Since we tend to concentrate on hardware on this little blog, you may not have realized that there's a rather seminal event occurring on the software side of things that has gamers pretty giddy, namely the release of Halo 3 for the Xbox 360. And what better way to display your fandom than with a Master Chief Mimobot USB 2.0 flash drive from Mimoco, a 1GB ($50), 2GB ($70), or 4GB ($110) piece limited to 5,000 units (3,000 each for the Red and Blue Spartan editions, pictured after the break) and pre-loaded with all sorts of swag sure to fill the emptiness in your life once you've completed the trilogy. Pre-orders have already started, so if you missed out on the last batch of space odyssey-themed paraphernalia, you'll probably wanna reserve one well before the official October 18th release at E for All.

[Via Gearlog]

If you're like us, you've probably filled all your USB ports long ago -- we're daisy-chaining hubs at this point -- and yet most of our FireWire jacks, including the front panel one, remain perpetually unoccupied. So instead of doing the four port shuffle every time you want to load up a thumb drive, why not get a model that connects via FireWire instead? OCZ is showing off a pair of its Rally 2 drives that do just that, with one featuring dual 4-pin and 6-pin FireWire 400 plugs and the other sporting a single FireWire 800 connector. Sustained transfer rates on both devices promise to outperform USB 2.0 versions, so you're getting both speed and convenience here. No word on cost or availability, but you can't really put a price on freed-up USB ports anyway.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

Anyone with even an ounce of geek cred has at least one of the many varieties of duck-shaped flash drives hanging obtrusively off of his or her computer, but up until now there hasn't really been a proper way to showcase these tributes to the whimsical bathtub days of youth. Well that's all about to change thanks to duck-loving SolidAlliance, who has just released a USB hub specifically designed for the iDuck, iDuck Love, Devil Duckie, and their many, many brethren. What makes this particular hub so duck-tastic, you ask? For starters, its got pictures of USB ducks adorned above each input -- so, you know, you don't accidentally plug in your sushi drives or something stupid like that. You'd think that they'd also space out the USB jacks so that you could squeeze in three full-size ducks next to one another, but alas, it seems that you'll need some baby ducks (or ducklings, as it were) in the mix if you want to fill up all four slots. And if you don't have enough electronic waterfowl to justify a dedicated dock? No problem: these damn ducks are so popular nowadays that you can even pick up non-functional, completely ornamental models to fill in the blanks.

Our friends across the pond have no doubt heard of Subbuteo table football (soccer, as we Yanks call it). As the hobby / diversion takes off here in random parts, we keep our eyes on reasons to talk about Subbuteo, and Marco Leone has given us that little excuse. Enter the Marco Leone USB key that doubles as a Subbuteo play piece, complete with attachable base. Turn a USB logo over and you have nothing other than a little 480Mbps guy (or girl, naturally) ready to play some footy. No word on the capacity of these little players, but that's sort of irrelevant once you have an entire team, innit?

Here's a new one for you: we've all seen product recalls stemming from overheating batteries, defective CCDs, and faulty power cords, but this is the first we've heard of a USB thumb drive being called back for "posing a risk of burns to consumers and property damage." Actually, Lexar -- in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission -- is recalling a total of five different models when all is said and done: the 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB flavors of the JumpDrive FireFly and the 1GB version of the JumpDrive Secure II. According to the CPSC, 66,000 of the faulty units were sold between April and May of this year -- check the Read link for specific serial number ranges -- and although so far no injuries have been reported, consumers are advised to stop using affected models immediately. As usual, the company will hook you up with a new model free of charge if you ask very nicely; as for us, we're probably gonna hold onto ours and use them to brand new interns with the Lexar logo as part of our geeky hazing ritual.

[Via The Inquirer]

Sure, HP's ballistics-tested StorageWorks XP1200 server is keeping your spy operation humming on the homefront, but what happens when your agents come under fire smuggling sensitive data in the field? Storage expert Pretec knows that people want their USB drives small and secure, and now they've apparently identified a demographic who also want those drives to be virtually indestructible, as evidenced by the recent release of the iDisk BulletProof lineup. As their name suggests, these 20Mbps thumb drives -- which sport capacities between 32MB and 2GB -- are able to not only take a bullet thanks to their "double layers of sealed protective metal," but will also survive unscathed should your enemies happen to set you on fire or submerge you in water while they're shooting at you. The entire set of drives is available immediately, but before rushing out to order one, perhaps you should first step back and consider the lifestyle choices that have made bullet-resistance a feature you so highly value in your portable electronics.

[Via I4U]