An update to the USB standard brings the version number to 3.1. and doubles the speed of USB 3.0 to 10 Gbps. The latest version of the USB standard is now completed which means developers can start implementing it.
It uses a more efficient data encoding and will deliver more than twice the effective data through-put performance of current USB 3.0 over enhanced, fully backward compatible USB connectors and cables. Compatibility is assured with existing USB 3.0 software stacks and device class protocols as well as with existing 5 Gbps hubs and devices and USB 2.0 products.
While the standard has now been finalized, it's expected that it will take while before the first consumer products using it will hit the market. The first cameras, computers, TVs, phones etc. will likely appear no earlier than 2015.
The bandwidth of 10 Gbps means that in theory files can be transferred at 1280 MB per second. That means copying a DVD of 4.7 GB would take only a few seconds. In practice this will likely not be possible due limitations of storage devices and other bottlenecks inside the computer.
