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…)

Smart PC Solutions certified their Smart Data Recovery Software (like there’s a dumb version) for the U3 portable UFD platform.

The data recovery U3 software supports FAT and NTFS drives and easily recovers data from any flash type for use with any USB powered gadget like; hard disk, digital camera, UFDs basically any flash memory. What you may like about this package is the ability to recover files of any type and even when the partiation table is lost!

(more…)

There are times when my Avast Home Edition Security Software seems to lock up for 3 to 5 minutes downloading the latest update or version. Although it’s not a lot of time, the repeated event grinds on my nerves. For that reason I was very pleased to read about the Yoggie Pico Security System.

The first of it’s kind, the Yoggie Pico device is a self contained mini computer on a USB stick which runs and manages 13 different security applications.

At first thought - doesn’t seem like much - why not load up 13 security applications on your computer and save a USB port? Well, the beauty lies within the combination of a self contained unit, a processor to run it self and the combination of hardware and software to protect your computer. (more…)

Jungo’s Software Connectivity Business Unit, a market leading provider of USB software protocol stacks, driver development tools and testing tools, today announced the release of version 1.01 of its USBTester product line: a software USB testing tool that enables USB developers to quickly validate their USB devices for USB compatibility, Chapter 9 conformance and mass storage functionality and performance.

A thoughtful feature Jungo included with this release version is the ability to configure read and write tests to any block size. I’m especially pleased with this configuration option as I spoke with Matan Naor of Jungo to implement this ability. Thanks! It allows developers to test their code when optimizing for different packet sizes in their embedded firmware. (more…)

The announcement of Microsoft developing a UFD platform to replace U3 could turn into a similar battle we saw 25 years ago between VHS and Betamax.

Major suppliers have already dropped the U3 platform because of high royalty fees (around 5%) to bundle less expensive software which does the same thing. As these suppliers, like Kingston and Memorex, begin to choose the alternate like Migo Software, a heated war could surface between flash drive manufacturers.

Originally SanDisk partnered with M-Systems to develop the U3 solution, but as time went on, SanDisk bought out M-Systems and the evolution of U3 continues with this most recent partnership.

Microsoft is developing the software platform and SanDisk will continue offering their hardware for a total solution (yes, it’s a hardware/software thing). In addition, SanDisk and Microsoft will bundle in the TrustedFlash security technology developed by SanDisk.

“The U3 platform was established with the vision of giving customers a consistent and portable computing experience. The existing 20,000 U3 software developers that joined us show the potential for smart flash memory devices,” said Yoram Cedar, executive vice president of the mobile business unit and corporate engineering at SanDisk.

“We expect this relationship with Microsoft will raise the overall experience for consumers given Microsoft’s unique software expertise, and grow the momentum given the large community of 3rd party companies capable of utilizing Microsoft’s technologies.”

The migration process for the 20,000 U3 developers is a straight forward and simple one - Microsoft puts the pressure back on you to make the migration. Microsoft did say there will be tools to ad in the process, but the bottom line is U3 developers better get cracking if they want to see the light-of-day come mid 2008.

With YouSendIt you can email attachments up to 2GBs. Forget FTP sites and the hassle of uploads, downloads, zip, unzip.

The service lets you do everything via a simple email interface and anyone can receive the email with simple instructions on how to grab the attachment.

With YouSendIt now portable on U3 flash drives it makes for a nice addition to your U3 arsenal of software. (more…)