The 1394 Trade Association Chairman James Snider recently predicted that FireWire (IEEE-1394) will reach 800Mbps speeds by spring 2000. The announcement came recently after advanced specifications on USB 2 were released.In addition to predicting the upcoming speed increase, Snider also said that FireWire will maintain its lead over the Universal Serial Bus standard in both speed and ease of use. FireWire, which is included in Apple’s Power Macintosh G4 and iMac DV machines, currently tops out at 400Mbps while USB is currently limited to 12Mbps.“Things look terrific worldwide,” Snider said. “I have been in Japan, Taiwan and throughout the U.S. in the past quarter and there is a significant acceleration in 1394 design activity now. The benefits of 1394 are clear and developers are taking advantage of it. New printers from companies like Epson, along with scanners from UMAX and mass storage from Fujitsu have set a new pace in peripheral design, and we expect more products like these. Mid-priced scanners and printers will show up by mid-2000 along with desk top cameras from 10 different companies.“For more information and get all the tech spec on FireWire visit the 1394 Trade Association’s website, located at www.1394ta.org