During the IDF 2010, Intel showcased a new technology to interconnect electronic devices, which may be the reason why the company is resisting in adopting USB 3.0 technology. Light Peak is a high-speed optical cable technology that promises to provide a maximum transfer rate of 10 Gbps. Just to give you an idea, USB 3.0 provides a maximum transfer rate of 4.8 Gbps.

In the picture below you can see the transfer rate provided by a Light Peak external hard drive transferring a Blu-Ray movie (768 MB/s or 7.7 Gbps).

With Light Peak you can transfer a full-length Blu-Ray movie in less than 30 seconds. Another advantage of the Light Peak technology is the ability to run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling the technology to connect devices such as peripherals, workstations, displays, disk drives, docking stations, and more.  According to Intel, Light Peak devices will reach the market next year.

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