As any videogame player getting ready to choose to an on-screen character will tell you, speed and toughness don't always go hand-in-hand. But that isn't the case with LaCie's new Rugged 3.0 USB mobile hard drive which, according to LaCie, boasts the fastest interface on the market.

The result is speeds of up to 110MB/s, which is pretty darn fast. In fact, that's three times as fast as the speed of USB 2.0, allowing you to transfer an HD movie in its entirety in less than 3 minutes rather than the more than 8 minutes it would take via USB 2.0.

"We are pleased to add USB 3.0, the fastest interface available, or our most recognized mobile solution," says Anne-Sophie Marchand, Consumer Product Manager. "Now the most demanding customers can get the best performance out of a 2.5-inch hard drive -- making the Rugged USB 3.0 the only hard drive necessary for work in the field."

The Rugged drive comes encased in a scratch resistant aluminum shell. Combined with internal shock absorbers and a shock resistant rubber bumper, LaCie says its new drive can withstand drops up to 2.2 meters (about 7.2 feet).

LaCie sells the Rugged USB 3.0 in 500GB capacity for $150.

The Declaration of Independence lists Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness as unalienable Rights, but our founding fathers forgot one: USB 3.0. Asus hasn't forgotten, and whether you're more of a mainstream Joe or a hardcore Harvey, Asus wants the world to know you deserve a SuperSpeed USB product.

"The availability of super fast data transfer to consumers is not a gimmick; it is the way of the future and means to providing better technology to people around the world," Asus recently stated. "Knowing this, Asus now offers USB 3.0 on a wide range of products beyond motherboards. This includes notebooks, the Eee PC range of netbooks, all-in-one PCs, and even digital media players. All of these feature designs specifically tailored to accommodate USB 3.0 connectivity so that its true benefits are available in full."

The motherboard is arguably the most important product, and here too Asus pounds its chest, noting that they were the "first to include USB 3.0 on a motherboard, offering the new technology not just as-is, but optimized to realize its potential."

It will soon be tough to find a new product that doesn't incorporate the new spec, and looking at Asus product line alone, the company has implemented USB 3.0 support on every modern chipset imaginable (Intel P55, X58, 3450, H57/55, g41, and P43, and AMD 890GX/890FX, 880/870, 770, 785G, 780, and 790FX).

Gigabyte is apparently taking this whole USB 3.0 thing pretty seriously and is stoked that two of its P55-based motherboards -- GA-P55A-UD7 and GA-P55A-UD5 -- have passed official certification by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF).

But the SuperSpeed buck doesn't stop there. Gigabyte says it is "aggressively adopting USB 3.0" on all of nearly its platforms, including the Intel X58, P55, H57, P45, and P43 chipsets, as well as AMD 790FX, 790X, 770, and 785G chipsets.

"We are investing heavily in developing the USB 3.0 ecosystem and are overjoyed to see that the majority of motherboards listed on the SuperSpeed USB Compliance Web page are from GIGABYTE," said Henry Kao, Senior Vice President, Motherboard Business Unit, GIGABYTE Technology Co. Ltd. "As the Windows® 7 upgrade cycle progresses, we are finding that onboard USB 3.0 is a powerful deal clincher as consumers look to future-proof their new purchases with the very latest technologies and specifications. As such, the timing for the introduction of USB 3.0 could not be better, and we are excited about working with the USB-IF to ramp up SuperSpeed adoption and explore the new possibilities that it has to offer."

Gigabyte is getting a bit of help from NEC, which is providing the uPD720200 host controller for all of the company's USB 3.0 compliant boards. In addition, a handful of models also feature 3x USB power boost, which you can read more about here.