USB cables - can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. The USB has been both a beloved and bemoaned part of the tech world since the first big wave of USB1.1 consumer devices hit the market in the late 1990's, and we've all been universally serially bussing along ever since. You had USB type B, miniUSB, USB 2.0, microUSB, and more recently, USB 3.0. And now some phone manufacturers (COUGH SAMSUNG COUGH) are even using the semi-ridiculous USB3.0 Micro-B, which while it is backwards-compatible with the original microUSB, just seems like a really weird and unnecessary evolution of the standard.

Of course, we've all known that just as a matter of inevitably, sweet USB nirvana had to be coming at some point - a reversible, universal USB cable. Wouldn't matter which end was plugged into what, or how you flipped it around - it would just work. Foxconn, ever eager to manufacturer the latest and greatest consumer tech advancements, has released renderings of what I can only call the freaking USB Holy Grail - meet USB3.1 Type-C (catchy!).

USB3.1 Type-C will finally break compatibility with the standard USB port design in favor of a much smaller connection interface, and will do away with the microUSB (and, presumably, miniUSB) standard completely.

The cable will boast a bandwidth of up to 10Gbps, though most of the other specifications are still up in the air. The design of the cable, while subject to change, is probably pretty close to what we'll see in consumer devices - hopefully in the next couple of years. All I know is this thing cannot come soon enough.

via The Verge