Until June 4, 2007 you can get the mini Lexar 2GB JumpDrive FireFly for only $15. Actually, you can get it for $5 if you have never used Google Checkout and sign up for this purchase. Not bad for 2GBs and Lexar is an award winning flash drive manufacturer so you’re not going wrong with a slow device.
Here is the official sales pitch:
The powerful, high-speed Lexar FireFly has a simple plug-and-play design that allows you to quickly and easily transfer and store digital documents, photos, MP3 files, and video clips. So wherever you go, your information goes with you.
I’ve given tips on how to disable USB ports via security software or changing Windows USB register files, but the simplest way to secure a USB port is to block it.
The folks at Earth-Trek developed a swanky USB lock which uses the UFD shaped key to also house the USB locks.
As you can see in the picture, the key uses a mechanical lever type setup to insert the USB lock, then detach the key from the seated lock and the USB port is blocked.
Judging by the picture it might not be hard to tear out the USB lock, but you’ll probably make enough noise in the attempt to draw attention.
PQI has a thoughtful approach to USB Readyboost. Rather then sucking up a cherished external USB port PQI is taking an internal approach. Here you see a PQI 2GB memory enhancement for Readyboost via the USB header connector on a motherboard.
Although it might not enhance the performance of your Vista system, it is a nice internal solution. Maybe PQI knew Readyboost was a bunch of marketing hype and came out the champion to support the PC monopoly all-the-while keeping the commoner happy with the same number of USB ports.
But, putting some thought into PQI’s approach there is an advantage. One interesting possibility would be if you could boot from it, as it could make for a great companion for a media center machine if you run some kind of Linux version on it, as you don’t have to waste drive space on the OS.
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Today I found a flash drive I purchase back in January of 2004. I compared that drive performance to a brand new Kingston DataTraveler. I know the theoretical maximum transfer speed of USB 1.1 is 12Mbps per second and USB 2.0 is that of 480Mbps per second – but it’s always fun to get a real world test.
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.
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Rugged flash drives have been a trend these last couple months. Manufacturers see how popular flash drives continue to be and conclude a more durable version is needed for every day use. So along with the never-ending quest of more data storage, manufacturers are developing ways to make UFDs last longer and handle more abuse.
We put the question out there, “What’s the worst your flash drive went through?” and this is what we found:
It’s predictable that our most popular abuse was dropping them. Although it doesn’t sound like a much, it can be. Flash drives – well the memory in them – are sensitive and cannot take large amounts of shock. Many times dropping a drive from your table top is good enough to damage the drive.
I did find it interesting the next most frequent UFD abuse came from submersing them in water. I’ll assume in this case, the most common mistake is forgetting about the drive and accidentally washing it.
Whatever your daily routine, it’s worth taking an extra few minutes to search out the right flash drive for your habits. Rugged flash drives will become more popular as 1) materials drop in price to build a better box and 2) users continue to put more and more valuable information on their flash drives.
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The guys at Instructables came up with a chest harness to generate power for USB devices. Maybe they’ll give new meaning to the term wonderbra.
Using some high-ratio gear motors this “thorax expansion coupler†uses your body motion for regular breathing. Although the instructions to build such a device are a little taxing, it would be a fun gear-head project.
The goal of the chest USB charger would be generating about 500mW and in the enclosure size of a cell phone. The picture above is only a proof of concept and gets just a little over 50mW of power. At that rate, it would take about a day to charge one AA battary.
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Bob Marley Exodus album a re-release is coming out as a USB Music Album.
The USB album will be available May 28th to a limited 4,000 with exclusive video footage of Bob Marley and the Wailers playing at London’s Rainbow Theater back in June of 1977.
2,000 copies will also be released in the MicroSD card format along with a CD version. The CD version will have the exact look and feel as the original LP which was released in 1977.
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I’m just a blogger; have written about Readyboost; but never investigated it’s performance. I found an article today from PC World who took a closer look. Basically, it blows.
“What is Readyboost you ask?” well it’s a feature of Vista that allows flash memory (like USB Sticks) to be used as additional RAM to boost PC performance.
PC World took that claim and put it to the bench. First off, Microsoft indicates that only the best performing flash drives should be used, (3.5MBs per/sec reads and 2.5MBs per/sec writes) so although some web sites claim “use any extra flash drive for Readyboost,” that claim is a bunch of BS.
Using the best performing drives from Kingston, Lexar and Ridata it was concluded the Readyboost did improve performance, but only by 4 to 6%. So unless you had a stop watch – BFD! My Vista upgrade is going to wait.
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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.â€
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.
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For the “home grower” this is a great gadget to optimized “your crop” the USB environment data logger.
This is also a great gadget for an obsessive compulsive gardener as the data logger allows for 32,000 readings to be stored on the device.
Although I don’t want to pigeon hold anyone, the temp and humidity logger is also good for other controlled environments like laboratories, clean rooms, storage facilitates and other critical environment areas closets.
The unit can record environment readings from 1 second to 2 hours and all data is easily downloaded for analysis via USB. LED indicators will alarm if a minimum or maximum limit has been reached or exceeded. Gotta like the handy wall mount USB holster for optimal placement.
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We’ve seen the capacity meter before from Lexar and they’ve now officially introduces the capacity meter technology to the Secure II USB flash drive line.
The load meter doesn’t require connection to display the amount of storage left, it doesn’t require firmware and isn’t OS specific. It’s a standalone technology to communicate one simple thing and ultimately provides a little more flexibility and convenience for the user.
The Lexar Secure II ships with 256-bit AES encryption technology which lets users protect data quickly and easily. Users can easily create multiple password-protected encrypted areas and simply drag files into the secure area for automatic encryption. Drag the files out again, and they are automatically decrypted.
An excellent feature Lexar includes is their File Shredder utility that safely erases files and destroys the digital trail usually left behind with a simple file delete command. With the File Shredder whatever is deleted cannot be recovered or restored.
The JumpDrive Secure II is available now in sizes between 512MB to 8GBs.
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