Maximum PC USB Flash Drive RSS Feed

Genesys to Begin Mass Producing USB 3.0 Controllers

Ryan Whitwam — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:41:12 -0500

Are your USB 2.0 gadgets starting to feel a little slow? Well, luckily USB 3.0 controllers are about to enter mass production. Genesys Logic plans to start churning out the faster controller chips in the first quarter of 2010. Expect to start seeing it around later next year. Genesys expects to turn a profit almost immediately.

USB 3.0 was approved by the USB 3.0 Promoter Group last November. The new technology uses a 0.13µ process instead of the 0.18µ process used in USB 2.0. Early indications are that the 3.0 standard is capable of up to 10 times the speed of current USB technology. USB 3.0, or “SuperSpeed USB” as it’s also known, is expected to make up a quarter of the market by 2013.

A-DATA's New USB Flash Drives Swivel and Lock

Paul Lilly — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:05:33 -0500

A-DATA today unveiled a new line of colorful USB flash drives with a swivel design case the company claims will keep the USB connector free from harm.

"Unlike conventional swivel-designed USB flash drives, the unique asymmetric outer casing of C903 protects the USB connector and serves as a lock mechanism to prevent the connector from sticking out due to constant turning and wearing," A-DATA stated in a press release. "The same design enables users to turn and store the USB connector properly in place with much of an ease."

The case comes constructed with a glossy metallic finish wrapped around either a bright red or blue USB stick, with initial capacities available up to 32GB.

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: A-DATA

Edge Tech Taking Pre-Orders on 128GB USB Flash Drive

Paul Lilly — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:30:24 -0500

In what we hope becomes a trend, another manufacturer this week has stepped up to the storage plate with a 128GB USB flash drive, this one from Edge Tech. The company will make an official announcement next week, but has given us the skinny on their fat capacity drive.

Dubbed DiskGO, Edge Tech says its 128GB thumb drive can store approximately 85,000 photos, 128 hours of video, 32,000 MP3s, or over a million documents. Keeping all that data secure is a combination of a "rugged aluminum casing" and CryptArchiver Lite encryption software. The Lite version allows users to encrypt up to 25MB of data using 128-bit AES encryption, while the full version ups the ante to 32GB and either 256-bit AES or 448-bit Blowfish.

But what some might find far more appealing than its feature-set is the price. Edge Tech has priced the 128GB DiskGO at $390, which is about $150 less than Kingston's recently announced DataTraveler.

You can pre-order the DiskGO direct from Edge Tech, with shipments to start on July 31st.

Image Credit: Edge Tech

Ennova Announces USB Thumb Drive with OLED, Biometric Scanner

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:08:26 -0500

USB flash drives are meant to do a very simple job. Try telling that to manufacturers who apparently regard them as a canvas that should, from time to time, tolerate their whimsical artistic and technological cravings. Our beautiful planet has been blessed with USB flash drives of various ilks, be it the radical or the rank outrageous.

Ennova Direct has announced a new thumb drive that has enough room for a miniscule OLED screen/biometric scanner. The OLED screen can be used for file browsing and other ordinary functions. And for those of you who require thumb drives to house valuable state secrets, the OLED screen can function as a biometric scanner. The company expects to launch the drive in Q1, 2010.

Case of the Missing USB Flash Drive: Japanese Military Owns Up

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:56:48 -0500

You are not the only one confronting difficulties retaining uninterrupted possession of your USB Flash drive, but large organizations – or their mortal employees – are also prone to misplacing their USB Flash drives brimming with sensitive data.

The latest entrant to the universal brotherhood of butterfingered flash drive owners is the Japanese military, which has admitted that one of its USB Flash drives, pregnant with sensitive maps of Japanese-U.S troop deployment was stolen a year ago by a 33-year-old captain of the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF). The captain has primeval economic faculties as he also stole the paltry sum of ¥2,000 [$19] and a ¥10,000 [$94] airline coupon.

But there was a twist in the tale as the captain was eventually nabbed and the drive recovered. But a lieutenant borrowed the flash drive and in turn gave it to a clumsy sergeant who lost it.. The sergeant did a pretty good job as the drive has gone missing without a trace. The Japanese military kept the one-year old incident under wraps as it didn’t want the troop deployment maps to be scoured by internet users.

Image Credit: All the Kings Men

Imation Brings Out its Tiniest USB Flash Drive Yet

Pulkit Chandna — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:29:46 -0500

USB flash drives have registered a huge surge in popularity with their constantly plummeting prices and sundry uses. Imation has launched its new small-as-a-paperclip Atom flash drive, which the company proudly identifies as its smallest yet.

But the forgetful and clumsy types are advised against purchasing the Atom which weighs less than an ounce, and only 1.5 in length and 0.5 inch in width. Imation’s Atom flash drive comes in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB sizes with prices beginning at $18 and going up till $100. It is Vista ReadyBoost compliant.

Image Credit: Geeky Gadgets

Crucial Gizmo OverDrive

Josh Norem — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 18:38:14 -0500

Crucial pulled out all the stops with its new Gizmo Overdrive key. This drive roars past everything but Corsair’s fastest offerings.

The Gizmo’s read speeds are more than twice as fast as OCZ's Mini-Kart and Kingston's DataTraveler, and its write speeds are 30 percent faster. This kind of performance has a price, however, as the Gizmo is twice as expensive per gig as these other two.

Aside from its ability to swallow files whole, the Gizmo includes awesome security, dubbed PortableVault. It lets you add files and folders into a 256-bit Blowfish-encrypted partition. If you like to regularly back up the data on your key (never a bad idea), PortableVault includes a handy backup utility that can also quickly restore your files in case your key gets accidentally formatted.

For portability, your options are to carry the Gizmo in your pocket, or to wear it around your neck, using the included foot-long lanyard. You cannot attach it to a key chain.

Month Reviewed: September 2006

+ BACKPACK: Fast speeds, encryption and backup software, handy lanyard.

- FANNY PACK: Twice as expensive as other keys.

VERDICT: 9
kickass=yes

URL: www.crucial.com

Kingston DataTraveler

Josh Norem — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 01:59:41 -0500

The Kingston DataTraveler is like the 1969 Mustang of USB drives; it looks old but has a ton of power under the hood, thanks to its preinstalled U3 software.

We last looked at the U3 bundle in April 2006, and were unimpressed by the included apps—most of them being useless or meant for purchase. This version of the bundle still leaves us wanting more, but we have to admit that it covers the basics. Utilities such as Skype, Trillian, Thunderbird, and Firefox are must-have tools, and they come on the key, which is convenient.

For folks not in the know, the U3 interface behaves like a Windows Start menu in your system tray. You click it to access software, look at the drive’s contents, or adjust settings. Everything runs from the key, so you can plug it into any PC and have all your favorite apps, bookmarks, email, and so forth wherever you go. You can even password-protect the drive, although the contents aren’t encrypted.

The drive itself is rather bland-looking, and is a standard USB-key size. It’s made of plastic, so while we wouldn’t go BASE jumping with it, it held up just fine during our grueling Pocket Test.

Drives like the DataTraveler are a godsend for travelers who frequent Internet cafes, but we don’t think that’s a very common scenario. For normal usage, the DataTraveler is simply a solid key, nothing spectacular.

Month Reviewed: September 2006

+ SCORING: Decent software bundle and good security.

- SNORING: Looks outdated and cheap.

VERDICT: 8

URL: www.kingston.com