Victorinox has done some outlandish things in the past with respect to flash drives, including their $6,000 flash drive, and today they raise the bar once again.
Victorniox is offering £100,000 to any hacker who can crack their new biometric drive. Now there is a company with confidence.
But it’ll take one talented hacker to get the cash. Victorinox is running the hack challenge at their flagship store in London and hackers are given 2 hours to crack it and access the content stored on the disk.
The bio-drive uses a core technology called Secure Pro, which employs fingerprint reader with additional thermal and oxygen sensors to confirm that the pattern actually comes from a real, live finger. The USB stick also employs a single-chip architecture with 256-bit AES hardware encryption engine to minimize the chance of being intercepted on the circuit. As if this isn’t enough, any brute-force attempts will be dealt with by Secure Pro’s self-destruct mechanism, which literally fuses memory chip silicon beyond recovery all through the power of the USB bus.
Source:Â EverythingUSB.com.
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We have talked about USB turntables for years now. One’s which rip directly to your iPod, one’s which rip vinyl and CDs, hoods, no hoods…it goes on and on. Today I was tipped off about a $49 system made by Innovative Technology, the ITUT-201.
Encode your Vinyl Albums to MP3’s. The USB Turntable takes your favorite vinyl records and seamlessly converts them to MP3 digital format. Enjoy your music on your laptop or iPod, wherever you go! Easy to record with and use on any computer.
Records Vinyl to PC via USB connection
3-Speed Turntable (33, 45, 78 rpm)
One-Touch Play / Stop Control
Features
Records Turntable to PC via USB cable
3-Speed Turntable (33 1/3, 45, 78 rpm)
Ceramic Pick-up
One-Touch Play / Stop Control
Built-in Equilizer
RCA Line-out for Audio Amplifier
USB connection to enable Recording with PC
Transparent Dust Cover
Audacity Audio Editor and Recording Software
Turntable supports all version of Win 95, 98, 2000, XP and Vista as wells as MAC
Get the USBDealz now. Get the USB turntable for only $49 bucks!
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Today I stumbled upon a nice little website which talks about hacking up your MagicJack voice over IP phone.
The site has tips which include how to stop the software from popping up on your screen [so you can see their ads], spoofing the caller ID, changing the proxy server and using the MagicJack hardware with Skype software [nice!].
Anyone with a MagicJack phone should visit the MagicJack hack site. You can also find a review of the MagicJack here.
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GetUSB.info reports on all many different USB hacks which take ordinary items around your house or office and turn them into something different. Today we bring you the USB printer cartridge.
This is a low tech project easy for just about anyone to do. I wasn’t going to report on this because of it’s simplicity, but then I got to thinking. This is a great way to have a USB drive with content you don’t want anyone else to find, hidden nicely in your inkjet printer. At least for me, the color inkjet printer we use only prints black because we really didn’t need color and the cartridges are too expensive.The full USB hack is laid out really well at Instructables website, but it boils down to 5 basic steps:
Step 1 = Gather up your toolsStep 2 = Break into the USB stick and disassemble the inkjet cartridge [messy]Step 3 = Clean everything outStep 4 = Position the USB stick inside the case [ink cart full of silicon]Step 5 = Button it up and use.
Considering the simplicity of this project, you also have a low budget, about zero cents.Continue Reading
How would you like to be heading up the marketing meeting where you name a product, “USB Porn Detection Stick?” Better yet, how would you like to be the QC team in charge of making sure this type of technology would work? That’s the job worth fighting for.
Dvice posted an article about a USB stick that does just that, it uses high level scanning software to detect images related to pornography. What I mean by high level, is the scanning software will even detect the deleted files. To be specific, I’m not sure if they are talking about the scanning software simply going into your Recycle Bin, or if the scanning software can actually scrub your hard disk for partial images, either way it’s an interesting concept.
Application:Â Best for corporations looking for a reason to fire their employees, over-the-top-crazy-girlfriends, and of course forensic teams trying to build a case against the kiddy porn sick-o’s.
MSRP is $100.
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Here is a simple and incredibly fun USB hack where you turn an old CPU into a hot plate for your coffee, tea or some liquid fragrance [in a dish].
This very useful USB hack can be done in 4 steps.
Step 1) Tools and Materials
1. A dead CPU. (Ofcourse you can use a working one but it won’t be feasible.) 2. A USB cable 3. A Fan grill with screws. 4. Any box (I used a wooden tie box cover) 5. A rotary Tool (the best tool ever invented) 6. Epoxy 7. A creative artistic mind…[continute]
Step 2) The Idea
A CPU will still have some working electronic circuits even if it stopped functioning probably. And this project will use the heat generated by running some Volts in the CPU through a USB cable. First things first. Be Very Careful. Connecting a malfunctioning CPU to your computer may and will damage your computer’s ports or even worse. If you don’t have enough…[continue]
Step 3) The Steps
First, prepare the base. You have to find a thin box or a box cover to use as the base of the plate. I used a tie box cover made of wood because it has the same thickness as my laptop. Now put the CPU over the base you picked and mark a square to drill with your rotary device. The square must be a little bit bigger than the CPU. The reason behind the bigger hole…[continue]
Step 4) Preparing the hot plate
locate the ground pins in your CPU and that can be done by reviewing the CPU data sheet or simply by the devastating trial and error. Cut the USB wire and pass it through the hole you made previously in the base. Strip the USB cable and locate the black and red weirs (black wire = ground, Red wire = +5V). You can cut out the white and green data weirs for more space…[continue]
Clearly this tutorial is from Instructables…Thanks Eric!
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Here is another USB prototype design and it’s called the Infinite USB Plug. The pictures look great and the concept is clever, however it just doesn’t work. Never will.
Designed by Gonglue Jiang, the Infinite USB Plug allows you to keep adding your peripherals without the need USB hubs or hot swapping your devices on USB ports when needed. The color coding on plugs will make it easy to identify which plug belongs to which device.
The problem is the way USB typology works. When connecting multiple devices via USB you cannot daisy-chain them. You cannot piggy back them, it must be in a logical pyramid typology. Which means, this concept requires a hub.
Designed by Gonglue Jiang, the Infinite USB Plug allows you to keep adding your peripherals without the need USB hubs or hot swapping your devices on USB ports when needed. The color coding on plugs will make it easy to identify which plug belongs to which device.
The problem is the way USB typology works. When connecting multiple devices via USB you cannot daisy-chain them. You cannot piggy back them, it must be in a logical
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According to some accounts, blue was the first color associated with St. Patrick’s Day, but that started to change in the 17th century. Green is one of the colors in Ireland’s tri-color flag, and it has been used in the flags of several Irish revolutionary groups throughout history. Ireland is the “Emerald Isle,†so named for its lush green landscape. Green is also the color of spring, the shamrock, and the Chicago River, which the Midwestern city has dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day for the past 40-odd years.
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It seems that kids these days are simply born with the jeans to run computers. I know of 7 year old kids doing Power Point presentations already! They have incorporated YouTube videos, slides with more animation then what I’ve ever done and all before the 4th grade. Impressive.
On that note, it’s worth making their computer environment a bit fun. With USB keyboards, USB mouse, flash drives, digital cameras, iPhones etc, it’s required to have a USB hub, even at the kids computer. So why not get them a fun looking Lego USB hub?
USB Fever now carries these 4 port USB hubs for just $12 USDs. It’s a USB gadget they need, in a fun familiar form factor they recognize.
It would be very cool if the USB Lego hub would stack, but with a flat bottom, it doesn’t. Shame.
In case you are color blind and can’t see the different colors available in the picture, you can purchase red, black, yellow or blue 4 port Lego hubs.
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The Netbook Mate by Fantom solves many problems with the popular netbooks, it gives you expansion! Simply use a USB cable and connect from the Netbook to a Fantom USB port and you’ve suddenly got: A DVD burner, USB ports, 160GB hard drive and ergonomic dock station!
Now on sale from Buy.com
Expand the storage capacity of your Netbook with Netbook Mate. Its combination of easy slide in/out 2.5″ removable drive, DVDRW,two built in USB port hub and cooling fan enhances your Netbook in every way and gives you the ultimate portability.
Easily carry your photos, music, video and files where ever you go. Because your Netbook lacks an optical drive, doesn’t mean you have to live without one. The Netbook Mate will let you burn discs or watch movies at any time. Simply connect your Netbook Mate to a USB port on your Netbook and you are done; Installation is that easy! The Netbook Mate fits most brand Netbooks from 8 to 11 inches, it is extremely compact and light weight.
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Global USB Flash Drives Market to Reach 568.98 Million Units by 2015, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on USB Flash Drives. The world market for USB Flash Drives, by volume sales is projected to reach 568.98 million units by 2015. The market currently witnesses challenges manifested in the form of the ongoing recession and resulting erosion in consumer confidence.
San Jose, CA (PRWEB) February 17, 2010 — With data storage needs evolving from “dumb” storage models, such as, compact flash cards, SD cards, floppy drives, CDs, smart media, and other removable storage devices, to more intelligent self-computing portable storage solutions, its USB flash drives’ time in the sun. With a long list of benefits stacked in its favor, USB flash drives are outshining other types of storage devices in the marketplace. The market over the last couple of years witnessed heady growth patterns. The ongoing global economic recession has, however, put the USB Flash Drives market on a “high alert” after forcing a retarded growth in the volume sales, as seen in 2008 and early 2009. Given the intense competition and deceleration in growth in USB flash drives market, innovation will be the name of the game for industry players. Continuous, and effervescent innovation remains critical in ensuring sustained kindling of customer enthusiasm. In short, incorporation of new value-added features and services into USB flash drives, such as, creative industrial designs and form factors will help keep customer interests sufficiently ignited.
As stated by the new market research report on USB Flash Drives market, Europe and Asia-Pacific collectively account for a major share of the global USB Flash Drives market. The sluggish growth in the market can primarily be attributed to tightened budgetary conditions and reduced spending triggered by the financial crisis, the impact of which continues to diffuse in the marketplace. The economic slowdown and the resulting erosion in consumer confidence, steadily deteriorating consumer sentiment as a result of falling
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Hovercam X500 is great name for the function it performs, hovering over documents to project via camera. The Hovercam is meant to replace the age old overhead projector we are most familiar with from grade school.
The X500 USB imaging device has a 5 megapixel sensor mounted on a swing arm that can either scan and recognize or monitor and project anything on the surface underneath. As a scanner, the HoverCam performs as a 600dpi equivalent scanner. Scans are snapped as photos would be, in an instant. No more waiting for the slow trudging of the scan sensor to run up and down the page.
The free software that is included with the X500 is called HoverCam Flex. The Flex is not surprisingly built on the Adobe Air platform, and is a desktop based application that connects directly to their web services. Images can be uploaded, saved, published, shared and OCR’d with a quick drag and drop. The HoverCam Flex service also provides quick integration with other cloud services like Google OCR, Picassa, DropBox and e-Fax. The benefits of the software alone might be worth the $199 asking price of the HoverCam X500.
San Jose, CA (PRWEB) February 17, 2010 — With data storage needs evolving from “dumb” storage models, such as, compact flash cards, SD cards, floppy drives, CDs, smart media, and other removable storage devices, to more intelligent self-computing portable storage solutions, its USB flash drives’ time in the sun. With a long list of benefits stacked in its favor, USB flash drives are outshining other types of storage devices in the marketplace. The market over the last couple of years witnessed heady growth patterns. The ongoing global economic recession has, however, put the USB Flash Drives market on a “high alert” after forcing a retarded growth in the volume sales, as seen in 2008 and early 2009. Given the intense competition and deceleration in growth in USB flash drives market, innovation will be the name of the game for industry players. Continuous, and effervescent innovation remains critical in ensuring sustained kindling of customer enthusiasm. In short, incorporation of new value-added features and services into USB flash drives, such as, creative industrial designs and form factors will help keep customer interests sufficiently ignited.
As stated by the new market research report on USB Flash Drives market, Europe and Asia-Pacific collectively account for a major share of the global USB Flash Drives market. The sluggish growth in the market can primarily be attributed to tightened budgetary conditions and reduced spending triggered by the financial crisis, the impact of which continues to diffuse in the marketplace. The economic slowdown and the resulting erosion in consumer confidence, steadily deteriorating consumer sentiment as a result of falling
