Get ready for the USB 3.0 flash drive enslaught. PQI has launched its first salvo and it looks mighty strong. The Cool Drive U366 comes equipped with a 64GB capacity and speeds up to 5Gbps. That’s ten times faster than USB 2.0, kiddies. Previously the only way to get that type of speed on a portable drive is to opt for an eSATA flash drive — if you can find one — and even then, most aren’t as fast as this drive from PQI.
Don’t worry if your rig isn’t USB 3.0 friendly yet, the interface is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. The drive will be available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB sizes, but the company hasn’t announced the release date or MSRPs just yet. You can bet though that it will cost a tad more than the average Newegg-special flash drive.
PQI Announces USB3.0 UFD ~ Cool Drive U366
2009.12.28
Taipei, Taiwan ~ Only just a week ago, Power Quotient International Co., Ltd. (PQI) announced two 2.5inch USB3.0 external hard drives, H566 and S533. Today, PQI releases their first USB flash drive device in the form of Cool Drive U366. PQI’s U366 is encased in an all aluminum shell with a clear plastic lid that can perfectly fit on the end tip so users need not worry about loosing the lid.
The new USB3.0 features 5Gbps/sec maximum bandwidth, which is 10 times the maximum bandwidth of USB2.0 as it eliminates the issue of external connection bandwidth being smaller than the output bandwidth of the storage device. This allows portable, ultra fast and high capacity storage device to flood the market as USB3.0 is deemed to take over USB2.0 as the standard for future external connections!
PQI’s Cool Drive U366 is one of the few USB3.0 flash storage devices on the market, and it features a read up to 97MB /sec. The release of U366 reassures PQI’s dedicated advancement in storage technology, research and development capability!
For more PQI news and the latest PQI product information, please visit PQI at www.pqigroup.com.
Cool Drive U366 specification:
Interface: USB 3.0 (backwards compatible with USB 2.0)
Transfer rate: Read up to 97MB/sec
Capacity: 16GB / 32GB / 64GB
Dimension: 87 x 22 x12 mm