Sarah Silbert from Engadget reports that Intel announced a new, updated version of Thunderbolt today that is capable of displaying 4K video in addition to transferring data simultaneously. It can do 20Gbps data transfer in both directions, doubling the previous top-end speed of 10Gbps. For the less tech-spec-inclined, the old Thunderbolt did around 50x the top theoretical speed of USB 2.0. Double that and that's how fast the new one is.

If you're a Mac user, you already know Thunderbolt is the ultra-fast alternative data port that makes Firewire and USB basically obsolete. If you're a Mac Pro user/enthusiast like me, you're hoping this is a sign of things to come late this year. What I'm more curious about is where it goes beyond computers.

If Apple is making a TV, they probably won't bother with "New Thunderbolt" unless they're starting out with Ultra HD resolution displays. This is another reason they may wait until 2014 to release such a TV, since that's when Thunderbolt "20" (or whatever they plan on calling it) will be available.

Looks like the new cables will be black instead of white, so maybe "Thunderbolt Black", like the AmEx card?