The USB 3.1 spec continues to be developed, and the latest announcement is a new plug Type C. The interesting bit is that it's reversible like the Apple Lightning connector. Even better, Type C is for both ends of the cable. Computer side ports can be Type C instead of Type A.

This comes along with the other additions to USB 3.1, such as 10gbit link speeds, and up to 100watt (20v at 5 amps) power capacity.

Also a good comment from John Gruber on this.
Originally Posted By: Gruber
The Lightning adapter epitomizes what makes Apple Apple. To the company’s fans, it provides elegance and convenience — it’s just so much nicer than micro-USB. To the company’s detractors, it exists to sell $29 proprietary cables and to further enable Apple’s fetish for device thinness. Neither side is wrong.

Apple doesn’t give a shit what everyone else is doing. To some, that’s what makes Apple great. To others, it’s what’s wrong with Apple. One side thinks, Why in the world should we have to wait until 2016 to have a smaller, reversible plug? The other side thinks, Why in the world would you want a proprietary, non-standard, expensive plug?

Standards certainly have their place. But it frequently takes someone not caring about standards to push things forward in a meaningful way. Sometimes it doesn't pay out. Other times, it helps push everyone forward eventually, including the standards folks.