We've seen some mighty rugged flash drives put to the test in our day, but Corsair's Flash Survivor GT 8GB managed to withstand a well-planned and carefully executed attack on its life like none that have come before it. This soldier of a USB drive not only performed great when tested against more fragile alternatives, it somehow escaped sans injury after being submerged in a pool, cooked in boiling water for ten solid minutes, and being creamed with a hammer numerous times. The torturers expected the CNC-milled anodized aircraft-grade aluminum housing to hold up fairly well under duress, but even they were utterly amazed at how invincible this thing really seemed. The $130 drive earned a much deserved 10 out of 10 rating from the flabbergasted review crew, and while we're not quite sure if it could withstand a nuclear attack like one of its competitors, it can apparently live through just about anything that you yourself could.

[Thanks, Rodger]

We wouldn't recommend hopping on the next non-stop flight to London Gatwick Airport's North Terminal or anything, but for those passing through in dire need of an extra SD / CF card or USB drive, Kingston's got your back. Joining SIM cards, iPods, digicams, shoes, and all sorts of other bizarre goods, Kingston's self-branded vending machine will doll out presumably overpriced flash memory to travelers in need. Reportedly, New Jersey-based MyMemory will be operating the machines, and of course, they will all be open 24/7 for your late night (and mid-day) flash storage requirements. Interestingly, the UK units will supposedly utilize the oft hacked Chip & PIN technology, which means the countdown to gobs of free memory (and a high-speed police chase) has officially begun.

[Via EverythingUSB]

Hmm, where have we heard this one before? Here, here, here, and oh yeah, here too, but all those "world's smallest" flash drives now have to face Kingmax's USB 2.0 Super Stick as it looks to challenge all the previous (and currently unconfirmed) claims of diminutive superiority. While it looks to be a revamped version of the company's first iteration, this uber-slim flash drive weighs in at just a single gram, and measures 34- x 12.4- x 2.2-mm, which also means this just might be the easiest possible storage medium to lose track of. Nevertheless, this Vista / OS X-friendly drive comes in 512MB ($19), 1GB ($29), 2GB ($39), and 4GB ($55) flavors, and if you're interested in picking up a thumb drive that can probably double as a toothpick, it's available as we speak.

Let's get one thing straight on this right from the start: this methodology makes little sense if you've got exactly one machine to install Vista on, as you'll probably spend more time making your USB flash drive bootable than it'd actually take to get your single machine up and running. So, to those of you who are staring down that daunting line of machines that you're fully responsible for, and can't imagine pulling yet another 18-hour day just to get Vista on every single one, here's a way to cut out early without being reprimanded. Joining the list of other high-profile applications that are better booted from a flash drive than CD / DVD or external hard drive, Windows Vista has now been figured out, and the process looks to be relatively painless; just snag a 4GB (or so) high-speed flash drive, format it, and copy Vista's DVD-ROM content over. Of course, you want to be real sure you get all the command lines right, so if you're seriously pondering doing this yourself, do yourself a favor and hit the read link for the expert's take, and watch each successive installation go from 20-minutes or more to "around 5 to 10" -- and leave it in your machine when you're finished for a bit of that ReadyBoost advantage, cool?

[Via EverythingUSB]

While Gefen has helped many a folk use two computers on one monitor and extend their cabling for miles on end, the company is now giving us PVR freaks something else to spaz about. The two (plainly-named) Personal Video Recorders sport sleek, brushed aluminum enclosures that resemble a Mac mini in form, and both units are all but identical save for the high-end edition's ability to handle 1080p. These PVRs differ from most, however, as they can record content from television or any other attached source (i.e. a camcorder), and transfer the video in MPEG4 format directly to an attached USB flash drive. According to Gefen, users "simply save their programming on the USB device, remove it when needed, and plug it into any USB-equipped computer for instant access." Furthermore, the boxes tout a switching functionality that allows users to connect multiple sources and flip a toggle to determine which one gets captured. From what we can tell, there's no reason an external USB hard drive couldn't be used as well for mass capturing / transporting, and while we (unfortunately) don't know when these suckas are shipping nor how much coinage they'll demand, consider our interest piqued nonetheless.

[Via EverythingUSB]

Wouldn't it be nice to see how much space was left on your flash drive without having to find a computer to jam it into? Although the problem already has a few solutions, Corsair has released the CMFUSBREADOUT-1GB and CMFUSBREADOUT-2GB USB 2.0 drives rocking a not-so-typical Bi-stable Cholesteric Display (BCD). While internal functionality is nothing out of the ordinary, the snazzy external display features a 4 digit readout showing the capacity remaining (in MB), a pie chart showing the space used, and just for those who just love to customize, an 11 character programmable display to enter the drive's content. If you're concerned about the longevity of the display, it's presumably charged while in use, and can function "without a battery" for a year (saywha?). These data-driven drives will run you $39.99 (1GB) and $59.99 (2GB) and should go perfectly with your collection of devices that sport unnecessary, yet beneficial, displays.

[Via The Gadgets Weblog]