Earlier we told you that Linux will be the first Operating System to support USB 3.0. Yesterday the Dutch storage giant Freecom became the first company to come out with a USB 3.0 complaint external storage device.

Freecom Hard Drive XS 3.0 (Pic courtesy : freecom.com)

The device is External Hard Drive XS 3.0. It supports USB 3.0, which means it will push the transfer speeds to a whole new different level, imagine working with speeds of upto 4.8Gbit/s in place of USB 2.0's 480Mbit/s.

Axel Lucassen, Freecom's managing director, while expressing his excitement said, " We now can transfer a 5GB movie in just 38 seconds - it's unbelievably fast". He also said "The Hard Drive XS 3.0 also outperforms the competition in terms of security. Our USB 3.0 solution will have high-speed hardware encryption with AES 256 bit - this is not only the fastest but also the safest storage solution on the market".

USB 3.0 "SUPERSPEED"

However this device won't be able to work straight off, you will be needing PCI-bus controller for Desktops (plug-in PC Card for Laptops) to achieve those blazing fast speeds. And the prices for the device starts at a modest £99 for 1 TB model (1.5 , 2.0 TB models are also available). The add-on cards are priced at around £23 for desktops and £26 for laptops.