Do you wonder if a USB stick will drop below $2? I don’t think it ever will, and for several reasons. First, the bare cost of the Flash, Controller and case will keep the price much higher than it’s predecessor [CD/DVD] but also consider the millions of dollars needed in equipment just to make these things in bulk.
So let’s find out how a USB stick is made…here is a behind-the-scenes video of the Kingston USB flash memory plant. With step-by-step video it’s an amazing process.
Note: The narration is nothing close to an award winning voice over.
Source: Engadget.
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Flash drives are getting so small, they are the size of the USB connector itself. How cool is that? Well, in size it’s cool, but in functionality…it won’t become your favorite flash drive. Take this new 4GB EagleTec USB nano drive…
This friggin tiny drive is too small. Too small to easily connected and, more importantly, disconnect from your computer. As I’ve said before, once you starting saving SOME files on that stick..you’ll soon be saving ALL your files on that stick. So why deal with something so small it’s a pain in the a$$ to get out.
iLuv is showing their love to USB with this three port charger. Not only does it support multiple devices, it looks cool too.
iLuv put in a flip-out AC adapter so if the USB charger needs to be stored or thrown in a desk drawer it’s a bit more compact. Not much else to report about it other than a $20 price tag and available in Sep 09.
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Verbatim turned 40 this year and one of the products they have released to celebrate is the USB TUFF CLIP flash drive. Designed for the everyday use by a teen or college student the USB TUFF CLIP is made of ABS plastic and includes a retractable USB connector. In addition the TUFF CLIP comes with the obvious carabineer clip.
The clip is the compelling part about this project, as you can pick up a 4 or 8GB flash drive just about anywhere. The clip is well designed to fasten the flash drive to backpacks, key chains, belt loops and notebooks. With a capless design the caps wont fall off or get lost while dangling from your person.
The 4 [light blue] & 8GB [black] drives are priced at $29 and $39 respectively.
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Don’t you hate it when you buy a new gadget and don’t have the batteries it needs? This new keyboard from Adesso avoids that let down. Batteries ARE included. No more scrounging around for those AA Batteries that you need just to get this keyboard to work
This little keyboard is great for the multi-media user. With the 100-ft range you can sit on the couch, relax, and set up your music without having to get up and go to the computer. Or if you are that Fortune 500 CEO and you are doing a presentation in the conference room. You can now walk around the room and still control your media presentation. Even if you are just the basic computer user you will find much utility and love for this little guy. It is an easy to use, plug-n-play, keyboard that requires no
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Mimo has made a fairly good name for itself with the 710 series USB monitor…a compact 7″ add-on monitor. Well, these guys have one-upped themselves with the new 710-S. This is a USB monitor which is now slider slim sweetness.
Just check out this picture and you’ll understand why.
Mimo better dump all their old 710 inventory because everyone will want this new version.
The 7″ display has a display resolution of 800 x 400, contrast ratio of 400:1, and brightness around 350 cd/m2. Of course, the only connection needed, including power, is a USB connection.
The 710-S pivots 90 degrees and
“The integrated stand protects the screen from scratches when closed.”
Mimo doesn’t have stock, but willing to take your money. For those who pre-book, you’ll get product by late August. Price is $149.
Mimo 710-S product page.
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iBUYPOWER is best known for their gaming rigs and powerful laptops, who knew they also dabled in USB board components. Well maybe you did, but I didn’t.
iBUYPOWER released this sweet little internal expansion board for USB devices. The point of the expansion board is to provide additional power to those growing number of gadgets you’ve seemed to accumulate.
The board includes two internal USB pin-out connectors and one USB-A standard connector. The board is $14 for what you see, or $24 which includes a bluetooth module…this will allow connectivity to those wireless keyboards, mice and printers.
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So here is a sweet little deal I stumbled upon at USBFever. For $27 you can get a USB hard drive case with biometric fingerprint encryption scanner.
Given how cheap USB hard drives are these days, it’s easy to have them become your backup device of choice. Well, if you’re like me, chances are you are backing up the QuickBooks or MAS90 accounting programs which need a bit more security. It would be bad enough to lose your portable hard drive, so at least protect it with your fingerprint.
The USB hard drive case with biometric encryption supports the IDE / USB 2.5″ hard drive sizes along with plug & play insertion and removal.
The fingerprint biometrics supports all Windows platforms, but not Mac. So if you’re about to drop $15-$20 for an external case, pay just a couple bucks more and get the USB encrypted version.
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Verbatim has been busy these days. On Monday we reported about the Verbatim USB Tuff Clip flash drive, and today Verbatim is announcing their new Tuff-N-Tiny USB flash drive.
At the thickness of a penny and about twice as long, the Tuff-n-Tiny USB drive is available in 4 & 8GB sizes. It’s almost the side of microSD card.
The stick gets so incredibly small, because of it’s SIP technology which encapsulates all of the electronic components into a single miniaturized and sealed unit. As a result, the tiny drives are resistant to dust, water and static discharges.
Our comment about this drive, and any other drive which uses the same USB contacts [image below]
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Back in June of 2009 I made a joke that GetUSB.info had a USB Steampunk award, now I’m seriously considering it. Especially after seeing this new rendition.
This USB steampunk drive was made by a Russian modder. He traveled to a local rag fair [I’m assuming street fair] to pick up old clock parts and gears. The guy also picked up some stock brass tubing and screw rods to build a sturdy housing. Then off the the metal shop.
The source website, EnglishRussia, has the entire tutorial on how to do this crafty artwork. It’s far more interesting than educational, so if you are curious about the
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It’s not often you can merge the terms USB and Rock Star together. I can’t picture one scenario…but Intel can – and did. Here is their 20 second promo on USB technology. Funny, classic funny.
Source: DailyCupOfTech.
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As Windows 7 is set to release sometime in October, today we heard there is an update to USB support. Honestly, I don’t know exactly what it means, but the quote is, “adding new USB and drive sharing support options…”
Does this mean you can set a USB stick as a shared device, maybe there is a default USB wireless support built in, I’m not sure, but maybe the following information will help.
The information I have is simply a download link to try out the “release candidate” for Windows 7. Here it is. If you have time, give it a download and try…see what the USB sharing is all about. I’d do it myself, but honestly…I’m too knee deep in other projects at the moment.
As a quick highlight, the Windows 7 requires an additional 1GB of RAM and 15GBs of disk space. We’ve also learned that XP virutal desktop will be preloaded on most new PCs and clearly an option for those who upgrade. Meaning, any software package built around .NET and XP will have full support under Windows 7. Microsoft did this so that large corporations don’t have to worry about software updates with an OS update. Just focus on the OS update and the software will still work. BUT – Windows 7 is built on Vista code [scary] so only time will tell.
Source:Â ARN.
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