Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Just like Alexander the Great wept when he realized there were no more worlds to conquer, someday mankind is going to come to the startling conclusion that he’s run out of things to cram a USB flash drive into. But that day hasn’t come yet, so today I bring you a flash drive that’s been integrated into a wooden clothespin. This particular design does have some merit though. For one, I like the natural look of the wood clothespin in contrast to the shiny metal of the USB connection. The other more obvious benefit is that it can be easily attached to anything like a shirt pocket, making it harder to lose when it’s not in use. Oh and ‘Spinacz’, that’s actually Polish for ‘clip’, which expands my Polish vocabulary from 6 to 7 words. In another 1,200 years I should be fluent!

[ Spinacz ] VIA [ Like Cool ]

By Luke Anderson

I’ve always wondered exactly what the Swiss Army is like. After all, you don’t really hear much about them, aside from their extremely handy knives. Well if you’ve ever thought to yourself that you’d love to see one of those knives with a USB flash drive, then you’re in luck.

Apparently these have been around for a little while, but they’ve just upgraded to an 8GB model. At around $45, it’s quite a steal considering that you get a knife, nail file, pen, screwdriver and pair of scissors too!

[ ChinaVision ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Given Moore’s Law, and the general pattern of technological advancement over the past 20 years, it’s inevitable that we’ll all be carrying around tiny flash drives capable of storing terabytes of data one day. But even with that in mind, I’m still impressed with Corsair’s latest Flash Survivor USB drive that packs a whopping 32GB into a relatively compact package. What also sets the Flash Survivor apart from other USB drives is its ultra rugged design. You may live your whole life without ever needing a waterproof flash drive that has a CNC-milled anodized aircraft-grade aluminum case, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

So if you happen to be in the market for a new flash drive, or just like looking at things made from machined aluminum (guilty) you can read my full review of the Corsair 32GB Flash Survivor after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

These Dane-Elec flash drives are not only styled to look like a poker chip taken straight from a casino, but they’re actually the same size too. (Though I’m not so sure about the thickness.) On the edge of the chip there’s a removable cover that reveals the USB connection, but given its rounded nature you’re probably going to need to use a USB extension cable to plug it in. (A picture of the USB connection exposed would have been nice.) The red chip features 1GB of memory for about $20 while the blue chip has 2GB for about $28. You can get them both from Gadgets.dk.

[ Poker Mate USB Stick 2.0GB ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It might not immediately seem clear why someone would need a device that’s capable of copying data to 60 flash drives at once. But just think of all the promotional flash drives you’ve been given over the years that feature PR material or demo software and you’ll get the idea.

This particular model from Virtual Console features 60 ports with a maximum duplication speed of 5.6 MB per second per port. On average it can fill 60 512 MB flash drives in about 90 seconds, and it will probably take just as long to remove and attach 60 new flash drives once the copying process is complete. The duplicator itself connects to a PC via USB or ‘fast ethernet’ and also comes with the option of enabling AES 128bit encryption, though that feature is sold separately.

But the convenience of the Virtual Console 60 Port Duplicator doesn’t come cheap. The device actually has a pretty hefty price tag of $7,999.

[ Virtual Console 60 Port USB Flash Drive Duplicator ] VIA [ I4U News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Not that it’s a competition or anything, but Target once again proves they’re the king of really awesome gift cards. While their glowing Wii cards looked really cool, these Speed Racer themed ones that feature a USB flash drive are actually useful, to a certain degree. They include an integrated inch-long USB cable that sits flush in the card and is easily released using a mechanical switch located on the bottom edge. The cards unfortunately only have a capacity of about 62.8 MB, but 51.6 MB of that is filled with Speed Racer promotional materials. This includes a PDF coloring book featuring the Mach 5 and Racer X’s vehicles, coupons for Speed Racer toys, wallpaper, videos and even a cheat code for the Wii version of the Speed Racer game.

The cards are obviously being subsidized by Warner Brothers as part of the Speed Racer marketing campaign, but it’s not like 62.8 MB of flash memory is that expensive these days. And as far as I know Target doesn’t require you to actually put any money on the gift cards, but I still wouldn’t recommend just walking out of the store with a handful of them.

[ Speed Racer gift card with USB 2.0 Flash drive, cheat code ] VIA [ GoNintendo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not entirely sure why PANTONE has decided to enter the USB flash drive market. The company is already well respected in the print world, and as far as I’m concerned, selling to professionals who are willing to pay $125 for a book of colors is where the real money is. But while you can order one of their flash drives based on a specific PANTONE color, I’m surprised the palette you have to choose from is limited to just 14 colors. It just seems to me that a company like PANTONE would allow you to choose any of the 1,000+ colors they offer. Maybe if you ask really, really nice they’ll accommodate specific requests.

At least the drives are reasonably priced, with the 512MB model coming in at $10.99 and the 4GB at $34.99. And since the housing is made of aluminum, they even offer free laser engraving with your name, 2-line message or a logo.

[ PANTONE Flash Drives ] VIA [ geeksugar ]

By Luke Anderson

Have you ever had a flash drive that you needed duplicated onto another drive or two? I’m sure that it’s happened once or twice, but since most computers have a plethora of ports, it really isn’t an issue to copy the data. However, if you’re working for a company that needs a few dozen or more such drives, that can be a whole different issue.

This device makes it simple to copy information over to 20 different USB devices at the same time. All you need to do is plug it in and go, it’ll take care of the rest. I’m sure that this would save a lot of time and effort, were you someone that made a lot of copies. The average Joe probably won’t get much use out of it, especially for $1299.

[ NexCopy ] VIA [ Gearfuse ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I like things to be in order, and that’s probably why the SpaceStation from Ultra caught my eye. Like most people I have a pile of various sized USB flash drives sitting on my desk that I’ve either purchased or received as promotional items. They do come in handy for transporting large files, but since they’re not labeled I sometimes forget what drive is holding what. To solve this problem the SpaceStation packs 6 individual USB flash drives into a credit card sized package, and includes a set of labels to keep them organized.

The flash drives come in either 1GB or 2GB capacities giving you a total of 6GB or 12GB of storage while the included labels cover categories like music, videos, games and work. It’s not a bad idea if you’re a neat freak, but I just wish the storage unit also served as a USB hub allowing you to plug in and access all 6 drives at once.

The 12GB version of the SpaceStation runs $89.99 while the 6GB version is $59.99 and both can be purchased directly from the Ultra website.

[ Ultra SpaceStation ]