpeed USB 3.0 USB Flash Drives

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USB 3.0 Flash Drives Begin To Emerge

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

USB 2.0 has been with us for around 10 years so USB 3.0 has been a while arriving but with the launch of the first certified USB 3.0 product at the CES Show in Las Vegas in January its finally beginning to emerge.

The standards for USB 3.0, also dubbed SuperSpeed USB have been in development since 2007 with the final agreed specification handed over to the manufacturing community in 2009. There has, as you might expect, been lots of

USB 3.0

USB 3.0 - SuperSpeed USB

excitement and buzz around the launch of USB 3.0 not least because it will enable data transfer speeds which at 3.2 Gbit/second which are roughly ten times the speed achieved today with USB 2.0 – hence the shorthand of “SuperSpeed”.

Some of the first USB 3.0 flash drives to hit the market look as though they will come from PQI and Super Talent. Both of these companies have “announced” the forthcoming release of products, images and specs are available but it is still not, as far as we can tell, possible to buy them anywhere.

Even when the USB 3.0 flash drives are available you will only get true SuperSpeed performance if you are using them on a PC that is also fully enabled to support USB 3.0 and at the moment these are very few and far between. Consider also that the initial release of Windows 7 did not include drivers for USB 3.0 and that Intel are not planning to support the standard until 2011!

So, whilst USB 3.0 is now with us and products are beginning to emerge they are still very much products for the “early adopter” community. Mainstream use of USB 3.0 is still going to be a couple of years away by which time PC’s will ship with USB 3.0 as standard and the leading operating systems will have built in driver support.

Because USB 3.0 products will also carry a heft price premium until they gain mass market adoption there is going to be little to no impact in the short term (next couple of years at least) on the promotional USB flash drive market. Buyers of branded and promotional USB memory sticks are unlikely to pay the high price that USB 3.0 flash drives will demand particularly if they are going to be given away and even more so if the recipients are not really going to see any of the performance benefits that the standard offers.

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USB 3.0 Flash Drives Begin To Emerge

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Will my Branded USB Memory Sticks Work With USB 3.0 (Superspeed USB)

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

During the late summer of 2009 USB 3.0 (also dubbed as Superspeed USB) will start to appear in the market. The now ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus was first launched in 1996 with USB 1.0 which in turn was subsequently upgraded to USB 2.0 in April 2000. The upgrade to USB 3.0 will see much higher data transfer speeds of up to 4.8Gbps supported and the cables and interface will support the deliver of more power.

USB 3.0 Logo

USB 3.0 Logo

But, the important news is that USB 3.0 will be backwards compatible with USB 1.x and USB 2.0. So all existing USB products will work on any PC running USB 3.0 or using USB 3.0 cables.

Any branded USB Memory sticks or promotional USB Flash Drives purchased now, or in the market now will continue to work quite happily post the introduction of USB 3.0.

Eventually there will be a new generation of USB 3.0 memory sticks that will take advantage of the greater transfer speeds supported by USB 3.0 but these are unlikely to be available until 2010 and for the first couple of years the cost is likely to be prohibitive for promotional use.

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Will my Branded USB Memory Sticks Work With USB 3.0 (Superspeed USB)

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