PQI's U510 squeezes 16GB into a 3mm thick drive

We've seen plenty enough units claiming to be the "world's ____ flash drive," and while we think most of the size awards can safely go to the iDisk Diamond, it's hard to begrudge the title of "world's thinnest flash drive" to a 3mm thick unit that features a whopping 16GB of storage. The new U510 from PQI in Taiwan takes its credit card form factor seriously at 3.3 x 2.12 x 0.1-inches, and the USB 2.0 device features a thin retractable USB jack. No word on pricing or availability, but we're guessing it's not going to be cheap.

[Via New Launches]

[Yvan @ Apr 26th 2006 9:34AM]

Just one of the steps to a full flash based computer.

[DN2004 @ Apr 26th 2006 9:48AM]

this is very kewl is it just me or does it look like a rip off from ipod nano advertising? lol but i would purchase one if pricing was right

[kaius. @ Apr 26th 2006 9:57AM]

PQI's U510 16GB
85 x 54 x 3mm

You could technically fit 4 of these in an iPod 60B, so that makes 64GB?? (PQiPod - anyone?)
Hmm, if it was only 1 mm thin..


iPod 60GB
103.5 x 61.8 x 14mm

[Ajay @ Apr 26th 2006 10:36AM]

Nano is looking a bit chunky now!

Thats a good break through!

[Nick Soper @ Apr 26th 2006 10:46AM]

Hmmm, stack 100 of them up, and format them in a single RAID partition, get a computer with 100 USB sockets and what have you got?

No really, what have you got? I'm not sure.....

[Sheriff of Ballsville @ Apr 26th 2006 11:07AM]

gray...silver...soccer ball???

[PEZ @ Apr 26th 2006 11:10AM]

Look, another bonehead brining that which is APPLE into a news story. God, get a hobby.

In other news: What is this targeted at? A portable flash drive? IS this just a raw storage space for something specific or am I supposed to carrt this around in my pocket or wallet? only if an accompanyment like an MP3 player at the same thinnness or pmp, will this really be cool. Storage is nice, but if thats all it does, who really cares? Throw some tech in there.

[Alexandre D @ Apr 26th 2006 11:15AM]

kewl! oh, s**t i forgot my credit card, took my flash drive instead, S**T!!! how do i pay for my weeks shopping now?? huh? huh???!!

---------------------------------------------------------

on a more serious note, the flash card inside the tinfoil protection must be pretty damn thin! i mean the thickness can only be causedby the casing and the thickness of the mini usb jack u know?
bbeeep-bopp- wild-guess_mode=on
this is the chip for the next ipod! soon our PCs will fit in our wallets, where they will stay peaceful till the robots rise and take over the world!!!
sound_evillaughter(dr.evil_style)
wild-guess_mode=off

[Ajay @ Apr 26th 2006 11:24AM]

@PEZ

Someone has a problem with Apple?

[ty @ Apr 26th 2006 11:47AM]

This really isnt a breakthrough .. its roughly the same thickness as an SD or MS card. What they've done is increase the footprint so they cram more NAND chips inside. This looks really thin because it has more surface area than SD or MS ... think of this as a really big SD card.

[Nick @ Apr 26th 2006 11:58AM]

Forget iPods, how about a competitor to the iRam with a SATA II interface?


Please?
I'd pay $600 for 60 gigs.

[John Stracke @ Apr 26th 2006 11:59AM]

"Hmmm, stack 100 of them up, and format them in a single RAID partition, get a computer with 100 USB sockets and what have you got?"

-- The world's slowest terabyte RAID? USB really doesn't divide its bandwidth very well. As I understand it, it's based on time-division, and, usually, there's no switching going on, so that only one peripheral can be sending data at a time. Plus it's got really hideous per-transaction overhead. I haven't seen any figures on USB 2.0, but I know that, in the USB 1.1 space, Ethernet devices are generally limited to something like 6Mb/s--in other words, about half the theoretical bandwidth is lost.

[The Nookers @ Apr 26th 2006 12:10PM]

http://www.walletex.com/ smaller and cheaper.

[Crivens @ Apr 26th 2006 12:43PM]

Hmmm. I've had a 3mm thick USB key for years now (thinking sometime in 2004). It may only be 256mb and USB1.1, but am sure they had upto 1gb at the time and USB2 (mine said USB2 but definitely doesn't perform very fast). Just measured it and it's 49x19x3mm (with cap and USB interface etc). That things huge at 85x54x3mm ;) May have much more storage, but not any thinner by the look of it than my ageing device.

Cheers

[Tony @ Apr 26th 2006 1:57PM]

i dont wanna sound anal, but my sandisk ultra 2 SD/USB card is 2.1 mm thick. so THAT would be the thinnest USB drive out right now. even tho its only 1 gig -.-;;

[Molly @ Apr 26th 2006 2:29PM]

omg
thats sooooo hot!!!
i want one!!!

[syphix @ Apr 26th 2006 3:10PM]

This is one step closer to my dream come true: solid state movie media. Why mess with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? I'm waiting for a 50-70gbgb solid state flash drive the size of a credit card. And hoping the movie industry backs it (I know, I'm dreaming...).

[Tonicboy @ Apr 26th 2006 3:14PM]

They should make it so that it fits in a PCMCIA slot for easy storage. This form factor is just begging to get crushed.

[Earl @ Apr 26th 2006 3:18PM]

#8, Alexandre D

Im sure you could just sell the drive..it will probably pay for a couple months worth of groceries.

[Mike @ Apr 26th 2006 4:25PM]

I want one.

[jcg @ Apr 26th 2006 4:29PM]

hmm, if they used something to send and receice data faster it could be useful. Take this card out of your wallet and put it in your portable media player. Et voila 3 full sized dvd to watch.

[Stephen @ Apr 26th 2006 10:27PM]

I, for one, welcome our flashdrive-wallet-toting robotic overlords.

[seamus @ Apr 27th 2006 2:10AM]

I love how people instantly say "beats the iPod," or "hey, this'll be the new iPod."

There's no doubt that the iPod could hold infinitely more storeage and be even smaller. But, the most important factor: cost. As much as consumers love gadgets, they're not going to throw out $1,000 to have a credit-card sized iPod (okay, some will, but who really cares about them?). It's not a matter of whether Apple could do it---it's all about doing it cheaply, and then marking up the price to consumers.

[easter @ Apr 27th 2006 4:40AM]

As regards, theWalletex, you can get a review of that one here.

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/walletex_wallet_flash_128mb_flash_drive

[Nick Gold @ Apr 27th 2006 4:31PM]

I have a PQI Intelligent Stick, and it is by far the slickest USB drive out there (blows everyone away who I show it to). Also, not particularly expensive, and it benches faster than most other USB 2 flash drives. This thing is equally as cool.

[SuperCOP @ Dec 11th 2006 8:00AM]

PQI U510 pro: beautiful little portable "hard disk". I remember again when I bought the first PC: a 8086 with a 10 Megabytes hard disk. One hard disk 2�5 1/4" 1,6 Kg. It's prehistorik, isn't it?
Perfect! Now I would like to buy the U510 pro 16 Giga, but where can I buy it? I tried to view all sites: english, american, japanese, russian... Nothing to do! I asked also directly at the PQI but I have received no answer. Where is this little but useful item?