BERLIN - The day is coming when it will not matter if you insert your USB plug into a port with the wrong side up.
Reuters Photo
That is because the USB 3.0 Promoter Group, an association of various computer manufacturers, is apparently working on a new USB plug.
The so-called Type-C plus and its appropriate port will both seem smaller than the widely used Type A USB plug, as well as for the Type B, which has so far been used for USB 3.0. But one big change will be a move that makes it irrelevant which way the plug is inserted into the port: there will no longer be a top or a bottom.
To kick off, the new Type C will support both USB 2.0 and 3.0 transfer rates. But its design will also support faster rates, which will eventually come into use.
However, the plug’s new form will also make it incompatible with old ports. Adapter plugs are planned.
It is still a mystery what the look of the new USB plug will be. The Promoter Group hopes to provide the final specifications in mid-2014.