Sooner, rather then later, USB 3.0 become the gold standard for data transfer, taking the crown away from the highly popular USB 2.0. Over the last little while, we’ve seen tech companies moving towards adopting USB 3.0 technology within their hardware devices and now we have the first USB 3.0 USB hub courtesy of the Japanese computer peripheral designer Buffalo.

The device goes by the model number BSH4A03U3 and is compatible with a variety of different operating systems including Microsoft’s Windows 7, Xp, Vista as well as the Mac OS X 10.4. One of the handy features of this device is that it maintains backwards compatibility and supports USB gadgets designed upon the USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 standard.

As a USB 3.0 hub, it can now take advantage of the faster data transfer speeds and has a theoretical maximum of 5Gbps. The device can also function as either a bus powered hub or a self powered hub.

It’s expected that this USB 3.0 4 port hub will retail with power adapter in Japan next month for about $88. Buffalo also sells their products outside of Japan so it’s likely we will see this elsewhere in the world, although with the importance of USB 3.0, it’s only a matter of time before other hardware manufacturers come out with their own equipment.

Via: Crunch Gear, Geeky Gadgets