What are the versions of USB?

Universal Serial Bus (USB), there have been a few versions since it's launch and all being compatible with each other until now. Here is a break down...

USB 1.0 - Released in 1996 with the aim of being a small and universal connector offering a low speed of 1.5Mbits and 12Mbits full speed, this was a lot faster than serial and parallel at the time and could power devices. Not many devices made it to the market due to early problems.

USB 1.1 - Released in 1998 with the same spec as 1.0 but with the flaws corrected, this then became a widely popular technology and would become the future.

USB 2.0 - Released in 2000 with a higher spec than 1.0/1.1 of 480Mbits, this then became more popular as technology improved and demanded faster speeds. This is backwards compatible and over the years new connectors were brought out for the ever changing market.

USB 3.0 - Released in 2008 with a higher spec than previous versions boasting speed of up to 5Gbits, this then became more popular as technology improved and demanded faster speeds. This is still backwards compatible using the same type A port and connector as previous versions.

USB 3.1 - Released in 2013 and now it gets more complicated offering a far greater speed of up to 10Gbits and superior charging capabilities over previous versions. This is still backwards compatible with the type A connectors and port.

The type C connector released in 2014 and seems to be the way forward as in one connector to connect them all, but with this technology slowly coming in to the market due to not all manufacturers adopting it, you will need backwards compatible adapters/cables. Another problem you have on the market is proprietary connectors but that’s something for manufacturers to sort out. The type C connector in conjunction with USB 3.1 is meant to be a future proof. Let's see what happens in a few years!