I don’t think anyone is tired of USB flash drives, but I’m sure there are a large group of flash memory enthusiasts that would appreciate a Firewire flash drive. Maybe MacFanBoy? Maybe someone who’s eaten up all their USB ports with silly USB gadgets.
Kanguru Solutions has a 6 pin Firewire flash drive ranging from 1GB to 8Gbs with prices ranges from $99 to $219 respectively. It’s plug-n-play with most operating systems (Win 98 will need drivers) and includes a USB cable for converter connectivity.
I’d really like to see the performance between the Fire Flash and an equally sized USB drive. I’d expect the same transfer rates – or close enough only an Ubergeek wouldn’t notice a difference.
Kanguru Fire Flash product page.
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Designed by Undoboy, a member of the Spear Collection, Mimobot introduces the King and Queen series.
Patterned with all the royal shapes of diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades the USB King and USB Queen collection is another unique design from Mimoco.
Included in the limited edition USB drive is a short animation, wallpapers and icons. What is odd about this release is Mimobot labeling the series as “R” and “Not For Kids” The response from Mimoco:
The content on the King and Queen units contains footage of artists using expletives, being extremely frank, etc…
As a foot note; Mimobot is running a 25% OFF back to school sale so if any of their characters where the right design, but the wrong price (like their Starwars Stormtropper or Chewbacca) – might be worth another revisit.
Source: MimocoContinue Reading
A company called Suck UK is about to launch this UFD cleverly disguised as a cassette tape. Nothing more than some creative packaging. So why am I writing about this? Because the other products on their website are absolutely classic for a good laugh. Such as Suck UK’s Smoking Mittens, Razorblade Mirror, Cardboard Mini Arcade and the list wouldn’t be complete without the Emergency Money Box. More fun stuff, check them out.
As for the USB stick in a cassette box, it’s available end of September and sizes are yet to be announced. If by chance you have a library of cassette tapes needing to be digitized than check out our post from the other day on a USB Cassette Archiver.
So what exactly are we looking at? Mimobot USB characters have always been a little off in their design, but I guess that’s why their following is so strong. Or is it?
Nine new models came out last week and they are strange – must be based off the characters in the animated movie, Chicken Little. So lets do a quick run-down.
Row One:
PSY mimobot
Ptry mimobot
PupStar mimobot
RayD8 mimobot
How do they come up with these names?
Row Two:
Galacula mimobot (Okay that makes sense)
Gigglebyte mimobot
Fairybit mimobot
Owsley Owlbert mimobot
The straggler Swirl mimobot.
Each Mimobot is available from 512MB to 4GB size and range in price from $40 to $110. As with most Mimobots these fun little USB characters are manufactured in only 2,000 quantity so if one strikes-your-fancy; get it!
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This SATA/IDE to USB converter kit would be the easiest way to clone your hard drive and finally upgrade your laptop storage space. However, the combo kit isn’t limited to just 2.5 inch hard drives but includes connection support for 1.8, 3.5 and 5.25 inch hard drives along with CD-ROM drives, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD blah blah blah – anything in 5.25 inch size.
The USB to SATA/IDE combo kit is fully compliant with USB 2.0 so you can expect maximum transfer speeds of 480Mbps (yet that never happens) and plug-n-play connectivity with hot-swap support. For the techie, the chipset used in this guy is JMicron-JM20337.
With $3 shipping for any order this converter kit to go from USB to SATA/IDE (product page) puts you back exactly $32USD. Takes about 7 days to receive anywhere in the world.
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The new IOCELL UFD, the mDrive, is a slick design from the leading Korean design firm, InnoDesign. Young Kim is creating a Korean focus for this drive based off the national flag or Taeguk-ki, which emphasizes beauty and balance.
Wearing the mDrive means one has come into the deep philosophy of Taeguk and breaths the cosmos it creates.
Hmm…I know the American culture isn’t much into karma (isn’t that obvious!) but philosophy aside, this is still one slick looking flash drive. InnoDesign put specific detail into the color and lines of the drive to reflect the balance of the Korean flag. I especially like the small metal lanyard clip as it appears as durable as one would need not to lose those valuable personal files. The gold plated USB connector style also makes the drive very resilient against water damage.
If the USB A$$ Blower didn’t satisfy your need for fresh air then maybe a more subtle approach is needed…a more politically correct way of freshening up your office space. How about fresh fruit straight from a flash drive?
The crazy UFDs coming out these days are a stretch to grab marketing share; however I for one believe putting a little fresh-n-fruity smell into the air is a great idea. As not to leave any one preference out of mind, select from orange, strawberry, grape and apple. But you probably figured that out from the picture.
This is a pre-launch announcement from Microdia as the drives are not yet available. But they are expected to generate fruitful results.
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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: IOCELLContinue Reading
When the Chaps from across the pond talk about tea and biscuits I don’t think this is what they had in mind. Chris Ollis introduced me to his concept USB chassis design, the USB-iscuit Biscuit.
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For those not familiar with European biscuits, we’re talking about cookies. Chris developed several flash drives from ripping apart standard flash drives and applying some creativity to a handful of joke biscuits cookies.
He’s looking to take the next step and move into manufacturering, so if SolidAlliance is listening here is some contact information to get these USB-iscuits to mass market. Chris (dot) Ollis (at) InterTwined (dot) co (dot) uk
Memorex went to the streets with the M-Flyer Pilot TravelDrive UFD. Using the retractable USB connector design we’ve seen before, Memorex changed it up a spring loaded USB connector. So with the click of a button the USB connector pops-in and pops-out.
With the capless design flash drive, Memorex also bundles in some 256-bit encryption security software also called their Portable Vault Software.
Several colors are available (blue and red) which color arrangement is dependent upon storage capacity.
Blue = 4GB. Red = 2GB. $79 and $49 respectively.
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It’s a little slow today on the USB front so we’ll take a closer look at a new flash technology from Toshiba. Yesterday Toshiba announced a hybrid flash memory technology which should be a great boost for the mobile phone industry.
Going along the concept of Readyboost, where by you have two memory sources working together to enhance performance, the break through Toshiba made is a hybrid of two current memory technologies, SLC and MLC memory.
So here are the nuts.
Single Level Cell (SLC) memory is best suited for storing information like programs and applications. SLC memory is designed to be a fast performer for such ‘stored’ data.
Multi Level Cell (MLC) memory is best suited for data being used by programs and applications. The MLC memory has a better physical space ratio compared to SLC and is thus better for storing video, images and music.
Up until now, phone designers have had to factor the cost and the space to have two separate chips of both kinds in their designs, which has led to bigger phones.
With Toshiba’s new chip, mobile phone designers now have a choice about how much of each kind of memory they need incorporate into their phones.
Toshiba claims its latest memory-chip architecture will offer higher memory capacity, while allowing more compact mobile phone designs. Great – I don’t know about you but there definitely is a size limitation to how small a phone should be…although on the flip side the mobileLBA-NAND technology will give at least 8GB of storage. Available later this summer to mobile phone manufacturers, which means another six months it’ll hit the streets.
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USB sticks have long lost the luster of the early days when it was cool to have no matter what they looked like. Today, most of the ubiquitous sticks look like the computers they are meant for – pretty darn boring. Why not change that a little and add some soul to a otherwise lifeless object.
Here is a new release, the porcelain memory stick, a 1GB UFD in a handmade porcelain case featuring USB 2.0. The Porcelain Memory turns the traditional notion of a memory stick on its head and offers a hand crafted, beautifully glazed piece of technology in a non-tech body, and the presentation really shines when the operating LED starts glowing through the china.
To make each porcelain UFD unique each carries it’s own hand knit pouch. Not a USB deal at $125, but you would be the only one the block with one.
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Hmm…I know the American culture isn’t much into karma (isn’t that obvious!) but philosophy aside, this is still one slick looking flash drive. InnoDesign put specific detail into the color and lines of the drive to reflect the balance of the Korean flag. I especially like the small metal lanyard clip as it appears as durable as one would need not to lose those valuable personal files. The gold plated USB connector style also makes the drive very resilient against water damage.
It’s a little slow today on the USB front so we’ll take a closer look at a new flash technology from Toshiba. Yesterday Toshiba announced a hybrid flash memory technology which should be a great boost for the mobile phone industry.
Going along the concept of Readyboost, where by you have two memory sources working together to enhance performance, the break through Toshiba made is a hybrid of two current memory technologies, SLC and MLC memory.
So here are the nuts.
Single Level Cell (SLC) memory is best suited for storing information like programs and applications. SLC memory is designed to be a fast performer for such ‘stored’ data.
Multi Level Cell (MLC) memory is best suited for data being used by programs and applications. The MLC memory has a better physical space ratio compared to SLC and is thus better for storing video, images and music.
Up until now, phone designers have had to factor the cost and the space to have two separate chips of both kinds in their designs, which has led to bigger phones.
With Toshiba’s new chip, mobile phone designers now have a choice about how much of each kind of memory they need incorporate into their phones.
Toshiba claims its latest memory-chip architecture will offer higher memory capacity, while allowing more compact mobile phone designs. Great – I don’t know about you but there definitely is a size limitation to how small a phone should be…although on the flip side the mobileLBA-NAND technology will give at least 8GB of storage. Available later this summer to mobile phone manufacturers, which means another six months it’ll hit the streets.
Continue Reading
