Iomega announced it plans to help consumers adopt USB 3.0 in favor of USB 2.0 by offering the faster drives at the same price as the company's current USB 2.0 portable HDDs.
I like this decision by Iomega -- USB 3.0 is a faster, newer technology, but it has been neglected due to a low current adoption rate. The new Iomega Superspeed drives promise transfer speeds up to 5Gbps when using USB 3.0, but will be available for a lower price.
USB 3.0, which promises transfer speeds of 10x the speed of USB 2.0, has gained immediate attention since its announcement in late 2008. Iomega will release two new HDDs that will be USB 3.0, but hope to upgrade the entire eGO line in early 2011.
The new 500GB and 1TB USB 3.0 portable HDDs will be released in October, with both new 2.5-inch eGO? HDDs supporting USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. Similar to other Iomega portable HDDs, neither drive will require an external power source.
Iomega is a major tech manufacturer that still is often overlooked, despite a growing collection of reliable products. Specifically, I like that the company typically has lower-priced products that offer reliability and quality of service unavailable from smaller companies.
HDD and other accessory manufacturers have embraced USB 3.0, even though very few USB 3.0 products have been launched as of yet. The newer technology isn't as widely adopted by hardware manufacturers and consumers, but is a promising glimpse into future transfer speeds.
