Orange Micro has started to ship their OrangeUSB 2.0 CardBus PC Card. The new card, designed especially for a laptop computeris PC Card expansion slot, contains four USB ports that can support both the older USB 1.1 standard or the new USB 2.0 standard. According to Orange Micro:

At the USBIF Developers Conference, Orange Micro announced today that it had commenced worldwide shipment of its OrangeUSB 2.0 CardBus PC Card.

What is USB 2.0? USB 2.0 is a new technology (also known as USB 2.0 Hi-Speed) which allows users to connect faster peripherals to their computers. USB 2.0 transfers data at 480 Mbits/sec compared to the current USB 1.1 (12 Mbits/sec) which is prevalent on all late model PC and Mac computers. This means that USB 2.0 is 40 times faster than current USB 1.1.

USB 2.0 is expected to offer dramatic speed increases in peripheral data transfer for printers, scanners, hard disks, digital still cameras, USB Web Cams, etc.

The OrangeUSB 2.0 CardBus The OrangeUSB has four USB ports and is compatible with the 32 bit CardBus PC Card technology found on all laptops. The OrangeUSB is unique inasmuch as it offers four rather than two additional USB 2.0 ports. These ports will work simultaneously with the two USB 1.1 ports which comes standard on most laptops, giving users a total of six ports and generally eliminating the need for a user to buy a USB hub. Lastly but most importantly, the OrangeUSB is "backward compatible" with all USB 1.1 devices which means it can simultaneously support USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 peripherals at full rated speeds.

The OrangeUSB 2.0 CardBus PC Card is available for US$109. You can find more information at the Orange Micro Web site.