Wednesday, July 16, 2014

USB CABLE TYPES

USB is stands for Universal Serial Bus. It was developed to simplify the connections between computers and other computer devices. In the present time, most of computers are coming with several USB ports, and USB is the interface of choice for most home and office peripherals such as cameras, printers, Scanners, modems, and portable storage devices. So when we are using USB devices in our day today life, We should know USB CABLE TYPES. 

USB CABLE TYPES:
*USB A-Type
*USB B-Type
*USB MINI 4A
*USB MINI 4B
*USB MINI 5A
*USB MINI 5B
Not only that but also there are so many USB CABLE TYPES.


The Many Types of USB

If USB is supposed to be universal, why are there so many different types? Well, they each serve different functions, mainly to keep compatibility when newer deviceswith better specs are released. Here are the most common types of USB.

Type-A: Most cables have a type-A connector on one end, most peripherals (such as keyboards and mice) have a type-A connector, personal computers usually have multiple type-A ports, and many other devices and power adapters use a type-A port for data transfers and/or charging.


Type-B: An almost square connector, mostly used for printers and other powered devices that connect to a computer. They’re much less common than type-A these days so we’re not going to worry about them here.

Various USB connection types

Mini-USB: The standard connector type for mobile devices before the micro-USB type came along. As its name suggests, mini-USB is smaller than regular USB, and is still used in some cameras that have non-standard connectors.

Micro-USB: The current standard for mobile and portable devices. It has been adopted by virtually every manufacturer except Apple.


Type-C: A reversible cable that promises higher transfer rates and more power than previous USB types. It’s increasingly being adopted as the standard for laptops and even some phones and tablets. 


Lightning: Not a USB standard but Apple’s proprietary connector for iPads and iPhones. It’s a similar size to micro-USB and is compatible with all Apple devices made after September 2012. Older Apple devices use a different and much larger proprietary connector (both pictured below).


What About USB 3?

The latest USB standard offers faster transfer rates and is, for the most part, backwards-compatible with earlier versions of USB. Standard-A connectors are identical to the Type-A connectors of previous versions, but are usually colored blue to distinguish them.

They are fully backwards-compatible but the increased speeds are only available when all components are USB 3 compatible.

USB 3.0 micro cable


USB 3 Standard-B and micro versions (pictured above) have extra pins to allow the increased transfer speeds, and are therefore not compatible with previous versions. Older Type-B and micro-B cables can be used in USB 3 ports but won’t get the increased speed.