USB
Short for Universal Serial Bus, USB is a standard that was introduced in 1995 by Intel, Compaq, Microsoft and several other computer companies. USB 1.x is an external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps and is capable of supporting up to 127 peripheral devices.
In the picture to the right, is an example of a USB cable being connected into
the USB port.
USB devices
Today, there are millions of different USB devices that can be connected to your computer. Below are just a few of the more common USB devices you'll likely find and use.
- Camera
- External drive
- iPod or other MP3 player
- Keyboard
- Microphone
- Mouse
- Printer
- Joystick
- Jump drive aka Thumb drive
- Scanner
- Webcams
USB 2.0, also known as hi-speed USB, was developed by Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Lucent, Microsoft, NECand Philips and was introduced in 2001. Hi-speed USB is capable of supporting a transfer rate of up to 480 Mbps and is backwards compatible, meaning it is capable of supporting USB 1.0 and 1.1 devices and cables.
Also see: Bus, Cable, Connection, Data cable, EHCI, Firewire, Motherboard definitions, OHCI, PIIX, Port, UHCI, USB header