As Icron is the leader in USB extension, we are always looking for new USB devices coming out in the market.  I ran across an interesting hard drive that is water proof and fire proof. Check it out!

ioSafe SoloPRO (Courtesy of everythingusb.com)

The USB 3.0 final spec was published in late 2008 but it’s taken some time for USB 3.0 to materialize in the market. With multiple USB xHCI Host Controllers and IP available from companies like NEC, TI, and Synopsis and the Taiwanese manufacturers, we’re starting to see USB 3.0 products appear in the market.  The recent announcements of USB 3.0 motherboard integration by companies like ASUS and Gigabyte will certainly help accelerate the demand for OEM’s to implement USB 3.0 into devices as well.

Advantages of using USB 3.0:

• Speed– USB 3.0 is roughly about 10 times the performance (max.) than USB 2.0This is achieved because USB 3.0 is essentially an overlay on top of the D+/D- USB 2.0 wires, adding 2 additional sets of wires that carry USB 3.0 data only. With each differential pair taking care of one half of the communications (either host to device or device to host), the system delivers full duplex communications as opposed to the half duplex communications of USB 2.0.  There are some efficiencies in this method that help reduce power requirements (e.g. removing the need for polling) although new connectors and cables are obviously required to support all the additional internal wires.
  

  Source: www.ptgrey.com

• Power – Additional powering capabilities, namely increased bus power support:  150 mA vs. 100mA for unconfigured, 900mA vs. 500mA for configured devices (configured/unconfigured referring to software drivers) for powering devices without an external power supply.

• Performance – Early performance of USB 3.0 products seems to be varied from as low as a 3X performance boost to up to the expected 10X.  Performance is derived from the performance of each individual component in the system, namely the specific host controller (they aren’t all created equal!), connector/cable (you need a 3.0 cable and connector to get 3.0 speeds) and the device itself (and its specific USB 3.0 PHY implementation).

The USB 3.0 devices we’re seeing in the market today are mostly external hard drives, web cameras, and flash drives, it will be interesting to see what other device types migrate to USB 3.0 as certainly not all will given the cost adder.

As USB Extension experts for over 12 years, Icron will develop USB 3.0 extenders in the future, we’d love to hear from you on what types of devices you think will move to USB 3.0 and if you have any need to go beyond the 3 meter (10 feet) range of USB 3.0.

To read more on USB 3.0 and it’s future for business, go to IT World Canada