The UPEK Eikon Digital Privacy Manager now supports Mac. But those PC guys didn’t make it that easy - you still need to download the Windows version than download the Mac version for a working “preview” version.

The Eikon USB finger scanners allows log-in during power-up, after awaking from sleep and can be further configured at the admin level settings. The UPEK offers all this from the swipe of a finger.

The PC version of the Eikon Digital Privacy Manager started shipping earlier this year for $39.99 with the current Mac version available as beta with full suite to follow.

Is that a PC in the background… Interested?

Is your UFD stuffed with portable applications? Do you find yourself constantly exploring the USB drive to launch your program? If so, forget about it. Use PStart.

I while back I wrote an article about 55 Portable Applications to Make a Super Stick - well that list is nothing without the PStart tray tool. (PStart is apart of that list too).

Pstart is a simple tray tool to start user defined applications from their flash drive. Designed to run portable applications you can start anything without actually opening up and exploring your flash drive - do it right from your desktop tray.

Of course Pstart is as portable as your applications and will work on any PC system.

PStart has four useful tabs to help in your daily routine. Items, Search, Notes and Info. Here’s a break down: (more…)

Sure Notepad is basic and free for a text editor, but if you’re a webmaster worth your salt, Notepad wont do. UltraEdit has been around for years and is now available to launch from your U3 flash drive.

Running UltraEdit U3 Software from a UFD is ideal because this powerful program installs once, doesn’t mess with registry files and is 100% portable.

UltraEdit is a text editor and offers much more…

…configure it for your favorite preferences like syntax highlighting, code folding, basic or advanced menus/toolbars, add your macros, scripts, user-defined tools, and/or FTP/SFTP account information—all in a “digital briefcase” no larger than the size of a stick of gum.

The trial version is 45 days and full price of the software is $49. A small investment for the web guru.

Grab the free trial at U3 headquarters or click the publisher IDM Computer Solutions. Not sure what U3 is? Read this.

IOCELL introduced their version of the U3 launch pad - I like the name better - very direct with “USB Computer.” U3 might have gotten more traction with that name.

IOCELL created a launch pad to provide the user with an easy-to-use interface for launching portable applications. Really, the same thing as U3, the difference being IOCELL gives you the ability to make any application portable for storing and running off your UFD.

It appears IOCELL (like U3) uses a micro-controller (chip logic) to confirm the drive is a “USB Computer” version and thus launches the IOCELL interface without seeing the default Windows screen “What do you want Windows to do?” question. IOCELL is calling this COB Technology (Chip-On-Board).

To get the IOCELL with COB Technology look for the Castella brand name. Available from 1GB to 4GB sizes.

Looking to install U3 on a regular flash drive? It won’t happen and this is why…

Source: IOCELL

A few days ago I posted 55 Portable Applications to Make a USB Super Stick, well this one should have been included. Clean My Registry by Smart PC is a free registry maintenance utility.

Clean My Registry is for Windows operating systems and ideal for loading on your U3 flash drive. A great house cleaning tool since the registry can get fragmented and cluttered with everyday use this is nice to have.

Download the U3 Software Clean My Registry for free (2MB)

Update: This post has been amazing and generated a lot of interest.  To make things easier, I have compiled a USB Super Stick for you.  If you are interested in a 1GB drive with all the apps [below] for $20 - shoot me an email: gmo<at>getusb.info and I’ll send you more details.

USB flash is not (yet) a portable PC whereby any USB KVM monitor is your work station - but it will get there. In the mean time, making the most of your USB stick and creating a portable software suite isn’t hard - you just need a little guidance. So… for you road-warriors or super geeks the following list of 55 portable applications are worth taking note. With 2GB, 4GB and 8GB drives readily available at extremely cheap prices making a portable software suite and creating a Super Stick is quite easy.

When building your Super Stick there are numerous programs designed to run specifically from a USB drive. Best of all, almost all these programs are free, so put that Amex back in your wallet and lets start downloading. Here’s a list of 55 of the most useful USB programs around. (more…)

FMWeb School released a USB security dongle which ties in with FileMaker database solutions - USB Sentry. It’s like the database is hard coded to the UFD device. The inviting point about this solution is when a database developer sells the customs solution the USB Sentry insures unauthorized copies of the database are not distributed. You need the physical security stick to launch and install the database.

Here is a typical scenario:

You sell your solution to your client. They pass it around the office and email it to their friends. Suddenly you hard work is being passed around for free. You are losing money since they are only buying single copies of your software.

USB Sentry is a USB security technology that allows you to distribute your database on UFD and ties your custom application to that UFD device. Your software is bound to that specific drive. Now they can no longer use multiple copies of your software since it will not open without the correct USB stick. (more…)