Ahh, Budweiser.  I could use a nice cold one right now, but I don’t think this USB beer drive is the answer.  First off, it’s not cold - which is how I like it.

Clearly a promotional USB drive for a trade show give-away, this Budweiser stick is the first I’ve ever seen with liquid inside the plastic case.  Then again, taking just 5 seconds to think about this and review the picture, there is no way liquid is inside.  Rather that’s some nice looking brown plastic and fake white bubbles for an ever-so-real look.  How could this thing still have carbonation?

If you’re a fool and think this USB drive is drinkable - then you really do need a drink.

Source [who could use a beer] TechEBlog.

Interactive motion control games are definitely at the top of most kid’s lists.   The Wii was so popular we’ve got blogs about it, and last Christmas it was THE gift to give.  This year, another motion control game piece might be the hot ticket.  Actiga is announcing a full line of mini-motion controllers for gaming this fall.  Below is a picture of those hard-to-get finger skateboards, mounted on a pivot ball and connects via USB.

USB controllers will be available for both Mac and PC systems in versions that look like realistic skateboards, RC Cars, baseball, and a futuristic racing vehicle. Each of the controllers will connect via USB and will sell for $19.99. It’s not clear if the controller has games built-in like the plug-and-play devices for TV or if they are simply controllers to be used with other PC games already on the market.

The USB finger skateboard would be an ideal controller stick for your kids favorite skateboard game.

Source:  EverythingUSB.

ION Audio has a handful of vinyl to digital audio converter products.  However, the ION LP-2-Flash is their first to directly off-load vinyl audio to a USB stick, USB hard drive and even SD card.  The LP-2-Flash is a standalone, PC-less vinyl audio ripper for simple operation for even the most lazy music junkie.

The LP-2-Flash has a built in SD slot where you can directly load up your flash memory.  The process fully logs, categorizes and separates the audio tracks and digitally converts them to MP3.  If you aren’t into SD then USB is equally available.  Now, connecting your USB stick or HDD for vinyl download is just as easy.

Sample rates up to 192kHz.  Wow. (more…)

People get attached to their USB flash sticks.  They really do.  If you don’t use one or have a USB stick then you probably wouldn’t understand the statement.  Because of this personal attachment one has with their flash drive, we continually see high-dollar, high-end USB sticks which most deem ridiculous.  We call it passion.

Case-in-point:  The ZaNA Sterling Silver USB stick is beautiful as ever and now available in a convenient 8GBs.

To show you some of the craftsman ship which goes into the ZaNa stick Sebatian Zach states:

The modern and elegant design is obtained through the following materials: carbonic fibre, which is used in Formula I racing cars, exclusive wood such as wenge and teak, and Swarovski zirconia with displays the exceptional diamond sheen.

ZaNa Sterling Silver USB sticks are not only a fine modern gadget noticed by anyone with an eye for style, but also a practical tool in daily life, work and entertainment.

The Sterling Silver USB stick comes with a variety of options such as sterling silver lanyard or leather strap with a silver clasp.  Sizes available from 2GB through 8GBs.

To inquire about availability, visit: www.zanadesign.eu

For the limited number of you who visit GetUSB.info and work in a large, corporate environment, the Nortel virtual office USB stick might be your answer to working from home.  The Nortel virtual office is a plug-n-play stick to provide any remote user instant access to the company server via VPN.

Access privileges can be set according to user IP address or authentication strength from data input.  Nortel’s VPN Gateway will authenticate the remote connection request and approve connection based on the information provided.

This is a great solution for remote users who are looking for top level security over a Virtual Private Network.  A Nortel customer gives one good example of use:

Dr Zafar Chaudry, director of IT for Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Community-based midwives … will be using Nortel Secure Portable Office with hospital-provided laptops, 3G wireless data cards and Nortel Mobile Client Accelerator to securely access, review and update server-based medical records from patient homes.

(more…)

Intel released a draft specification for USB 3.0 or SuperSpeed USB. The Extensible Host Controller Interface or xHCI provides a standard method for USB 3.0 host controllers to communicate with the USB 34.0 software stacks.

Both AMD and Nvidia voiced complaints earlier in the year that Intel hasn’t released update information to make the new spec an open industry standard and an easy path for transition. Today’s release is Intel’s answer to that request.

Dell, Microsoft and NEC also support the release because the xHCI will expedite the industry transition to next-generation USB 3.0 technology.

One important factor in adopting SuperSpeed USB products is interoperability between multiple devices from different manufacturers. The xHCI draft specification revision 0.9 aims to make interoperability easier to implement, while also making it easier for developers to create software support for the market.

The next revision update is expected at the end of 2008 with revision number xHCI 0.95. So no SuperSpeed USB yet, but the big boys are working their way to it.

Source: CRN.

Nexcopy announced their new 20 target SD Duplicator earlier today. Definitely a device for the ubergeek who’s into data loading Secure Digital media. At first glance you ask yourself “Who’d want 20 copies of their SD card from their camera?” But it’s clear Nexcopy isn’t chasing down the guys looking to make a 100 copies of their weekend Vegas photos [or are they?]. The SD duplicator is geared towards companies who send out software applications on SD cards for field devices, or need to manage a large number of miniSD cards for an army of Palm Pilots.

The SD200PC also works with microSD cards so the phone companies will have a field day loading up their phones with promo material for lucky customers. Which makes sense, because these Smartphones and PDAs are getting so powerful and the media has so much capacity, many people keep most of their data on microSD cards these days.

The unit connects via USB and has 20 numbered SD ports so it’s easy to identify which SD card is which. The unit comes with software that supports FAT and FAT32 formats and includes NTFS support with their bit-for-bit copy function which also supports Linux distribution packages for those embedded applications these ubergeeks seem to dream up. All SD formats are supports and for the not-so-techy users, the Nexcopy software has a job wizard to guide you through the SD duplication process.

The SD duplicator has a list price of $1,299 and available for immediate delivery. (more…)