We’ve told you about USB 3.0 some while ago, but now we have most of the details after AMD, NVIDIA and a bunch others, came out with the controller specifications.

The most interesting things are that even though it will provide faster rates (10 times faster - up to 4.8Gbps) than USB 2.0 it will still be backwards-compatible. Trying to offer higher transfer speeds, it can both read and write at the same time from your portable storage device, while the downloads and uploads are separated on different lanes . Apparently, that’s going to help charge gadgets or any other devices much faster.

Now that you know most of the things about USB 3.0 a test is needed. Fresco Logic took care of that at IDF 2008 using a development platform based on Xilinx Inc’s FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), that managed to go over 350MBps. That’s not bad for a dry test, right ?

via TechOn, MaximumPC

I’m not really sure if you are going to need a couple of crystal USB desktop speakers, but I’m going to mention them anyway. Why, you may ask? Because of the looks.

These crystal designed speakers can be connected to your PC or laptop via USB 2.0 and should output (only) 1 watt per channel even though, the producer considers them as “audiophile” grade. Talking about the producer, it’s not a big company or anything but even if it doesn’t sound THAT good we’ll take the looks for a $39.99 price.

Too bad we can’t get more specs from the manufacturer, except the “these are amazing speakers” line.

via Random Good Stuff

Instructables came up with the USB Popcorn Maker. What will they think of next? Maybe the USB Back Scratcher.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjjJLk0wyP0[/youtube]

But back to our popcorn machine. It’s made from a high intensity heater light, aluminum cup, and mason jar. I can build one of these like everyday. It seems that while the credits are over, the popcorn is done. Or not, because the pop and corn machine uses a 5V USB source.

That means that by the end of a season of a show, you can enjoy the pops and corns. Cheers to all you who will just go out and buy a pack of popcorn from the store.

Ever wanted to own a very funny (good looking) flash drive? Then it’s time for a Mimobot USB flash drive. With so many happy/weird faces I’m sure you’ll get noticed in no time. The prices are $39.95 for the 1GB version, $59.95 for 2GB and $99.95 for 4GB. You’ll get to choose from the mimobot Core Series, artist series, Domo, Halo, Happy Tree Friends and Star Wars Series. The pictures will speak for themselves and if you want to see more check Mimobot.

Luxury has no limits… Yes, my friend, some people have too many money that need to be spent anyway. For those people, others conceive all kinds of flashy, glamorous stuff. In this category I will include the diamond-studded flash drive. This is like the million-dollar notebook. Why would someone pay $5,650 for a golden flash drive with three diamonds?

And it seems they buy it since the so called Golden Store company produces the Adamant flash drive. Nevertheless it comes in a limited edition of only 50 pieces. The Adamant is studded with 3 diamonds, 0.15 carats each and Lapis Lazuli gemstone deposits. Furthermore the case has another diamond like someone would carry the box in the pocket. The flash drive offers 16GB storage and weights 54 grams.

via BornRich

These USB keys look very funny. They were discovered on a Japanese website and for the moment are available in Japan. The USB brick has 1GB of storage and costs £20 (4,280 Yens). They come in five color choices and have the official Lego bricks size. Thus your kid might be interested to use one in his Lego game. Perhaps you would love to play too…

Product page via The Telegraph

That’s a cool idea someone would say. I find it very interesting too and somehow very simple. Chris Armstrong, the business founder, started wondering about how difficult it is to rent a movie when he spent time in line to get one at a local store in Galway, Ireland. Then he thought to create a company that rents movies on flash memory cards.

The company called PortoMedia has kiosks where people can download movies directly on flash drives. The kiosks will have hard drives that can hold 350 to 5,000 titles. Depending on hardware speeds a movie could be download in less than one minute. PortoMedia will use IBM’s help to develop the transaction system, hard drives from Seagate Technologies, and Samsung’s flash memory devices. Toshiba will fabricate the chips for the high-speed interface.

Armstrong said, its company has signed deals with several retailers from US. The MoviePoint kiosks have already been tested in Dublin at the end of 2007. PortoMedia will sell a proprietary ultra-fast USB interface for customers. A start pack will cost $60 and will include a flash key, a dock, and six movies. Then the customers will use the same flash key to buy other titles from the MoviePoint kiosks. As Armstrong said, the company will establish the future fees for the number of viewings.

Renting movies on flash memory cards will be a great business for movie makers, as well as for the stores. There are many advantages upon DVDs or Blu-Ray discs. First of all, delivering the movies on flash sticks will reduce cost for transporting and packaging the DVDs. Furthermore, the stores won’t have the shelves full of DVDs. Comparing with the Internet downloads, this solution is faster and safer. I hope PortoMedia will be successful in this business.

The original story here.

If you don’t need a USB-to-WUSB module and want to put something in that Cardbus slot of your older laptop then IOGear has something that may make you happy (if you’re into Wireless, of course) with their latest Cardbus WUSB adapter. It does exactly what it’s supposed to, Wireless USB, but we don’t have a price for it yet. Not even availability.Source

If it goes as planned the USB 3.0 standard will be sold in 2009. I know the wait is killing but the only thing that may help right now are some pictures of an USB 3.0 connector, that the Engadget guys managed to get during CES 2008.

If you forgot or if you never knew, the USB 3.0 standard is supposed to bring speeds up to 4.8Gbps and a power efficiency technology that would cut off the power for every device that is not used. The story is going to be successful I am sure, but we have to wait and that sucks.

I’m not sure how you feel about USB connectors because I know it’s a pretty common thing these days but think a little bit what would have happened if we wouldn’t have it. Would we still use serial and parallel cables to transfer a movie or some vacation pictures? I guess not since the speed is not the best.

It all started with USB 1.0 which was very easy to connect but lacked on speed. Then, USB 2.0 (which we use today) came to increase transfer rates to up to 480Mbps and though we may think that’s enough right now, HD movies development and bigger and bigger files will make it a nightmare to use.

This is where USB 3.0 comes into picture to continue the successful story of Universal Serial Bus connectors with speeds up to 10 times faster, hitting 4.8Gbps. It’s supposed to be available in stores in 2009, while we get some specs about it early 2008. Will the story go on? Will USB 3.0 be as successful as those before? What do you think?

Source: Yahoo!Tech