• 
  - Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for
  cables and connectors and protocols for connection,  communication and power supply
  between computers, peripheral devices and other computers.  Released in 1996, the USB
  standard is currently maintained by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF)
• 
  - USB was designed to standardize the connection of peripherals to personal
  computers, both to communicate with and to supply electric power.  It has largely
  replaced interfaces such as serial ports and parallel ports, and has become
  commonplace on a wide range of devices.
• 
  - USB connectors have been increasingly replacing other types for battery chargers of
  portable devices.
• 
  - Examples of peripherals that are connected via USB include keyboards, pointing
  devices, digital still and video cameras, printers, portable media players, disk drives and
  network adapters.