USB cables are going to have the capability of delivering 100 watts of power to devices including laptops and external hard drives, after the publication of a new USB Power Delivery specification — this means that USB cords are going to become the king of not only data transfers, but also power. Announced by the USB 3.0 Promoter Group, which includes companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Hewlett-Packard (HP), the new spec will allow for not only the powering of higher-voltage products (compared to the tablets and phones charged by USB now).
But there is some sort of legacy support, allowing consumers to check the cable type to allow the re-use of existing equipment for lower-power applications. This new addition will also prove useful to the fight against Apple’s and Intel’s Thunderbolt systems, which only provides up to 10 watts of power — enough to charge an iPad. Via: USB Implementer’s Forum
