After a few years in development, Intel formally unveiled its next-generation data transfer interconnect. The new Thunderbolt standard represents a shift in the underlying technology--and a potential shift in how we can do things down the road.

Thunderbolt began as a project out of Intel Labs, and was originally conceived as an optical technology, with optics in the cable as well as the device host controllers. That technology was codenamed Light Peak, and debuted at the Intel Developer Forum in 2009. The idea, explains Jason Ziller, director of Thunderbolt planning and marketing, was to create a single cable that supported high-speed transfers and multiple protocols, to address the explosion of data storage thanks to high-definition video and other digital media formats.

As recently as CES 2011, though, manufacturers were not optimistic about Light Peak surfacing anytime soon. And then the rumors surfaced about Intel switching away from the optical connector.

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