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USB 3.0 shocker! Supersonic Magnum thumb drive rocks 200MB/s read times, sure to be rather pricey
You thought the 70MB/s write speeds were wild? The kids at Patriot are making the scene at CeBIT with the successor to the Supersonic USB thumb drive we first saw at the tail end of last year, and it's putting its old man to shame. The Supersonic Magnum series, sporting capacities up to 128GB, boasts a single eight channel controller with 200MB/s read and 110MB/s write speeds. And it will fit in your hip pocket! Release date TBA, and we can only imagine it will cost you a pretty Deutschmark.
Batman, Robin, Joker and Catwoman shrunken down to USB collectables
Do you like Batman? Robin? What about USB sticks? Well, thanks to Mimoco, you can have both in one awesome package. We spotted these newly released jump-drives at the International Toy Fair and we gotta say -- they're actually quite detailed in design. The flash drives will cost you a pretty penny if you want more storage -- a 2GB dongle is $20 while the 16GB version is $60. If you're a DC Comics junkie and think that the company has sold out, ask yourself this: why so serious?%Gallery-116955%
Keyport Slide can now store your files, open your beers
Sometimes it's hard getting drunk and downloading files when you have a pocket full of keys. The Keyport Slide is finally ready to manage those inebriated backups, with the USB key version we've been waiting for now up for order, letting you streamline your keychain and your thumb drive too. There's also a new slide-out bottle opener available. A 4GB key insert will cost you $18.99, $28.99 if you want 8GB, and a Keyport with five blades and USB starts at $89. Cheap? No, but just how much longer were you going to tote around that cacophonous mass of metal in your pocket?
Disposable 'Fleshkus' drives ensure your memories some day hit the dump
We're a little less of a disposable society than we used to be, but that's not to say we wouldn't embrace an opportunity to get back into our formerly carefree and wasteful ways. This concept spotted over at Art Lebedev, designed by Alexei Lyapunov and Lena Ehrlich, could get us there, eight or 16GB thumb drives printed on cardboard and produced so inexpensively that you can simply tear one off, scribble on it, then give away to friends to share files -- just a concept at this point, but this vision of tomorrow seems awfully likely to us.
Ask Engadget: best high-capacity USB thumb drive?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Jakob, who needs a huge (speaking of capacity, not of physical size) USB thumb drive for reasons known only to him. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I want to replace my old 4GB USB stick with a new one. It should be at least 16GB, fast, and it can't look awful, either. Oh, and not too pricey." Brevity. Jakob has it. Here's hoping you've got a favorite flash drive suggestion to toss down in comments. Go!
HSTi debuts StreamStick WiFi dongles for video on demand
Is it a coincidence that "stream" and "extreme" are such similar sounding words? Just take a look at the totally radical dude that's slathered all over HSTi's CES booth and decide for yourself. The follow-up to last year's Wireless Media Stick, StreamStick is a wireless receiver geared at manufacturers that will allow them to provide media streaming from a dedicated device to any number of USB port-packin' TVs, DVD / Blu-ray players, game consoles, and set top boxes, via-WiFi. For the end user, this means that when you plug the USB stick into your TV, the streaming copy of Troll 2 you just rented from Amazon (for instance) will appear as a file that you can click on and play, as if it was locally stored. "The StreamStick," says President and CEO Ramesh Uppal, "enables content providers, of any size, to access a multitude of media players, exponentially increasing their customer reach while realizing new revenue streams that they wouldn't otherwise have." And we know how much you love revenue streams! Check out the PR after the break for all the nitty-gritty.
iTwin USB filesharing solution now shipping in America
Hope you didn't put your life on pause waiting for the iTwin to ship to the US of A, 'cause it took just over a full year to do so. The company's self-named device has finally been listed for sale in America this week, with just 50 limited edition builds able to head out prior to Christmas. If your memory has faded somewhat over the past 14 months, this twin-stick solution is meant to pass files between two USB-enabled devices, but unlike Infinitec's IUM, it's not making any bold promises related to media streaming. The concept is simple enough; just plug one of the twins into your computer, and the other into your pal's computer. It relies on 256-bit AES encryption to keep things secure, and if that's good enough for you, the source link is the where you need to be. These first-run kits are selling for $99 (plus $10 shipping), with a choice of gunmetal gray and lime green awaiting you, and if you miss your shot now, general availability will hit early next month.
US Military bans removable media again, this time probably for good
The US military has officially solidified its reputation as a flake, by banning the use of all removable media including thumb drives, CDs and DVDs again on its Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRnet) after relaxing the same policy in February. To prove they meant business this time, senior officers in each branch relayed the orders and reaffirmed personnel would risk of court-martial if they failed to comply. This seems silly to us considering Uncle Sam feels comfortable giving some cell phones access to secure data, and we all know how much damage losing one can cause. But then again, if history and Transformers are any indication, sometimes it's these little things that cause bigger breaches than anything Cyber Command focuses on stopping.
Patriot intros Supersonic USB 3.0 flash drive, milks 100MB / sec from a single chip
At present, there seem to be three strategies to embracing the potential of USB 3.0 -- go all out with an external SSD, introduce a hulking RAID-on-a-stick, or settle for a single-chip USB key with ho-hum maximum read/write speeds of roughly around 80MB / sec and 60MB / sec. There are a number of these barely-better-than-USB-2.0 flash drives floating about, but Patriot decided not to settle for that -- its new Supersonic flash drive uses the mythical "quad channel" technology (and a native USB 3.0 controller) to eke out some extra speed. That allows Patriot to beat down the USB 2.0 straw man with 70MB / sec writes and 100MB / sec reads, and possibly justify a pricing premium if the company can't manufacture them on the cheap. If the Supersonic sounds like the best of all worlds for your portable data, you'll find it in 32GB and 64GB configurations starting Q1 2011. No word on price quite yet.
SuperTalent USB 3.0 Express RAM Cache drives join with Ceedo to make your apps portable (video)
There's no reason that a USB 3.0 device can't be quick enough to serve up an app, though most apps get finicky if you try to run them from removable storage on more than one computer. SuperTalent is trying to make that a little easier by bundling Ceedo Personal with its new USB 3.0 Express RAM Cache thumb drives. Ceedo effectively lets you install and run apps in a sandbox that can be moved from one machine to another, with the idea here being of course that you'd deploy that sandbox on your blazing new thumb drive and run those apps with wild abandon, as demonstrated in the video below. The drives start at $59 for 16GB then go up to $119 for 32GB and $209 for the 64GB model, but if you want the Ceedo bundles you'll need to pay $20 more for each. That is, at least, half what the software costs on its own.
'The Collective' steampunk USB drive is the stocking stuffer Jules Verne always wanted
Miffed you didn't buy that $300 8GB steampunk USB drive we shared over the summer? Well, the good news is if you've got $395 worth of shillings lying around, Will Rockwell's 16GB steampunk USB drive christened "The Collective" is yours for the taking. Besides its J.J. Abrams-like name, particularly cool details to highlight include a brass manifold featuring four coolant pipes, a large framed cabochon which acts as a service light, and a faux-gauge made from a domed cover and watch hand. A storage tank serves as a cap for the drive and there's even a tiny plaque bearing Mr. Rockwell's engraved John Hancock placed smack dab in the middle. Last but certainly not least, the elaborate thumbdrive ships with a velvet platform and a glass museum case, so that all who visit may bask in its craftsmanship and finally see the rusted version owned by that Victorian-poser down the block as the tetanus carrier it really is.
Super Talent USB 3.0 RAIDDrive nabs an extra 55MB/sec
How's this for post-purchase pleasantries? Super Talent has just revealed a new tidbit surrounding the world's first USB 3.0 thumb drive (that would be the RAIDDrive), and it's one that takes full advantage of second generation USB 3.0 controller technology -- presumably on the PC side and not via a firmware update. The end result? An extra 55MB/sec on the benchmarking front, pushing its proven maximum speed to 370MB/sec. Head on past the break and mash play if you don't believe us, and feel free to start pressing your own storage boutique of choice for something similar for all those other SuperSpeed products.
Infinitec Infinite USB Memory Drive review
The idea behind Infinitec's Infinite USB Memory Drive is actually quite straightforward, but we've found that when we tell friends and acquaintances about the unit, it often boggles their minds. So, we'll try to keep it real simple: This red plastic stick is a 802.11b/g/n WiFi radio disguised as a USB flash drive. And when we say "disguised", we're not just talking about the stick's size, but its functionality as well -- it lets you wirelessly transfer files direct from your WiFi-equipped laptop's hard drive to just about anything with a USB port. Stick it into an Xbox 360 or set-top-box, for instance, and it pretends to be your average thumbdrive, but with access to theoretically anything you choose. Sounds like a fantastic idea, but does it really work? Find out after the break in our full review.%Gallery-108135%
TweakTown tests the best thumb drives, invites USB 3.0 models to the party
Most USB thumb drives are cheap enough that it rarely seems worth comparison shopping but, as usual with computer hardware, if you want the best you'd best look at some benchmarks. Following in the footsteps of Kristofer Brozio, TweakTown gathered together 16 of the fastest and most common models to test and some of the big brands, like Lexar, finished near the bottom in terms of performance. If you want a fast USB 2.0 drive, the Silicon Power LuxMini 920, a 64GB model, is the one to get -- if you can find it. Meanwhile the rather more readily available Patriot Memory models clocked in at a close second. However, taking all the honors is the OCZ Enyo, but given that's more of an external SSD we question its inclusion. For proper thumb drives, it's the USB 3.0 Super Talent SuperCrypt taking the cake for performance -- as it should for a $120, 16GB model.
Super Talent intros 8GB USB 3.0 Express Duo flash drive for $14
Pricing pressure, anyone? Super Talent has just put a serious kink in the plans of storage makers hoping to milk their dwindling USB 2.0 flash drive inventories into the holiday season, as the introduction of the USB 3.0 Express Duo line sets a new bar for MSRPs on these things. Expected to ship later this month, these critters are available in 8GB and 16GB capacities, with each offering USB 3.0 speeds, USB 2.0 backwards compatibility and price points of $14 and $29, respectively. Who doesn't love a good stocking stuffer, anyway?
New York City walls play host to covert thumbdrives
Back when the walls had ears, spies would store their information in a hidden cache and pass along the location via code. Now, a New York City artist is doing the same with USB flash drives, five of which he's already injected into the city's brick walls. While there some obvious logistical reasons we'd avoid using his creation (not to mention worries about AutoRun in older PCs) we'll definitely keep the idea in mind for Engadget informants who are particularly paranoid about their anonymity. See the first five drives' not-so-secret locations in photos at our source links.
Mimoco bumps out yet another Hello Kitty flash drive to celebrate Sanrio's 50th anniversary
It's no secret that we're very fond of Hello Kitty gadgets -- just like pretty much everyone else on the planet. And Sanrio's lucrative partnership with Mimoco has spun the famous cat's rep into... more awesome flash drives. It seems like Sanrio is always celebrating some kind of birthday, and for the company's 50th anniversary they've busted out more than their fair share of gear. This time, it's a "classic" Hello Kitty flash drive that comes in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities. We're kind of in love with Kitty's elongated face on this model, so if you so choose, you can grab one of these up for a starting price of $34.95.
Kingston issues its first USB 3.0 thumb drive: DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0
It ain't the first, but it's Kingston's first, regardless. The DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 is the company's first foray into the wild and blossoming world of high(er)-speed thumb drives (following the likes of A-DATA with its own N005), with this guy in particular pulling down read speeds of up to 80MB/sec and write speeds of 60MB/sec. It's available in a trio of sizes (16GB, 32GB and 64GB), with a five-year warranty affixed to each. Regrettably, such speed and capaciousness won't run ya cheap, as these fellows are priced at $89, $138 and $270 in order of mention. Nothing the corporate card can't handle, though.
Doc Marten USB drive makes puppies look skinny, gristle throb
We've all been there: hands punched violently into pockets, conspicuously affected by the visceral industrial hum of big city decay. If only we had this $25 limited edition 50th anniversary 2GB "stomper" USB drive to complete our ensemble. Who knows, in the right hands it might have helped Jesus build a hotrod.
SanDisk ships its smallest USB thumb drive, the diminutive Cruzer Blade
We suspect SanDisk would have run into some friction by proclaiming that its Cruzer Blade is the world's smallest USB flash drive, but it smartly chose to word things as its smallest in order to not draw attention from those other guys. No matter how you slice it, though, this little doohickey is awfully minuscule, being "about the size of a standard size paper clip and weighing approximately the same as a penny." It's tailor made to hang off of your existing keyring, and it's available in capacities ranging from 2GB to 16GB. As for prices? $14.99 to $77.99, and (just about) everywhere in between.
