Author Archive

Mike McCrosky

Kicking around in technology since 2002. I like to write about technology products and ideas, but at the consumer level understanding. Some tech, but not too techie. Posting on Quora.com as well.

Review: 16GB USB Flash Drives

Mike McCrosky March 30, 2009 Flash Memory News, USB flash

Review of 16GB Flash Drives

GetUSB.info posted a review article about 16GB USB flash drives.Â The benchmarking and testing was done by Test Freaks.Â Test Freaks is a website based specifically on review and testing of everyday technology so users can make an informed decision about their technology purchases.Â The review of 16GB flash drives is very in-depth and detailed so depending on what you look for in a flash drive, this review will have it summed up nicely for you. The 16GB USB review includes the following drives:

Adata Sport Series RB19 16gb
Corsair Flash Voyager
HP USB Flash Drive v125W
Imation Swivel Flash Drive
Kingston Data Traveler100
Kingston DataTraveler HyperX
Memorex Traveldrive
OCZ Diesel
OCZ Throttle
Patriot Exporter XT
PNY Attache
PQI Traveling Disk 1221
Ridata EZdrive Lightning Series
Sandisk Cruzer Micro
Super Talent Pico-C
Transcend JetFlash Elite Enabled
Verbatim Store â€˜nâ€™ Go

review 16GB USB drives

I wont give away the full details on the 16GB USB review – please check with Test Freaks. However, it is painfully clear that Transcend Jetflash is a horrible drive. Which is funny as they spend a good amount of marketing time and money saying they are the best performing. Transcend must be taking Ford’s marketing philosophy and advertising their weakness. “Built Ford Tough” ha – those cars are anything but tough. To get a bit of their approach Test Freaks considers:

…diskbench is nice in that it tells us the actual times and transfer rates to complete the tasks of Copy To or Write To the USB drives, Read From and Copy From as well. I run these three tests on my USB drives because they are the most common things people are going to be doing with their USB drives.Â First up is testing with the 350MB .AVI Video file, lower scores are better as they are shown in seconds. The first test is for Copy To or Write To the USB drives.

For the full 16GB USB Drive review please visit Test Freaks webpage. Thanks Anton. Continue Reading

Dane-Elec 4GB microSDHC Card Only $9.86

Mike McCrosky March 19, 2009 GFM Dealz, MicroSD, MicroSDHC

Buy.com is giving away free shipping when you buy a 4GB microSDHC card for $9.86.Â What a great deal! Get the Dealz now.

Here is the company line: microSecureDigital High-Capacity (microSDHC) is a new class of memory cards designed to enhance the performance of high-quality still and video cameras. microSDHC cards from Dane Elec Flash meet all the standards of the SD Card Association 2.0 Specification for SD cards larger than 2 GB. Although identical in size to a standard microSD card, microSDHC cards are different and are only compatible with devices designed for SDHC. Please check the Owners Manual or Users Guide to verify that your device and your card reader, if you intend to use one, are microSDHC compatible. All Dane Elec microSDHC cards include adapters for use in any miniSDHC or SDHC device, furthering their utility. In the same manner, when using either adapter, ensure that the intended device is HC compatible. All Dane Elec microSDHC cards come with a 10-year warranty.Still interested – get the GFM Dealz now! Continue Reading

Skull microSD Card

Mike McCrosky March 18, 2009 MicroSD

It’s about time companies put some unique branding to microSD cards.Â The format is #1 for mobile devices, and although it sits hidden in your SIM card slot 99% of the time, it’s nice to see some cool prints on the device.Â Maybe this will encourage users to mainstream on microSD rather than USB for data storage and transfer.

microSD skull

This design, the microSD skull is also accompanied by another sytle which features a heart – I guess Elecom, the manufacturer is going for a his and hers theme. Pricing isn’t set, but I wouldn’t expect them to be a penny more than a typical microSD card. Source:Â Ixplora.com. Continue Reading

FAT32 Gets Steroids Boost – No Limitations

Mike McCrosky February 23, 2009 Flash Memory News

Flash Memory manufacturers will rejoice with this news.Â No longer will their flash memory be limited with the FAT32 file system, but rather an unlimited size of storage space. Up to this point FAT file systems had a limitation of 4GB for a single file size and up to 32GBs for an entire volume.Â But no more.Â Microsoft has released a new exFAT file system.Â This means our SD, CF, USB will become supersized and no longer need to worry about dynamic file structures of NTFS.Â With USB memory getting bigger each year, this is great news for mobile storage.

exfat

On January 27 2009, Microsoft released their new exFAT file system.Â Or extended File Allocation Table [exFAT]. Here is some information off the Microsoft website: Continue Reading

SanDisk & LG Locking Data to microSD Cards

Mike McCrosky January 19, 2009 MicroSD, Secure Digital

SanDisk and LG developed technology to lock data to a microSD card.Â Their goal was to data load information to a microSD card which could only be used with a specific device.Â This ability would insure content isn’t used with other devices or copied over to another user for unauthorized use.

data lock microsd

These cards could help to make a particular handset or plan more attractive to a subscriber by offering songs, movies, maps for GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation or applications. However, locking the card will ensure consumers couldn’t use the content elsewhere.

SanDisk reports the data lock portion could be updated remotely via IP protocols which means a vendor could update music lists, content and video depending on the subscribers requirements, needs or membership. Some critics believe this technology is coming at a bad time, since users enjoy cross platform sharing for their music, along with Apples move towards less DRM on their music.Â However, what these critics don’t see is the need to protect other types of intellectual property.Â Although music and video is the big numbers, mainstream target market, there is an infinite need in the pro-sumer and corporate world for data lock and protection. Continue Reading

Compact Flash at 300X Speed from RiDATA

Mike McCrosky December 10, 2008 Compact Flash, Flash Memory News

RiDATA introduces the ultra fast speed Compact Flash memory card at 300X normal data transfer speeds.Â The Supreme Compact Flash card is a 16GB haven for data storage.Â President Harvey Liu claims the CF card was designed for photographers needing high performance flash memory for those ultra large digital files the pros are taking, but he might be missing one critical target market – embedded designs.

ridata compact flash 300x

As solid state memory is becoming cheaper and performs better, many embedded products are going the route of Compact Flash.Â These embedded designs and products need large capacity and high performance. For example, did you know that most slot machines use either CF or SD solid state media to run the graphics you see when sitting at the slots?Â The display screen with graphics and information which come from your registration card are powered from a solid state drive.Â This is just one example of how embedded products are going more towards Flash Memory for data storage and processing. RiDATA Supreme Compact Flash card is available through the retail channel with a 2 year warranty.Â Pricing is “competitive” but no price point was given in the press release or the RiDATA website. Continue Reading

Blackberry Storm Ships with 8GB microSD Card

Mike McCrosky December 2, 2008 Cell Phones, MicroSD

The highly anticipated Blackberry Storm is shipping with an 8GB microSD flash memory card – but there’s only one problem.Â The phone has gotten horrible reviews and lacks the functionality most require for a quality MP3 experience.Â So now the problem – what to do with 8GBs of flash memory.Â Sure you could find something to store up that card, like snaps shots from the 3.2mpix camera or store the entire yellow pages of phone numbers and address,Â but the reality is – without a good MP3 player mechanism the storage isn’t all that necessary.

blackberry storm usb

Sorry for the rant, but to boost the value of the phone with a $20 8GB microSD card isn’t all that impressive. Interested to hear more about the Blackberry Storm?Â You can read the following reviews:

Phone spec: Verizon Storm. Continue Reading

Lost Sony Memory Stick Hold Bomb Details

Mike McCrosky November 21, 2008 Flash Memory News, Memory Stick

A Swedish soldier has been convicted of negligence and fined 21,000 kronor – about $250 US Dollars – for leaving a USB memory stick with military secrets in a public computer. The Stockholm court says the memory stick contained classified information about improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan.Â The Sony Memory Stick was found by an university student in Stockholm and luckily for us, handed over to authorities. Are you kidding me?Â Only $250 dollar fine for misplacing such valuable information.Â The only conclusion I can draw is the bomb schematics probably didn’t really work.Â After all, when was the last time we heard of a Swedish bomb going off? The Swedish soldier admits accidentally leaving the memory stick in the computer, but claims he wasn’t aware the information was classified.

sony memory stick lost

Wednesday’s ruling says he acquired the information while serving as a peacekeeper in Afghanistan in 2006 and was supposed to have handed it in when his mission ended. Source:Â Independent UK. Continue Reading

Mobile microSD Security From Certgate

Mike McCrosky October 31, 2008 MicroSD

Koolspan introduced a microSD card with encryption technology for voice telecommunications and today Certgate introduces encryption technology for data transactions through an integrated smart card chip they’ve developed.

certgate

The Certgate microSD card is definitely a gateway for them to get more products into your facility as you need their server network to run the back bone security software that syncs up with the microSD token. However, it is the most efficient way to expand mobile data security in IT and PKI infrastructures from desktop systems to all kinds of portable devices (laptops to PDAs or smart phones). It is a perfect solution for mobile and desktop applications and highest security demands, because it is based on tamper-resistant strong encryption (2048 bit) within the smartcard and thus allows the usage of low-cost mobile devices. Without getting to involved with rewording their key features, this is what Certgate bullet points for us: Continue Reading

SlotMusic SlotMusic SlotMusic by SanDisk

Mike McCrosky October 16, 2008 MicroSD, slotmusic

SanDisk Pushes SlotMusic as a New Way to Distribute Music

SanDisk is all about SlotMusic these days. SlotMusic is the concept of pre-loaded microSD cards where your music can be played on MP3 players, mobile phones, and PDAs. The idea is complete interoperability and mobility with SlotMusic.

SanDisk SlotMusic card and packaging

To soften the blow and increase adoption of the SlotMusic concept, SanDisk is offering a very inexpensive MP3 player at just $19.99. The SlotMusic player may also be purchased with pre-loaded microSD cards for a total price of $39.99. This price point gives it a significant advantage over the iPod Shuffle, since you get both the device and music for about the same cost as just the Shuffle hardware.

SanDisk also put together a demo presentation about the SlotMusic concept, which is worth checking out through the links below.

Now that we see music making the shift to pre-loaded microSD cards, the concept of a microSD duplicator makes much more sense, doesn’t it?

With the backing of SanDisk—one of the largest flash memory retailers in the world—they have the channel and connections to make SlotMusic a success. It will be interesting to see which artists adopt the idea and explore digital distribution of music via microSD cards.

SlotMusic demo
SlotMusic player product page