USB 3.0 features the so-called SuperSpeed bus, with a nominal 4.8Gbps mode that means "it is realistic for 400 MBps or more to be delivered to an application", as the specification puts it.

SuperSpeed mode uses an additional two pairs of conductors, with connectors designed to allow interoperability with USB 2.0 devices and cables.

The first version of the specification was completed in November 2008. NEC demonstrated a test chip in January 2009 and announced the first USB 3.0 controller in May.

Now research firm In-Stat suggests that initial adoption of USB 3.0 will begin in 2010, with such rapid takeup that 70% of external hard drives will use the SuperSpeed interface by 2012.

Other devices likely to go USB in a hurry will probably include flash drives (In-Stat predicts the worldwide shipment of 200 million USB 3.0 flash drives in 2013), portable media players, LCD monitors, and digital still cameras. It would be surprising if digital video cameras weren't also on the list.

It is not clear from In-Stat's announcement whether the expected incorporation of USB 3.0 in monitors will be to provide a convenient desktop hub for SuperSpeed devices, or for an external video adaptor built into a monitor (eg, to drive a second independent screen from a notebook that lacks that capability).

What does In-Stat see as the potential obstacle to the broader adoption of SuperSpeed USB, and what about that USB 3.0 to SATA bridge chip? Please read on.

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"SuperSpeed may eventually move beyond those target applications requiring the highest bandwidth," said In-Stat analyst Brian O'Rourke.

"However, in order to achieve broader adoption, cost will have to go down significantly," he added. "To get SuperSpeed USB costs down and increase attach rates, the technology will have to be integrated into the application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and System-on-a-Chips (SoCs), that power the peripherals."

In related news, LucidPort Technology announced today that it will demonstrate fully-functional SuperSpeed storage devices at this week's Intel Developers Forum.

The drives will be from Netac, MacPower, Good Way Technology, and SSI, and will use LucidPort's USB300 USB 3.0 to SATA bridge chip. The products expected to reach the market before the end of the year.

According to LucidPort officials, the SuperSpeed drives will transfer up to 250MBps, which can be as much as 10 times faster than current USB 2.0 drives.

"The market expects USB 3.0 to be fast," said Reid Augustin, VP, product development at LucidPort. "The USB300 meets that challenge by making the full SATA bandwidth accessible from USB."

The new SuperSpeed drives will be backward-compatible with existing mass storage drivers for Windows, Linux and Mac OS, and with USB 2.0 and 1.1 host controllers LucidPort officials claimed. The performance of those legacy ports will be the limiting factor.

We've had Full-Speed USB (12Mbps), Hi-Speed USB (480Mbps), and now SuperSpeed USB (4.8Gbps), so what's the next generation going to be called? MegaSpeed? UltraSpeed?