Sales of peripherals could get a boost this year as the two primary technologies for connecting external devices to PCs get turbocharged.
PC makers in recent months have begun installing a high-speed version of the Universal Serial Bus, dubbed USB 2.0 High-Speed, across their product lines. By the crucial holiday sales season, the major PC makers will have incorporated USB 2.0, with at least one maker installing six USB 2.0 ports in a PC to replace the crowded array of differing ports.
USB 2.0 "is the one technology that finally meets all the requirements we"ve had up until now," said Brian Zucker, a technology evangelist at Dell Computer.
USB 2.0, which can move data up to 480mbps, compared with the pokey 12mbps handled by USB 1.1, provides stiff competition for FireWire, a technology invented by Apple Computer that transports data at 400mbps.
Partly due to delays in launching USB 2.0, FireWire has gained in popularity in the past two years. But with USB 2.0 on the market, FireWire temporarily loses its title as the speed king.