The IEEE 1394 Trade Association announced a newer FireWire standard, the FireWire S3200, which maintains backward compatibility with FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b) and FireWire 400, and is said to achieve up to 3.2 GBps transfer rate.

"The S3200 standard will sustain the position of IEEE 1394 as the absolute performance leader in multi-purpose I/O ports for consumer applications in computer and CE devices," said James Snider, executive director, 1394 Trade Association. "There is a very clear migration path from 800 Megabits/second to 3.2 Gigabits/second, with no need for modifications to the standard and no requirement for new cables or connectors."

FireWire is a much better design than the cheaper, more available corresponding USB. Although theoretically faster, USB 2.0 has slower sustained transfer speeds than FireWire 400. Furthermore, FireWire is able to supply much more power through its interface, eliminating the need for AC adapters in many applications.

FireWire S3200 challenges not only the upcoming USB 3.0, a much faster incarnation of the Universal Serial Bus with the same design limitations, but also the external-SATA. It's well known that eSATA provides no power, and can connect fewer devices compared to FireWire.

The upcoming S3200 specification is expected to be ratified by early February. Alternative cable options are available to carry FireWire over long distances, up to 100 meters or more, the IEEE 1394 Trade Association claims. By comparison, the maximum length of a standard USB cable is 5 meters (slightly more than 16 feet).

The Super-Speed USB 3.0, which will use a transfer rate of 4.8 GBit/s (600 MB/s), is likely to arrive in 2009 or 2010. The USB 3.0 specification will be released by Intel and its partners allegedly sometime in 2008. Its bus speeds will be 10 times faster than USB 2.0 due to the inclusion of a fiber optic link that works with traditional copper connectors, according to Intel.