Flash Driven

More U3 Reviews

2006-06-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

If you still haven't got a U3 Smart Drive (a USB drive with built-in applications), maybe these review articles maybe of help to you.

Me and the U3

Office To Go: U3 Puts The Desktop On A USB Stick

U3 Newbie Guide

Technorati tags: U3 / U3 Smart Drive / Flash Drive / USb Drive

Places to Buy Flash Memory Market Reports

2006-06-29T00:31:00.000-07:00

If you are a businessman or market analyst and would like to learn more about the intricacies of this complicated market, then these publications will be of help to you. Please be reminded that as high-level research products, they do not come cheap and run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Here is a list of publications you might want to look into:

iSuppli

Research and Markets

INFRASTRUCTURE Advisors
Press Release

Memory in Cellular Handsets

Web Feet Research

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / NAND / Market Reports / iSuppli / Research and Markets / Infra Advisors / Abiresearch / Web Feet

Sony Jumps the Gun on Flash Memory

2006-06-28T00:06:00.000-07:00

While Windows Vista Laptops aren't here yet and the Samsung Hybrid-Hard-Drive is being marketed initially in South Korea, Sony surprises everybody with the new VAIO based on flash memory instead of a traditional hard disk. This is also no ordinary VAIO laptop since this is actually Sony's first UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC). The tag price is hefty one though worth $1,805.

This seems to be an early (very early) adopter product since others have UMPC products priced below $1000. It is seen as a very high-end product right now and it would be good to wait for a few more months or even years of development for the ordinary person to get this product.

Source: Sony ditches hard disk in latest laptop

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Hard Drive / Sony / Vaio / UMPC

Flash Memory Encryption Methods

2006-06-27T05:20:00.000-07:00

My fellow Google Answers Researcher, mathtalk, asks in one of his comments if I have already did a post on flash memory encryption. I said not yet but it was a good idea so here it is.

In my web search, I found the Wikipedia article about flash memory having a good discussion about encryption. The article mentions different methods of encryption.

1. Encrypted filesystem - "This prevents an unauthorized person (who has found or stolen the drive) from accessing the data stored on it. The disadvantage of this is that the drive is accessible only in the minority of computers which have the same encryption software..."

2. Software Encryption - TrueCrypt, CryptoBuddy, and Private Disk

3. Biometric Encryption

Source: USB Flash Drive: Security

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Drive / Encryption

Bulletproof Flash Drive

2006-06-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

It seems that flash drives are in a fighting mood these days. From US Military secrets to Terrorist finds, Flash drives have been on the war path recently.

Even the concept of USB drive design is reflecting this seemingly odd association. Pretec's i-Disk Bulletproof is what it names says it is. They say it is almost indestructible since even a bullet can't break it. I think such a portable storage system will be of great use to the military and law enforcement people who will need to carry around data. The downside however is that if something goes wrong and such flash drives falls into the wrong hands, military and police security could be compromised which will lead to even bigger problems.

"PRETEC i-Disk BulletProof is constructed with double layers of sealed protective metal, capable of preventing circuit damage from water, fire, and even shielding the heavy impact of a bullet."

Source: Pretec's Almost Indestructible USB Flash Drive

Technorati tags: Flash Drives / USB Drives / Bulletproof / Pretec / iDisk Bulletproof

India's Classified Navy Information Available on Flash Drives

2006-06-26T04:48:00.000-07:00

Another example of military operations wherein flash drives have infiltrated the ranks can be seen in this story from India. The ones receiving the information aren't really after the so-called weaponry or military secret stuff but business contracts in the Indian navy. Information is given to a specific company of procurement deals to give the former some headstart.

"According to media sources, Sensitive data on procurement deals and information on air-conditioning plants for ships and submarines was passed to "commercial establishments" from the Indian Navy's war room, an internal probe has revealed."

"Equally worrying, a pen drive with at least 100 downloaded documents was recovered and officials feel more such "information sticks" could have made their way out of the war room."

Source: Evidence of systematic Sensitive data leaked from navy's war room

Technorati tags: Flash Drives / USB Drives / Pen Drives / India / Navy / Secrets

An Assessment of Windows Vista and the Hybrid-Hard Drive

2006-06-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

An article from David Morgenstern of the Channel Insider talks about the possible effects of hybrid-hard drives once the Windows Vista comes out. He acknowledges that the effects will likely be more scrutinized in laptops since this is where battery problems are of utmost concern. His take is that the approach of Windows Vista is just to scale down performance when in fact what the market really needs is development in battery technology.

"The currently prevailing antidote to the problem of battery power in notebooks is to throttle back on performance, letting you do more with less. Microsoft's ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive take this approach. But what we want to do with our computers requires more processing power and more often, especially with today's advanced interfaces."

Source: Readers Are Ready for Vista's Flash Speed-Up By David Morgenstern

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Hybrid Hard Drives / Windows Vista / Laptops / Battery / Batteries /ReadyBoost / ReadyDrive

Micron Takes Lexar

2006-06-23T03:14:00.000-07:00

Finally, one of the biggest deals in the flash memory industry has materialized. The $850 million dollar deal has been approved and now Micron, the surviving company, will become a major player in the flash memory industry at a time when demand is just heating up.

The timing of Micron couldn't have been better as an impending surge of demand for flash memory devices is expected as MP3 players are ordering them at a tremendous pace. As what is reported yesterday, the scene will get hotter with the new iPod being based on high capacity flash memory.

"'We believe Lexar's retail products and channel relationships complements Micron's manufacturing capabilities and allows access to the data card market in addition to the wireless and portable media markets they are already addressing,' wrote Credit Suisse analyst Michael Masdea in a client note."

Source: Micron's Lexar Buy Looks Like A Good Fit

Technorati tags: Micron / Lexar / Deal / Flash Memory / iPod / Mp3 Players

In the Pockets of A Terrorist

2006-06-22T00:14:00.000-07:00

The US Military has been shamed in the past when their secret files were being sold off the markets of Afghanistan, Now its the terrorist turn to feel the heat because of some flash drives.

When Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was found dead after an all out assault. on his home. After that the military was looking for anything that could help them in the war against terror. They found a treasure trove of information on o USB drive. The authenticity of such information cannot be questioned since the drive was found on the pockets of Zarqawi himself.

"When asked how he could be sure the information was authentic, al-Rubaie said 'there is nothing more authentic than finding a thumbdrive in his pocket.'"

It seems that Zarqawi was just a regular guy, not being careful with his files and moving around Iraq with them on his pockets. People really has a lot to learn about flash drives.

Source: Iraq Announces Info From Al-Zarqawi Raid

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Drive / USB Drive / Terrorist / Zarqawi / Iraq

Blame MP3 Players for the Flash Memory Shortage

2006-06-22T00:06:00.000-07:00

Companies are increasing their production of flash memory devices. As a testament to this, they are either making new plants or converting DRAM production facilities to NAND. Keeping-up with demand will be a really big challenge which will be compounded when Apple begins producing its next generation of iPods

"Despite converting factories from DRAM (dynamic RAM) to NAND production, chip makers won't be able to keep up with such growth. So the market for NAND flash will experience a 5.8 percent shortage in the fourth quarter of 2006 and a 2.6 percent shortage in the first quarter of 2007, Gartner predicted."

If the shortage comes and demand continues to rise, the flash memory price reductions being experienced now might be short lived. Another way to look at it though is that it will open up new opportunities for small time manufacturers that could fill-up the need.

Source: Music Player Sales Drive NAND Flash Memory Shortage

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / NAND / Shortage / MP3 Players / iPod

Play Baseball With Your Flash Drive

2006-06-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

Rachel Hill of Freshly Squeezed Flash has done it again.

It seems that she is constantly redefining her product line with ingenious uses of everyday inexpensive things to incorporate with USB drives. This time she is using an old electronic game, a Coleco Electronic Baseball game!

So now you have a reason to bring your baseball video game with you since now it is attached to your USB flash drive and your files!

It seems that Rachel is moving on to more complicated but innovative projects. She will have very happy customers in the future.

Source: One of a Kind Gallery - Baseball Videogame USB Flash Drive!

See More: Funny Flash Drives

Technorati tags: Freshly Squeezed Flash / USB Drive / Flash Drive / Coleco / Baseball / Game

Panasonic's Own SD Card Reader

2006-06-21T03:29:00.000-07:00

Panasonic came out a week ago with a new SD Card standard that is basically geared for digital video cameras. Now they are coming out with a memory card reader for it. The reader comes in two forms, one is for USB 2.0 and the other is in PC Card type.

The probable price tag for such a card reader is $43! Now I know that this is a specialized SD Card and the Reader is unique for this product as well but the price is too steep for such a product category. Two things are at work here, it is hard enough to introduce a new standard and now you are making a reader, catered to only one product instead of multiple ones, and pricing it at such a fortune! Unless third-part manufacturers pick on the new SD format of Panasonic and its accompanying reader, then it will be hard to convince people to shell out such big bucks when there are numerous alternatives available out there.

Source: Panasonic intros two new SDHC card readers

Technorati tags: SD Card / SDHC / SD Card Reader / Panasonic

The Flash Memory Summit

2006-06-20T03:23:00.000-07:00

Flash Memory has truly arrived and a new summit just for this industry will be held in San Jose California on August 8-10. The topics are mostly technical in nature and would appeal to those who are on the engineering side of things for this industry. Their website provides a host of other info as regards to the nature of this event.

I wished I could attend this one so I could visit the exhibitors area but its too expensive and too far from my country (Philippines).

Fujio Masuoka -The Inventor of Flash Memory

2006-06-20T03:18:00.000-07:00

In my wanderings at the Flash Memory Summit website, I found this interesting link to a Business Week magazine article about the inventor of flash memory, Fujio Masuoka. He was just a midlevel factory manager for Toshiba when he took on this project.

What is interesting about this article is that Masuoka actually intended Flash Memory as a replacement storage for hard disk drives. In the midst of the potential issues being cried out against hybrid-hard drives, this is what Masuoka actually intended for flash memory devices.

Read About Other Flash memory Inventions

Source: Fujio Masuoka: Thanks For The Memory Via Flash Memory Summit

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Inventor / Fujio Masuoka / Toshiba / Hybrid Hard Drives

The Case of the Missing Flash Drive

2006-06-19T00:22:00.000-07:00

We have heard time and time again that one of the criticisms of flash drives is that they can easily get lost. This time we look at real life case of this issue. A professor lost a flash drive full of data of his students. Such an event sent shivers the spine of students since they are in an era that one compromise in personal security can give lots of things away to the thieves.

"Officials think the drive contained the students' names, their grades for the professor's classes and their Social Security numbers, which the university uses as identification. The university is in the process of creating a non-Social Security-based identifier for students."

The other question I would like to ask is why was the teacher allowed to have the Social Security numbers of his students? What if he is of dubious character as well? Shouldn't such data be in the confines of the school servers alone wherein proper security measures through a combination of software and hardware tools are being used?

Source:UK students' data stolen

Technorati tags: Flash Drives / USB Drives / Security / Thief / Identity Theft / Professor / Students

Tracking A Lost Flash Drive

2006-06-19T00:19:00.000-07:00

The blog at Oklol.co.uk provides a tutorial on how track a missing flash drive. But still this will be no dice to the professor who lost his USB drive since the thief should plug the USB drive on a computer that is included on the school network.

Unless of course the thief actually used the school computers.

"Everybody on the network will recive the username of the person who stole the drive, this only may work on individual workgroups."

Source: Track Your Stolen USB v2

Technorati tags: Flash Drives / USB Drives / Network / Security

Happy Father's Day!!!!!!!

2006-06-17T00:39:00.000-07:00

We'll I'm a dad so happy father's day to all the crazy ones like myself! What would be a good gift for dads? If you are thinking if maybe Dad may just need one of those thumb drives, may we suggest a few.

1. A USB drive with about 1GB and up storage - Dad might be carrying around a bunch of powerpoint presentations, photos and even music in a bunch of floppies or CD-ROMs. Give him something small instead like these thumb drives but go for the larger storage ones since files these days are getting larger and before dad knows it, its already filled up.

2. U3 Smart Drive - If dad wants to carry his computer settings around but he isn't a techie, a U3 Smart Drive is the way to go. It synchs his document folders and web favorites by just pressing a button.

3. USB Drive with Security Features - Dad must have very important files stored in his USB drive and PC. Maybe changing it to drives with security software and features will lessen the chances of his data being stolen or just simply getting lost.

Read Our Past Product Features:

A USB Drive Built for Web Surfing Security
Lexar and its Secured USB Drive
DonÂt worry about this USB Drive

Technorati tags: Father's Day / Gifts / Flash Drives / USB Drives / U3 / U3 Smart Drive

Should You Format or Just Simply Delete?

2006-06-16T17:13:00.000-07:00

Google Answers is a source of great answers from questions coming from clients. You can search it as well for previously asked questions. I am a part of this answer service from Google and it is really fun.

Our feature today is an answer from a fellow researcher palitoy-ga. The client wants to know if it is better to use the "Delete All" function in a flash memory card or to format it altogether.

In this answer the researcher first explains what happens when you use each of the options above. "Deleting All" of it actually doesn't delete all but retains the file image. Meanwhile, using the format function completely deletes it.

"Generally and in basic terms, when you format your memory card you write to every spot on the card therefore removing all traces of what was on there previously. When you "delete all" from your card you are only removing the information that tells your card reader where to find your pictures on the card."

So he suggests that if you would likely need to retrieve that file in your memory card in the future, use the "Delete All" function so that you may have a chance of possibly recovering it in the future. But if you are selling or giving a card away then format it so as to completely erase your file.

Source: digital camera SD card

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / SD Card / Format / Delete / Google Answers

Here Comes Superfetch for the Hybrid-Hard Drive

2006-06-16T02:19:00.000-07:00

We revisit Windows Vista anew with its continuing buzz on how it will incorporate flash memory in the OS. In the past we looked at the promise of Readyboost and how it can speed up your system by doubling as an extra RAM provider. Now we will focus our sights on its sister technology, Superfetch.

TechEd 2006 highlighted the presentation of Windows Vista and one of the most intriguing part was when it was shown that through Superfetch, applications load faster after continues use.

"...a battery of four applications were loaded in sequence: Outlook first, followed by OneNote, PowerPoint, and Adobe Acrobat. On an ordinary HP notebook computer, with a 2 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM, the sequence of apps took 32.6 seconds of load time. With SuperFetch turned on, load time immediately improved to 26.5 seconds - a boost of 18.7%."

"Frankly, that's not too impressive. But as Matt Ayers explained, SuperFetch is learning from its user about the patterns of hard disk pages it tends to load."

The load time after such repeated trials were improved by 206%! You begin to wonder if coupled with ReadyBoost, the load times will even be more dramatic.

This still however begs the question on how the market will receive a more expensive machine since the hybrid-hard drives will definitely jack up prices. Will the speed really be that significant for the market to try this out and again the lingering concerns as well on the ability of flash memory to last the distance.

Read More About Superfetch: Microsoft details performance of Vista's SuperFetch, ReadyDrive

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Hybrid Hard Drive / Windows Vista / Superfetch / ReadyBoost / ReadyDrive

More Memory for Mobile Phones

2006-06-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

Mobile phones are really not just for calling and texting anymore. With the new Toshiba NAND flash products, people can cram more songs and pictures onto their phones.

"With the GB MCP memories, mobile phone users can get the most out of 2- and 3-megapixel cameras and enjoy a great deal of music; the new 2GB GB MCP memory can store more than 500 four-minute songs recorded at a bit rate of 128kbps2"

Source: Toshiba package integrates NAND flash, controller

Technorati tags: Toshiba / NAND / SD Card / Controller / Flash Memory

Why are Flash Drive Storage Less Than Advertised

2006-06-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

This very interesting point from Patrick Marhsall of the Seattle Times explains why the actual storage space is actually less than indicated on the box. The first point is that some flash drives have software inside like the U3. Another is that because of the different storage architecture used by the manufacturers.

"Devices may also use different storage architecture and file systems, which will result in more or less overhead for file storage. These choices may also result in different performance levels, as will the type of controller chip being used in the flash drive and the number and size of storage chips."

Source:Flash-memory devices don't always have same innards

Technorati tags: Flash Drive / USB Drive / Storage / U3

Nintendo Wii Will Offer Own SD Card

2006-06-14T03:07:00.000-07:00

It seems that Nintendo plans to offer its own SD Card when the Wii comes out of the market. I really don't think this is necessary for Nintendo to do unless their SD Cards will be specialized ones that will greatly maximize the Wii. We have seen Sandisk do this with the PSP but based on the tests, it doesn't make much of a difference from the higher end cards out there.

Nintendo should concentrate again on the gaming experience since they're very good at it. Then they should make the gaming platform flexible enough so that consumers will have a choice on additional peripherals that are just indirect consequence to the games themselves.

Source: Nintendo will release official SD memory cards

Technorati tags: SD Card / Nintendo / Wii

How To Hack A U3 Smart Drive

2006-06-14T03:01:00.000-07:00

I am not trying this out since it is too technical for me. I just want to point you out to this article wherein the writer is intrigued by a U3 flash drives ability to open two drives (a fake CD-ROM drive) and a real USB Drive once it is plugged in.

It seems that there is so much going on inside a U3 Smart Drive.

Source: Hacking U3 Smart USB Drives

Technorati tags: U3 / U3 Smart Drive / USB Drive / Hack / Hacking

Flash Memory + Windows Vista = Nightmare?

2006-06-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

An article from eWeek mentions some of the possible problems in using flash drives as extra memory for Windows Vista. Lets see them and provide some comments.

"First, about the ReadyBoost thumb drive caching. Let's face it, while the USB port is fine for desktop uses where there's little movement, it's a bit unreliable for mobile applications." - Yes this depends on manufacturer ability on how to make the USB drive fit snugly on the port. This is indeed a question that must be addressed not by Microsoft however but by the PC makers..

"Worse, USB devices stick out from the plane of the enclosure, making them easy to jiggle or dislodge." - Another looming problem but more on the user side of being responsible with his or her gadgets. Whatever gadget we have, care should be practiced whenever we utilize them.

"Microsoft says that the thumb drive can be removed "without any loss of data or negative impact to the system." But that doesn't mean that your notebook won't be locked up for a while figuring out that there's no longer a device attached." - I think this is a very legitimate concern since notebooks are pretty picky when it comes to the presence of devices attached to it.

Overall great article and a lot of things that Windows Vista must answer in the near future.

Source: Is Vista Heading for a Flash Nightmare?

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / USB Drive / Hybrid Hard Drive / Windows Vista / ReadyBoost

Panasonic's SD Cards for Video

2006-06-13T00:29:00.000-07:00

Panasonic has recently unveiled an SD Card that is specifically catered to DV Cameras. So this means that may cousin's relatively cheap DV Camera can record better videos on this one. Plus they are very easy to view on the PC after one transfers the video file with a memory card reader.

First of all I like the idea of Panasonic in making even small type storage like 256mb SD Cards. This will be good for people who have older DV camera models that cannot accept SD Cards beyond 512mb. But make no mistake about it, that they have the power users in mind as well since the maximum on these devices go up to 4GB.

One of my very first posts here mentions that we buy flash memory cards only on the basis of what gadget we have. We rarely consider what memory card will come with that device. This product from Panasonic makes us now consider what products are out there that can accept this card.

Source: New SD flash memory card launched by Panasonic

Technorati tags: SD Card / Panasonic / Flash Memory Cards / Memory Cards

How Long Will That Flash Drive Last?

2006-06-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

It depends on how one uses it.

Our next article says that flash drives usually lasts 10yrs through ordinary and less frequent use. But if you don't use it much you can actually make its lifespan doubly longer by using it a little bit more. According to Brandon Stevens of Kingston Technology.

"If you don't update or view the files, the electrical charge representing your stored data will disappear after about 10 years..."

"Using the flash drive isn't enough. You must call up, or update, each individual file and the electrical charge will be renewed and you're good for another 10 years..."

Interesting read. For one, it seems that at its present form, flash memory has some quirks on its abilities and these depends on the manner of usage and not just the frequency. Just goes to show that one must not depend on these things for data since nothing is perfect in this world. Maybe a combination of CDs, traditional hard drives and online storage will be more appropriate.

Source: On flash drives, data will last longer if used

Technorati tags: USB Drive / Flash Drive / Storage / Kingston

Cautious Trend in Flash Memory Movement Towards the PC

2006-06-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

Since price levels of flash memory per GB hasn't yet reached the low levels of traditional hard drives, industry people are still cautious on their outlook on how manufacturers will incorporate their hybrid counterparts.

"About 5 to 10 percent of the world's laptops will have flash inside in 2008 and about 20 to 30 percent in 2009," according to Dave Lee of Kingston.

I agree with this prognosis since people will still go for the cheaper ones at the outset and for very good reason. Laptops and PCs are expensive by themselves so people will probably scrimp on the hybrid feature. The launch of Windows Vista however will add to sales since it promises to leverage to the power of flash memory technology.

Source: ANALYSIS - NAND memory sets sights on PC hard drives

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Hybrid Hard Drive / Windows Vista / Kingston

World Cup Fever on USB Drives

2006-06-10T00:10:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for the World Cup? Whether you are or not, USB drives are raring to go.

Digital Era came up with two USB drives for the biggest football event with one drive having a soccer ball shape as seen from above. Since Digital Era is a UK company, they also have one in support of the country's ballclub.

I think that USB drives are slowly creeping in as marketing materials in our world today. We now have customized CD-ROMs and DVDs so it is but natural to expect something like this. If I am not mistaken though, it seems that the World Cup is the first sports event used by private companies as themes for their USB drives.

I bet more will follow suit. How about the NBA Finals?

Source: Digital Era

Technorati tags: USB Drive / Flash Drive / World Cup

ReadyBoosting Your Windows Vista with a USB Drive

2006-06-09T00:23:00.000-07:00

Once you get your hands on Windows Vista, maybe you would want to try this functionality for ReadyBoost.

In our initial post on how Windows Vista takes advantage of USB drives, I think we did not do justice to discussing its ReadyBoost feature. We only say that its acts like providing more RAM. Actually this has far greater implications. With this functionality, it not only maximizes the USB drive but now it also ups the memory ante for Windows Vista.

This has been tried before and it seems Windows Vista is very serious on this one. This blog from KenLin shows us how to do it if you have the beta version of Windows Vista on your PC. It is actually quite easy to do. The only problem is that if used in this way, you are only allowed one USB device plugged in. Read his blog below.

KenLins Blog

What does this mean to us? I have checked the prices of 1GB RAM and they are in the horizon of $60 to $80. Compare this to a 1GB USB drive which you can buy for $30 to $40. So that cuts the cost in half immediately. Plus you have a wide variety of formats to choose from like SD Cards, Compact Flash and other vareieties of flash memory.

It seems that Microsoft and the Flash Memory Market will be boosting each others industry when Windows Vista comes along.

Technorati tags: USB Drive / Flash Drive / ReadyBoost / Windows Vista / RAM

A USB Drive Built for Web Surfing Security

2006-06-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

We have known the U3 Smart Drive as a USB device containing built-in portable apps and ready to use with very little tweaking so that even if you are not a geek, you can enjoy portable applications.

Now we have a USB Drive which has a different perspective, it is loaded with portable applications specifically fitted so that you can protect yourself online.

"The Stealth Surfer II is essentially a USB drive with self-contained applications needed for secure web browsing. To use it, you simply plug the drive into any Windows 2000/XP machine and launch the applications on the drive. When using StealthSurfer II, all your sensitive Internet files such as cookies, internet history, and cache are stored on the StealthSurfer USB device instead of your computer. And should you lose the SSII, the device itself is protected by password, so it's useless to anyone else."

Source: StealthSurfer II USB Review

Technorati tags: StealthSurfer II / USB Drive / Flash Drive / U3 / U3 Smart Drive

When USB Drives are Laying Around

2006-06-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

What would people do when they see a USB drive laying around somewhere? They plug it in their computers of course!

In this interesting study about social engineering and security in the workplace, we can get some insights as to why USB drives can be quite nightmarish to the enterprise.

The consultants were testing the employees on how sensitive they were to the security of their data. How easy it is for them to share passwords and other critical information to other people. One way the consultants went about this is by scattering about 20 cheap USB drives in places where the employees frequently go like the parking lot. This was done very early in the morning. 15 USB drives were found and all of them were plugged into the computers once the employees found them. Unknown to them the USB drives had a Trojan that would run, collect and then send the passwords to the consultants.

"Of the 20 USB drives we planted, 15 were found by employees, and all had been plugged into company computers. The data we obtained helped us to compromise additional systems, and the best part of the whole scheme was its convenience. We never broke a sweat."

Maybe we should ask why does this happen? I think the primary reason is that even today USB drives I think still has that some sort of novelty in it unlike CD-ROMS and floppy disks which immediately gives you alarm signals on its possible contents. Just read the consultants observation on the behaviors of those who found the drives.

"It was really amusing to watch the reaction of the employees who found a USB drive. You know they plugged them into their computers the minute they got to their desks."

The thing is the people in this company knew that a security inspection is going on at that moment!

First off I think that the unique shape of every USB drive out there instills immediate curiosity on those who see it. Another thing is that maybe people are thrilled to know if they can make it work on their PC. Are they curious if they can find some hidden dirty secret there? Maybe but in my opinion it is just plain curiosity of a funny looking device at this point.

Source: Social Engineering, the USB Way

Technorati tags: Flash Drive / USB Drive / USB / / Security

Would You Use a USB Drive to Back-Up Data?

2006-06-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

A new survey reports that only 54% backup their data. Those who do backup their data prefer CD-Rs and DVD-R Discs as backup devices while 25% use USB drives.

The percentage of those who use flash memory isn't bad actually since it hasn't really come to the cheap price levels of CD-Rs. Plus it has to compete with other media and also online storage. However, based on a post we had in the past, flash memory as a primary back-up is still not yet advisable at this time so people should be warned about this. USB Drives are still seen as one way to transport data conveniently from one location to another and not yet as the premier choice of storage.

Source: Survey: Some don't back up computer data

Technorati tags: Flash Drive / USB Drive / USB / Storage / Backup

A Kitty Says Hello on your SD Card

2006-06-07T00:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another edition of Fun with Flash memory and this time we have something a little bit different. We usually feature things here of fun shaped USB drives. USB drives are usually easier to manipulate or change in shape so I think its fair that more creativity can be made with it.

This time though we have something for SD Cards, and it took the lovable Hello Kitty to make something different with these products. The company behind this is Silicon-Powers. The Hello Kitty SD Cards are Limited Edition only. The last time they did this is with a Batman Edition (wow).

"The top design team of Sanrio has masterfully created an alluring product of function and fun for all. And this series is available in 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB capacities and are proudly available in 4 different designs with the choice of a blue or pink color theme."

Source: Hello Kitty SD Memory Cards

See More Fun Flash Memory Devices

Technorati tags: Flash Drive / USB Drive / USB / SD Card / Silicon Power / Hello Kitty

Apple Goes Flash Memory Shopping Spree

2006-06-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

In order to equip its new generation of iPods, Apple goes into a flash memory buying spree. Industry sources are saying that an 8GB iPod is in the works and flash memory will be the storage of choice. Samsung and Hynix won the Apple contracts.

Source: Apple books considerable NAND flash capacity with Korean chipmakers for . . . 8GB iPod?

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Market / NAND / Apple / iPod / Samsung / Hynix

Micron Enters Flash Memory Battle Ground

2006-06-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

Micron knows where the trend is when it comes to memory and that is NAND. This time it enters an arena wherein Samsung is king. In fact it immediately challenges Samsung's new NAND technology called OneNand with its own dubbed Managed NAND.

"The company’s technology competes against Samsung’s so-called “fusion memory” technology, dubbed OneNAND. Geared for cell phones and other products, OneNAND’s fusion architecture features a single-level-cell NAND core with SRAM and logic elements that emulates a NOR flash interface, according to Samsung (Seoul, South Korea)."

Micron plans to put this into production by 2007

Source:Micron debuts 'fusion memory' for cell phones

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / NAND / Micron / Managed NAND / OneNand / Samsung

Post #100: Driven to Start and Beyond

2006-06-06T00:06:00.000-07:00

I have been posting my thoughts and internet finds about flash memory since April 24 of this year and for some kind of celebration, we will have something different for post number 100. It will be a look back and also what we intend to accomplish in days ahead.

First of, before I started blogging I read the posts on Problogger.net and took in everything I could learn in order to make a serious run at a blog. I followed almost every advice there except for one, having a domain name. Mind you it isn't that I don't agree with the idea of having with one's own domain. I used Blogger to compensate for my deficiencies. I am not really an expert in HTML and scripts and can hardly go by in tweaking things in my sidebar. Another reason why I didn't go for a domain is because of my personality. I know that if I don't start now, I might never start this thing of. So I took the plunge and whipped up something here.

I really feel that flash memory is a good niche topic. Even if I am not a techie this is one product and topic that can be appreciated by people like me since most of us who use gadgets already have them or planning to buy these devices. I also have a strong interest in business research and the flash memory market is one interesting industry to document and keep an eye on since I believe this is the future of storage.

In the coming months I hope to improve Flash Driven by coming up with more insights and interactive features. Making more specialized categories in the long run will be needed. A more unique template too will be a requirement as well but I will not rush until I found a look and feel that I will be comfortable with. I also would like to work hard in achieving a decent number of regular visitors here to make the place more fun and for others to share their experiences with flash memory devices.

My over-all goal however, is still to make Flash Driven a one-stop resource for all things flash memory, specifically NAND types or USB drives and the memory cards like SD Cards, Compact Flash, Memory Sticks and xD Cards.

Before starting this project, I have observed that you can get information about flash memory online but you have to get a little bit from this site another one from that blog, another technical bit from this programming site. It is my hope that someday, this humble work shall produce a repository of information that people can use to be more informed about this topic.

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Drive / USB / USB Drive / SD Card / Compact Flash / Memory Stick / xD Card / Flash Driven

Flash Drives in the Medical Industry

2006-06-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

If you are in the medical industry, there are different products catered to doctors and medical companies so as to avail of the different ways that USB Drives can help in their daily jobs or marketing their products.

One such product is the MedicAlert Key. This product contains all the medical information of the patient. With this the doctor can immediately get the information needed during treatment.

Health companies can also use these USB drives to promote their products and services. Customized USB drives having your logo and providing built-in software can go a long way in your marketing efforts. An example will be these USB Flash Drives from Custom USB

Technorati tags: USB / USB Drives / Flash Drives / Custom USB Drives / Custom Flash Drives

USB Publishing

2006-06-05T04:29:00.000-07:00

This could be another market segment!

We know have USB drives pre-loaded with software, why not entertainment content. I think it would be a good idea for content publishers to start making use of USB drives. 128mb or 256mb drives are pretty cheap by now so material cost wouldn't be much of a problem. Here are some suggestions:

Music - I have seen some artists already publishing on USBs, pre-loaded with their own songs. Maybe they can create those cheap USB MP3 players pre-loaded only with their own songs.

E-Books - Authors who have made lots of books can publish all their creations in e-book forms. The smaller capacity drives can handle them pretty well since these books come only in small file sizes. Textbooks can also be a good product for this since students won't need a bag for all those heavy books.

Movies - With USB Drives coming in 8GB capacities, your movies are inside your pockets. Maybe for this to become a reality, new TVs should have a USB port.

Games - Small-scale game publishers can market their games on USB drives as well. Since they have higher capacities than CD-ROMs, more complicated games can be made.

Technorati tags: USB / USB Drives / Games / Ebooks / Books / Textbooks / Music / Movies

Toshiba Will Release its Own Hybrid Hard Drive

2006-06-05T04:25:00.000-07:00

It seems that as we have foreseen in our May 30 post, Toshiba will indeed dive in the hybrid hard drive sector. If it does, then it will be more than ready than Samsung.

According to Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing for the storage device division at Toshiba, the company plans to release the hybrid hard drives when the Windows Vista arrives which will take advantage of the hybrid hard drive. ZD Net UK made a small mention of it as it reports on Toshiba's new notebook drives (non-hybrid).

Source: Toshiba touts data density record with new drive

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Capacity / Hybrid Hard Drive / Toshiba / Samsung

128MB Flash Memory Capacity by September?

2006-06-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Storage needs of consumers are increasing and both hard drives and flash memory device makers are cashing on the surge of demand. The information cited in this article have actually been covered before but there is one bit of information worth of interest.

The article says that flash memory capacity doubles in capacity every 9 months!

"Flash memory makers have been doubling capacities about every nine months, says Celeste Crystal, an analyst at market researcher IDC. They're squeezing more bits of data onto cells in their silicon chips as well as developing new ways to stack layers of cells in the same amount of space."

Based on our post last April, maybe the 128MB flash drive will be available by Christmas.

Source: Storage demands fuel hard drive, flash memory industries

Technorati tags: Flash Drive / Flash Memory / Flash Memory Capacity

E-Ink's Paper-Thin Display on Flash Drives

2006-06-03T00:13:00.000-07:00

Lexar and E-Ink, the makers of paper-thin displays are working on flash drives that will incorporate the technology. Paper-thin displays is a promising technology development since the display will be paper like. Imagine a newspaper you're holding being updated through the internet!

Lexar will use this to show a meter on how much data you have on the drive. This will be useful since the paper-thin display is low powered. The E-Ink display is only 0.7mm.

“E Ink's display products are paper-thin, low-power and ideal for a wide range of products from smart mobile devices to simple indicators such as those offered by Lexar,” said Darren Bischoff, E Ink Senior Marketing Manager."

Source: LEXAR ADDS INNOVATIVE STORAGE CAPACITY METER WITH ELECTRONIC PAPER DISPLAY FROM E INK

Technorati tags: Flash Drive / USB / USB Drive / E-Ink / Paper Thin Display

Flash Memory Launches

2006-06-03T00:09:00.000-07:00

Get up to date with all the product launches that has happened the past two weeks. Read the following links on different new products know what will be on your neighborhood mall or favorite online store.

BioCert ClipBio

Buffalo 8GB Thumb Drive

Toshiba 2GB miniSD card

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Drive / USB / USBDrive

U3 Smart Drive Showdown

2006-06-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

Are you itching to get a U3 Smart Drive? Do you like the idea of having applications built in your USB drives? Are you going to grab one now?

Before heading to the store (online or offline), go first to PC Magazine. They have a quick table comparison of four U3 Smart Drives and based on this, they are not created equally. You can glance a quick look at the table to see which is the best U3 Smart Drive or you can click on the product name to get more detailed observations.

PC Magazine: U3 Smart Drive Comparison

Technorati tags: Flash Drive / U3 / U3 Smart Drive / Smart Drive

Flash Memory Market Starting to Recover

2006-06-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

After a sluggish start because of inventory problems and pricing pressures, flash memory is slowly recovering according to Samsung.

MP3 players and digital cameras are the drivers for this demand in NAND flash memory. But what is interesting is looking at using NAND so as to provide video capabilities in the future and to sustain market interest.

"Looking forward, Chu said Samsung was in talks with 'several' makers of MP3 music players looking to offer video capabilities by using high-end 8-gigabyte flash chips. The products are likely to be launched in the third quarter, he said."

Source: Samsung says memory business recovering fast

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Market / NAND / Samsung

Flash Memory Reviews on Video

2006-06-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

If you are not in the mood for reading reviews about flash drives then why not watch them? I searched some videos on the C-Net website and found a bunch of them. Most are from 2005 down to 2003 but they're still good. Just like the other categories here, whenever we have related posts we will add it to the list here.

Enjoy Watching!

Kanguru Bio Drive

Back up your PC to USB

Get e-mail on your USB drive

Manage passwords with your USB drive

Run apps from your USB drive

Powerhouse Technologies Migo USB 2.0 flash drive (512MB)

Lexar Jump Drive Lightning

SanDisk Cruzer Titanium

SD Card Music Playback

Flash drive gets biometric protection

Technorati Tags: Flash Memory / Flash Drives / USB Drives

Will Flash Memory Card Readers Go Obsolete?

2006-06-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

More than a week ago we mentioned a product by PNY which does away with memory card readers. A similar one is also being marketed by MediaGear called the XtraDrive. Unlike the PNY however, it seems that this one doesn't have a built-in storage but more like a small card reader.

But if we go by this shape, it would be easy for MediaGear to pop in some storage there just like PNY. Instead of having an extra gadget for a card reader, you can just have one. Right now basing on PNY's price, a combo usb storage and reader drive will cost about $30 for only 128MB storage. However if it goes below $10, could this signal the demise of card readers.

Technorati Tags: Flash Memory / Memory Card / PNY / Xtra Drive

Wear Your Flash Drive!

2006-05-31T00:28:00.000-07:00

Feeling a bit insecure about your flash drive data? How about wearing them?

The Imation Flash Wristband enables one to not only bring their data with them via a flash drive, but one can wear it as well. This will probably make the user more secure with his data since it is always with him wherever he maybe. It can be pretty convenient as well because you always have it handy whenever you need it.

Source: Imation Flash Wristband

Technorati tags: Flash Drive / Imation / Flash Wristband

Compact Flash Cards Test

2006-05-31T00:15:00.000-07:00

We have referenced a test on flash memory cards in the past and it was indeed a great source of information on what types are the best out there.

This new test takes only compact flash card. This is important to people who only have this type since it is the one that came with their digital cameras (people like me). Based on the results, the winners were the Corsair 2GB, the Sandisk 1GB and Sandisk Extreme III (1 GB).

This is only a private test but it is still helpful as well based on the observation by the author.

- Compact Flash cards performance have come a long way. The author can say this since he based the performance of his new cards with old ones. (Really old ones circa 1998)

- Sandisk two Compact Flash brands have almost similar performance according to the test.

Source: Flash Memory Then and Now: How Far Have We Come?

Technorati tags: Compact Flash / Flash Memory Cards / Memory Cards / Digital Cameras

Memory Cards Taking Over: CANON May Stop Film Camera Production

2006-05-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

It seems that flash memory cards like SD and compact flash cards, are now making a very strong case of replacing film on photo cameras. It's just a matter of time.

One evidence of this is that Canon is now considering whether they should still continue to produce film cameras.

"A spokesman at Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker, said it would consider whether it needs to continue developing both compact and single lens reflex (SLR) film models because the markets for both are shrinking."

Source: CORRECTED: Canon considers halt to film camera development

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash MemoryCards / Memory Cards / Digital Cameras

Which Company Will Benefit Most from a Hybrid Hard Drive?

2006-05-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, Samsung maybe the first company to incorporate the Hybrid Hard Drive, a hard drive that contains flash memory, but if this technology ever takes off, it will not be the one who will benefit the most.

There is a good chance that its flash memory rival, Toshiba, will take the cake. Why Toshiba?

Hybrid Hard Drives I feel will create their initial impact more on notebooks than on desktop PCs. Flash Memory storage benefits for notebooks are enormous and will easily be noticeable since it addresses the following needs:

- saves battery due to less spinning of the hard drive
- more durable since hybrid hard drives are less susceptible to physical shocks
- faster boot times

Based on past reports, we can see that Toshiba was number 2 in market share for flash memory and was the only company to make headway in market share last quarter.

Flash Memory Market Share (1Q / 2006)

Samsung - 48%
Toshiba - 24.6%
Hynix - 14.8%
Renesas - 5.6%
Micron - 2.9%

However, unlike Samsung it is still a big player in the notebook market. In fact, it is number 4 in market share according to Gartner Dataquest.

Laptop Market (2005)

1 Dell- 17.1%
2 HP- 16.5%
3 Acer - 12.2%
4 Toshiba - 10.5%
5 Fujitsu - 8.1%

Source: Toshiba loses ground in notebooks

Samsung maybe the market pioneer, but when Toshiba joins the fray, the latter may find this industry segment a very tough one.

Technorati Tags: Flash Memory / Hybrid Hard Drive / Samsung Toshiba / Notebooks / Laptops

USB 1.1 or USB 2.0?

2006-05-30T00:20:00.000-07:00

When I first used a USB drive on my PC a year ago, I was surprised to see the message saying something like a High Speed USB device is connected to a NON-High Speed port or something like that. Apparently because my USB Port is 1.1 while the USB Drive is a 2.0.

What is the difference between these two and how would I know if I have USB 1.1 or 2.0? These two links will show you how and will provide a much clearer explanation.

Sources:
USB 2.0, Hi Speed USB FAQ

Ask Leo: How can I tell if I have USB 2.0?

Technorati Tags: USB Drive / USB 1.1 / USB 2.0

The Pitfalls of Flash Memory

2006-05-29T00:34:00.000-07:00

Has Samsung's Hybrid Hard Drive solved the usage limitation of flash memory? Is there really a limitation and how does this affect the hybrid hard drive?

The website Ask-Leo, answers interesting computer problems and today we are taking a look at one of his answers. The question is that... do USB drives wear out meaning do they have limited life?

The article states first how flash memory generally works. The reason why they call it flash memory is that when memory is loaded, a signal sent to the flash memory says to "remember this type of data" It's like taking a picture or having a photographic memory. However, usb drives just like any kind of flash memory, will only have a limited amount of flashes. Some say between 10,000 and 100,000 times.

If this is the case then asking about the limitation of usage in hybrid hard drives is a fair question. Will this be viable enough in the long run?

Please remember that Flash Driven isn't and will not pretend to be a technical expert on such things. We strive to cover however the market dynamics and technology developments of flash memory. But once we get reports from experts, we will sure to post it here.

Source: Ask Leo: Can a USB thumbdrive "wear out"?

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / USB Drives / Hybrid Hard Drives / Ask Leo

The Future of Flash Memory on Mobile Phones

2006-05-29T00:25:00.000-07:00

Today, most mobile phones are still going for NOR flash memory in their handsets. However, when memory capacity goes up to more than 512mb, manufacturers prefer NAND Flash. This is because at these levels NAND Flash is deemed a lot cheaper.

However, the article also says that like the Ask-Leo article above, it seems that limitations on how many writes and reads of files you can do on a NAND is one of its biggest technical obstacles.

"Once NOR's capacity exceeds 512MB, taking smart phones with outstanding performance for instance, manufacturers prefer to adopt NAND because NOR has a much higher cost and a relatively big-sized body."

"Concerning stability, there are hidden troubles such as bit-flipping, bad blocks and limited life in NAND. In addition, NAND adopts a non-standard interface and needs software management, which increases the cost of the system."

Source: The Average Capacity of Handset Memory is Expected to Reach 415MB by Q2, 2006

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / NAND / NAND Flash / NOR Flash

It's Not Science Fiction Anymore (We'll Almost)

2006-05-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

Imagine you are carrying a 2GB USB drive in your pocket. You then go to your living room and stick it in a USB port at the front of your DVD Player. You can then watch a Spiderman movie. After about two hours you plug it out and off you go to see a friend at a mall.

On your way out, you remember to scribble a note to your room mate that you will be back by 9pm. So you take out the USB drive again, pulls out the cover at the other end, which reveals a built-in pen, write something on a yellow note and then stick it to the door of the fridge.

While driving your car, you again stick the very same USB drive at a slot this time at your car stereo and listen to your favorite contemporary Christian music. As you go along you may want to listen to a podcast about basketball that you downloaded from the net earlier.

Once in the mall you wait for your friend at a restaurant. While waiting you see that the restaurant is a Wi-Fi hotspot so this time you take out your PDA and use your USB drive which doubles as a wireless connector and you're on the net in no time. You can now open and respond to emails as you wait for your friend and order. When your friend arrives you talk and maybe exchange a few photos stored in your flash drive via wifi.

Technorati tags: flash drive / usb drive / music / movies / pen

Flash Memory in the Windows Vista Explained

2006-05-27T01:25:00.000-07:00

The Implications of Samsung's Hybrid Hard Drive continues to be a buzz in the tech industry since it threatens to replace traditional hard drives. And it seems that the Windows Vista is all set to embrace this technology.

This blog from the PC World Magazine gives the basics on how Flash Memory will be used in Hybrid Hard Drives for the Windows Vista. The post says that Windows Vista uses three elements of software to maximize the power of Hybrid Bard Drives. The three tools are namely SuperFetch, ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive. Based on the explanation, it seems that there is going to be a lot of memory sharing to be done so as to limit hard drive spinning thus making processes faster. Here is a somewhat very skeletal explanation from the post.

SuperFetch - Stores the information you will need like your Word documents.

ReadyBoost - This is like buying extra RAM memory for your PC. It allocates additional memory storage on USB drives and on the flash memory of hybrid hard drives. This helps in providing more memory for SuperFetch.

ReadyDrive - This is the tool that store critical data such as those needed for booting your computers. This makes your computer start up a lot faster.

Source: WinHEC: More on Hybrid Hard Disks

Technorati Tags: Hybrid Hard Drives / Flash Memory / Hard Drives / Samsung / Windows Vista / SuperFetch / ReadyBoost / ReadyDrive

Flash Memory Makes Laptops More Durable

2006-05-27T01:16:00.000-07:00

One more implication of the Hybrid Hard Drive is the problem of manufacturers in creating anti-shock protection for the hard disks inside laptops. Unlike desktops, laptops are much more susceptible to sudden physical shocks when they are dropped or bang a corner while being carried around. Since traditional hard drives are constantly spinning, sudden shocks will damage such drives.

Hybrid Hard have less spins because of the flash memory that comes inside which requires no moving parts when storing data.

"While notebook makers have been busy building anti-shock protection into their notebooks to protect spinning disks from the rigours of life on the move, a perfect solution has been waiting for a price point that will completely do away with the need for hard disk drives in notebook computers."

"Samsung says the Solid State Disks (SSD) can withstand about twice the impact that would cripple a regular hard disk drive"

Source: Why Samsung Got Rid Of The Hard Disk

Technorati Tags: Hybrid Hard Drives / Flash Memory / Hard Drives / Samsung

Bang and Olufsen Part 2: Their Vision for Music on Flash Memory Cards

2006-05-26T00:31:00.000-07:00

As promised yesterday, we have part two of our feature on Bang and Olufsen and this time Thomas Reil, the company's Head of Communications, answers a some questions.

1. There is a conscious effort to incorporate flash memory convergence in the music experience. What do you think of the role flash memory will play in terms of digital music storage in the future?

Thomas Reil:
At Bang & Olufsen we think flash memory will play an important role in the future. This system makes music very easily accessible and you can also take your favourite songs wherever you go. This is why we have three products, BeoSound 2 (MP3 Player), BeoSound 4 (Stereo) and BeoSound 3 (Portable Clock Radio) that all handle the SD card, and so make the favourite music very easy accessible and portable.

2. I understand that memory card usage in portable music is an ordinary sight today but in home audio systems it isn't yet why is that and why do that in the Beosound 4?

Thomas Reil: In BeoSystem you can easily record a CD to MP3 format onto the SD card without a computer, and then port that to another unit eg the BeoSound 2 or 3.

3. Is there a big market for systems like the Beosound 4? I mean recording from audio system to CD-Rs has not caught up yet so what makes you think that with the SD-Card people will finally go to digital recording using the BeoSound 4?

Thomas Reil: Yes, we believe there is a market for BeoSound 4. The reason why people have not yet changed to record on SD-cards, is because you still need a computer and a card reader. With the BeoSound 4 recording is very easy, and possible directly from your CDs onto the SD card in a very high quality of 192 Kbps.

4. Are you going for multiple flash memory card formats in the future or are you going to stick with the SD-Card since it is the most popular form?

Thomas Reil: Bang & Olufsen is always looking for the most popular form before we start developing products integrating the new systems. This is also the case for SD card. We have chosen this system and to make it accessible throughout our products, we will use the same system in different products. As our products have a long lifespan, the SD card will be our favourite system for a longer time period.

5. Are there any plans of incorporating the Beocenter and BeoVisions with SD-Cards as well in the future so that we can watch home movies edited on the PC with these systems?

Thomas Reil: It is still too early to give any information on this.

Related Article:
Bang and Olufsen Incorporates SD Cards in its Music Systems

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / SD Card / Bang Olufsen / Beosound

Review Round-Up 3

2006-05-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

Today we will have links to reviews of products from OCZ, Verbatim and the Iocell's Vaccine Drive. The Vaccine Drive is an interesting concept since it provides a way of safely swapping files between a PC and a USB drive as it scans incoming and outgoing files for viruses.

I thought about this idea in my wish list and it seems to answer that premise. The only thing missing there is the LCD to show which files have viruses but that's no biggie since in this situation, it isn't needed and if they decided to add one, the technology is already present. Iocell makes these products and we hope to have more of them in the next editions of Flash Driven since they do have interesting products.

GCN Lab Review | Virus killer in the palm of your hand
OCZ Ultra-Slim Mini-Kart Flash Drive
Verbatim Store 'n' Go

Technorati tags: flash drive / usb drive / iocell / verbatim / ocz / Vaccine Drive

Bang and Olufsen Incorporates SD Cards in its Music Systems

2006-05-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

Bang and Olufsen is a company which has a different take on digital music. Yeah they have the usual products like a portable MP3 player which also accepts memory cards like SD varieties. Our first graphic here provides three music entertainment gadgets that go hand in hand with each other.

First off we have the BeoSound 4. This system is stationary in your house and you use it to listen to radio, cds, etc. Then if you want to record a radio program, you can use the Beosound 4 and you can choose what media to record on, either a CD-R or an SD Card!

On the road, you can then listen to the recording using either of their two portable products. The small disc shaped one of course is an MP3 player that you can tag along with you. You can then stick your SD Card there and listen to the music. The next one with the handle, looking like a rocket, is the BeoSound3 and is portable as well but it has an FM Radio. You also play your CDs and music on your SD Card in there as well!

This graphic from the company's website is a very good representation on how SD-Cards are used in the BeoSound Systems.

Tomorrow we will have more of the Beosound with insights from the people of Bang and Olufsen themselves.

Source: Bang and Olufsen

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / SD Card / Bang Olufsen / Beosound

Flash Memory Starts to Replace Hard Drives in PCs

2006-05-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

First it was reported that Samsung will incorporate flash memory in its PCs. Now comes reports that Sony is in the works as well in creating PCs using flash memory as storage.

The advantage of this is that flash memory is generally faster than hard disks and saves much more power, a feature very important on laptops since it saves on battery life. But I think the biggest drawback still is that flash memory is much more expensive per MB than an ordinary hard drive.

Source: Flash memory replaces hard disks in PCs

Technorati tags: USB Drive / Flash Memory / PC / Samsung / Sony / Hard Drives

Lexar and its Secured USB Drive

2006-05-25T03:13:00.000-07:00

Lexar is aiming a secured USB drive to be used in with the upcoming Microsoft OS, Windows Vista. The security premise seems simple enough, the USB drive can only be used on authorized computers.

"It will allow for protection against unwanted use of or access to the flash drive, by only displaying the contents when it is put into an authorized computer."

Source: Secure USB Flash Drive In Development

Technorati tags: USB Drive / Lexar / Windows Vista

Flash Memory Invention

2006-05-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

If you are curious on who invented flash memory, then this summary from various Wikipedia articles will be of interest.

Flash Memory (NOR and NAND) : Dr. Fujio Masuoka of Toshiba (1984)

Compact Flash: Sandisk (1994)

MMC Card: Siemens AG and SanDisk (1997)

USB Drives: IBM and M-Systems (1998)

Memory Stick: Sony (1998)

SD Cards: Panasonic and Sandisk (1999)

xD-Picture Card: Olympus and Fujifilm (2002)

Source: Wikipedia

Technorati tags: USB Drive / Flash Drive / Memory Card / SD Card / Memory Stick / Compact Flash / xD Picture Card

70% of the Flash Memory Card and Drive Market in India is Fake

2006-05-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

Whenever a new technology comes along, the least thing I think about is that it being faked (We'll that's just me of course). In India the flash memory market is doing well because of the increased sale of gadgets in that rapidly improving country. The problem however is that the market is being taken over by pirated groups by dishing out fake drives or reconditioneed devices.

"However, industry sources rue that the market is very unorganised, with fake and reconditioned products that offer no guarantee accounting for over 70%."

“'Memory cards are an emerging and discordant market in India. Organised players are trying hard to compete with the grey market. We are hedged in by the 25% tax component as well,' said Ajay Mehta, CEO, MCC..."

Source: Digital rush has memory cards going

Technorati tags: USB Drive / Flash Drive / Memory Card / India

Flash Drives for Dinner

2006-05-23T00:28:00.000-07:00

Flash drives these days come in almost all shapes and sizes and at times they are almost good enough to eat. These kinds of USB drives are really good gifts and can be immediate conversation starters.

You have got to be amazed at how these things comes in all shapes and sizes. It is virtually impossible to do things like these on a CD-ROM or dressing up your zip disks but we have seen it time and time again for USB flash drives.

If you want to see USB drives in other shapes and sizes, Dynamism has other offerings in the link below.

Source: Dynamism

Technorati tags: flash drives / usb drives / sushi / dynamism

Flash Drive Wish List

2006-05-23T00:19:00.000-07:00

1. Built-in anti-virus software - We now have software pre-built in USB flash drives and scrollable LCD screens. We can combine these features to add more security to our data. Providing anti-virus software inside will now be usable since thru the LCD screen, the software can now warn us if we are downloading a virus infected file.

2. DVD Player USB Slots (better yet a flash memory player) - Flash Memory drives and cards now come in much larger storage types so it is possible that we can get our movies by that form. Maybe a slot or player to stick these cards so we can watch movies through them will be a good idea.

3. Publish Games on USB Drives - Some USB drives are now built with MP3s like audio cds. Maybe it would be cool to bring in games and also have the games just run on those massive sized USB drives so as not to hog memory space on the computers. This is similar to those CD-ROMs.

Technorati Tags: flash drive / anti virus / dvd player / games / wishlist

Microsoft vs. U3?

2006-05-22T00:14:00.000-07:00

Digitimes has a very short article on a possible Microsft partnership with the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) in which Microsoft is a member along with Intel, Apple, HP and NEC. Everythingusb.com also cites this article on its website.

Sources:
Microsoft said to develop U3-like flash disk drive platform
Microsoft Working with USB-IF on U3/Ceedo Killer?

Technorati tags: USB Drive / Microsoft / U3

Toshiba Gains in Market Share

2006-05-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

Toshiba was the only big time NAND memory maker to establish any sort of revenue during the first quarter. It was able to get some piece of the market share from Samsung.

Market Share

Samsung
Q4 2005: 50.8%
Q1 2006: 48.7%

Toshiba
Q4 2005:19.2%
Q1 2006:24.6%

Source: Toshiba Gains on Samsung in Flash Memory Chip Sales

Technorati tags: Flash Drives / Flash Memory Market / Samsung / Toshiba

A Flash Drive and a Reader at the Same Time!

2006-05-22T00:08:00.000-07:00

PNY Technologies has an interesting flash memory product. It looks like an ordinary usb drive with the usual storage capacities of 128mb, 256mb and 512mb. But unlike others, it can also double up as a card reader! You just insert a memory card like SD in its back and it turns into a card reader. Pretty neat!

Source: PNY

Technorati tags: Flash Drives / USB Drives / Flash Memory / Card Reader

SWOT Analysis for Workplace Usage of Flash Memory Devices

2006-05-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

IT Business Edge came up with an interesting SWOT Analysis of flash memory usage in the workplace. If you're company is considering wide usage of flash drives instead of floppies or cd-r discs, then you might find interesting insights in this article.

SWOT Analysis Settles USB Flash Drive Debate

Technorati tags: Flash Drives / USB Drives / Flash Memory

Storing Passwords in USB Drives

2006-05-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

You sign up for all kinds of services on the web. You also have passwords for different software. Now you can use flash drives to remember them all by storing them in encrypted form. Here is a link to a tutorial on how to do it.

How to store passwords on a Flash Drive

Technorati tags: Flash Drives / USB Drives / Passwords

Making Changes at Flash Driven

2006-05-20T01:03:00.000-07:00

I am providing another way of looking at the archives here at Flash Driven and this time arranging them by topics. Due to the limitations of Blogger, I have to create categories manually and collect links to my past posts using different individual posts. The category pages I made are found below.

In case you missed some articles in the past and are having a hard time navigating the archives, now is good time to do so. I will not archive everything I post though, only those that can fit in these categories. You can also find these categories at the sidebar where the usual archives are located.

I hope this will be of benefit to present and future Flash Driven users.

Technorati tags: Flash Driven / Flash Memory

Fun With Flash Memory

2006-05-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

Flash memory isn't just all about technology. It can be fun too and the posts here will show you how this gadget has been used in a creative way by imaginative people.

You will be amazed at how flash drives can come come in all shapes and sizes. It seems that the CD-ROMs and Zip Disks were not quite an inspiring undertaking for creative people.

Play Baseball With Your Flash Drive

World Cup Fever on USB Drives

A Kitty Says Hello on your SD Card

Wear Your Flash Drive!

Flash Drives for Dinner

Cute Flash Drives

The USB Flash Drive That Expands

Have Fun with Mimobot USB Drives

A USB Flash Drive Perfect for Your Wallet

Technorati tags: Flash Driven / Flash Memory

Tech News

2006-05-20T00:53:00.000-07:00

Flash Driven aims to cover the ever changing technology of NAND flash memory. Review our past articles to get a good understanding on the developments in this storage medium.

More U3 Reviews

Sony Jumps the Gun on Flash Memory

An Assessment of Windows Vista and the Hybrid-Hard Drive

Panasonic's Own SD Card Reader

Should You Format or Just Simply Delete?

More Memory for Mobile Phones

Why are Flash Drive Storage Less Than Advertised

Nintendo Wii Will Offer Own SD Card

How To Hack A U3 Smart Drive

Flash Memory + Windows Vista = Nightmare?

Panasonic's SD Cards for Video

How Long Will That Flash Drive Last?

A USB Drive Built for Web Surfing Security

Apple Goes Flash Memory Shopping Spree

Micron Enters Flash Memory Battle Ground

Flash Drives in the Medical Industry

Toshiba Will Release its Own Hybrid Hard Drive

E-Ink's Paper-Thin Display on Flash Drives

Compact Flash Cards Test

How Do You Test Flash Memory Cards?

The Pitfalls of Flash Memory

The Future of Flash Memory on Mobile Phones

It's Not Science Fiction Anymore (We'll Almost)

Flash Memory in the Windows Vista Explained

Flash Memory Makes Laptops More Durable

Bang and Olufsen Part 2: Their Vision for Music on Flash Memory Cards

Bang and Olufsen Incorporates SD Cards in its Music Systems

Flash Memory Starts to Replace Hard Drives in PCs

Lexar and its Secured USB Drive

Flash Drive Wish List

A Flash Drive and a Reader at the Same Time!

Is the Sandisk RapidGX Memory Stick Duo the Fastest Memory Card?

More on the U3 Smart Drive

x4 4-Bit Technology Boosts Flash Memory Cards!

The Samsung Flash Memory-Hard Drive Hybrid Saves Battery Life

Sony Makes More Flash Memory Based Products

The $100 Laptop

Flash Memory on Nanoscale Size

Sony Uses Flash Memory in Latest MP3 Player

U3 and Your Flash Drive

A USB Drive that Slashes Mobile Phone Charges

The Buzz on Eye-Fi

Rip Directly to SD Cards or USB Drives

Don’t worry about this USB Drive

Now You Can See What’s Inside!

SD Cards invade the Broadcasting Industry

The USB Drive Storage Space Title Belt - April 27, 2006

Technorati tags: Flash Driven / Flash Memory / News

How-Tos

2006-05-20T00:50:00.000-07:00

Want to get more out of your USB drives or flash memory cards? You might find these articles helpful.

USB 1.1 or USB 2.0?

Storing Passwords in USB Drives

Autorun for USB Drives

Taking Care of Your USB Drives

How to Fix Your Memory Cards

Technorati tags: Flash Driven / Flash Memory / Tutorials

Security Issues

2006-05-20T00:46:00.000-07:00

Just like in other forms of computer technology, USB drives and flash memory card security is a concern. Read on to know how users and makers of these gadgets cope to make their data more secure.

Flash Memory Encryption Methods

Bulletproof Flash Drive

India's Classified Navy Information Available on Flash Drives

In The Pockets of a Terrorist

The Case of the Missing Flash Drive

Tracking A Lost Flash Drive

When USB Drives are Laying Around

Would You Use a USB Drive to Back-Up Data?

Is the Kingston DTE Privacy Edition The Most Secured Flash Drive?

Sandisk and Philips Take Flash Memory Security to Mobile Phones

More on Flash Drive Security

Biometric USB Drives

UK Companies Concern About Flash Drives

Military Secrets in Memory Cards Still On Sale!

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / USB Drives / Security

Review Round-ups

2006-05-20T00:42:00.000-07:00

Want to read reviews of flash memory drives from people who actually used them? These links will be of assistance to you as we surf the web to find the best reviews.

U3 Smart Drive Showdown - June 02, 2006

May 19, 2006
May 07, 2006

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Reviews

Market Insights Digests

2006-05-20T00:31:00.000-07:00

On the business side, the flash memory industry is a fascinating subject to cover. As more and more people adopt them into their daily lives, we see how leaders and innovators cope with market forces related to their industry.

Micron Takes Lexar

Blame MP3 Players for the Flash Memory Shortage

In the Pockets of A Terrorist

Fujio Masuoka -The Inventor of Flash Memory

Cautious Trend in Flash Memory Movement Towards the PC

ReadyBoosting Your Windows Vista with a USB Drive

Post #100: Driven to Start and Beyond

USB Publishing

128MB Flash Memory Capacity by September?

Flash Memory Market Starting to Recover

Will Flash Memory Cards Go Obsolete?

Memory Cards Taking Over: CANON May Stop Film Camera Production

Which Company Will Benefit Most from a Hybrid Hard Drive?

Flash Memory Invention

70% of the Flash Memory Card and Drive Market in India is Fake

Toshiba Gains in Market Share

SWOT Analysis for Workplace Usage of Flash Memory Devices

A Bunch of Flash Memory Market Forecasts

39% of NAND Memory Chips Shipped Were Over 1GB in Density

Samsung Sees Flash Memory Shortage

Toshiba Will Build More Flash Memory Plants

Potential Market for NAND Adoption in Hard Drives

NOR Flash Memory Makers Now Moving to NAND

Storage Types Really Matter

The Flash Memory Inventory Glut!

Industry Snapshot: The NAND Flash Memory Market

They’re like… family!

USB Flash Drives Market Growth

Flash Memory... Changing Our Lifestyle

Technorati tags: Flash Driven / Flash Memory / Flash Memory Market Forecast

A Bunch of Flash Memory Market Forecasts

2006-05-19T03:49:00.000-07:00

- Flash Memory will be present in 30% of laptops around the world in 2008.
- In 2007 130 million units of USB Flash Drives will be sold.
- By 2008 Flash memory Cards will be a $27 billion market.
- Flash Memory Market for Mobile Phones in 2010 will be $7.6 billion.
- Over-all Flash Memory Market for 2010 will reach $33.4 billion.

Sources:

Samsung Elec raises flash chip prices, shares climb
Semico: flash card market to top $27 billion in '08
USB Flash Drive Market
NAND flash prices drop

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Market Forecast

39% of NAND Memory Chips Shipped Were Over 1GB in Density

2006-05-19T03:44:00.000-07:00

The Purchasing.com article entitled NAND flash prices drop, references a data from IC Insights saying that flash memory in densities of 1GB and above was the preferred purchase in 2005 for the manufacturers market of mp3 players, digital cameras, etc. with 39% of the market volume. Coming in at a far second was 256mb with only 17% of the market.

It would be good to know the figures for the consumer market.

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / NAND Memory

Review Round-Up 2

2006-05-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

As we get towards the weekend, here is another serving of review round-ups around the web, profiling different flash memory products.

Lexar JumpDrive Secure II 1GB

Corsair Flash Voyager

Kanguru Flash Drive Max 64GB

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Lexar Jump Drive / Corsair Flash Voyager / Kanguru Flash Drive

Is the Sandisk RapidGX Memory Stick Duo the Fastest Memory Card?

2006-05-18T02:54:00.000-07:00

Questions.... questions... questions. Our two posts today will be about questions regarding the most secured and the fastest flash memory in the market today.

The eHomeUpgrade website has an article on the Sandisk RapidGX and is considered the fastest memory stick on the market and also the fastest flash memory gaming card. You can read the article at the link below.

SanDisk Intros RapidGX, World's Fastest Memory Stick Pro Duo Gaming Card for PSP

But is it the fastest memory card in the market today?

One of my very first posts here at Flash Driven is about read and write speeds of different memory cards. You can see this test by clicking here.

The winner there was the Transcend SD 150x 4GB with 18.44mb/sec read speed and with a write speed of 11.97. The Sandisk RapidGX comes in only at 15mb/sec read and write. The Transcend SD card is still the fastest but the RapidGX is within the top 5 so not bad.

Technorati Tags: Flash Memory /Sandisk / RapidGX / Transcend / SD Card

Is the Kingston DTE Privacy Edition The Most Secured Flash Drive?

2006-05-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

In this interview with Mark Leathem, Kingston's director of digital media business development, the company's new DTE Privacy Edition USB drive might be the most secured yet since the security is is on the hardware level.

"Kingston DTEP drive is the first USB drive that is 100 percent private. What this means is that all data saved to the device is automatically encrypted on the fly, with no additional IT or user intervention. The drive features 128-bit AES hardware encryption. The benefit of hardware based encryption is two-fold. First off, it ensures that the encrypting does not take place in what is essentially the public domain (using the CPU and RAM ) making it open to software ( Malware, Trojans ) looking for traces of the activity; further, on the hardware side, the RAM itself is a potential weak link. Secondly, it doesn’t require a user to download any special software for de encryption."

Source: Kingston Technology's Mark Leathem on USB drive security

Technorati Tags: USB Drive / Kingston / DTE Privacy Edition

More on the U3 Smart Drive

2006-05-17T03:02:00.000-07:00

As promised we will have more on the U3 Smart Drive here at Flash Driven. I recently did an email interview for U3 and Esther Kruijver, U3 VP of Platform, answered my questions. I would also like to thank James Cortese and Tricia Arana of AR Partners for all their help.

1. In very simple terms what is U3 and what can it do for non-techies?

U3 has created a platform that transforms USB flash drives from simple storage devices into USB smart drives. A U3 smart drive hosts a "personal digital universe" -- not only a person's data and files, but software programs, personal preferences and the means for managing them -- all in a highly secure environment. Now consumers can work from any PC as if it were their own. When the smart drive is removed, the PC remains unaltered.

2. Is U3 only for Windows Systems? If yes when are you going to have U3 for Linux?

For now U3 is only compatible with Windows. But Mac and Linux support are coming in the future.

3. What is the vision of U3?

U3 unites USB drive manufacturers and software developers behind a single, best-of-breed platform for U3 smart computing. The U3 platform and accompanying development tools make it easier for partners to develop new U3 smart products. In fostering a growing community of hardware vendors and compatible U3 smart software, U3 ensures that consumers can choose from an ever-growing array of U3 smart devices and software applications.

4. What can we expect from U3 in the months or years to come?

U3 will continue to expand the functionality of the platform and ensure that our end-users have a great experience with the product.

5. I have viewed the U3 community forums, based on the concerns there such as software stability especially on the Launchpad. How are you addressing these things?

U3 continues to look for feedback from its customers and has an ongoing process in place for including enhancements in the platform driven by customer feedback.

U3 monitors the issues raised in the online community and is constantly working to improve the platform. Once problems are identified, U3 works with its hardware and software partners to resolve them. The result is improved performance and smoother hardware and software integration.

6. Since U3 is making your files and system truly portable, meaning you can carry it around, why didn't you make it interoperable to Windows and Linux?

Our first priority was to launch U3 addressing the needs of the broadest set of customers. We have plans to address additional operating systems and development environments, including Linux and the use of Java. We will announce more details in the future.

Visit: U3 Website

Technorati Tags: U3 Smart Drive / Flash Drive / USB Drive

x4 4-Bit Technology Boosts Flash Memory Cards!

2006-05-17T02:50:00.000-07:00

An Israel-based company called M-Systems developed a technology that shrinks flash memory cards, quadruple their strorage capacity and if that is not enough... they will be cheaper to make! Their x4 technology is at the heart of this new flash memory cards and is set to be on the market by 2007.

"Think of a (flash) wafer like a coin,' explained M-Systems Director of Investor Relations Elana Holzman. With SLC NAND, you can put x number of cells on the coin. With MLC, or 2-bit NAND, you can put twice as much information on a coin of the same size, and with the new x4, 4-bit technology, the same coin holds four times as much information, Holzman told United Press International."

"This translates into a 30-percent cost reduction in producing a 1 gigabyte wafer (as compared to an MLC wafer), she said, and the wafer itself will be smaller."

Source: Flash memory gets boost from x4 technology

Technorati Tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Cards / x4 / M-Systems

The Samsung Flash Memory-Hard Drive Hybrid Saves Battery Life

2006-05-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

It is becoming clear that the Hybird Hard Drive is the future of PC storage. Numerous benefits of this technology includes the following:

- Saves battery life since the drive won't need to spin all the time.
- It will boot-up faster.
- Less prone to break downs.

What is interesting is how this will work and the article cited here explains it in an easy to understand manner.

"A hybrid hard drive is a hard drive that contains a flash memory chip that stores data and applications. Because the processor can retrieve data from flash, the drive — which spins constantly in an ordinary computer — can stay asleep most of the time."

"The flash chips will perform a couple of different functions. When consumers write a word document, the data will go straight to flash. When the flash chips are almost full, the drive will wake up and take the data. Some PC makers will also likely embed media or music players along with other commonly used applications to ensure rapid boot time."

Source: Samsung hybrid hard drive extends laptop battery life.

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Hard Drive / Hybrid Hard Drive / Samsung

Sony Makes More Flash Memory Based Products

2006-05-16T04:40:00.000-07:00

First Sony will use flash memory on its new MP3 player, this time it will also adopt it to its upcoming Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs). Sony will try to challenge Samsung by coming up with their own small sized PC or UMPC. Instead of a hard drive though, they will primarily use flash memory for storage. Samsung maybe the flash memory leader but Sony may just beat them to it when it unveils its own UMPC.

Source: Sony Unveils Paperback-Sized PC, Challenging Samsung

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / UMPC / Sony

The $100 Laptop

2006-05-15T03:38:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of the $100 Laptop?

The $100 laptop is a project by the non-profit organization One Laptop Per Child in cooperation with MIT Labs to enable every child to carry a laptop. The laptop will not be sold in the market but will be distributed directly to schools with the help of the government. This will be of great benefit to children in poor countries.

The reason why they can make such a laptop so cheap is that they wonÂt provide a hard drive. Instead they will use 500 MB flash memory and 4 USB ports. So any flash memory card (using card readers) or USB drives can be employed for additional memory. Linux software will also be used to drive down the cost even further.

For the first time we can see the benefits of using flash memory for a very good cause. Enabling everyone to have access to information will give a good boost to the education of kids whatever social or economic status they belong.

I am really glad for organizations like 'One Laptop Per Child' because they not only help the poor but they have the vision that will uplift their lives in generations to come. The Bible talks about helping the poor and this organization has indeed heeded this message.

"There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors." (Deuteronomy 15:11 -The Message Bible)

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Card / Card Readers / USB Drives / USB Ports / One Laptop Per Child / Bible

Flash Memory on Nanoscale Size

2006-05-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

If you think Flash Memory cards and drives can't get anymore smaller then think again.

"Motorola spinoff Freescale Semiconductor of Austin, TX, is using nanoscale materials to develop a new generation of flash memory that will be half the size of conventional flash devices and could cost much less."

Source: Small, Cheaper Flash Memory

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Cards / Nanoscale / Motorola

Autorun for USB Drives

2006-05-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last week we talked about U3 and how helpful their U3 Smart Drives were. The U3 Smart Drive start automatically once you insert it in your PC plus you can synch your files as well.

If you still haven't gotten a U3 smart drive or even if you do and you need to mimic the autorun functionality with your pure storage usb drive, then this tutorial on how to do it will be useful to you.

Enabling autorun for a USB flash drive

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / U3 Smart Drive / Synch / Synching

Samsung Sees Flash Memory Shortage

2006-05-13T04:12:00.000-07:00

We have to post some more flash memory industry news as a bunch of them were covered on the web. We will start with Samsung.

Eventhough Samsung has raised prices, it seems they are convinced that flash memory price tags in general will continue to decline and will result in a shortage by the second half of the year.

Source: Samsung Upbeat But Memory Shortage Looming

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Prices / Samsung

Toshiba Will Build More Flash Memory Plants

2006-05-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

Amidst the growing demand for flash memory products, Toshiba aggressively moves into the market by building two new plants in Japan. This news was acquired from the company's 2006-2008 fiscal business plan. A total of $19 billion is set aside for this investment.

Sources:
Toshiba to invest 2 tril. yen, expand flash memory output

Toshiba plans $9bn Flash memory investment

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Plants / Toshiba

Sony Uses Flash Memory in Latest MP3 Player

2006-05-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

Sony opted to use flash memory in its new MP3 player and its huge... 8GB. With its big storage space, the gadget is being touted as an Ipod rival. But the biggest draw for me about this MP3 player is the 20 hour battery that comes along with it.

Source: Sony NW-A1200 MP3 player has 8 gigabytes

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Chips / MP3 Player / Sony

Now Samsung Raises Prices

2006-05-12T01:58:00.000-07:00

It just pays when you have more than 50% of the market cornered.

After all the complaints of various flash memory product makers and distributors, Samsung has finally raised the prices of flash memory chips. The reason for this is that there seems to be a recovery in demand after Christmas blues has been seemingly on the decline and buyers are ready to purchase again.

"The NAND memory chip prices tumbled early this year because of oversupply and cooling demand for digital gadgets after the year-end holidays."

"Chu said demand was driven by flash memory cards and expected manufacturers of consumer electronics devices to introduce higher-density NAND flash chips in their products throughout the year."

Source:
Samsung Elec raises flash chip prices, shares climb

Technorati tags: Flash Memory / Flash Memory Chips / NAND / Samsung

U3 Smart Drive Article Correction

2006-05-12T01:43:00.000-07:00

Our friends from U3 sent us an email and provides some correction to the terminologies used in my post yesterday.

U3 and its partners call the drive as a "U3 Smart Drive" and not just a "USB flash drive". The reason for this is to avoid confusion in the market and provide the difference between an ordinary USB drive and U3 powered USB drive.

Thanks again for the correction.

Technorati tags: USB / USB Drive / USB Flash Drive / Flash Drive / U3 Drive / U3 USB Drive / U3 Flash Drive / U3 Smart Drive

U3 and Your Flash Drive

2006-05-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

U3 is a company established by Sandisk and mSystems. U3 provides usb drives with software inside like Firefox and Migo. The best thing about this is that your software settings and files are synched whenever you use the drive. You can then carry your drive along with your files, IE favorites and other settings. It's like carrying your computer with you at least the basic things like files and bookmarked web pages.

I recently tested the USB Flash Drives shown here specifically the 1GB version of the Memorex U3 Drive. First of all, I am not a techie so I will not pretend I know the detailed technical workings here. I just love covering this technology since it is very useful for lots of people like me. I think my point of view however, will be important since users like me will comprise a bigger share of the market for U3.

The U3 somehow treats itself as a CD-ROM and a USB drive at the same time. It launches a USB icon at the systems bar and also says that the PC recognizes a CD-ROM. When one uses the Memorex U3 drive for the first time, you will get to see an animated presentation of how the U3 generally works. A woman character talks about the U3 and the software you will mostly spend time on with which is the Launchpad.

I just told you that I am not a techie but I fairly know computers and navigating through software is generally easy for me. But if I did not listen to the presentation in its entirety, I might have miss a very important thing in interacting with the U3 Launchpad.

After you finished with the U3, unlike an ordinary USB drive, you must first click at the "EJECT" button located at the lower right corner of the Launchpad. This is to turn off the launchpad and avoid corrupting the software. I think that if I did not listen to tutorial, I might have yanked the drive once I'm done.

Next I tried downloading an application from the net and I chose the Maxthon browser. It was fairly easy and straight forward. See the graphic below.

Great things about the U3:

- Synching files with the Migo Software is really easy and can be done in a snap.
- Ability to bring important files anywhere without a laptop.
- Plugging it into another PC is also easy along with the other software and files that you put into it.

Needs Improvement
- The drive can be fairly slow when ran for the first time but its up to speed on successive runs.
- The tutorial always starts-up when you plug the drive. You need to disable autorun manually.
- The file I downloaded was also on autorun mode so I have to disable it as well.
- Migo can only synch IE favorites and not yet Firefox. I tried including the Firefox bookmark in the synching tasks but still nothing appears on my Firefox for the U3 drive. In case you know how please tell me.

Visit: Official U3 Website

Technorati tags: USB / USB Drive / USB FlashDrive / Flash Drive / U3 Drive / U3 USB Drive / U3 Flash Drive /Memorex Drive /U3 Memorex Drive

Ridiculously Priced 2

2006-05-10T00:19:00.000-07:00

PRIVACY DRIVE 1GB USB Flash Drive - $4.95 After Rebates (Buy.com)
PNY 1GB Attache USB Flash Drive - $4.98 After Rebate (Staples)
Patriot 1GB SD Card 133X - $8.99 After Rebate (Outpost.com)

Note: Flash Driven is not responsible for the accuracy and reliability of the deals including prices, availability, terms and other specifications.

Technorati tags: USB / USB Flash Drive / Flash Drive / SD Card

It's Official the New Nintendo is a Wii and Embraces Flash Memory

2006-05-10T00:13:00.000-07:00

Last week people were surprised and found it funny that Nintendo has officialy named its next generation console as the Wii. But there were no surprises this time as to what media storage Nintendo will embrace... flash memory. The specs on its hardware technology says it all.

"Wii boasts 512 megabytes of internal flash memory, two USB 2.0 ports and built-in Wi-Fi capability. A bay for an SD memory card will let players expand the internal flash memory. Design was optimized with state-of-the-art processing technologies that minimize power consumption, keep the console compact and enable the 'sleepless' WiiConnect24 mode."

Source: Nintendo Wii Website

Technorati tags: flash memory / USB Ports / USB / Nintendo Wii

Sandisk and Philips Take Flash Memory Security to Mobile Phones

2006-05-10T00:09:00.000-07:00

As security concerns plagued the flash memory industry in the past few months maybe it would be nice to look at what manufacturers are doing to curb the problem. One way is with partnering with each other to provide technology that will complement each other's systems.

Sandisk and Philips has a technology called TrustedFlashCards embedded in mobile phones so that they can make secured transactions using the gadget.

"NFC is an easy-to-use, short-range wireless technology that will allow consumers to use their phones as bus or train tickets and perform secure 'contactlessÂ' payments and other contactless transactions by simply waving their phones near a contactless reader in a mass transit turnstile, checkout counters or drive-thru windows."

Source: SanDisk & Philips to Enable Mobile Payment Security

Technorati tags: flash memory / flash cards / Sandisk / Philips

Fun with Flash Memory Part 3: Cute Flash Drives

2006-05-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks you have heard about Freshly Squeezed Flash, the makers of those cute usb drives. I bet you can't get over the rubber duckey graphic we have here!

The maker of these drives, Rachel, kindly wrote back to answer some questions about her buzzing business. Here is the interview.

1. Why did you start a business like Freshly Squeezed Flash?
I made a few modified USB flash drives for friends and people kept saying I should sell them. I never really thought I could make money off of it, but then I decided to just launch a site, geared more toward the tutorials. I decided to make the site more as an opportunity to get better at doing web stuff and then since I wanted to sell the drives, I learned about e-commerce. It turned out that a lot of people were interested in buying my drives!

2. How do you get materials for the rubber duckies?
I get almost all of my materials (excluding flash drives) from the 99 cents only stores here in Los Angeles. I am addicted to the 99 cents store! They have the coolest stuff! I got my hot glue gun there, and all kinds of other cool stuff. It was there that I found the rubber duckies, crocodiles, whales, frogs, and octopuses, and they were the inspiration for starting the business.

3. What will you do if you ran out of these types of duckies or crocodiles?
I worried about that so I ran around to all of the various 99 cents stores and stocked up on all of them that I can find! I have a big plastic tub filled with rubber animals!

4. Who is the market for these kinds of drives?
Well, I feel like I can market to a lot of different people with these drives. I think that the cutesy ones are more for girls, especially the hello kitty drives and stuff. I am hoping to tap into the Japanese market (but I don't know Japanese!). I think that the hot wheels cars are pretty cool and my husband likes them a lot. They are not as geeky and can be a fun addition to a keychain. I think that everybody can find a USB flash drive a handy addition to their keychain.

5. How much time do you devote into making these things? (per drive)
I try to price my drives based on the amount of time it takes to make them. So the hot wheels flash drive, for example, costs more because it takes a bit longer to make with the dremeling out and stuff.

6. What is the reaction of people when they see this stuff for the first time?
So many people think they are the coolest thing when they see them. It inspires creativity in a lot of people and they get ideas for ones they want to make themselves. Sometimes they place a custom order with me, and sometimes they go to my tutorials and get ideas for doing it themselves.

7. Where do you usually sell these stuff? Do you also sell some at Ebay as well?
I tried selling two drives on ebay once, but it was hard because people were bidding and I didn't know exactly how much I would get for one. It's much easier to treat it like a real business with set prices (that way I can track expenses, etc.)

8. Are there anymore products or variations of these drives in the future?
I am CONSTANTLY getting ideas for flash drives! I have several things that are in a box to try and fiddle around with when I have time. I want to try putting a drive into a gold ball, into dominoes, into poker chips. I also got some little electronic game keychains and I want to see if I can fit a drive into one of those. I love the creativity of seeing what I could make that would make someone happy.

She also provides a tutorial at her website on how to make these drives. Now that's what I call sharing!

Visit her site at: Freshly Squeezed Flash

Technorati tags: flash memory / usb drives / usb memory

Will Kodak and Sandisk Make Sense?

2006-05-09T01:07:00.000-07:00

CNN.com had an interesting article a week ago on why Sandisk and Kodak might be good partners.

According tot he network, the deal makes sense since Kodak is still having trouble adjusting in the digital world while Sandisk is looking to expand its flash memory offerings.

"By buying Kodak -- a larger company in terms of revenues, but one whose $8 billion market capitalization is a third smaller than SanDisk's $12 billion -- SanDisk could market digital cameras, photo printers, and other devices that ultimately drive demand for its memory chips. Rather than depending on digital-camera makers to create a market for it, SanDisk could make its own market."

"SanDisk already sells flash memory to cell-phone makers, where Kodak is hoping to market its digital-imaging technology for cameraphones. A merged company could offer cell-phone makers a package deal."

Source: Why a SanDisk-Kodak deal could click

Technorati tags: flash memory / mp3 players / sandisk / kodak / digital cameras