14 DAY TRIAL // The USB 3.0 interface is probably one of the technologies that have seen the greatest and most widespread marketing backing, even though the actual hardware support is still rather restricted. So far, there haven't been chipsets with native SuperSpeed capabilities, the only solution being the use of an NEC USB 3.0 controller. Even despite this handicap, however, the interface has already done quite well for itself. NEC already sold three million controllers and Gigabyte shipped one million motherboards that used them. Not exactly satisfied with the second place, ASUS has now revealed that it plans to become the leading presence on the USB 3.0 front.
Even though it didn't match Gigabyte's USB 3.0 motherboard performance, ASUS claims that it is the true leading promoter of the technology because it implemented it in more than just motherboards. Products include items such as Eee PC netbooks (Eee PC 1018, 1015 and 1016, for example), Eee Box nettops (such as the 1510U and 1210U) and N Series notebooks. Moving forward, ASUS plans to keep integrating the interface in its new machines.
"We are the first in the world to introduce USB 3.0 through our notebooks, namely the multimedia N Series," Jerry Shen, Asus CEO, said. "We're also the first to win USB-IF certification, achieved on our P6X58D premium motherboard. We believe that USB 3.0 has a pivotal role to play in delivering the ultimate experience to a new generation of multimedia-savvy users. With USB 3.0, everyone can enjoy fast data backup and ultra-speedy file sharing."
Widespread availability of the standard will undoubtedly be encouraged by Intel's launch of its own controller. Of course, until that device debuts, ASUS will keep actively marketing its nettops, netbooks and, of course, its own wide selection of USB 3,0 motherboards. The full list of products may be found here.