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Thanko's PIN-protected Morse Code Drive
You may think that those USB thumb drives with biometric protection are keeping your data on adequate lockdown, but with so many Play-Doh-equipped crooks looking to steal your personal information these days, are you really willing to trust your most secure infoswag to a notoriously unreliable fingerprint reader? Our old friends at "innovative" Japanese manufacturer Thanko certainly aren't, as evidenced by their new keypad-sporting model called the Morse Code Drive -- which, despite its name, has nothing to do with the dash-dot-dashing we've seen performed by characters in old war movies. Available in either 512MB or 1GB flavors, this USB 2.0-compatible drive requires the user to input the proper PIN before revealing its precious data on a Mac or Windows machine, although we doubt that a determined hacker would be unable to penetrate its defenses. Still, most consumers will find the $60 and $85 drives acceptable for everyday use, and the fact that they camouflage themselves as a cheap calculator when stored in your pocket protector should only help seal the deal.[Via Fareastgizmos]
Sony's Micro Vault Tiny now officially shipping in the US
Hey "fashion-forward consumers," yeah you. Sony's uh, "byte sized" Micro Vault Tiny USB drive is now shipping in the US. That's the official Sony poop although the Tiny, as Sony likes to call them, was spotted weeks ago giving some of you that 1.0 x 0.5-inch storage fix you obviously crave. About the thickness of a US quarter and weighing in at 1.5-grams, the drive ships in 5 capacity/color combinations: 256MB (orange), 512MB (violet), 1GB (blue), 2GB (green) on up to 4GB for the full-sized purple-nurple. Tiny comes preloaded with Virtual Expander built-in to automatically compress and decompress data albeit with a hit on access speed. All but the 4GB model are shipping now at an MSRP ranging from $30 to $200.
Thanko's 512MB USB lanyard
You know, even Thanko can ignite a bright spark now and again. Here we have the Thanko USB neckstrap which brings 512MB to your MP3 player or cellphone's lanyard. Sure it's not for everyone but for all those crazy kids flauntin' their high tech wares up front, well, why not for the ¥4,680 or about $41 bucks it'll cost ya? We're just wondering what happened to the integrated earphones, huh Thanko? [Via Fareastgizmos]
Sony's Microvault Tiny USB drive for the ladies
We're still not sure why you'd want to buy a USB thumb drive so small that you'll probably lose it within the first week, but that hasn't stopped companies like Pretec, Lexar, OCZ, and PQI -- and now Sony -- from battling it out until one of them finally achieves the holy grail of a completely invisible storage solution. Well even though they may not be the smallest drives around, Sony's new 1.5-gram Microvault Tiny line is looking to stand out from the crowd by sporting "fashionable" cases for appealing to the female demographic -- although it's not clear how many women will be into outdated designs that resemble 20th Century iMacs. Only available in South Korea for now, the drives range in capacity from 256MB ($30) to 2GB ($124), and in one of the strangest promotions we've ever seen, actually come with a bottle of matching nail polish as a free gift-- so even if you lose the drive, you can still look down at your hands and reminisce about all the good times you and your Tiny had reading and writing data together.Update: Some eagle-eyed readers have already spotted these devices Stateside at Target, so scratch that part about exclusive South Korean availability.[Via Shiny Shiny]
TrekStor's 8GB CS-D USB micro-drive
Seems like everyone and his monkey has an 8GB USB flash drive these days. Still, that hasn't stopped TrekStor from claiming that their 8GB CS-D USB stick is the "world's highest capacity stick storage device." Hey TrekStor, maybe you forgot about PQI's 16GB U510 or Kanguru's 64GB KFDM flash drive? Oh wait, your $180 drive is based on a shock-mounted, 1-inch hard drive! Well, give us a shout when you hit 12GB, m'kay?
V-Phone: Vonage gets in the game
If you've been hankerin' for some Vonage-flavored VoIP-on-a-stick then listen up friend, because that sweet, cheap, SIP goodness is on the way. Announced by Vonage's very own Jeffrey Citron while on-stage at the TechEffect Convergence 2.0 show, this little red USB keychain can be plugged into any Internet connected PC for Vonage customers to make calls on the go. More details are expected this week but from the looks of that pic, we'll guess the device will feature an integrated mic and good ol' standard 3.5-mm jack for some hot headset-on-stick action. Yeah, not exactly a first, or even a distant second in this game but let's stay tuned anyway to see how Vonage plans to lead follow this Internet phone revolution.
Buffalo drops 4GB USB drive
Having already joined the ranks of 8GB thumb drives, Buffalo has busted out a separate line of "entry-level" USB drives that top out at a mere 4GB. The RUF2-E series apparently don't have the same "UltraSpeed" transfer times of the higher-end RUF2-R series, and they've further differentiated them with a questionable clear bluish-purple casing. Prices start our reasonably at 2,000 Yen ($17 US) for the 128MB model, but you'll have to fork over a whopping 47,800 Yen (or $415 US) for the pleasure of being able to carry 4GB on a string.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
USB teddy bear holds data, scares children
Generally, when someone makes a teddy bear-themed gadget, his/her intention is to overwhelm bystanders with cuteness. But whoever created this little guy, whose head has to be removed in order to access the internal USB drive, must have watched one too many Tim Burton movies. No word on how much it holds or if there are any plans to make these available for purchase, but with your own bear, a thumb drive, some thread and a closet full of skeletons, you can probably make your own without too much effort.
Sony to offer fast, high capacity Micro Vaults
Sony will soon be bulking up its line of Micro Vault USB thumb drives, so to speak, by adding several new models that offer either increased capacity, increased transfer speeds, or both. Though not reaching the 8GB plateau of the Micro Vault Pro, the upcoming units still manage to pack between 256MB and 4GB of data into a pocketable design, and all feature Sony's Virtual Expander software for automatically compressing your bits to store up to three times the drive's labeled capacity. Besides the storage boost, Sony will be offering the same size drives in a lineup called the Excellence range, which promise zippier read and write speeds of 29Mbps and 23Mbps, respectively. While all the new models are expected later this month, Sony is keeping pricing details...hold for terrible pun...locked up in the "vault."
Buffalo's latest USB key packs 8 gigs
They're not the first and most surely won't be the last to join the club, but Buffalo has just added an 8GB thumb drive to their flash lineup. The RUF2-R8G-S manages to squeeze the gigs into a 0.75 x 3.6 x 0.55 enclosure, and promises 32MB/s write and 27MB/s read speeds over USB 2.0. No word on price, but we're sure the Yen required will be many. Now how about a bit of 16GB action?[Via Akihabara]
Flash drives containing US military secrets for sale next to Afghani base
Despite the government's best efforts to secure its classified electronic data, the L.A. Times is reporting that it was easily able to obtain a thumb drive full of sensitive military information -- from a bazaar right next to a US Air Force base in Afghanistan. According to the Times, the 1GB flash drive -- which, at $40, was quite the bargain -- contains details that could put the lives of several informants and sources at risk, including pictures, phone numbers, and even the names of their family members. Furthermore, even though files on the drive lay out specific military procedures and intelligence gathering strategies and contain photos of the base inside the perimeter, few of the documents are encrypted or password-protected. Although Army officials claim to regularly shop the bazaars for stolen material, and have ordered a review of their data security protocols, the fact that such damaging info can be purchased so easily would seem to indicate that the matter is a bit more urgent.[Via Slashdot]
Kingston 2GB U3 Data Traveler includes ACDSee, Pass2Go
The U3 standard for mobile applications continues to gain steam, with Kingston being just one of the latest to add another U3-compatible flash drive to its lineup. The U3 Data Traveler, now in capacities of up to 2GB, comes bundled with mobile versions of the Pass2Go password manager, the ACDSee image browsing application and the Zinio e-reader. It would be nice if Kingston could also throw in mobile versions of apps like Firefox and Thunderbird, but it's easy enough to download them from the U3 site. Kingston's a little vague on whether the software on the drive consists of free "lite" versions, or trials of the full-featured programs, so don't be surprised if you're hit with nags after using the drive for a while. The 1GB version has an MSRP of $47, while the 2GB goes for $75.
