By Andrew Liszewski

Sony is known for making some unusual decisions at times, but not when it comes to design in my opinion. Take these relatively new USM-L Micro Vault flash drives. They’re clean, compact and feature a BIC-inspired ‘click to open’ mechanism that hides and protects the USB connector when not in use. The drives are color-coded based on their capacity (they range in size from 1GB up to 32GB) and a “prism” LED flashes and glows to indicate when the drive is in use. The USM-L Micro Vaults also support Windows Readyboost, and include Sony’s Virtual Expander software which will automatically compress or decompress files as they’re copied to or from the drive, roughly tripling their capacity.

[ Sony Micro Vault USM-L ] VIA [ Fareastgizmos ]

By Andrew Liszewski

They might not be the first kid on the block with a 128GB flash drive, I believe Kingston took that honor a few months ago, but Corsair is claiming their new 128GB Voyager GT is the world’s fastest. Thanks to a “unique dual-controller architecture” the flash drive has a read speed of up to 32MB/sec and a write speed of up to 25.6MB/sec. The drive also features a durable and water-resistant rubber housing, so while it probably won’t survive a plunge under water, getting caught in the occasional spill shouldn’t be a problem. Available now, though pricing info wasn’t included in the PR.

[ Corsair Flash Voyager GT 128GB ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Once in a while, the size of technology just amazes me. Flash drives were awesome when they first came out, because it was a storage drive about the size of a keychain. Inevitably those have shrank until they’re smaller than the USB connector itself. Well here’s a new one that is rediculously small, and manages to somehow pack in a card reader to boot.

This tiny little USB device will read your MicroSD cards, and hold a whopping 16GB at the same time. I’m pretty sure the only reason there is a plastic bit is so that you have something to grab when you want to remove it. This would be perfect for a netbook, you could insert it and forget about it. Of course that small size and high capacity doesn’t come cheap. The 16GB version will set you back around $160, though you could settle for a 4GB version for just $35.

[ GeekStuff4u ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Over the next few weeks if you happen to be having a conversation at the water cooler and the question of who makes the smallest 32GB USB flash drive comes up, you can confidently drop Super Talent’s name. Today the company announced six new models of their Pico drives that each feature 32GB of NAND flash storage as well as transfer speeds up to 200X, or 30MB/sec. Three of the new models are water resistant and feature gold or nickel finishes ($85) while the other three include AES-256 hardware encryption for extra security ($99).

[ PR - Super Talent Unveils World’s Smallest 32GB USB Drive ] VIA [ I4U News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I seem to be fighting some manner of cold or flu today, not sure which it is, so we’ll keep these brief this morning. As cool as this USB Bomb flash drive might look, I’m afraid it isn’t actually for sale. It was designed by Joel Escalona Studio to serve as a “metaphoric and conceptual object designed to be show on a desk or a work place not so much to carry around.” But they are looking for someone to make it a reality, so if you happen to have a novelty USB flash drive factory at your disposal, why not drop them a line?

[ Bomb USB Memory ] VIA [ Likecool ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Instructables member ‘laxap‘ has posted a relatively painless tutorial on how to turn an actual cigar into a glowing, fully functional USB flash drive. The most involved part of the build is trimming, boring and then completely sealing the cigar inside and out using a wood primer, but there’s also a bit of wiring and soldering involved in order to replace the cannibalized flash drive’s read/write LED with one that will cause the tip of the cigar to light up while the drive is being accessed.

[ Instructables - USB Cigar Flash Memory ] VIA [ Coolest Gadgets ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Lets say that you purchased yourself a new netbook not long ago, and come this fall you decide to upgrade to Windows 7. How exactly are you planning on doing that without an optical drive? Sure, with you being the tech-savvy customer, you won’t have too much trouble doing this. Of course not every person is going to have such an easy time, which is why Microsoft is considering releasing the next version of Windows on a USB flash drive.

I’m glad to hear that Microsoft is considering this alternative installation method. Granted, users can  download their copy of Windows, but not everyone wants to mess with it. The USB drive would be simple and straight-forward. My biggest question is whether or not Microsoft would charge more for a flash drive, since they do cost a few bucks more than a disc.

[ Cnet ] VIA [ EverythingUSB ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I like this idea. Sanwa has taken your normal, everyday USB flash drive and simply added an eSata connector to the other end, allowing for transfer speeds of up to 75MB/sec if your PC happens to have an external eSata port. The flash drives, which not surprisingly are only available in Japan, will come in 16 & 32GB capacities and will hopefully not cost much more than a similarly equipped USB-only flash drive.

[ Akihabara News - Dual USB and eSATA 32 Memory Key from Sanwa ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Hey look, it’s more USB LEGO fun from Etsy seller 123smile! Last time we checked in they had crammed a 4 port USB hub into a LEGO DUPLO brick, and this time they’ve merged a 1GB USB flash drive with a transparent 1×2 LEGO plate. Made in West Germany with “professional equipment” the drives support pretty much every OS you’d need them to, have an LED busy light that’s visible through the transparent plastic and even include a protective cap and a keyring plate made from other LEGO pieces.

The drives are available in pretty much every color LEGO makes, and they can even be assembled with non-transparent pieces if you so desire. But $49.95 is a bit steep for just a 1GB flash drive, no matter how nostalgic it may seem.

[ Etsy – 1GB Nano USB Stick in a 1×2 Lego Plate ] VIA [ Digital Drops ]