USB 3.1 connectors are now available for mobile devices

　The USB 3.1 connector will be unveiled. The Universal Serial Bus Developers Forum (USB-IF) announced that it has begun developing the USB Type C connector based on USB 3.1 and USB 2.0 technologies. In the future, it will be launched with a thinner and lighter appearance than the previous generation of connectors. This move not only makes the USB connector more in line with the design trend of mobile devices, but also provides mobile devices with higher transmission/charging performance and ease of use.

　　Brad Saunders, chairman of the USB Developer Forum, said that USB is still the preferred technology for connecting and charging mobile devices, but in order to meet the requirements of future design trends for size and ease of use, USB connectors will inevitably develop new specifications. The new generation of Type-C connectors will be consistent with the direction of market changes and can provide a foundation for the development of new features in future versions of USB.

　　It is understood that the new generation of Type-C connectors and cables will mainly provide new design specifications for forward-looking products, so the size will be smaller than the existing USB 2.0 Micro-B version. In addition, in the future, users will not need to consider the connector insertion direction or the cable direction, and can more easily insert the USB connector into the mobile device. Finally, the Type-C connector also supports the USB's future needs to provide higher charging functions and transmission performance.

　　有鉴于USB Type-C连接器大小与Type-A、Type-B、Micro-B等既有的USB连接器规格不能相容，USB-IF亦将于制定Type-C规範时同时定义一组被动缆线（Passive Cable）与转接器（Adapter）标准，做为连接Type-C连接器与既有USB产品之用，以提升Type-C连接器的市场接受度。

　　Alex Peleg, vice president of Intel's Platform Engineering Group, pointed out that the Type-C connector will be suitable for a variety of ultra-thin tablets, mobile phones, 2-in-1s and other special-purpose mobile devices, and will become the only connector standard across various devices that can meet functions such as data transmission, charging and image transmission.

　　Roland Sperlich, manager of the client and computing interface product line at Texas Instruments (TI), believes that the Type-C connector not only meets customers' needs for design flexibility and high performance, but will also help USB consolidate its market position. In the future, USB technology will be able to provide higher performance through the Type-C connector and will be easy to use in a variety of product categories.

　　USB-IF will collect opinions from industry professionals on Type-C connectors in the first quarter of 2014 and publish the final standard in mid-2014. It is worth noting that USB-IF will also hold the USB 3.1 Developers Day in Taipei from December 10 to 11, and provide chip manufacturers and system manufacturers with product design tips for upgrading from the 5Gbit/s USB 3.0 version to the 10Gbit/s USB 3.1 version.