When I got my P4PE mobo the other day, I was excited to see the serial ATA (S-ATA) cables that came with it. With data rates of 150MB/s, hot pluggability and small form factor cables, I though that it was about time that change was around the corner.

Well, that corner is turning out to be a mighty big one.

The promise, great promise, of serial ATA, now built ready for use into plenty of brand new motherboards, looks like it may make quite some time to materialise, just as analysts predicted during the hype season last year.

Turns out that hard drive manufacturers may be wisely waiting on the "Son of serial ATA", Serial ATA2 which offers data rates double that of Serial ATA1 at 300MB/s. This technology is close, so why waste time with coming out with a short-lived standard now?

The Inquirer has the scoop.