Two companies are using the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) as a platform to demonstrate storage devices based on the new USB 3.0 format. Seagate and Symwave worked together to have the first application of the "SuperSpeed" USB 3.0 technology in a real product.
"Symwave is honored to be working with Seagate in this show of the first USB 30 solution in a real world application of data backup, storage and media streaming," Symwave president and CEO Yossi Cohen said in a statement.
The Seagate display shows an external FreeAgent HDD supported with USB 3.0 with the speed results of a read/write test on the screen. Smywave promises 5 Gb/ps transfer speed for all streaming data, with transfers from a PC to an external HDD.
USB 3.0 promises a 10x speed increase and will be backwards compatible with the older USB 2.0 format. A 1GB file can be transferred via USB 3.0 in about 3.3 seconds, while a regular USB 2.0 1GB file transfer takes 33 seconds.
USB has had to compete against SATA, Ethernet and FireWire, though USB 3.0 supporters believe the new format will be able to trump all competitors. Microsoft, Seagate, Symware, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, NEC, NXP Semiconductors, and several other companies are on the USB 3.0 bandwagon.
The current USB data connectivity protocol hasn't had a significant upgrade in about 10 years, and around 90 percent of all storage devices used are USB-powered devices. Even though more products are finally USB 2.0 compatible, USB 3.0 devices will first begin to surface sometime in 2010, manufacturers predict.
