Intel and several other big names plan to release a new version of the Universal Serial Bus technology in the early half of 2008. Intel said a revamp of the current technology will yield 10 times faster transfer rates by adding fiber-optic links alongside the traditional copper wires.

Intel is working fellow USB 3.0 Promoters Group members Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC and NXP to release the USB 3.0 specification in the first half of 2008, said Pat Gelsinger, general manager of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group, in a speech here at the Intel Developer Forum.

The top speed that current USB 2.0 technology could go is 480 megabits per second, the projected transfer rate for USB 3.0 at 10x faster is 4.8 gigabits per second. Storage devices like portable HDDs, flash drives and future optical drives like Blu-ray and HD-DVD are at the receiving end of benefits from the larger bandwidth available. The fastest flash card readers today use IEEE 1394 “Firewire” connections that top out at 800 megabits per second today.

In addition, USB 3.0 will offer greater energy efficiency, Gelsinger said. It will be backward compatible, so current USB 2.0 devices will be able to plug into USB 3.0 ports.