Verbatim has been busy these days.  On Monday we reported about the Verbatim USB Tuff Clip flash drive, and today Verbatim is announcing their new Tuff-N-Tiny USB flash drive.

At the thickness of a penny and about twice as long, the Tuff-n-Tiny USB drive is available in 4 & 8GB sizes.  It’s almost the side of microSD card.

The stick gets so incredibly small, because of it’s SIP technology which encapsulates all of the electronic components into a single miniaturized and sealed unit. As a result, the tiny drives are resistant to dust, water and static discharges.

Our comment about this drive, and any other drive which uses the same USB contacts [image below] (more…)

Verbatim turned 40 this year and one of the products they have released to celebrate is the USB TUFF CLIP flash drive.  Designed for the everyday use by a teen or college student the USB TUFF CLIP is made of ABS plastic and includes a retractable USB connector.  In addition the TUFF CLIP comes with the obvious carabineer clip.

The clip is the compelling part about this project, as you can pick up a 4 or 8GB flash drive just about anywhere.  The clip is well designed to fasten the flash drive to backpacks, key chains, belt loops and notebooks.  With a capless design the caps wont fall off or get lost while dangling from your person.

The 4 [light blue] & 8GB [black] drives are priced at $29 and $39 respectively. (more…)

Back in June of 2009 I made a joke that GetUSB.info had a USB Steampunk award, now I’m seriously considering it.  Especially after seeing this new rendition.

This USB steampunk drive was made by a Russian modder.  He traveled to a local rag fair [I’m assuming street fair] to pick up old clock parts and gears.  The guy also picked up some stock brass tubing and screw rods to build a sturdy housing.  Then off the the metal shop.

The source website, EnglishRussia, has the entire tutorial on how to do this crafty artwork.  It’s far more interesting than educational, so if you are curious about the (more…)

The blogosphere has been talking quite a bit about the new LaCie USB key chains, in fact, I did a post just the other day about them.  Well, yesterday LaCie sent GetUSB.info the iamaKey model.  Here she is in the wild.

The iamaKey is a beautiful drive.  Extremely solid, heavy and doesn’t scratch easily.  LaCie put a lot of effort into the design and material selection to make one outstanding drive.  I’ve used dozens of flash keys  and most end up failing and in the trash.  With the durability I see here, the iamaKey will last.

So here’s the deal…I’m going to keep the iamaKey on my keychain until it breaks.  I use USB sticks daily so there will be frequent tests.  I’ve also been known to forget my keys in my pants, which ultimately ends up in the wash…so there are many stress test opportunities.

I’ll report back when the device fails, but don’t expect an update anytime soon.

Silicon Systems introduces their new USB Blade SiliconDrive, an ultra slim, ultra small USB drive designed for embedded applications.

Although it’s not the first embedded USB drive we’ve seen, it does have the smallest foot print.

Silicon Systems put the USB Blade out for those seeking additional storage where space is a big concern. Designed for shock, vibration and temperature changes the USB Blade does aid in the embedded applications market.

At the size no bigger than a postage stamp, the USB Blade includes Silicon Systems PowerArmor, SiSMART and (more…)

Buffalo figured out a way to turbo boost USB 2.0 to claim increased transfer speed of up-to 60%.

So what’s the deal? Buffalo gives no detail to this increased performance and makes a broad statement about Windows and Mac compatibility for the two new USB Turbo products, the MiniStation and DriveStation.

I would figure Buffalo addressed power issues as many USB devices have poor power management which directly effects performance.

The Buffalo MiniStation with Turbo USB is a portable storage device designed to withstand durable environment such as bumps, drops and turbulence (what?) you’d experience in everyday life.

The Buffalo DriveStation with Turbo USB is a tower configuration ideal for home or office and includes a 7200 RPM SATA drive with Turbo USB enhancements.

The MiniStation has a price range of $99 to $250
The DriveStation has a price range of $130 to $500.

Buffalo Turbo USB information page

Rugged flash drives have been a trend these last couple months. Manufacturers see how popular flash drives continue to be and conclude a more durable version is needed for every day use. So along with the never-ending quest of more data storage, manufacturers are developing ways to make UFDs last longer and handle more abuse.

We put the question out there, “What’s the worst your flash drive went through?” and this is what we found:

It’s predictable that our most popular abuse was dropping them. Although it doesn’t sound like a much, it can be. Flash drives - well the memory in them - are sensitive and cannot take large amounts of shock. Many times dropping a drive from your table top is good enough to damage the drive.

I did find it interesting the next most frequent UFD abuse came from submersing them in water. I’ll assume in this case, the most common mistake is forgetting about the drive and accidentally washing it.

Whatever your daily routine, it’s worth taking an extra few minutes to search out the right flash drive for your habits. Rugged flash drives will become more popular as 1) materials drop in price to build a better box and 2) users continue to put more and more valuable information on their flash drives. (more…)