Cross marketing is pushing the limit each day and to prove my point, Santa Cruz has just released the SkateDrive. It’s a USB flash drive shaped like one of their popular board designs. We saw the USB surfdrive a while back, so I guess it’s not that big of a stretch.
According to Zedomax, my source…and ya the guy who blogs while drinking beer [see the list of articles below – yet again proving my point] the…
Action Sport Drives have teamed up with Santa Cruz to create the first and only authentic USB Flash Drive skateboards. We’ve combined this innovative design with the graphics from actual Santa Cruz skateboard.
So what other crazy things does Max write about while hitting the bottle?
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You may have seen the term Steampunk before, you may even have seen this USB Steampunk drive before – it’s a fantasy like design based off steam power for this USB gadget. Enjoy the detailed pictures then brush up on Steampunk history at the footer:
Mac from Zedomax picked up a nice story on turning a wine cork into a USB stick. Why ask you say? So wine companies can data load the cork with company history, processing methods and other marketing spin (mood setting music) to give the ultimate crushed grapes experience. You couldn’t do this with CDs or DVDs that’s for sure.
Hmm, that title came out a little weird. Anyway, Vladimir released updated versions of his USB wood drives to include some odd shapes that include, what looks like to me, a mushroom, tree stump, wooden tooth and a fluted casing.
Wooden Jewelery is offering these for $20 [1GB] and $30 [2GB]. The wood drives come with a leather lanyard and a quality case. The line is called MEMORE and there is a full selection available with larger shapes and sizes to choose from.
So what else do you get for the $20 or $30? Well, for starters you get a very unique wood USB drive perfect to start any conversation. Not only does your USB drive hold valuable data, but the wood case is valuable too. To prove that point you can explain [depending on what you get] that a Bog Oak drive has been created from wood that is carbon dated back 1,300 years. Or Yew Root drives have been carbon dated back 600 years.
A quote from the creator:
…I prefer to work in wood because it is a living material…
-Vladimir Levestam
I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but Texas Hold’em in the US is a very popular past time right now. In fact, I got 2nd place last night in my neighborhood poker tournament. Well, Dane-Memory is a fan too. Dane-Electronic made 1GB and 2GB USB poker chips.
The size is official but I’m wondering if the chip has that clay feel to it? The USB poker chip splits in half when being used. Top half is the cap and the bottom half has the USB connection and memory. Red is 1GB and blue is 2GB.
For the Texas Hold’em enthusiast you might want to pick up several of these USB poker chips, as now you can go “all in” using your personal financial records as liquid cash.
USB poker chip product page.
Source:Â UberGizmo.
**Mike [Dane-Elec Irvina CA – send me a comment if you’ve seen/used this chip before]
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With over 5,300 Diggs, I figure this would be a good article to report about on how to make a sawed-off USB key. Nothing about this project is too technical, but the idea is clever enough it’s gained a lot of attention.
The sawed off UFD is a mod of using a slim Kingmax USB drive, USB cable and some glue + knife for a very cool looking storage device.
The intro line to this tutorial from the main page is:
“Holy crap– somebody just went and TORE MY FREAKING USB CABLE IN HALF while it was still attached to my laptop!!!
No– wait– sorry. That’s just my USB drive. My bad. Never mind.”
Which I think is pretty funny.
So besides getting a slim Kingmax USB drive (here is a 4GB for $15), you will need the following:Â USB cable, X-acto knife, glue, pliers, small screwdriver and some mad cutting skills.
First thing you will want to do is cut open the female end of the USB cable so you can insert the memory for storage. It’s fairly straight forward in the process. Some additional pictures are available
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OWC is giving you GB hungry data hoggers some extra storage space. Their new 500GB Mercury portable hard drive is their largest [portable] edition yet. It’s got Firewire and USB connectivity to support any gear you’re dealing with. A couple concerns I have are a) it’s a 5400 RPM hard drive, which is standard for portable hard drives – but I like 7200 RPM, and since the Mercury is b) bus powered, the 7200 RPM wont see the light of day. As I’ve mentioned before, if you are looking for serious use off your USB hard drive, don’t deal with bus powered devices.
So given those two knocks, it’s still super slim for a half Terabyte of data storage, and at just $359 it’s doable, but I’ve seen plenty of options out there.
Nothing posted on OWC’s site for purchase, but check their homepage and use the search function.
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Iomega is shifting it’s focus to the consumers with more disposable income, the gamers. Well at least in theory. The Iomega Media Xporter is a portable 160GB hard drive designed to seamlessly integrate with cross-platform applications to PlayStation 3 consoles and Xbox 360 console.
With the gaming console become more of a home entertainment center, it’s Iomega’s goal to provide the tools to enjoy photo’s, video, music and games without hassle. The Media Xporter allows users to experience all the above without a PC. Once more, the photo’s and video will look stunning on a hi-def TV since the PlayStation and Xbox support HDMI as well as HDTV connectivity.
I don’t know about you, but a family function or get together would be a lot more fun sharing photo’s on a sweet flat screen then huttled up over a computer monitor. The Media Xporter makes this a simple and easy process.
The 160GB Iomega Media Xporter drive is power via USB 2.0 and will retail for $120. Although I do have some concerns about a bus powered USB hard drive.
Source: Coolest-Gadgets. Media Xporter product page.
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I’m on the left coast, so not exactly sure on why Pexagon had the motivation to create a New Yorker USB Hard Drive [customer request], but none-the-less, it’s here and available.
The Pexagon New Yorker hard drive has over 4,000 issues of the East Coast’s favorite magazine. The Complete New Yorker gives you instant access to every poem, short story, cartoon and ad since the magazine’s inception back in 1925.
Pexagon is known for their engraving to USB storage devices and The Complete New Yorker is no exception. The hard drive measures 3 x 5 inches and has a brushed aluminum front with beautifully etched New Yorker logo and icon. The magazine archive takes up a small percentage of the 80GB hard drive so the $65 price tag gets you not only storage but a great opportunity to educate yourself and become well read if you’ve been living under a rock for the past 80 years.
I would imagine someone interested in this would need to be a die hard fan of the magazine, so now the question is: Are you?
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Accordian USB drive, are you kidding me? This is nothing more than silicone wrapped around a USB adapter port. Sure you could slap some marketing gargon on there, like accordion USB drive, but we’ll all see past it.
None the less, I didn’t think of it so kudos to Jacek Ryn for such an idea. You can see his little gadget trap at Poland’s Fine Arts in Gdansk.
The concept is fairly simple and straight forward. Put a USB port and memory device into an accordion shaped silicone casing and call it something new.
Sorry, but this stuff kills me.Source:Â Core77.
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The typical UFD sticking out of your laptop is probably nothing more than fancy shaped plastic, or possibly wood or even gold ($6,000). Today we look at the softer, fuzzier side of UFDs. Paul from Technabob uncovered these fuzzy little USB critters, created by a design artist Nifer Fahrion.
Nifer Fahrion has two version of her fuzzy USBs. The one above is called Maggie the Maggot and the one below is named Gizzy the Data Worm. I’d opt for Gizzy if I had to choose.
Honestly, I think these fuzzy guys are an example of what some kids could do on a rain day to kill some time. Grab some material, glue and let the imagination run wild. I’m tempted to try this myself and turn it into a USB tutorial, but I don’t think anyone would care or try.
SO, with that being said – if I’m off base and you digg this kinda stuff, hop on over to Technabob’s post or Nifer’s site and get ready to drop your $66 on a 4GB original.
Source: Technabob.
As an after-thought, if you are looking for another home-project, how about turning a Pez dispensor into something interesting.
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Not that fee shipping on a USB drive should put anyone over the edge, but consider an 8GB Kingston drive for only $32 – now that’s a deal worth jumping on board [for].
This GetUSB Dealz has no rebates or coupons, just raw savings. The Kingston DataTraveler was originaly $54 but is reduced to $32 and change.
This particular model has the flip-out USB connector which I’ve always been a fan. The mechanism reduces the device size and helps protect the product for a longer lasting unit.
So here is the company line:DataTraveler 110 contains room for high-definition photos, graphics-intensive documents, videos, spreadsheets, presentations, term papers, and music that can be stored and retrieved in a flash. Sleek, practical, and attractively designed, the affordable DataTraveler 110 serves the needs of the budget-conscious user as well as those looking for significant storage capacity in a lightweight, compact design. DataTraveler 110 features a retractable USB connector for ease of use and safe housing.
