Earlier this week, Kingston announced that the DataTraveler Mini Fun and DataTraveler Mini - Migo Edition USB flash drives are now shipping in capacities up to 4GB. As an extra bonus, the DataTraveler Mini Fun also comes preloaded with the game Soduko.

Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced its DataTraveler Mini Fun and DataTraveler Mini - Migo Edition USB Flash drives are now shipping in capacities up to 4GB and the DT Mini Fun now features the internationally popular game Sudoku as well as the previously included Atlantis from Big Fish Games.
The DataTraveler Mini Fun and DataTraveler Mini - Migo Edition are available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities and retail from $16 up to $62. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
Samsung recently announced that they've started sampling their 1.8" and 2.5" 64GB solid state drives (SSD). These new drives feature a super-fast SATA II interface, giving them a sequential write speed of 100MBps and a sequential read speed of 120MBps.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, has become the first in the industry to sample 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch 64Gigabyte (GB) solid state drives (SSD) with a super-fast SATA (Serial ATA) II/native SATA interface. With a sequential write speed of 100Megabyte per second (MBps) and sequential read speed of 120MBps, the SATA II SSD is poised to expand the market for solid state drives from notebook PCs to corporate servers and other high-performance storage applications.

“The 64GB SATA II SSD is based on Samsung’s cutting-edge NAND technology with dramatically improved performance specs that are taking system performance to a whole new level of efficiency,” said Jim Elliott, director, NAND flash marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.
If you'd like to read more, Samsung's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment
PNY Technologies and Ironkey have announced that they've partnered together to deliver IronKey’s Secure USB Flash Drive to retailers. Offering the same features as the IronKey Standard Edition, the PNY 4GB IronKey includes military-grade hardware-encryption, an onboard web browser and internet authentication software to protect online accounts and passwords.
With concerns about identity theft on the rise among consumers nationwide, PNY Technologies, Inc. and IronKey have partnered to deliver IronKey’s Secure USB Flash Drive through retail channels. The IronKey has been designed with military-grade standards for hardware-encryption and tamper-resistant durability. It provides an unprecedented level of data security and protection of online passwords, critical documents, files, and images to consumers. The relationship between PNY and IronKey gives retail shoppers access, for the first time, to a secure USB flash drive that meets the requirements of the nation’s most demanding security experts...

...The IronKey Secure USB Flash Drive, which has a high-speed data transfer rate (up to 20MB/sec. write, up to 30MB/sec. read), is housed in a rugged metal casing that is filled with an epoxy-based potting compound, making it both waterproof (MIL-STD-810F compliant) and tamperproof.
The PNY 4GB IronKey is shipping now and retails for about $149.99. Full details can be found here. Add a comment
Transcend recently announced the arrival of its new SD/MMC Card Reader S5. While small in size, the S5 features a built-in USB connector and support for the latest SDHC standard. The reader can also access data from newer, mini-size mobile phone memory cards via an adapter.

Transcend, a global leader in flash products and peripherals, is proud to announce the arrival of its new SD/MMC Card Reader S5. With industry-leading compact size, attractive all-white design, multi-format convenience, and built-in USB connector, the S5 is the easiest, most convenient portable card reader available.

Memory cards have become an important part of our digital lives. We rely on them for storing photos, video capturing, listening to music or even watching movies with portable devices. Transcend’s Card Reader S5 allows quick and easy access to all the data on your memory cards - without the hassle of messy cables and drivers. The S5 plugs directly into any USB 2.0 (or 1.1) port and is capable of data transfer rates up to 480Mb/s. In addition, it supports the latest SDHC standard for hi-end large capacity memory cards. The reader also gives you the added benefit of accessing data from newer, mini-size mobile phone memory cards such as miniSD, microSD and MMCmicro via an adapter. The Card Reader S5 has a sleek design that makes it compact and portable, with rounded edges for easy handling.
No word on pricing or availability. If you'd like to read more, Transcend's entire press release can be found website. Add a comment
SanDisk recently announced that they filed two lawsuits against 25 card vendors and controller suppliers, alleging that they infringed upon five of their patents. The company also filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC), asking that they ban importation of infringing products into the U.S.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today announced the filing of three patent infringement actions against 25 companies that manufacture, sell and import USB flash drives, CompactFlash cards, multimedia cards, MP3/media players and/or other removable flash storage products. The actions, filed in the United States District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin and in the United States International Trade Commission (“ITC”), allege that the defendants have infringed various SanDisk system-level patents, and seek damages and a permanent injunction in the federal court actions, as well as a permanent exclusion order from the ITC banning importation of the products into the United States.

“These actions demonstrate SanDisk’s long-term commitment to enforcing its patents, both to protect our investment in research and development by obtaining a fair return on that investment, and out of fairness to third-parties that participate in our patent licensing program,” said E. Earle Thompson, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at SanDisk. “Our goal is to resolve these matters by offering the defendants the opportunity to participate in our patent licensing program for card and system technology. Otherwise, we will aggressively pursue these actions, seeking a prompt judicial resolution awarding damages, obtaining injunctive relief and banning importation of infringing product.”
If you'd like to read more, SanDisk's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment