CES 2008: SanDisk launches Cruzer Titanium Plus USB drive with automatic backup

By

Stuart Dredge

on January 2, 2008 No Comments

Actually, the press releases have started issuing forth in advance of next week's CES show, as companies hope to get some publicity before the deluge. Which sounds like a good idea to me. For example, SanDisk has announced its new Cruzer Titanium Plus, a USB drive that automatically backs up files online.

Due to be shown off next week, it's a 4GB USB stick, which whenever you copy a file to it, also copies that file to an online storage area. You can then access it from any computer if you lose the USB drive (or just don't have it with you at the time). Oh, and it's secure too, with password-protection for the drive itself, as well as the online account.

Cruzer Titanium Plus goes on sale in the US in March, and will cost $59.99 there. You get six months of free online backups, but after that, you'll have to pay $29.99 a year. Or you could just register for a Gmail account and email any sensitive / precious files to that, for free. Your choice.

SanDisk website

SentrySafe USB Fire-Safe - lock up your data

By

Dave Walker

on December 21, 2007 No Comments

Loads of products claim to keep your data safe - but not many physically put them under lock and key like the SentrySafe.

This USB gadget protects up to 120 CDs and DVDs for 2 hours in intense heat ((up to 1850 degrees) and eight inches of water for 24 hours. And the USB connection allows you to keep your data backed up to a 2.5-inch hard drive inside the safe. And you can keep documents and small items of value in there too.

The only downside is the price - around £260.

SentrySafe (via Red Ferret Journal)

LG launches world’s first ‘Vaccine’ USB stick in the UK

By

Dave Walker

on December 19, 2007 No Comments

LG has launched its Vaccine USB stick in the UK - the world’s first USB equipped with anti-virus and malware protection software. And it stores your files too.

LG claims the Vaccine USB protects any PC or laptop from the moment it is inserted with its ‘plug and auto run’ function. Once connected, the USB automatically monitors incoming traffic for viruses and malware with real-time system monitoring. You can also carry out in-depth hardware scans and perform repairs to cure or delete defected files. The anti-virus and malware firmware is regularly updated through automatic downloads from the net.

The anti-virus software comes with a free two-year licence, providing protection to any computer during that time period that is used with the USB. After two years, you can renew at an estimated cost of between £10 and £20 per year. The matt black drives are available in capacities of between 512MB and 8GB - prices to be confirmed.

Eee PC 4G hacked - man adds 16GB "hard drive" and Bluetooth

By

Gary Cutlack

on December 4, 2007 No Comments

The 16GB hard drive is actually a 16GB Corsair USB memory stick stuck in the Eee PC's little underside expansion port, and the Bluetooth functionality is the internal bits of a Microsoft Bluetooth dongle wedged in in a similar fashion.

The full details of what the nasty man did to the innocent little laptop can be found over at the Eee PC Forum, where he's built up quite a fan base thanks to his pro-level soldering activities.

It's a risky game, though. The Eee PC's a nightmare to get hold of right now. If you have a particular desire to get rid of one you'd be best off putting it on eBay rather than taking it apart and covering the motherboard in solder - Eee PCs are going for upwards of £250 over there right now, a decent profit on the £220 machine.

(Via Eee PC Forum)

PNY ditches the cap for Attache Optima USB flash drive

By

Dave Walker

on November 23, 2007 No Comments

Worried about losing the cap on your flash drive? You don't have that problem with the Attache Optima from PNY.

It rotates around a central pivot with a cover that protects the key’s head. This means you’ll never lose the cap. There's a choice of 4GB and 8GB capacity, an average writing speed of 10MB/s, 128 bit AES encryption and synchronisation with your internet favourites, data and mail box for Windows machines.

The 4GB drive sells for £28.99 and the 8GB drive is yours for £57.99.

J-Lo joins the USB stick revolution with wood-based album release

By

Gary Cutlack

on November 7, 2007 1 Comment

The big-bottomed star of numerous perfume adverts is embracing the new USB stick sales trend, with her latest album 'Brave' now available on a ludicrously luxurious custom memory stick.

Jenny's USB drives are rather outrageously crafted from African mahogany, and are being produced by the overly-expensive thing-customisers at Gresso. It would look perfect in your USB album collection right next to the Radiohead one - if it's possible for a human brain to simultaneously like J-Lo and Radiohead without exploding.

The flash drive costs a quite unreasonable $70 - it'd better come with at least 160GB of usable free space for that, or perhaps some sort of 'home movie'.

(Via OhGizmo!)

Fast Food USB drives

By

Dave Walker

on November 6, 2007 No Comments

As you kill those hours and minutes to lunch, I'm guessing the last thing you need in front of you is a slice of pizza and a hot dog. But if the idea of (more) junk food on your desk appeals, you can now pick up these Fast Food USB drives.

Four choices available, the aforementioned pizza and hot dog, alongside a large sandwich and burger. No kebab sadly. Each one has 1GB of capacity, is good for USB 2.0 or 1.1 and has a maximum speed of 480Mbps.

And each one retails for $45.37, which is around £23.

Geekstuff4U

Related posts
Shiny Video Review: Fairtrade USB hub and webcam from United Pepper
Japan's Domo-kun is turned into a Mimoco Mimobot flash drive in time for US series
Microsoft disguises a USB flash memory stick in the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000

Shiny Video Review: Fairtrade USB hub and webcam from United Pepper

By

Katherine Hannaford

on September 27, 2007

Still dressed like a pirate, in this video Susi takes a look at a fairtrade USB hub (Oscar) and webcam (Lilli), from United Pepper. All of the Vietnamese company's products are ethically-sound, and will be stocked in John Lewis shortly, otherwise pick them up online at Play.com, for £19.99 for Oscar the USB hub, and £29.99 for Lilli the webcam.

United Pepper

TwinMOS launches B1 series of 4GB mobile disks for Vista

By

Andy Merrett

on September 26, 2007

TwinMOS has unveiled its B1 series of mobile USB disks, offering up to 4GB of storage in a compact case measuring just 2.8mm thick and weighing 1.5g. It comes in a variety of colours including black, white, pastel yellow, pink, pastel blue and pastel green, so if the styling of your USB media is important to you, no problems here. It can even be personalised.

It also features a carrying ring and silver coated chain, allowing it to be carried on a keyring, mobile phone, belt, or anything else.

It claims full compatibility with Vista, but is equally at home with previous versions of Windows as well as Mac OS X and Linux.

The 4GB USB stick costs £36, the 2GB £20, the 1GB £14.00, and the 512MB £8.

Available now from urboom.com

Japan's Domo-kun is turned into a Mimoco Mimobot flash drive in time for US series

By

Katherine Hannaford

on September 20, 2007

The whole Shiny Media office is nuts about Mimobot flash drives, in particular the Fairybit Fairybot ones which Shiny Shiny recently gave away in a competition. They're just so cute, and you can never have enough USB flash drives, they're like pairs of scissors, you can never have too many in your house.

Hopefully you've heard of Domo-kun, the animated character from a Japanese TV network? Up until now, he's always been more popular over there obviously, but that's set to change, as he's hitting the US later this year for his very own TV show. Expect to see a bunch of Domo-kun merch when the show launches, but if you're wanting to jump on the bandwagon before everyone else, these Mimobot flash drives from Mimoco will be ideal. Available in 1GB to 4GB capacities, they'll retail for between $49.95 to $109.95.

Mimoco (via Oh Gizmo!)

Top ten gadgets for land-lubbin' types to celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day

By

Katherine Hannaford

on September 19, 2007

pirate%20toast.jpg As you would've garnered from our previous post and my ever so descriptive title on this one, it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day. To ~~get lots and lots of hits from Google search entries~~ celebrate, we haven't just uncorked a bottle of rum and donned an eye-patch, we've taken it one step further and hunted down the best 10 pirate-themed gadgets money can buy. And, in true pirate style, the last one, below the jump, doesn't need any money at all to acquire, as it's stolen. Arrrr!

1.) Pirate toast stamper from Perpetual Kid - pirates eat toast, right? Right? Well, they certainly don't eat their fruit and veg. Simply press the stamper on a piece of bread before toasting, and when it's been burnt to taste, a pirate symbol will be printed. $2.99.

Microsoft disguises a USB flash memory stick in the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000

By

Katherine Hannaford

on September 19, 2007

First a coffee table which is actually a computer, now a computer mouse which is actually a USB flash memory drive. Bless ol' Billy Gates and the team at Microsoft.

The Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 may be sized like a standard wireless ergonomic mouse, but under all that sleek silver and black plastic lies 1GB of storage, and a little transceiver you can plug into your PC's valuable USB port. Not only that, but it contains a detachable cord which can connect the belly of the mouse to the tip of the transceiver, so when you're accessing data through the USB port, it will charge the wireless mouse as well. It also comes with a AAA rechargeable battery allowing for three weeks' power. It works on 2.4GHz wireless or Bluetooth, and will be available in October for $99.95.

Microsoft Mobile Memory Mouse 8000 (via Technology Live)

Foldable USB hub from Museum of Modern Art really is modern art

By

Katherine Hannaford

on August 22, 2007

The average computer doesn't come with near enough USB ports, particularly when you consider all the glorious ~~tat~~ peripherals that Brando offer for your USB needs. A hub is a great way to expand the number of ports you have, and this foldable hub from The Museum of Modern Art is an attractive way to do so.

It's got one upstream port and four downstream, allowing you to plug in four other peripherals, such as an iPod, keyboard, digital camera, and perhaps a virtual friend if you're feeling a tad bit lonely. PC and Mac compatible, it costs $25, or $22.50 to MoMA members.

USB 2.0 hub (via Uncrate)

Ballpoint pen packs 1GB of Flash memory

By

Dave Walker

on August 17, 2007

As a stylish ballpoint pen, this could probably sell. But add some technology and the USB Pen Drive from Digix looks like a real winner.

As the name suggests, this is a pen with USB connectivity. Not only that, there's a very healthy 1GB of Flash memory on board, ample for most people's documents and files.

Sized at 15.5 x 1.4 x 1.3cm, the pen will be available in a choice of four colours - silver, black, red and pearl blue. As yet, we don't have a price and we have no idea if this will make it out of Korea.

Digix Korea website

Via Aving

USB Mix Tape - the cassette goes digital

By

Dave Walker

on August 13, 2007

Once there could be no greater sign of your love or friendship than creating and passing on your favourite tunes on an old cassette tape. But cassettes have died away, so what should you do? You could send a USB Mix Tape from Suck UK.

Yes, this is a cassette for the digital age. Instead of loading a tape, you can add your digital tunes to the USB stick included. And it comes in a cassette-style box, so you can even add the handwritten tracklisting to the outside, as well as adding your own message to the stick.

Nice idea, but as yet there isn't a price for it. But we'll know more when it goes on sale in September.

Find out more at the Suck UK website

Via Technabob

Memory Stick cars - storage in the shape of a vintage car

By

Dave Walker

on August 3, 2007

USB drives aren't the most exciting of gadgets - and I don't think Memory Stick Cars will improve that image much. But at least you can play with these on your desk when you are bored.

Shaped like vintage Volkswagens, these miniature die cast cars pack 256MB of Flash memory under the bonnet. And as a bonus for the child in all of us, they make a revving noise and flash lights when inserted into a PC.

Sold with an extender cable, these retail for £14.99 each.

I Want One Of Those website

Warm up those RSI-ridden hands with a pair of USB heating gloves

By

Katherine Hannaford

on July 26, 2007

It's bizarrely chilly in these parts of the world, due to those insane floods we've been having, so a nice pair of USB gloves is nothing to be laughed at. Even if they do adopt the colour and pattern that your grandfather's gardening cardigan is made from.

Starting at just £7.95, these USB gloves will warm you up in no time, and are compatible with anything containing a USB port. Just don't forget to take them off when you get up to go to the loo, as your whole computer will go crashing along after you...

USB heating gloves (via Girly Geekdom blog)

Shiny Video Review: Swarovski bling flash drives from Philips

By

Katherine Hannaford

on July 25, 2007

Back when I was on Shiny Shiny and more concerned with sparkly, pink and fluffy gadgets rather than robots and all things geektacular here, I went to the launch of the Swarovski and Philips flash drives. You'll be pleased to know, months later, that they're finally launching in the UK this week (Harrods, to be precise), and that Zara recently got all hands-on with them. Boys, forget diamonds - if you want to get jewellery for your geeky girls, head on down to the luxury London store at the end of this week, where prices start at £50.

Philips

Brando offers wood and string memory device

By

Dave Walker

on July 20, 2007

Brando has another new USB device on the market - a bit of wood attached to a piece of string.

Ok, I'm talking it down a bit there, this is actually the Wooden USB Memory Strap. Wooden, because it has a wood casing and Strap because you can hang it round neck using the piece of string. It does have a more useful purpose though - 2GB of Flash memory to keep your files close to hand. And no one will steal it because they'll just presume it's a piece of scruffy hippy neckwear.

Available online, yours for $32 (around £16).

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SanDisk launches limited edition Ducati-themed CF/SD Plus cards and Moto GP USB drive

By

Dave Walker

on July 19, 2007

Sandisk has teamed up with motorcycle firm Ducati for a range of cards and drives bearing the colours of the bike maker.

Available are the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition CompactFlash (4GB and 8GB) and the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition SD Plus (4GB). The latter features a snap-open connector that enables the card to be plugged in directly to the USB port. They're also fast - 45 mMB/sec per second for the CompactFlash cards and 20MB/sec for the SD Plus card. Prices are expected to be $164.99 for the 4GB CompactFlash card, $314.99 for the 8GB CompactFlash card and $129.99 for the 4GB SD Plus card.