You have third-party chip makers to thank for your USB 3.0 ports, a handful of which stepped up to the plate while AMD and Intel work on baking SuperSpeed USB 3.0 support into their chipsets. VIA Labs is one of those companies, and its 4-port VL800 and 2-port VL801 SuperSpeed USB Host controllers are now officially certified by the USB Implementators Forum (USB-IF), the non-profit organization whose mission is to maintain the USB spec and run a compliance program.
We're less concerned than ever about the lack of native SuperSpeed USB 3.0 support on motherboards, in part because it's coming, but also because third-party USB 3.0 chips are getting the job done without jacking up consumer costs. It's getting tough to buy a modern motherboard or computer system without USB 3.0 ports anymore -- not that you'd want to -- and it's time for device makers to step up to the plate. Coming up to bat is Corsair, which hit a solid triple by announcing the availability of USB 3.0 versions of its Flash Voyager GT, Flash Voyager, and Flash Survivor product lines.
We don't know if Transcend is dabbling in voodoo these days or what's going, but somehow the company figured out a way to cram 2TB of storage into a container that's about the length of a USB thumb drive and only slightly thicker than a penny. Some of the credit also goes to Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), which co-developed the 'Thin Card' device.
We've given up badgering AMD and Intel to implement native USB 3.0 into their chipsets, in part because both have plans to support the SuperSpeed spec, and also because third party chips from the likes of NEC and VIA work so well without driving up the cost of motherboards. That's the hardware side. On the software side, Microsoft is creating a brand new USB software stack to better support the USB 3.0 ecosystem.
Even with the lack of native USB 3.0 support in current chipsets, the SuperSpeed spec is thriving all the same thanks to third party chips from NEC, VIA, and others. That means whether you own a recently purchased or self-built PC, or plan on upgrading in the near future, it's time to retire your USB 2.0 thumb drives and replace them with USB 3.0 equivalents. Add Super Talent's new USB 3.0 Express ST2 f.ash drive to your list of possible candidates.
Storage solutions and HBA (Host Bus Adapter) specialist HighPoint Technologies just let us know about its new RocketU 1144A, which is a four-port USB 3.0 add-in card. That in and of itself isn't terribly exciting, but it just so happens that this particular model is the industry's first/only four-port PCI Express Gen 2 x4, 20Gbps USB 3.0 SuperSpeed HBA. That's right, this thing packs four dedicated USB 3.0 ports, each one capable of a full 5Gbps for 20Gbps total.
Memory maker Kingston Technology announced today the launch of its USB 3.0 Media Reader. Kingston's new compact media card reader taps into the performance benefits of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and offers up to 5Gb/s data transfers for high-resolution images, large data files, and anything else you need to shuttle over to your PC.
Portable hard drive have one purpose in mind, and that's to safely shuttle your data from point A to point B. That doesn't sound very glamorous, but even so, there's no rule that says external HDDs have to look drab. Silicon Power's new Stream S20 portable hard drive looks anything but with its sleek design and metallic purple paint job, which the company says "demonstrates its luxurious style" while "declaring its superiority" with performance to boot.
The world’s leading chip maker Intel has yet to add native USB 3.0 support to its chipsets, but that isn’t stopping PC vendors from offering USB 3.0 support using third-party controllers. As a result, the technology is becoming increasingly commonplace. According to market research firm In-Stat’s estimates, shipments of USB 3.0-enabled devices could touch 80 million this year. Hit the jump for more.
Not that this will make any difference whatsoever to conspiracy theorists, but by this time next year, you won't hardly be able to find a new PC without a USB 3.0 port. Yes, we've heard all about how Intel is intentionally delaying adding native USB 3.0 support in its chipsets in order to promote its own Light Peak/Thunderbolt interface, but if even if that were true, it doesn't matter because as of right now, OEMs are content with USB.
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