IRVINE, CA—July 13, 2010—Sonnet Technologies today introduced its first USB 3.0 host controller cards—Allegro™ USB 3.0 PCIe, and USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34—for Windows desktop and notebook computers, respectively. These latest additions to Sonnet’s wide selection of PCI Express and ExpressCard/34 adapters deliver faster performance when used with drives equipped with the USB 3.0 interface, yet support USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices for expanded backward compatibility.

SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) is the next generation of the immensely popular USB interface, offering an up to 10x increase in data transfer speed over Hi-Speed USB 2.0, the decade-old interface found in practically every computer sold today. While handy, USB 2.0 is not well suited for supporting external storage devices, limiting their data transfer speeds to approximately 30 MB/sec, even when they are capable of speeds of 125 MB/s and faster. Sonnet’s Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe and USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34 adapters open this bottleneck to better support the speed potential of modern hard disk drives and Solid State Drives (SSDs).

Both host controllers feature two USB 3.0 ports The easy-to-install Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe desktop computer card features a PCIe interface for maximum performance, while the plug-in USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34 adapter works in notebook computers with either an ExpressCard/34 or ExpressCard/54 slot. Both cards support Windows 7, Windows Vista®, and Windows XP.

Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe (part number USB3-E) and USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34 (part number USB3-2P-E34) are available now with the suggested retail price of USD $49.95 each.

For more information on Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe, visit the Sonnet web site at:
<http://www.sonnettech.com/product/allegrousb3pcie.html>

For more information on USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34, visit the Sonnet web site at:
<http://www.sonnettech.com/product/usb3expresscard34.html>

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About Sonnet Technologies
Sonnet Technologies Inc. of Irvine, Calif., is a leader in providing storage systems for professional users of Macintosh®, Windows®, and UNIX® systems in the film, video, and broadcast industries. Since its founding in 1986, Sonnet has pioneered and brought to market innovative solutions that enhance the performance and connectivity of Macintosh and industry-standard computers. Today, the company is a world-leading computer hardware upgrade company with a product line featuring a range of high-performance, cost-effective, and reliable storage solutions, as well as a variety of performance-extending upgrade cards. More information is available at www.sonnettech.com.