Intel has announced that its Thunderbolt technology will be fully released in April 2012. You may recall that the tech is already available, but only in overpriced Apple’s overpriced gear. You may also recall that Apple has no gear that isn’t overpriced.

Thunderbolt chips don’t come cheap though, in fact, they cost more than USD20. That, coupled with USB 3.0, didn’t quite make Thunderbolt popular with the industry, but Jobs’ mob has since created a strong demand for it.

The price of Thunderbolt technology is expected to drop in 2012, which should make it even more appealing. It is said that Sony , Asus and Gigabyte are ready to launch products featuring Thunderbolt around April 2012.

More here.