PCMag Digital Network
Seen a hot gadget?  Tell Us   
Subscribe to Gearlog Update
Our FREE email newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Email: 
Format: 
Contact Us  
Sites We Like
Categories:  

firewirelogo.jpgThe IEEE Standards Association approved new FireWire specs set to give the technology support for increasing broadband speeds, for use with online video and other data-hungry apps. And it's just in time for USB 3.0 to step on it in a few weeks.

(Note: IEEE 1394 is the official name for the technology, while FireWire is Apple's proprietary label for it. Sony calls it i.LINK.)

The new 1394-2008 spec gives the technology improved support for bandwidths up to 3.2 Gbit/s, according to 9 to 5 Mac. The problem is that the new "rollup"spec was announced on July 9. And apparently no one noticed. Guess what that says about FireWire? Not much, apparently.

The standard provides specifications for a high-speed serial bus which supports both asynchronous and isochronous communication and integrates well with most IEEE standard 32-bit and 64-bit parallel buses. The new spec provides backwards-compatibility with all of the old specifications, as well.

The flagship additions, however, are the S1600 (1.6 Gigabit/second bandwidth) and S3200 (3.2 Gigabit/second) specs, which easily surpass the 480-Mbit USB 2.0 specification. USB 3.0, however, is slated to hit 4.8-Gbits/s when the spec is approved this fall; the smart money says that a USB 3.0 spec announcement will be timed for this year's Intel Developer Forum in mid-August. The IEEE 1394 update, meanwhile, is expected to be finalized in October.

Updated by Mark Hachman with USB 3.0 goodness, plus timetables.

| Stumble | Digg | del.icio.us | Slashdot
* = required
    Remember Me?
  
Please keep your comments on topic. Intelligent, thoughtful comments and questions are appreciated. Comments that contain personal attacks or profanity may be edited or removed. Comments containing personal information such as phone numbers, credit card numbers, or addresses may be edited or removed. Comments with advertisements will be removed.


 
Lenovo ThinkPad T400
Lenovo ThinkPad W700
Click Here Click Here
         
    Ziff Davis Home | Contact Us | Advertise | Link to Us | Reprints | Magazine Subscriptions | Newsletters | RSS Feeds | Tech Shop | Tech Encyclopedia | PC Downloads | Tech Webcasts | Tech Podcasts | Tech Video | Ziff Davis Media International
AppScout | Cranky Geeks | DigitalLife | DL.TV | ExtremeTech | Filefront | GearLog | GoodCleanTech | PC Magazine | PCMagCasts | Security Watch | Smart Device Central | What's New Now |
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Linking Policy | Contact Us |
Copyright © 1996-2009 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. PC Magazine, the PCMag.com logo and Gearlog are registered trademarks of Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Media Inc. is prohibited.