At the IDF right now, the big talk is about USB 3.0, and for good reason. It's a fantastic improvement to the current USB 2.0 technology, and it's now beginning to show its head in the consumer world. This may be a great improvement, but it certainly isn't all that technology enthusiasts have to look forward to in the future. Intel's just unveiled a new form of optical connector, dubbed Light Peak, capable of some pretty impressive things.What makes this so special is that it can carry 10Gbps of data, both ways, simultaneously. Even better, it can carry data through cable that's up to 100 metres in length, with Intel hoping that the cable will progress to being able to transfer up to 100 gigabits per second in the future. Dadi Perlmutter, who is the co-general manager of Intel's Architecture Group, said that Intel hopes to just see one universal cable for computers a bit later on. The reason for this is because smaller laptops can have their usefulness hindered by the need for many cables attached to the sides, for various devices.
The cables are very durable, as people can quite happily tie knots with them and they still work perfectly. To make things better, Intel is planning to combine the technology with copper, so it can be used to power devices at the same time. The long-term vision of Intel's, as mentioned, is for Light Peak to become a universal port on computers, which would certainly be a good thing for most people.
If you're excited about this, which we hope you are, you'll still have to wait a little while for it to become available; Intel's working to standardize it currently, and the components needed for it will be available in 2010. That doesn't mean you'll see it on shelves by then, though.
You mean SATA 3 HDD from Seagate?
Not a large usage of this technology for sure, but reducing the number of wires running from a desk to the computer will certainly clean things up a bit without sacrificing bandwidth to the devices due to connection limitations.
This personally would be nice for me because I run multiple computers that are all inside a server cabinet, due to the cabinet being a small distance away from the desks, the USB cables are ran to a USB hub, which then runs a long USB cable to the respective computer. Using something like this would increase the bandwidth that can pass through the hub. Right now I have 5 devices running on the hub, essentially off of 1 USB port on the back of my computer, something like this would increase bandwidth from a single USB port, to the bandwidth capabilities of Light Peak.
The technology is coming along in the future which would come at a time when 10Gbps connections are far more common. The consumer market has just marched to 1Gbps ethernet when the enterprise server market has already moved to 10Gbps connections...
project natal is going to be the foundation for a newer technology that is going to allow us to interact with the computer without the use of a mouse and keyboard. quite possibly use your mind? it's atlantis all over again!!! wooo we're gonna live forever!
FYI: You can do 10Gbps connections with Cat 6a cable at up to 100 meters. Not that you should always prefer it over fiber, but you can use it.
But I am all for it, bring it on...
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