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Victorinox is working on 'something approaching a smartwatch'
Victorinox, the firm you can just about remember makes the Swiss Army knife when it comes up at pub trivia, is talking up its plans for a smartwatch. In a chat with Reuters, CEO Carl Elsener has revealed that the company will enter the wearable technology space at some point in 2016. This won't be just another Android Wear device, however, but a wearable that Elsener has described as "something approaching a smartwatch."
Victorinox's 1TB USB / eSATA II drive fingers-on
We're still trying to come to terms with just how fantastic it would be to keep a Victorinox 1TB drive on a keyring. Think about that potential for data storage -- and horrendous heart-wrenching sadness if you lost it -- at the flip of a wrist. While the drive will eventually ship in both red and black -- configured as only USB drives or more traditional Swiss Army knives -- we only got our mitts on the safer, less pointy versions. An interesting addition to these drives is a small LCD display on the side that might at some point show meaning information, but sadly ours only boasted the 1TB size. The Swiss Knife masters expect this device to start shipping in the September or October time frame for what they hope is under a cool $3,000. Yeah, 3k. Perhaps since the Swiss sleep with blankets made of spare money they've lost sight of how many terabytes of traditional storage can be had for that much cake. Regardless, these are magic, so enjoy the pics. Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
Victorinox Swiss Army Slim, Slim Duo USB drives begin shipping, won't get you into trouble with the TSA
For frequent business travelers, the days of carrying around a Swiss Army knife on your keychain were gone even before the TSA was born. Well, that familiar pocket multi-tool is back, in the form of Victorinox's Swiss Army Slim and Slim Duo. Both products pack a tool that many of us use far more often than scissors and knives: the USB flash drive. We first took a look at Victorinox's latest gadget at CES, but the colorful, waterproof storage devices are finally shipping, in capacities that range from 4GB ($40) all the way up to 128GB ($350) with the Slim Duo (which, as its name implies, includes a pair of 64GB drives). Both flavors are designed to let you file photos and presentations, not your fingernails -- but if you're looking to do both, Vic's got you covered there, too.
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]
SwissGear readies media-controlling, wireless mouse
Wenger -- makers of the famous Swiss Army line of knives, watches, and accessories -- appear to be readying a sort-of-serious-looking new media controller / presentation / wireless mouse combo. As you can see by the above photo, we caught the multi-faceted model out on display chumming it up with its less stylish and expensive mouse-companions. The slick finish looks nice, but honestly, it doesn't seem like a great combo for sweaty, gaming hands. Maybe PowerPointers or media fans will have more luck. No word on price or availability, but we'll keep you posted.
Fender's modeling VG Stratocaster gets inspected
A legend in the guitar industry pairing up with a heralded name in the modeling biz? No, it's not too good to be true, as Fender and Roland have teamed up to create the first modeling stratocaster. Just weeks after Gibson's own digital axe finally went on sale, the VG Stratocaster is built to look, feel, and play exactly like the strats of old always have, but a few subtle (albeit substantial) alterations open up a whole new world of riff creations. The six-string gurus over at GuitarGearCentral have taken the time to carefully inspect the changes, and it looks to us that even the purists could find something here to love. The thin Roland GK pickup mounted at the bridge provides the ability to emulate "37 Fender Stratocaster, Telecaster, humbucking, 12-string, and acoustic sounds,"while a pair of LED status lights provide a bit of flash and a new duo of knobs (Mode Control and Tuning Function) are used to further dictate the sounds. Dubbed a "Swiss Army knife of tone," this instrument allows you to dial-in alternate sounds and tunings on the fly, giving players the ability to add some chunk with Drop D tuning sans fiddling with the tuning head. Although the crew admired the simplicity Fender somehow managed to achieve with all the complex features that have been added, they still would test out a few more guitars to make sure this is your bag before throwing down the (admittedly reasonable) $1,699 required to take one home.
