USB 3.0

 USB 3.0 is the second major revision of the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard for computer connectivity.
                USB 3.0 has transmission speeds of up to 5 Gbit/s, which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s). USB 3.0 significantly reduces the time required for data transmission, reduces power consumption, and is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced on 17 November 2008 that the specification of version 3.0 had been completed and had made the transition to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the managing body of USB specifications. This move effectively opened the specification to hardware developers for implementation in future products.
                The first USB 3.0 consumer products were announced and shipped by Buffalo Technology in November 2009, while the first certified USB 3.0 consumer products were announced 5 January 2010, at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES), including two motherboards by ASUS and Gigabyte Technology.
                Manufacturers of USB 3.0 host controllers include, but are not limited to, Renesas Electronics, Fresco Logic, Asmedia, Etron, VIA Technologies, Texas Instruments, NEC and Nvidia. As of November 2010, Renesas was the only company to have passed USB-IF certification, although Fresco Logic has now also passed USB-IF certification. Motherboards for Intel's Sandy Bridge processors have been seen with Asmedia and Etron host controllers as well. On October 28, 2010 Hewlett-Packard released the HP Envy 17 3D featuring a Renesas USB 3.0 Host Controller several months before some of their competitors. AMD is working with Renesas to add its USB 3.0 implementation into its chipsets for its 2011 platforms. At CES2011 Toshiba unveiled a laptop called "Toshiba Qosmio X500" that included USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0, and a new series of Sony VAIO laptops that will include USB 3.0. As of April 2011 the Inspiron and Dell XPS series are available with USB 3.0 ports.
                    Apple Inc. is the only major computer manufacturer without USB 3.0 equipped computers as of August 2011, opting to use another standard called Thunderbolt instead.