SolidAlliance kicks out bizarre USB thumb drive / stamp

Nah, we're not surprised in the least that the zany gurus at SolidAlliance have found a way to crank out yet another completely bizarre USB-related gizmo, and the Xstamper USB thumb drive / stamp hybrid certainly fits the atypical bill. Reportedly useful as a type of Japanese notarization device, the stamping abilities of this 256MB USB drive allow "official stamps (ahem) of approval" to be handily applied without forcing you to hunt down your dedicated depressor. Of course, the snazzy carrying tube and quarter-gigabyte of internal storage just about top off the amenities, but if you're looking to add one more off-kilter device to your keychain assortment, SolidAlliance's latest can be snapped up now for ¥3,790 (or about $32).

[Via AkihabaraNews]

[jasongolden Posted Apr 10th 2007 1:29PM]

I've lived and worked in Japan, and I can tell you this actually is a pretty neat idea. In Japan, your official signature is this stamp, called a "hanko". You have to keep it with you at all times to sign off on documents, and you have to safe guard it very carefully. Kind of like a personal USB thumbdrive, actually. So this makes a lot of sense.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 10th 2007 1:55PM]

I had no idea. What is on the signature/stamp? Your name in Japanese? A Japanese character of some sort? A picture? If so, I'd want my stamp to be a pair of boobies.

[lenpict Posted Apr 10th 2007 1:32PM]

Yeah, like Jason said. In Japan you're going to be carrying your stamp everywhere anyway, might as well not have to carry a separate thumb drive too.


So, not all that useful in the States, but hardly "off-kilter".

[tristanfey Posted Apr 10th 2007 6:01PM]

Fake or Real?

[jasongolden Posted Apr 10th 2007 1:59PM]

The stamps usually state the name and family of an individual. They are still quite common in China, Japan and Korea. Read more here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(Chinese)

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 10th 2007 2:01PM]

Can you put any kind of custom stamp.

http://www.freevectors.com

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 10th 2007 3:18PM]

This is actually a very useful idea. In Japan your official stamp (hanko) is more legally binding that a signature.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 11th 2007 3:38AM]

So if this is something you need in Japan, how come this wasn't invented before?

[AndrewNeo Posted Apr 10th 2007 4:14PM]

The only problem with this is you'd have to take it out of your computer if you needed to stamp something!

[tristanfey Posted Apr 10th 2007 6:11PM]

Unless the stamp is part of the cap.

[TIMMAH Posted Apr 10th 2007 5:17PM]

They use these types of chops in Korea too (in lieu of your signature.) Everyone carries around one to do any kind of banking there so it's as common as keys to have them with you.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 10th 2007 9:02PM]

It would be nice if it actually was a combination USB flash memory and stamp but it's not. It's just designed to LOOK LIKE one - specifically Shachihata's Name-9 stamp:

http://www.shachihata.co.jp/catalog/100/001/003/

The Japanese that explains this on the Solid Alliance page is "外見からパッケージまでもがシヤチハタ「ネーム9」とそっくりのUSBメモリーです。

and

"注：実際はハンコとして使えません。"