TechCrunch » flash drives

AMP FLIP USB Flash Drive Announced

Contributor — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:41:27 +0000

Active Media Products, or AMP, have made some interesting flash drives in the past. This time it’s no different, just more flip and less change.

The FLIP is an easy to carry 4 or 8GB USB flash drive. Right at the top is a hinge for it to pivot open, so when it’s closed it’s well protected. The FLIP is said to be compatible with USB 3.0, 2.0 and 1.1 and work both on Mac and PC — pretty much anything with a female end. Prices for the 4 and 8GB are $12 and $20 respectively and you can get them here.

[via i4u ]

These USB flash drive cufflinks are a must have accessory

Matt Burns — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:41:53 +0000

Picture this: You walk into a job interview well dressed sporting these cuff links. The interviewer will likely ask for your resume first thing. So *BAM* you whip your wrist around front and just like James Bond, pull apart your cuff links revealing the hidden flash drive loaded with your resume and funny pictures of cute kitties. It’s a sure fire way to land any job — or lady.

These things are real and are available in either 2GB or 4GB versions. They’re a bit pricey, though, with the 4GB version retailing for $195. Looking good doesn’t come cheap.

[via pocket-link]

Corsair announces really small flash drives

Contributor — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:30:18 +0000

Corsair just announced the latest in their line of USB drives, the Flash Voyager Mini. Smaller then a quarter, the mini is just the right size to lose when you really need them, and come sizes ranging from 4 to 32 GB.

I actually like the Flash Voyager line, and these look interesting as well. The Mini features a retractable connector (instead of a cap that always gets lost) and is (at least physically) very small. They are available now from various retailers, with the 4GB version selling for around $20. The 16GB retails for around $50, and the 32GB doesn’t appear to be available yet. Check out Corsair’s website for more information.

Convergence! Fancy lighter packs an 8GB USB drive, costs $35

Contributor — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000

If you’re dedicated to smoking or camping (or smoking while camping), then there’s a good chance you’ve purchased a nice refillable metal lighter in the past. But the past is the past and sooner or later you’ll need to step into the future (which, coincidentally, will almost immediately become the past). Whatever happens, please take with you the knowledge that there exists a refillable metal lighter that doubles as an 8GB flash drive.

It’s actually existed for a while now, but it’s got a new lower price of $35. Granted, you’ll have to order it from China as it’s being sold by Chinavasion.com but sometimes you have to put in a little extra effort when it comes to lighters that are also USB drives.

USB Flash Drive Lighter (8GB Edition) [Chinavasion]

Star Wars USB flash drives now available in Darth Vader, Ewok, and C-3PO flavors

Contributor — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:00:44 +0000

Look at these big-head Star Wars USB flash drives! They’re adorable. Ewoks were always adorable, and C-3PO had a certain lovable charm but now even Darth Vader’s getting in on the fun. He’ll lull you into a false sense of security and then do that thing where he chokes you from across the room without actually touching you.

Available in 4GB capacities, the MIMOBOT Designer Star Wars USB Flash Drives go for $40 and include extras like wallpapers, audio clips, icons, screensavers, and more. If these three aren’t to your liking, other characters like Luke, Leia, Boba Fett, Han Solo, and others are out there somewhere (see previous coverage here). Might as well collect them all, eh?

Star Wars USB Flash Drives: C3PO, Darth Vader, and Wicket [Vat19.com]

32GB on your keychain, and it's even water resistant

Devin Coldewey — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:42:03 +0000

These little Super Talent drives are truly small – a little longer than a quarter is wide, and about about 75¢ tall. But the buggers have just been expanded to hold 32GB of data, and they won’t get hurt by water to boot! My Corsair Survivor is practically waterproof as well, but these Super Talent ones are smaller and cheaper.

No word on whether they’re velociraptor-resistant.

Pick some up at your favorite e-tailer… as soon as they hit. Should be any time now but all three of the sites they list only have 16GB versions as of this writing.

[via Electronista]

Otherwise delicious-looking hamburger flash drive ruined by weird product image

Contributor — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:03:12 +0000

Please witness an 8GB flash drive in the form of a hamburger. It costs about $28, looks delicious, and is available from Chinavasion. Pretty straightforward so far, no?

Well as I was scrolling through the product page, my curiosity piqued by my love of hamburgers, I happened upon the following promotional image:

Weird, but okay, it’s a girl pretending to eat the hamb–OH MY GOD WHY DOES HER MOUTH HAVE A USB SLOT?!! Suddenly, the hamburger doesn’t look quite as delicious for some reason.

8GB Hamburger Flash Memory Drive [Chinavasion.com]

Buffalo Thumbkey flash drives upped to 16GB

Matt Burns — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:20:26 +0000

Who doesn’t love the Buffalo Thumbkey Flash Drives? They are so small that they fit snuggly into a USB port with only a little stub sticking out. They’re great. Well, the flash drives just got better now that Buffalo is producing these in 16GB sizes. They should be the perfect companion for a netbook, UMPC, or even a standard notebook. We just wish they wouldn’t have a $136 price tag when they launch at the end of the month.

Why should there not be Star Trek PEZ flash drives?

Matt Burns — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:30:29 +0000

Take your Star Trek fandom to the next level with these custom made Star Trek PEZ…USB drives. You know you want them. Your two friends would be so jealous. 2GB drive for only $25.

Etsy via 7gadgets

Worlds Collide: USB flash drive is also an MP3 player

Contributor — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:00:48 +0000

Behold a USB flash drive that also doubles as a simple MP3 player. You supply your own microSD card, actually, so maybe think of this as a $16 memory-less MP3 player that doubles as a USB flash drive.

Whatever you do, DON’T compare this to the iPod Shuffle as this device does not appear to support random playback. It does, however, come in three whimsical colors and it plays both MP3 and WMA files on cards up to 32GB in size. The built-in rechargeable battery is good for two hours of playback. Two hours! Actually, the product description says “2 hours or above” so it could be anywhere from two hours to 17 days — no more, no less.

USB MP3 Player + micro SD(HC) Card Reader [Brando]

A bunch of random flash drives

Matt Burns — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:04:02 +0000

Got a DIY itche like I do? Need some inspiration? You may wanna check out these 35 creative USB flash drives for some creative juice. Some can be constructed with nothing more than a Dremel and super glue.

Like this LEGO drive. Take three approperiate size LEGO blocks, glue two together, and carefully cut out the top LEGO to fit the flash drive. Put the flash drive in the cut out and glue the top LEGO on. Easy. Others, are a bit more involved but still cool to look at.

The transforming Ravage flash drive has more than meets the eye

Matt Burns — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:00:10 +0000

Transformers! There is more than meets the eye. Flash drives in disguise. Transformers.

Yeah, this 2GB flash drive is a little pricey at $42.99, but I still want it. It’s an effn Transformer flash drive that actually transforms. For an extra $2, BigBadToyStore will ship it in a collectors grade packaging that is meant to sit on a shelf and never been used. How fun is that though. I can already see myself humming the theme song as I make it transform. Amazing. Too bad it doesn’t ship out until September.

[via OhGizmo]

LEGO! Flash Drives!

Matt Burns — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:45:26 +0000

Some geeks are extremely obsessed with LEGO. You know who you are. We’re not showing these homemade LEGO flash drives for you. Oh no, we’re not supporting your addiction. This post is for the rest of us who enjoy a well-built LEGO creation, but don’t lose girlfriends over the damn blocks.

It seems that a person could probably theme an entire desk around these creations. Everything from flash drives, to USB hubs, to a webcams, to paper clip holders are available. These things are pretty expensive, but everyone that visits your cube will be envious. Even the chick from accounting.

SanDisk announces push button backup flash drive. Hold me back!

Contributor — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:05:08 +0000

SanDisk announced today that they are creating a USB thumb drive based backup system, where you essentially plug the drive into your computer, and then push the button. The drive will then magically back up your files using their new software. Sounds like a good option for mom and dad… or baby. Above you see the new Ultra Backup drive, which will come in flavors up to 64GB.

The iconic Cruzer is also getting a makeover, although not too major of one. It’ll retain its usual abilities but look a little nicer. –>

[Editor's note: We'd like to ask that SanDisk send pictures of the actual objects they will be selling and not CG renders. Unless you guys live in Immaculate City in Uncanny Valley and those are the real thing. In which case you're creeping us out, SanDisk. -Ed.]

OCZ adds eSATA in Throttle flash drives for quicker pr0n transfers

Matt Burns — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:40:49 +0000

USB 2.0 was great a few years ago when flash drives were measured in megabytes but now that they are reaching double-digit gigabytes, the interface can be a tad slow. OCZ understands that and hooked its latest flash drive up with eSATA for the main interface. Thanks to eSATA, the Throttle can read at 90MB per second and write at 30MB. That speed is fast enough to playback HD material, according to OCZ. Just so you know, there is a mini-USB interface for fallback situations. The Throttle will come in 8GB, 16GB, and 32BG sizes for a yet to be announced priced.

'fix' USB drive with passive port cover

Matt Burns — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:20:51 +0000

The problem with USB flash drives is the damn cover. It’s impossible not to lose and the slider covers seem so janky but this design solves everything. Just look at it. Brilliant! The silicon cover naturally expands and covers the male plug when it’s not in the computer. To bad it’s just a concept so until it hits the market, I’ll stick with my wooden thumb drives.

Han Solo frozen-in-carbonite USB flash drive

Contributor — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:30:00 +0000

Over on Etsy.com’s handmade marketplace, you’ll find a USB flash drive of Han Solo frozen in Carbonite. And, yes, it’s sold out. But since everything on Etsy is sold directly by the creators, there’s a good chance that we might see another slow rollout of these handmade drives. When they were in stock, the 1GB Han drives sold for $25.

Han Solo Carbonite USB Flash Drive [Etsy via SlipperyBrick/SlashGear]

U.S. military bans flash drives to prevent spread of worm

Nicholas Deleon — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:20:06 +0000

The military, in an effort to stop the spread of a destructive worm, has banned the use of flash drives, CDs and other media by its personnel. The ban applies to computers connected two Department of Defense networks, the non-secure NIPRNet and the secure SIPRNet.

The worm, Agent.biz, is spread by the use of flash drives and the like. Once a computer has been infected, the worm fetches code from some Evil location. What concerns the military’s IT guys is that this code could be anything—harmless JPEGs of monkeys in funny hats or the equivalent of “rm -rf.”

Now regular folk in the military, if they want to send a photo to their family, have to go to approved labs to get on with their computing rather than their own laptop, which must be a huge pain in the neck.

SanDisk and Veoh team up on U3-enabled flash drives

Contributor — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Owners of the SanDisk Cruzer line of flash drives might be interested to learn that its now possible to launch the Veoh Web Player directly from the U3 interface that pops up when the drive is inserted into a USB port. You can use the Veoh software to schedule and download various types of web video directly to your Cruzer drive to create and ever-changing, on-the-go content library.

The Veoh feature will be available on new Cruzer flash drives and can also be installed separately onto existing Cruzer drives by going to www.sandisk.com/veoh and downloading an update. Full press release after the jump.

SanDisk and Veoh Networks Launch Portable Video Web Player for SanDisk Cruzer® USB Flash Drives

The Veoh™ Web Player for SanDisk Enables Portable and Secure Video Consumption on Any PC

MILPITAS, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Veoh Networks Inc. (www.veoh.com) today announced the availability of the Veoh™ Web Player for SanDisk, a portable video player that is initially available only on SanDisk® Cruzer® USB flash drives. The Veoh Web Player for SanDisk, allows on-the-go viewers to browse, search, and enjoy millions of videos available through Veoh.com on any computer¹at any time – including TV shows, movies, web series and popular independently-produced content from all over the Web.

The Veoh Web Player combined with SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drives provides users with a broad selection of video content on Veoh.com and the power of a peer-to-peer client in a single portable and password-protected application. With the Veoh Web Player’s Library and Import features, users can easily manage their personal video collection, both online and offline. When permitted by the publisher, users can schedule downloads of videos to their library to watch later or at another location. U3™ Smart technology, which was developed by SanDisk, allows applications to run from a SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drive, without having to be installed on a computer.

The Veoh Web Player and SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drive offer enhanced security features as well. Password protection on SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drives prevent unauthorized access to personal video files in case the drive is lost or stolen. And since U3 Smart technology doesn’t require a separate video application to be installed, users can enjoy video content without leaving any traces on the host PC.

“The Veoh Web Player is a perfect companion for SanDisk’s Cruzer USB flash drives because our customers often want to watch videos when they’re away from home and it often isn’t possible to install software on the computer itself,” said Yaniv Lavi, Director of Product Marketing for the consumer retail business unit at SanDisk. “Our SanDisk Cruzer USB Drives are ideal for watching and downloading videos because they come in capacities of up to 16GB², are technologically capable of streaming high definition content and come equipped with security features that help protect user privacy.”

“SanDisk’s reputation for innovation in flash storage devices and portable applications makes them the ideal distribution partner to make Veoh’s extensive Internet video services more portable for our viewers,” said Joshua Metzger, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for Veoh Networks. “SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drives are ideal for video and Veoh.com users. This partnership puts Veoh in their pocket – so videos are ready to enjoy whenever and wherever they plug in.”

Users who previously purchased SanDisk Cruzer^® USB flash drives can download the Veoh Web Player onto their drives for free by visitingwww.sandisk.com/veoh or by accessing the SanDisk Cruzer Program Wizard of the U3 Launch pad. More information on U3 is available atwww.sandisk.com/U3.

Lighter doubles as an 8GB flash drive

Contributor — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Here’s the perfect complement to the USB flash drive with built-in bottle opener we told you about a few weeks ago. It’s a Zippo-style lighter with 8GB of storage and a USB connection — because you can never have lighter fluid too close to your computer.

It costs $60, which might seem a bit steep, but if you’re still smoking in this day and age, you’ve no doubt gotten used to paying out the wazoo for cigarettes anyway. What’s another $60, especially when you can impress everyone by lighting a smoke (outdoors) and then pulling the latest episode of Babylon 5 off of your lighter?

USB 8GB Flash Drive Lighter [ThinkGeek via DVICE]