A major revamp of the ubiquitous connection technology's ports and cables will make USB connectors reversible, slimmer, and better at transmitting data and power.
The group behind the USB standard has begun work on a new connector that's designed to fix a two-decade-old problem: it can be hard to tell which way is up.
The Type-C connector will make Universal Serial Bus more like Apple's Lightning connector, which is used on newer iPads and iPhones. With it, customers don't have to make sure the connector is flipped upside-down compared to the port.
USB is burdened by a variety of different connectors today, meaning that customers often must have the right cable to plug in the right camera, external hard drive, phone, printer, or thumb drive. But the Type-C connector is designed to sweep away all these predecessors with a single, all-purpose port.
"This new industry standards-based thin connector, delivering data, power and video, is the only connector one will need across all devices," said Alex Peleg, vice president of Intel's Platform Engineering Group, in a statement.
That's significant, given that the arrival of the higher-speed USB 3.0 technology has brought even more cables and connectors to market. Potentially confusing to people, one of these connectors looks identical to old-style USB connectors except that its interior plastic is blue.
The new Type-C connector also will bring other improvements when the specification is finished in mid-2014, the USB Implementors Forum announced (PDF) Wednesday:
The new USB connector is an "entirely new design tailored to work well with emerging product designs," the USB-IF said.
Source: With new USB connector, no more wrong-way-up cables | Cutting Edge - CNET News
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Next-gen USB connector will be smaller and reversible
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The USB Type-C Specification connector and cable has the following characteristics:
Source: Next-gen USB plug will be slimmer and reversible - Industry - News - HEXUS.net
The group behind the USB standard has begun work on a new connector that's designed to fix a two-decade-old problem: it can be hard to tell which way is up.
The Type-C connector will make Universal Serial Bus more like Apple's Lightning connector, which is used on newer iPads and iPhones. With it, customers don't have to make sure the connector is flipped upside-down compared to the port.
USB is burdened by a variety of different connectors today, meaning that customers often must have the right cable to plug in the right camera, external hard drive, phone, printer, or thumb drive. But the Type-C connector is designed to sweep away all these predecessors with a single, all-purpose port.
"This new industry standards-based thin connector, delivering data, power and video, is the only connector one will need across all devices," said Alex Peleg, vice president of Intel's Platform Engineering Group, in a statement.
That's significant, given that the arrival of the higher-speed USB 3.0 technology has brought even more cables and connectors to market. Potentially confusing to people, one of these connectors looks identical to old-style USB connectors except that its interior plastic is blue.
The new Type-C connector also will bring other improvements when the specification is finished in mid-2014, the USB Implementors Forum announced (PDF) Wednesday:
- A small size, comparable to the USB Micro-B connector that's commonly used to charge mobile phones. That'll make it fit more easily not only on mobile devices but also on ever-thinner laptops, flat-panel TVs, and other space-constrained devices.
- A design that will accommodate faster data-transfer rates of the future. Today's USB 3.0 reaches 5 gigabits per second, but the USB oversight group has finished the USB 3.1 specification that extends to 10Gbps.
- Support for better power charging. USB improvements in recent years have emphasized the ability to carry more electrical current for faster charging of USB-connected devices.
The new USB connector is an "entirely new design tailored to work well with emerging product designs," the USB-IF said.
Source: With new USB connector, no more wrong-way-up cables | Cutting Edge - CNET News
=====================
Next-gen USB connector will be smaller and reversible
...
The USB Type-C Specification connector and cable has the following characteristics:
- An entirely new design tailored to work well with emerging product designs
- New smaller size – similar in size to the existing USB 2.0 Micro-B
- Usability enhancements – users will no longer need to be concerned with plug orientation/cable direction, making it easier to plug in
- The Type-C connector and cable will support scalable power charging
- Scalability – the connector design will scale for future USB bus performance
Source: Next-gen USB plug will be slimmer and reversible - Industry - News - HEXUS.net
