Tech & Gadget Stream

Wink claims that their 16GB flash drive is the smallest on the planet, and check out just how small it is in the comparison image which shows it sitting nicely beside a standard dice. Perhaps, just perhaps, this could be a gamble that pays off, but carrying something that small always lends a risk of one losing all the precious data stored within.

Hitachi has jumped aboard the rugged bandwagon by rolling out its SimpleTOUGH portable USB drive which can shrug off 3 meter drops, alongside the ability to handle the pressure of a 1-ton truck. The unit also comes with an integrated, flexible, foldaway USB cable, making it a snap to power and tuck away in a jiffy. Useful for both local and online backup, the SimpleTOUGH Comes with Hitachi’s Local Backup software alongside the Hitachi Ultimate Backup service that offers free, secure online backup of up to 2GB. You can pick up the SimpleTOUGH in 250GB, 320GB and 500GB capacities, where they will retail for $99.99, $109.99 and $139.99, respectively.

Fashionistas will look forward to this pair of Calvin Klein USB drive sunglasses, where the USB drive itself remains hidden within the arm of the sunglasses itself while offering decent protection against nasty UV rays simultaneously. These new shades can hold 4GB of storage space, and will retail for $199 when it hits the market this October. Overpriced, as usual, and you'd look pretty weird taking off your sunnies just to access data within whenever you work.

Denon is back in the thick of things with theri fully automatic turntable known as the Denon DP-200USB, featuring a USB port as well as an integrated MP3 encoder. This enables vinyl lovers to transfer their favorite warm tunes over to MP3 audio tracks without having to purchase a computer, and all it takes is a simple push of a button and you're good to go - just make sure than an empty USB flash drive is plugged in, of course. All your tunes will be ripped in 192kbps quality thanks to its Trans Music Convertor, while Gracenote metadata services will be able to add info to the files. If you're interested in picking up the Denon DP-200USB, make sure there is at least £199.99 left in your bank account with silver or black colors to choose from.

One glance at the USB Privacy Keypad and you will realize that it looks pretty familiar, especially when you use ATMs often. It works on the same concept, covering up your numeric keypad so that nobody else will be able to see what numbers you're keying in. It connects to your desktop or notebook via USB 2.0, and comes with an SDHC memory card slot in addition to a couple of shortcut keys. You can pick up the USB Privacy Keypad for $18.99 a pop. We suppose accountants and those who deal with numbers on a daily basis might find this to be fun, while folks who rely on just numbers for their passwords could definitely make do with one of these.

Just how long is your USB cable? The USB standard says that it should be no longer than five feet long, but the ExtremeUSB setup from Icron is able to reach a phenomenal 25 miles in length. Now that's pretty lengthy by any means, imagine working from home using this setup while remaining connected to the computer at your office! The whole idea of this would be for governments to run secure connections to distant cameras, and the setup doesn't really use USB. Instead, you will need to purchase plenty of boxes that will convert the USB signal to or from a proprietary signal, sending it over the wire/air/powerline. There is no word on pricing, but it ought to arrive at OEMs' doorsteps sometime early next year.

At first I thought this was just a vacuum figure but it is in a fact a mini working USB retro vacuum for people who sit at all the desk all day and want to clear those crumbs. The retro styling is just an added bonus.. a very cute and cool USB device.

I’ll admit that I don’t use my laptop for watching movies all that often. Only on long flights and train rides do I really ever feel the need to use it for something other than work.. When I do, the notebook is generally right on my lap, or close by. That’s why I’ve never used the small remote that came with it, honestly I wouldn’t be surprised to find that I’ve misplaced it. However, I’m sure that there are those of you that find such remotes to be quite handy. If you are one such person, and you weren’t fortunate enough to get one with your laptop, here’s a great alternative. The Outel (worst pun ever) USB Multimedia Remote has most of the functions you’ll want on a tiny remote. It’s got your standard multimedia buttons, volume controls, arrow keys and more. It stows away inside your PCMCIA slot, so you don’t lose it. Unfortunately, most newer laptops only have the ExpressCard slots. If your laptop is a little older and you want a cheap remote, you can pick this one up for $30.

Every time I go to the UK, I fall in love with Tesco all over again. All those tasty and cheap and sorta kinda healthy pre-made sandwiches… Mmm mmm good. But Tesco is good for more than sandwiches (and cheap wine); they’ve just launched the Tesco Internet Phone, which is a USB stick with a mic, earphone, and some VoIP software. You can use it to make phone calls from any broadband connected PC in the world, which I guess means that the software is all internal to the USB stick. The hardware is £19.97 (which includes 1gb of storage on the stick itself), and unlimited worldwide calling and voicemail is £8.50 a month. A UK phone number is required which could be a good thing if you’ve got annoying friends. Oh, and Tesco is set to open their first US stores in California and Arizona by the end of this year, hooray!

If you ever needed an example of a gadget that should never have been made, it is the USB powered rechargeable shaver from Connectland. The Connectland model looks like it would have a heart attack at the thought of attacking any serious amount of facial hair. The components look low-end and unlike some comparably priced cheap battery powered razors, it does not have a trimmer. Shaving in the office would not be considered kosher anywhere that I have ever worked, so one has to think that Connectland would have done better to go with a vehicle cigarette lighter powered shaver. At least that way you can keep your grooming in the car, or better still, just take a quality electric razor with you.

Flash drive innovation seems to be limited to bringing the price down, and adding on new security features. Corsair's Flash Padlock flash drive seemingly does both, by retailing at $29.99 and $39.99 in 1GB and 2GB variants, and tacking on a PIN based security system that limits who can access the drive. The benefit to the Flash Padlock is that its security solution is entirely hardware based, so it's supposedly impervious to hackers and crackers and other deviant folk: the downside is that if your computer's USB ports are out of reach, then this solution is going to be extremely bad for your back.

Next month, SanDisk will launch a 4GB Extreme Ducati Edition USB flash drive whose reported 20MB/second write speeds have earned it the highly esteemed title of "fastest consumer drive" on the market. Fleeting as such honors may be, the $125 drive's sleek design and bundled RescuePRO Deluxe software may still be enough for it to edge out the competition.

A new portable guitar amp has been announced by Crate . It has a USB outlet for direct computer recording. The Crate Profiler 5 seems useful for those who want to quickly record a riff without taking the time (or spending the money) to hook up a mixer or interface box. The 5 watt amp features digital effects processing and can run off 6 AA batteries or AC power. It is shipping now with a $159.99 price tag.

While there have been computer mice that include the functions of a numeric keypad in the past, Prezzy Box offers something different by taking out the numeric keypad while throwing in a calculator instead. A scroll wheel is located right above the LCD display, but one glance at this USB Mouse Calculator tells me that ergonomics isn’t at the top of the designer’s list. The calculator can also double up as a numeric keypad should the situation calls for it, making this a notebook-centric peripheral. If you’re interested in being different from the rest, the USB Mouse Calculator can be yours for US$30.

Here is another all-in-one gadget, it’s a combination of a digital microscope, web cam and also a USB 2.0 hub. Of course this three-in-one gadget takes power from your PC’s USB port. So, when you miss some of the Biology classes that you’d attended during school time, and feel like acting as a Biologist for just couple of minutes or you simply have too much curiousity about those circuit boards of any unused PC peripherals. Then just pick up this gadget to scan and capture some high quality images and videos for another great collection. Once you get bored with all these overly geeky stuff, you can then switch it to a web cam, start streaming your cool look, socializing and even flirting around over the Internet. Again, fed up with the web cam? It’s got two USB ports for you to hook up more USB gadgets to have more fun.