NEC Announces World's First USB 3.0 Host Controller!

Manufacturers are already gearing up for SuperSpeed USB with NEC being the first to announce the first USB 3.0 host controller, which is about one of the few silicon products that will guarantee instant success in this economy. NEC Electronics expects external hard drives, SSDs, flash drives and of course the computers themselves will be the first to receive the SuperSpeed USB upgrade.

A demo by Seagate at CES 2009 has already shown that even a prototype can reach upwards of 165MB/s which in perspective is almost 5 times faster than the fastest USB hard drive or flash drive. If USB 2.0 chip optimization history is any indication, we are looking at USB 3.0 hitting top speed in two years. Designated µPD720200, the world's first xHCI-compliant host silicon will also be backward compatible with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0. Samples of the chips will become available in June 2009 at $15 USD, along with free Windows drivers. NEC anticipates monthly production to reach one million units by September of this year, and rapid adoption in second half of 2010.

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