We've been hearing a lot about the SuperSpeed USB (otherwise known as USB 3.0) technology lately, but, up until now, we've only been talking about “future releases,” “planned products,” etc. However, it seems that now, the first truly certified SuperSpeed USB product has become available, but, unfortunately, we're not talking about something truly interesting, such as a motherboard, flash drive or USB hub.

No, in fact, the product in question is a host controller (part number µPD720200) from NEC Electronics Corporation, which, nevertheless, will open wide the gates for a flood of SuperSpeed-enabled devices that are set to arrive on the market at some point in the near future.

The NEC Electronics µPD720200 host controller was first made available in May of this year. The host controller has been tested for compliance to the USB 3.0 specification, and its certification offers manufacturers and consumers the assurance that it will function in accordance with the specification, thus enabling the SuperSpeed USB ecosystem and representing the first step to broad adoption among host and peripheral device manufacturers.

As some of you probably know already (and others are likely to find out either now or in the immediate future), SuperSpeed USB brings significant power and performance enhancements to the popular USB standard, delivering data transfer rates up to ten times faster than Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0), with optimized power efficiency.

“The certification of NEC Electronics’ host controller signals to the industry that the promise of SuperSpeed USB is now a reality,” said Jeff Ravencraft, president and chair of the USB-IF. “Not only does it mean host device manufacturers can build and certify products that can display the SuperSpeed USB logo, it also provides peripheral device manufacturers incentive to bring to market SuperSpeed USB-enabled devices like external storage drives, digital cameras and MP3 players, which will empower consumers with unmatched USB data transfer speeds.”

OK, it's great that we're seeing USB 3.0 products getting certifications, but how about some market availability? Come on, OEMs and ODMs, light up those furnaces and let's see some mobos and flash drives hit the shelves this decade.


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