thumbdrive
Latest
A-DATA's N909 thumb drive taps into eSATA for extra oomph
It's not the first thumb drive we've seen that taps into eSATA in order to provide near-USB 3.0 speeds without a SuperSpeed socket, but A-DATA's N909 ditches that awful design scheme from years back in favor of a much more streamlined approach here. Designed to utilize that USB 2.0 + eSATA combo port that's found on most modern day laptops, the N909 doesn't require an extra USB connection for power. Internally, the four-channel design enables the stick to achieve transfer rates of up to 90MB/sec (read) and 50MB/sec (write), and it'll also function just fine in a standard USB 2.0 socket (albeit at far slower speeds). No pricing information is being handed down just yet, but they should hit shelves soon in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities.
Lexar's 128GB Echo SE USB thumb drive continuously backs up your netbook, mobile life
Previously available in 16GB and 32GB versions, Lexar's Echo SE line just got gigantic. And a lot more useful, if we should say so ourselves. With many SSDs topping out at 128GB, and quite a few netbooks shipping with 160GB HDDs, having this USB drive plugged essentially allows your entire laptop to be continuously backed up. The built-in, "no touch software" automatically backs up files in use, requiring absolutely no activation on your end. We're told that the little bugger will work with Windows and OS X platforms, but the assurance of having your mobile life backed up at all times will cost ya. And by that, we mean "make you $349.99 poorer." It's available now at various e-tailers (Amazon, Newegg, etc.) if you're willing to pay the premium.
LaCie's XtremKey tested... emotionally (video)
Look, we all know that the wusses at the Engadget HQ couldn't put a dent in LaCie's ultra-rugged XtremKey, not even if their moms packed handguns in their fanny packs alongside the Fruit Roll-Ups, Mace, and wads of PR bribe cash. So we decided to take a different angle in testing the drive: we decided to bum it out. Watch the video after the break.
LaCie's XtremKey: it's pretty rugged, we guess
OK GUYS, WE GET IT. Sheesh, it's like they think we're a bunch of klutzes or something. Sure, there was that one time with the garbage disposal... one time. But after that... alright, the time with the mud, and the thing with the ocean. Oh, and when we dropped 2GB of Word documents into a black hole. Still, we hardly deserve to be treated like children. LaCie has stepped up the condescension to new levels with its XtremKey, a drive that's waterproof up to 100 meters, temperature proof from -58 degrees Fahrenheit to +400, and resistant to 16 foot drops. This ruggedness is accomplished by screwing the USB drive into a 2mm thick metal pipe that can withstand the pressure of a 10 ton truck rolling over it. Like that would ever happen that one time. The drive ranges in capacity from 8GB to 64GB, and will be out in August for some exorbitant, as-yet-undisclosed cost. Check out a needlessly abusive video of the drive after the break. %Gallery-97432%
Infinitec's 'infinite' USB memory drive delayed until August, shown streaming to Xbox 360 (video)
If you've always wanted a D&D-style bag of holding, we're thinking Infinitec's IUM is as close as you're going to get, looking like a plain 'ol USB thumb drive but actually storing an infinite amount of, well, stuff. However, you're going to have to wait a little longer to reach into this magic satchel, with the unit's ship date being delayed until the end of August. The price is still the same, at $129, and the company was kind enough to create a video just for you that shows how it all works. It's embedded below, but if you're looking for the Cliff's Notes it shows pairing the thumb drive to a computer, installing some hosting software, and then streaming the Avatar trailer from a laptop to an Xbox 360 in HD with seemingly no lag nor dropped frames. Looks great, but will it work that well in the real world on a typical internet connection? We can't wait to find out. %Gallery-96523%
Crapgadget: frightening party favors edition
There are a few things in life you can count on. And we mean really count on. You may argue "taxes," but as one Wesley Snipes has so clearly proven, even those can be evaded given the right motive. Instead, we're arguing that the next installment of Crapgadget is indeed more likely to be unavoidable, evidenced by the fact that you're reading this right now. What's up in today's best of the worst? Oh, just a USB arm wrestler, a knockoff Land Rover mobile phone, a faux gold World Cup trophy storage device and a handgun that's anything but. And that's just for starters. Dive in below if you've got a stomach of steel and a thing for sick jokes, and be sure to cast your vote for which turns your evil smile up the most. Read - USB arm wrestlers Read - Land Rover phone Read - Transformers USB drive Read - World Cup Trophy USB drive Read - USB handgun Read - USB itch removal instrument %Poll-48544%
Concrete USB drives are worth their weight in gigabytes
Sure, a USB drive made of concrete might be a good enough idea on its own, but designer Shu-Chun Hsiao apparently doesn't settle for merely "good ideas," hence this so-called Memory Weights concept. Yes, it is indeed a USB drive made of concrete, but Shu-Chun takes things one step further by actually having the weight of the drive indicate its capacity -- 128g equals 128GB, and so on. Unfortunately, it is still just a concept, but reality is just a concrete mold away. Remember that, kids.
GameStop listing shows SanDisk's Xbox 360-branded USB drives at outrageous prices
GameStop listings are about as accurate as a 14th century musket -- especially when it comes to release dates -- but that didn't keep news site GameSpot from capping the above screenshot. As you can no doubt read, the picture suggests that SanDisk will indeed release a specially-branded 8GB USB flash drive alongside the Xbox 360's USB storage update -- but at twice the normal price for a drive of that capacity. Our red hot rage at this injustice is tempered somewhat knowing there's no concrete proof the $40 figure is correct, but knowing SanDisk (and, frankly, Microsoft's own propensity for overpriced storage) we wouldn't be surprised to see several green thumbdrives pulling a premium at retail next week. Once more for the record: as long as it's larger than 1GB, smaller than 16GB and you format it using the Xbox 360 menus, any USB flash drive will do. Update: According to Major Nelson, it seems that USB flash drives larger than 16GB will work with the Xbox 360 update, but only 16GB of the drive's space will be available for the Xbox 360 to use. Thanks, willowtwf!
Victorinox Secure Pro USB drive is 'un-hackable,' can file your nails
This isn't the first USB drive / Swiss army knife we've seen from Victorinox, but the company's new Secure Pro drive is the first that is supposedly "un-hackable." To put that claim to the test, Victorinox actually offered a £100,000 prize to a team of "professional hackers" if they could crack the drive during the company's launch event -- they were unable to do so. That un-hackableness apparently comes primarily from the drive's combination of AES256 technology and fingerprint security, which is paired with (get this) a self-destruct mechanism that irrevocably burns the CPU and memory chip if there's any attempt to force the drive open. All that and a pair of scissors -- how can you go wrong? No word on a release over here just yet, but the drive is now available in the UK in capacities from 8GB to 32GB for between £50 and £180 (or about $75 to $270). [Thanks, Nikolas R]
Super Talent debuts SuperCrypt thumbdrives with USB 3.0, 256-bit encryption
Hot on the heels of its USB 3.0 thumb drive the kids at Super Talent have announced the SuperCrypt line of secure portable storage. These devices are available in capacities up to 256GB and offers up to 240 MB/s transfer rates, with your choice of either 128-bit ECB (SuperCrypt) or 256-bit XTS (SuperCrypt Pro) encryption. As for the rest of us, this bad boy is fully backward compatible with USB 2.0, so you'll be able to access Grandma's famous top secret chicken recipe (why else would you own one of these?) on damn near any computer you need to. No word on a price or release date, but we'll be keeping our eyes peeled. In the meantime, feel free to check out the PR after the break.
Corsair's 128GB Flash Voyager GTR thumb drive takes USB 2.0 to new heights
Who needs USB 3.0 adapters when you've got Corsair, right? In a feat of engineering that can only be described as earth-shattering (or supercalifragilistic, if you prefer), said outfit has somehow created a USB 2.0 flash drive that not only beats the competition in head-to-head speed tests, but obliterates it. The 128GB Flash Voyager GTR utilizes a fancy quad-channel architecture in order to deliver read speeds up to 34MB/sec and write speeds up to 28MB/sec, which is around six times faster than some mysterious competitor that the company pit its drive against. There's no mention of a price or release just yet, but at least you can put off the inevitable leap to SuperSpeed USB for a few more months, right?
Kingston ships 256GB DataTraveler 310 USB flash drive to affluent Yanks
No matter how you slice it, having 256GB on your keychain is pretty rad. For those living in various regions of the world not named America, they've had access to the DataTraveler 300 for just under a year. Thankfully, the Kingston finally realized that Yanks love capaciousness as well, and the DataTraveler 310 is the solution that very sect has been longing for. Hailed as the first 256GB flash drive to ship in the States, the DT 310 is capable of holding up to 54 DVDs or 51,000 JPEGs of your undercover lover, and it'll function just fine with Windows, Linux and OS X-based systems. We're told that it'll sport data transfer rates of 25MB/sec (read) and 12MB/sec (write), but chances are you'll never get the opportunity to put those claims to the test. You know, given that astronomical $1,108 MSRP. %Gallery-85947%
HSTi Wireless Media Stick hands-on
Now that HSTi's Wireless Media Stick is official, we decided to drop by its CES booth to see what the deal was. Essentially, these Canadian sticks are WiFi dongles covering 802.11a/b/g/n, but the magic lies in their ability to let your computers appear as one USB mass storage device for devices like gaming consoles, digital frames and hi-fi stereos. You start off by plugging a stick into a PC, install the software (installer pre-loaded on the stick), and once connected to the wireless router you choose which folders to share (which is pretty easy, as we saw). You can do the same with more computers but each will require its own stick. From there onwards, plug in another stick into a device that accepts USB mass storage devices, and you'll be able to wirelessly access all the shared files on the network as if they are on one thumb drive. Pretty sweet, huh? And yes, this thing does in fact do exactly what Infinitec's IUM claims to do. For now, HSTi only promises smooth 720p video streaming and Windows-only compatibility, but a future firmware upgrade should make things even more groovy. You can grab one starting January 15th for $119.99 each -- sooner and cheaper than the IUM, but double that figure as you'll need at least two to get things going. Still, it doesn't hurt as much if you think of it as a thumb drive of up to one terabyte (and two in the near future). Update: Whoops! We've just been told that only one stick is necessary -- use the stick to run the configuration wizard on the PCs, then plug it into a media device for use. %Gallery-82524%
LaCie serves up LaCinema Mini HD, Network Server and Wuala-infused USB keys
CES just wouldn't be CES without a few new introductions from LaCie, now would it? Nah. Up first from the sexiest name in storage is a fresh member of the LaCinema multimedia hard drive family, the Mini HD. Equipped with 802.11n WiFi and a penchant for serving up 1080p video, this DLNA media player boasts an HDMI output, internal hard drive, USB socket (for uploading media or playing files back from a USB drive) and an extensive list of supported codecs that includes MKV, AVC and DivX. This one should be filtering out now in the US and Europe for an undisclosed amount. Moving on, we've got the simply titled Network Server, which sports five drive bays, gigabit Ethernet and Windows Home Server running the show. LaCie also enables users to backup their backups via its own Wuala technology, though exact pricing and availability details won't be revealed until later in Q1. Lastly, there's a new trio of USB Keys, which look an awful lot like actual keys. Sadly, these aren't ready to handle the beast that is SuperSpeed USB, but they do promise transfers as fast as 30MB/sec, and they're also waterproof and available in sizes as large as 32GB. The company's also throwing in 4GB of web-accessible Wuala storage for the first two years of ownership, with the CooKey and WhizKey available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities for $19.99 and up, up, up. The full releases are just past the break. %Gallery-81270%
'Wink' USB flash drive: perfect for hockey moms, lipstick-laden pigs
Active Media Products isn't one to shy away from mildly ludicrous USB flash drive designs, but it may want to snag a lawyer on retainer for this one. Granted, there's at least a sliver of a chance that Sarah Palin was actually notified that her image would be used to market AMP's new "Wink" USB flash drive, but chances are she's being rudely introduced to the sobering truth just as we are. Hailed as the planet's smallest 16GB thumb drive, this waterproof slab of memory is also available in a few smaller sizes for those unconcerned with gaining political clout. It measures in at just 1.2- x 0.5- x 0.1-inches, or just marginally smaller than Little Diomede island (which you actually can see Russia from, amazingly enough). It's available now to inspire and encourage starting at $7.95 (2GB), though that 16 gigger we mentioned earlier will set you back $37.95. P.S. - We didn't Photoshop this image, this is seriously Active Media Products' pitch for this product.
Super Talent introduces world's first USB 3.0 flash drive
USB 3.0 devices are just now starting to peek their heads out at retail, and it looks as if Super Talent is doing its darnedest to not be left out of the spotlight. Said company has just introduced what looks to be the planet's first USB 3.0 thumb drive (or "RAIDDrive," as it were), promising transfer rates of up to 320MB/sec when relying on a separate UAS Protocol driver with a USB 3.0 port. If you're using a stock USB 3.0 socket, you'll see speeds as high as 200MB/sec, while those bold enough to slam this into a USB 2.0 connector will see it slow to USB 2.0 speeds. There's no mention of a price or release date, but it should ship relatively soon in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB flavors. %Gallery-77281%
iTwin fileshares over CEATEC showfloor, Mac firmware coming early 2010 (video)
Since we last saw iTwin back in September, not much has changed -- two physically synced USB dongles create a AES-256 encrypted connection between two Windows machines for transferring files from anywhere in the world (provided both are connected to the internet, of course). We had a chance to see a controlled demonstration up close at CEATEC, and while it worked as well as expected it to, we're not quite sure the $99 price tag is low enough to pique our interests. We do appreciate the ability to "reverse" the flow of file sharing, but from what we gather it takes both parties to initiate the change -- clearly there's more flexibility in just setting up your own file server, but we're probably not the target audience here. If you're still interested but choose a lifestyle centered around a Mac, we were told an OS X firmware update would be available in early 2010, would apply to all existing models, and would allow both Mac-to-Mac and Mac-to-Windows transferring. Video after the break. %Gallery-74890%
Cowon's UM1 thumb drive for lovers, stalkers
If you thought Cowon's iAudio E2 had reduced the digital audio player to its stylish, diminutive core, think again: With the UM1 the company takes things even one step further by eliminating the "audio player" from the DAP altogether, leaving us with an elegant USB thumb drive that stores up to 16GB (75,900 Korean Won, or about $64). Featuring a little loophole at the top for a chain and the inscription "Don't Forget Me," this is practically begging to be presented as a gift, packed full of specially picked MP3s for your sweetheart / object of obsessive stalking. Just keep in mind that he or she will then need something to listen to the tunes on.[Via DAP Review]
iTwin lets you share files over the internet
Finally, a product that might finally make this whole internet thing worthwhile by allowing someone to copy a file over it. Amazing, right? Okay, facetiousness aside, it's a little hard to get too excited about a product that will obviously cost something yet replicates a task easily performed for free, but the iTwin does make the process even more easy. It's basically a double-sided thumb drive that splits apart in the middle; plug one half into one computer and the other into the second and instantly you can drag and drop files from place to place. An absolute computer novice could handle this, but we have to wonder: how many computer novices are swapping files anyway? If this also allowed remote terminal control so that you could fix problems on your mother's computer while beaming over the latest pictures of the kids (and their illegally downloaded music) we might be a little more optimistic. No mention of price or availability, but there is a video demonstration below proving the tech works -- even if the demo touchpad apparently doesn't. [Via TechCrunch]
Kanguru takes eSATA + USB e-Flash drive to 64GB
We'd be stretching things ever-so-slightly if we said Kanguru's newest e-Flash drive was just a wee bit behind schedule, but at least the unit -- which was originally slated for a January release -- is finally real. If you'll recall from last year, this dual-sided drive includes a USB 2.0 connector for mass compatibility and a powered eSATA port for blazing performance. Until now, however, you've had to deal with capacities of 32GB and smaller, but the new 64GB iteration changes all that for good. Too bad there's nary a mention of this thing's MSRP, but we'd go ahead and brace for the worst if we were you.[Via HotHardware]
