flash

When you hear Los Alamos National Laboratory is disabling its computers' USB ports to prevent people from toting away flash memory drives filled with classified nuclear weapons information, it's not a stretch to imagine that there might be a market for thumb drives with a bit of security.

Enter Lexar's SAFE PSD S1100, a product line announced Monday geared for use at corporate or government customer sites where there's a need to keep the lid on sensitive data.

The drives offer built-in 256-bit file encryption and a mandatory password to gain access to the data. The encryption … Read more

Just about every day, we come across a blog or site that claims to have found the worst or dumbest (or both) portable USB drive. And we usually agree each time, until the next one comes along. But we're somewhat conflicted over this 16-pound bowling ball, which the Raw Feed calls the "worst USB gadget yet." We admit that it kind of defeats the purpose of portability, but we still like it, probably because it reminds us of our drive-in movie days (memories over memory?). There's just one question: How do you toss it down the … Read more

If we've learned anything from George Lucas, it's that he never lets the Empire have the final strike. So it made perfect sense that Mimico followed up its Darth Vader USB flash drive with a Chewbacca version a few weeks back. But now we learn from Josh Spear that a counterattack is being launched by Stormtroopers, in the usual sizes of 1GB, 2GB and 4GB. What will the Force come back with next?

There's been a lot of buzz recently about USB flash drives as an art form--these days, it seems like the gadget and design sectors of the blogosphere are all about Mimoco's kind of cute, kind of creepy Mimobots, and now Notcot is showcasing what it jokingly refers to as "Saint USB." But you won't find them in stores (or churches). These high-tech devotional statues are part of "Oh Maria, Keep My Data Safe," a project by Spanish graphic designer Luis Eslava. He considers them a statement about our "adoration" of computers.… Read more

Who would've thought that a USB storage device could be a fashion accessory? After all, it wasn't all that long ago that people didn't even know what a USB port was for.

Just today, BIOS reported that Sony--the ultimate slave to fashion--was introducing a sleek new 8GB drive with a retractable connector as part of is "Micro Vault" line. At the same time, blogs were writing of a 4GB drive in orange and black with a "push and pop design" from PQI.

Both probably work fine and will look respectable when you unsheathe … Read more

One thing I noticed while making the holiday gadget demo rounds a few weeks ago is that a whole lot of tech manufacturers are putting their press kits on USB flash drives or SD cards rather than CDs or (heaven forbid) paper. To a member of the media, the smaller size and electronic format are extra convenient. And then, when you're finished with the press kit, you have yourself a free new flash drive!

Could we be seeing the same trend with music? CrunchGear reported that the British band Keane, one of those decent pseudo-indie rock groups (i.e. … Read more

A Darth Vader USB flash drive released Mimoco has.

The new USB is part of the "Star Wars" mimobot series that Mimoco is showing at this week's DigitalLife in New York City. The drives will be available in 1, 2 and 4 GB capacities, and come loaded with "Star Wars" avatars, trailers, sound bites and wallpaper, according to Mimoco.

The new line of drives will be available in January 2007, though preorders for the Vader USB can be made now on the Mimoco site. Pricing for the preorder Vader is $79.95 for the 1GB … Read more