Transferring data from one system to another has become easy with the launch of USB. But, everyone knows that transfer to a removable media takes a lot of time. When you are in a hurry, even a few seconds feel like hours. This surely needs an upgrade to make the data transfer and storage quick and convenient. So, finally the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 has arrived. At the CES 2010, SuperSpeed USB 3.0-qualified gadgets were announced. Also included in the kitty were host controllers, adapter cards, motherboards, and hard drives.

What makes the USB 3.0 so valuable is the backward compatibility with USB 2.0. Here, the consumers are capable of using the product on a USB 2.0 port. However, the results will be more or less similar to typical USB 2.0 performance. If you want to use the USB 3.0 devices, you will have to get your hands on a new cable and even a host adapter. You can even use Asus or Gigabyte motherboards that are compatible with USB 3.0.

The other highlight of the USB 3.0 connectivity is the theoretical throughput improvement which is remarkable. If compared with the current USB 2.0 hardware, the devices with USB 3.0 will offer 10 times better performance. Basically, the USB 2.0 was capable of handling 480 Mbps at the max. But, USB 3.0 is a powerful technology, delivering theoretically upto 5Gbps. Moreover, the performance is also dependent on the type of the drive used. For instance, RAIDed hard drives or fast solid-state drives (SSDs) will deliver better performance as compared to the standalone single drive.

Thus, the benefits are more noticed in high-def video, music, and digital imaging applications while using USB 3.0. Many researchers have reviewed the USB 3.0 connectivity by using Western Digital's My Book 3.0. This product is apparently the first USB 3.0-certified external hard drive. On testing, it was revealed that the performance was quite similar to eSATA. The advantage was the USB 3.0 was available as a powered port. Hence, there was no need of having external power supply to use the drive.

As the USB 3.0 is likely to work more wonders, many companies will introduce products based on this superspeed connectivity in the near future. To name some, Seagate, LaCie, Rocstor, and Iomega will soon unveil hard drives with USB 3.0 compatibility. Additionally, Dane-Elec and A-Data and other non-conventional hard drive vendors also showed products running on USB 3.0.

It is good to see so many brands planning to incorporate the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connectivity. But, how will consumers get assurance about the product’s high performance? For this, certified SuperSpeed USB 3.0 logo can be of a great help. This will at least give relief to the consumers that the products will certainly live up to the USB 3.0 spec.Hope to see more concrete news about USB 3.0 in the CES show.