USB 3.0 set for smartphones, tablets by end of 2012

USB 3.0, the blazing-fast data transferral medium which promises theoretical speeds of 625MB per second will migrate to tablets and smartphone by the end of 2012. Sick of the standard 5-10MBps transfer rates of USB 2.0? Imagine an iPhone which can pump 600Mbps or more. That future is now.

At CES 2012 Rahman Ismail, CTO of the USB Implementers Forum spoke of the inherent speed of USB 3.0, “What takes 15 minutes will roughly take 1 minute and 10 seconds,” Ismail notes that new specifications will have to be implemented for the global USB 3.0 integration. “We’re coming out with new specs, new areas where we will make it very power efficient, power friendly.” The new USB 3.0 port will take the form of the widely-adopted MicroUSB.

For mobile devices, a faster transferral rate equates to more effective charging.  Outside of mobile devices, the USB Implementation forum promises that the size of the USB 3.0 interface will shrink in order to accommodate the ever-thinning Ultrabook laptops. Ismail says, “The height of laptops is being limited by VGA, and we’re next in line.” Backwards compatibility is promised with USB 3.0, with USB 2.0 devices willing and able to charge, albeit at slower rates.

One downside: the transfer speed rate for mobile devices will be 625Mbps. On PC, USB 3.0 is capable of up to 5Gbps. The slower speeds are down to pure power requirements which cannot (currently) fit the profile of mobile devices. Ismail explains. “It’s not the failure of USB per se, it’s just that they are not looking to put the biggest, fastest things inside a tablet.”

Competition is rife, with Intel loading up to push Thunderbolt technology to the fore. With most new laptops shipping with both devices, it seems that the competition will exist on an even playing field. The current (and again, theoretical) 480Mps USB 2.0 transferralrate is about to be shattered by USB 3.0, but time and future hardware standards will be the judge of USB 3.0’s success.