Kingston USB 3.0 2011 Roadmap Revealed

Without a doubt, USB 3.0 is heading at light-speed towards mainstream status, and for this reason, Kingston has some pretty big plans regarding the SuperSpeed standard for 2011, as the company revealed at CES 2011, in Las Vegas.

As some of you will certainly remember, back in September 2010, Kingston unveiled its first-ever USB 3.0 offering, namely the DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0, that we've also had the chance of testing ourselves, and found to be probably the fastest USB flash drive released on the market to this date.

For this reason, it should come as no surprise that Kingston's 2011 USB 3.0 lineup also includes a refresh of the DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0, that will probably come equipped with a single-chip controller, while the company also plans to come up with an entry-level USB 3.0 flash drive targeting mainstream consumers, who're not willing to cough up a higher sum in order to enjoy the enhanced data transfer rates enabled by their brand-new SuperSpeed enabled systems.

Naturally, Kingston has also planned a very interesting offering for enthusiasts and power users, the DataTraveler HyperX 3.0, its fastest USB 3.0 drive to date that will serve as the flagship model and be part of the HyperXperience line, a series of high-end Kingston products that will include SSDs, USB flash drives and memory cards.

“We have already seen the successful adoption of our DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 and HyperX MAX 3.0 External drive amongst early adopters demanding faster data transfer rates in portable form factors,” said Andrew Ewing, Flash drive business manager, Kingston.

“As USB 3.0 technology grows and more platforms and computers support the USB 3.0 standard, we recognize the need to develop different solutions to address various target markets and help drive adoption,” added Mr. Ewing.

Of course, all we can do right now is wait and see whether Kingston manages to stick to this roadmap all through 2011, but we certainly hope so, since that would translate into even faster products providing enhanced storage capabilities making their way onto the market.