With USB gadgets like this, it’s hard to imagine how companies like ADT stay in business for residential customers. This functional USB wall charger includes a miniature camera that acts as a discreet surveillance device. You can plug any USB gadget into it for charging while simultaneously recording or streaming video of whatever falls within its field of view.

Using your Android or iPhone, you can stream video directly to the companion app or share access with a group of authorized users. The spy camera records 1080p HD video and also saves footage to the included 32GB microSD card. As a bonus, the camera can be configured to record only when motion is detected.

The camera view is fixed directly in front of the wall plug, so there is no ability to pan or tilt the lens. That limitation is easy enough to work around by choosing an outlet that aligns with the area you want to monitor.

Here are some noteworthy features included at the low price of $29 USD:

• Motion Detection – Can be configured to record only when motion is detected and send notifications directly to your phone.
• Loop Recording – Automatically overwrites older footage to allow continuous recording.
• Night Mode – Supports recording in dim or low-light environments.
• Multi-User Support – Allows multiple users to connect to the same device, supporting up to eight users.
• Multi-Camera Viewing – Supports up to eight cameras within the same app or software environment.

The Evela spy camera comes with a 32GB microSD card and a USB dongle for reviewing recorded footage. The low-light recording feature works particularly well. For a $29 investment, this device makes sense for frequent travelers who want to check in on their home while away. Another practical use case is monitoring a babysitter or nanny. You can never be too careful, and at this price point, the barrier to entry is minimal.

Visit the product page for the USB wall charger and surveillance camera to see ordering details and customer reviews. The product carries a four-star rating and has been well received.

For background information, Wikipedia offers a general overview of surveillance, which is worth reading before crossing the line into nanny-cam territory.

Today, Hynix put out a press release on their Gold S31 solid-state drive (SSD). The SATA III, first generation, is the first of their SuperCore series of products.

With a 560MB/s read speed, this device becomes an ideal SSD for high-demand users such as gamers. What’s also somewhat unique about the new Gold S31 drives is that they are entirely built in-house.

“All key components in Gold S31, from NAND flash and built-in controller to DRAM and firmware, were designed and produced by SK Hynix. The in-house components are built for robust performance and reliability,” SK Hynix says.

What’s more interesting, at least for us right now, is the history of SK Hynix we uncovered while researching the company.

I always wondered what happened to Maxtor, an optical media giant in the early 2000s. It turns out SK Hynix acquired them. Today, SK Hynix is the third-largest conglomerate in South Korea.

Hynix is the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker (after Samsung) and the world’s third-largest semiconductor company. Founded as Hyundai Electronic Industrial Co., Ltd. in 1983, the company has continued to grow steadily ever since.

Hynix memory is well known for quality and is used in products made by Apple, Asus, Google, Dell, Nexcopy, and Hewlett-Packard.

The company also merged with LG Semiconductors in 1999.

These guys reported an operating income of $18 billion for 2018, so this is a company with serious capital and a willingness to spend it to stay competitive. We say good luck with your SSD product in the United States.

Press release source

Source for company history

Came across an article today that I thought was a very good read. It’s a niche topic, but for anyone who deals with flash drives or media distribution, it’s worth checking out.

From the article:

The optical drive is nearly dead — no longer found in laptops and only rarely included in desktop PCs. As a result, the trend for distributing data has shifted toward USB flash drives instead of CDs or DVDs. Because of this shift, many companies are taking a closer look at purchasing a USB duplicator.

There are several factors to consider before spending thousands of dollars on duplication equipment. The article breaks the most important considerations into four categories. After reviewing these areas, you should have a much clearer understanding of which type of duplicator best fits your organization.

USB Duplication Speed

Speed is the first area to evaluate. This isn’t just about raw copy speed. It also includes the number of USB sockets, the user interface, and how much operational feedback is available during a copy session. Questions worth asking include:

# How many USB drives will you need to copy in a day or week?

# How large is the data load in MB or GB?

# What turnaround time is required between request and completion?

# Is printing or branding required on the USB devices?

# Do you need proof of performance via log files or reports?

Answering these questions helps define the type of USB duplicator you should be looking at: how many ports, what performance level, and what software features are necessary for your workflow.

Your Production Crew

The next step is understanding who will actually be running the equipment. Will the system be operated by non-technical staff, or by IT professionals? Does the organization need to restrict access to the system or protect the data content during the duplication process?

This often depends on how the content is delivered. A duplication company might receive physical master drives from clients, while a fulfillment operation might receive files automatically from an online ordering system or internal server.

Another consideration is scale. Will the organization deploy multiple duplicators across different geographic locations? Many global companies standardize on a single manufacturer so the workflow, training, and support experience remain consistent worldwide.

Understanding the people, environment, and operational requirements goes a long way toward narrowing the field.

Read-Only vs. Read-Write

The third category is the final state of the USB media being shipped. Should the drives be read-only, or remain read-write? By default, all standard flash drives are read-write. That introduces risk: files can be deleted, modified, or infected after distribution.

Because of this, many organizations look for USB duplicators that support creating read-only (write-protected) media. With this approach, files cannot be deleted, formatted, or altered, and malware cannot write itself onto the drive. It’s a practical safeguard for training material, software distribution, compliance data, and controlled documentation.

Nexcopy is cited in the article as a world leader in read-only flash drive duplication systems and is used as an example of the type of platform organizations evaluate for secure media production.

Read the full article here