According to PCWorld.com the chief technology officer of the USB Implementers Forum, Rahman Ismail, has stated that we could well high-speed microUSB 3.0 ports will come to small devices such as tablets and smartphones early next year. Not only will this allow you to transfer data much faster between your device and your computer, but it will also allow you to charge your device faster as well.

We don’t have specifics in terms of performance, but we are told that we shouldn’t expect the same speeds achievable on a USB 3.0-compliant PC, instead 100MB/s speeds should be achievable (which equates to 800Mbps). This should mean that what would take 15 minutes to transfer over USB 2.0 will take just 1 minute and 10 seconds when using a mobile device’s USB 3.0 port. The only issue with this is said to be that power consumption will be higher than USB 2.0, but this isn’t a major issue in our opinion as people won’t be transferring files too regularly – especially with advances in cloud storage solutions.

As things progress we are sure that power efficiency will improve, so perhaps by the time microUSB ports hit smartphones and tablets we won’t have to sorry about it having such a negative affect on battery life, the good news is that even if it does drain your battery the charger will fill your battery faster than ever.

Whilst talking about microUSB 3.0 Rahman Ismail also suggested that standard USB 3.0 ports could become thinner, this will allow devices such as netbooks to be thinner once manufacturers stop giving their products VGA ports – so don’t be too surprised if the standard USB ports which we have used for the past decade or so soon become a thing of the past.

With CES 2012 currently underway there’s a chance that we may find out more about the future of USB 3.0 and devices which use the exciting microUSB 3.0 port – when we hear more so will you.

Today we have news of a new flash drive being shown off by Kingston. Kingston is well known for their low cost high speed devices. Its new USB 3.0 input device is the quickest one it’s released to date. It, like most USB 3.0 devices is also backwards compatible which means it will work with slower USB ports.

It’s called the DTU30G2 or its more dramatic name is DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 Generation 2, which even from the name suggest it’s something special. It comes in three storage sizes 64GB, 32GB and 16GB, has a write speed of up to 70MB/s and read speed of up to 100MB/s.

Despite Kingston’s reputation, the device starts at $77 for the 16GB version and goes up to $213 for the 64GB. If you would like to know more about the new flash drive, head on over to Kingston.com where you will find a full list of specs.

Are you impressed by this new device’s speeds?

Obviously Apple are going to push Thunderbolt technology now, however we expect compliant devices to be pretty expensive, whilst PC users will be able to buy more affordable USB 3.0 compatible devices.

A lot of USB 3.0 peripherals will probably be USB 2.0 compliant, but it will be much slower and there will undoubtedly be some devices which will require a USB 3.0 connection to work well. We think that there would have been no harm in Apple giving the new iMacs on or two less USB 2.0 ports and putting a single USB 3.0 port there instead.

To us it looks like Apple have no plans to ever support USB 3.0 on any of their devices, obviously Thunderbolt is a faster and more advanced technology, however for consumer ease it would have made sense not to snub the new USB tech.

Imagine you are working on video project in a few years time and you for some reason need to move large video files from your PC to your Mac at a different location, if you own a USB 3.0 external HDD you will have to endure USB 2.0 speeds when plugged into your Mac . Also if you buy yourself an external HDD which uses Thunderbolt there will be no way to plug it into your PC.

Obviously most Mac users don’t care about PC compatibility and vice versa PC users don’t care about Mac users, but by adding a USB 3.0 port they could have catered for everyone’s needs.

Does the lack of USB 3.0 connectivity put you off the new iMac?

As reported by Jamie Pert previously the device is extremely light weight, yet remains strong looking enough in its ‘aircraft aluminum’ casing. It weighs about a 1/3 of a pound, just 162g and thanks to its USB 3.0 cable there is no need for a power cable adding to its weightlessness.

As it will be powered through USB connection the connectivity will be instant making it practical as well as being preloaded with Plextor software on its speedy HDD allowing readily set up system interface.

Geeky Gadgets who also report the PX-PH750U3, will let users optimize its write and read speeds using the Turbo HDD feature and will also be able to restore and backup with FNet PC Clone EX. Check out what else the devices feature by clicking the links above.

Plextor are also responsible for the PX-L611U, portable DVD writer which was announced last month. RegHardware has a full list of details about the slimline USB devices and also say they will be available for $49. What do you think of these Plextor drives? Are the prices reasonable? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Plextor will retail the device in two models, the difference between each being their storage capacity, the PX-PH750U3 model will have 750GB of storage and will retail at around $195 (£120) and the PX-PH500U3 – which has a reduced but still very large capacity of 500GB will retail at around $146 (£90).

The HDD comes with on-board software which makes it compatable with different system setups and also comes equipped with Turbo HDD utility which makes reading and writing to the computer super-fast while backup and restore is made simple with FNet PC Clone EX and to top it off you even get a little leatherette case to keep it safe in.

The 750GB model will come a little later in April however the 500GB model comes to European shelves in March. The implementation of USB 3.0 means that users should see rapid speed increases from USB 2.0 devices, some have rated 3.0 to be 10X faster than 2.0, which is a staggering statistic which makes this HDD seem very attractive for anyone looking for a portable hard drive at the moment.

Do you think the USB 3.0 is worth the price or do you think a cheaper 500GB alternative with USB 2.0 is better value for money?

Usually its companies like AMD, NVIDIA and Intel that grab all the headlines at the CeBIT but this year Patriot are setting the bar when it comes to getting the punters and press excited.

Last year its Supersonic USB was showing off its write speeds of 70MB/s, now it seems this drive is being put to shame by its next gen Supersonic Magnum USB 3.0. It has capacities of up to 128GB and is said to have 110MB/s write speeds and 200MB/s read speeds with its eight channel controller.

All this on something small enough to fit in your pocket. As Hexus reports speeds like this means a potential 100GB download would only take around 10 minutes.

No official release date has been announced and neither has a price but it is being suggested that it will cost quite a lot. What do you think of this device? How much would you be willing to pay for such speeds? Let us know in the comments below.

As we pointed out previously, Thunderbolt transfers data at a maximum of 10Gbps (in both directions simultaneously), as for eSATA according to TechRadar eSATA delivers a maximum transfer rate of 3Gbps, therefore Thunderbolt is more than three times as fast, obviously you are not always going to transfer at the maximum rate, however it is obvious that Thunderbolt wipes the floor with eSATA.

USB 3.0 is also much faster than eSATA, therefore many people think that the end is nigh for technology which has failed to really impact the market since its launch back in 2004, however if an external version of SATA 3.0 (6Gbps) takes off it means eSATA 3.0 will be faster than USB 3.0.

One thing that may be in eSATA and USB 3.0′s favor if price, many expect Thunderbolt cables and devices to be extremely expensive, if this is the case perhaps people will prefer the more affordable eSATA or USB 3.0 options, let’s face is 3Gbps and 5Gbps transfer rates are a lot faster than USB 2.0 and Firewire’s capabilities.

Do you think eSATA has a future?

You might wonder why we would want such a device and who would pay the price? CNET News believes that companies who deal with fashion model shoots will want the Phase One IQ180, as well as IQ160 and IQ140, which are on the cheaper side and will be launched just one month later.

CNET’s Stephen Shankland believes that this camera device will not have things easy, as there are many competitors, such as Nikon and Canon. These sensors are smaller, but this has not stopped either company from increasing its “Customer Base”, and they certainly have loyal fans – myself being just one of them.

For those who are interested then you can visit the Phase One website to sign up for a demo of digital camera backs in action. The touch screen size is 3.2-inches and allows you to zoom in and out on the subject. Sensor+ technology has also been used; this will help to give you higher ISO sensitivity. So you do not have long to wait, but we would like to know if you would part with that much money for this technology?

Now there is a Sharkoon USB flash drive hitting the market. If you are looking for a speedy device with plenty of storage, then this may be the one for you. Sharkoon are doing a lot of work around USB 3.0 and claim to be a pioneer in the area.

The Flexi-Drive Extreme Duo has a read/write max transfer speed of 130MB/s, the flash drive is downward compatible with USB 1.0 and 2.0, it’s supported on multiple operating systems including Mac OS 10, Windows XP, Vista and 6 as well as Linux. The capacity of the drive is 16GB.

If you want to read more about the specs of the device, then you can visit Sharkoon’s official website by clicking here. That is a pretty impressive spec for a flash drive, but all of this must come at a price right? Well, we are currently unaware of the price or even when it will available for purchase.

What do you think of a USB device running at that speed? Does it really need to be that fast? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.