If you're looking solely at transfer rates, the USB 3.0 specification – with its 5Gbps speeds – may be plenty fast, but it already can't push the same amount of raw data as, say, Thunderbolt. New specifications coming down the pipeline, like SATA Express and external PCIe, are promising speeds that flat-out blow USB 3.0 out of the water. The USB Promoter Group's aiming to stay in the race with an innovative tactic; rather than compete solely with transfer rates, they're also turning the familiar USB connection into the equivalent of a 100W power cord. 
You're a Maximum PC reader: there's a decent chance that you have the biggest, most badass custom build in town, full of water-filled tubes and blazing-fast GPUs and spiffy low-profile RAM kits. After dropping all that dough and spending all that time on your PC, plugging a standard flash drive into its USB 3.0 port just won't cut it. If our disco-tech feature got you in a musical mude, maybe Alkotabeats' flashy TR-808 flash drive will tweak your tune. It's modeled after the paradigm-breaking drum machine that's so awesome, Kanye named an album after it.
Geeks don't accessorize quite the same as norms. Matching your shoes with your shirt places you at the top of the fashion totem pole at most computer conventions. That being said, everybody likes a bit of flair every now and again, and geeks are no different. When you want to draw admiring "Ooohs" and "Aaahs" out of your tech-loving pals, you can pull Mimobot's new retro Transformer USB drives out of your pocket and rest easy knowing you're sporting the Gucci of the gadget world.
We've seen some funky USB thumb drives before, but never have we smelled one that didn't carry the scent of anything other than plastic and electronics. That all changes with Maxell's Armoa USB Flash Drive line, a colorful collection of USB thumb sticks that, should the need arise, will give your nose a whiff of something other than silicon.
Think you and your buddy "Dragon" could have been as popular as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, if only you had the right gear back in the dayl? Now's your chance to find out if you could have been a whiz behind the turntable, or if you made the right choice by going to law school. All you need is a PC and a free USB port.This little box delivers a mind-blowing audio experience
Audiophiles are frequently criticized as having more money than sense. This is especially true when it comes to digital audio components. “It’s digital,” so the argument goes, “it’s perfect because it’s all or nothing.” So when we tell you this combo DAC, pre-amp, headphone amp, USB device costs twice as much as the computer and 50 percent more than the receiver we used to test it ($1,895), some of you will label us fools for bestowing our Kick Ass award on it. Well, you’re wrong.
We still have a ways to go until AMD and Intel implement native USB 3.0 support on their motherboards, but in the meantime, third-party chip makers have picked up the slack. NEC is one of them, and so is VIA, the latter of which has begun sampling new USB 3.0 controllers for external hard drives, DigiTimes reports.
