One year ago, almost to the day, IOCell introduced the self proclaimed “World’s largest capacity flash drive” at the CeBIT 2006 show. Today, you can find 16GB flash drives from Transcend, US Modular and Pretec, so why is the Buffalo 16GB announcement of interest? Well, it uses Silicon HDD Technology.

Silicon hard drives are different then normal hard drives in that no magnetic discs are present, rather the data is stored in silicon memory. How the silicon (HDD) hard drive works is by

Gadgets Monkey tipped us about this one – Buffalo of Japan has limited edition USB flash drives. Buffalo is finally getting past the simple silk-screen and going with molded statuettes. The limited edition figurine collection (only 5000 to be made) is comprised of Mickey Mouse taking the helm, Winnie the Pooh, doing what he does best – eating, and Stitch getting loose on his surfboard.

Available only in Japan sometime in February you’d better make the jump if you’re looking to A) buy some because you’re a Disney freak or B) looking to make a quick buck from an eBay addicted Disney fan.

Press Release:

GetUSB.info Summary: The USB Flash Drive Alliance is officially standing behind “smart” drives where 3rd party applications run directly from a USB flash drive or UFD. This endorsement along with the strong momentum of flash drives in general will surely cement the long term staying power of USB as a preferred bus technology.

4 + 4 is 8 and Buffalo used this equation to formulate their latest USB flash drive, the RUF2-R-S. Without confirmation GetUSB.info suspects Buffalo stuffed two 4GB flash chips into their thumb drive to push the limit of UFDs as the leading memory developer and patent holder on Flash Drives, M-Systems, has not announced an 8GB capacity memory module.

DriveStation from Buffalo is their new entry of SATA via USB 2.0 entry into the market. Some key features include, auto power On/Off with PC bootup, Secure Lock Ware is software to protect the IP on the drive, a fast 7,200rpm speed, fanless design and stackable configurations to maximize storage while minimizing space.

Disney expands their flash product line from MP3 players and boy/girl flash drives to these Disney themed characters. Introduced in Japan earlier this month by Buffalo, GetUSB could not find additional information for you such as US retailer or price points so we’ll keep an eye out for ya…

Nintendo recently unveiled a new WiFi USB connector as part of their latest attempt to release a line of Nintendo-branded wireless products. As soon as you insert this dongle into your PC (no Mac-compatibility at this time — bummer), a window will open to establish a link between it and your DS. After going through three option screens, you’ll be online. The dongle is jointly developed with Buffalo Technology, which will also release Nintendo WiFi Station access points to stores in Japan, to create instant DS “hot spots.” The WiFi connector dongle will go on sale in Europe in November for about ?30, though there’s no word on availability stateside. Source via Gizmodo