(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET)
I am a fan of practicality. The only reason I have the key fob that I've been carrying around for a while is because it also works as a beer bottle opener. But I am about to replace that with something I could use a lot more frequently, and which won't make me fat.
The CableCar USB drive is yet another design from Active Media. This time it's a miniature of a San Francisco cable car, measuring only 2 inches long by 1.2 inches wide by 0.8 inch deep. It's a rather accurate replica of the kind of vintage cable car you're likely to run into on many San Francisco streets. The drive comes in two color combinations: blue/red or green/red.
The body of the drive is made of hardened rubber, which protects its stored contents from damage. It also comes with a hook on which to set the detachable part when the drive is open or in use.
Other than that, the CableCar USB drive supports USB 2.0 and is compatible with both PCs and Macs. However, its USB connector is rather short in relation with its relatively thick body. This might make it hard to fit in every USB port. Nonetheless, as a bonus, it comes preloaded with about 30 photos of San Francisco's attractions.
The CableCar USB drive comes in capacities ranging from 1GB to 16GB and is available now. The 16GB version costs $37.
If recent blog posts about the increase in capacity of CompactFlash cards and small-size hard drives make you wonder what's in store for your mobile phones, then I have some good news.
(Credit:
ScanDisk)
On Monday, SanDisk announced its new microSD high-capacity (microSDHC) card that offers up to 16GB in storage space. While 16GB doesn't sound like a huge deal compared with other media that offer hundreds of gigabytes, this is actually very significant for two reasons. First, microSD cards are by far the smallest in size among consumer storage devices--about the size of your little finger's nail. Second, it's also the most popular media for smartphones and PDAs, and it is becoming more popular thanks to its tiny size.
The introduction of the new size lets cell phone and PDA owners really use their devices for storage-intensive purposes, including music and video playback, high-definition digital camera functions, gaming, and GPS applications. The new card also works with other devices that have a microSDHC reader, such as digital cameras, GPS receivers, or MP3 players.
Together with the new microSDHC, SanDisk also introduced its new 16GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) mobile memory, which is the micro version of Sony's Memory Stick card.
SanDisk's new 16GB microSDHC and M2 cards will be available in October and cost about $100 and $130, respectively. They will also be available in 4GB and 8GB versions. The new microSDHC might not be compatible with all devices that support the legacy microSD cards (that caps at 2GB). Make sure to check your devices' compatibility or update them to newer and supporting firmware before purchasing.
Lexar Media, a maker of digital storage cards, announced on Monday its 16GB version of the Kodak-branded Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) high-speed card.
The new card offers speeds up to 60x, which translate into about 9MB per second, allowing for capturing full-motion video without interruption. However, this speed is still not fast enough for dSLR cameras, whose photos can easily be as large as 9MB each, especially when you want to snap multiple photos at a time.
The new SD card works not only with Kodak cameras, but also any SDHC-compatible digital cameras, camcorders, and PDAs. It comes with a lifetime warranty and will be available in October, at which point you will also find 8GB and 4GB versions. At the moment it's unclear how much the new cards will cost.
Why not?
(Credit: Cowon, Inc.)Our recent Editors' Choice MP3 player might be getting a significant boost in storage capacity. A press release on Cowon's Korean Web site lays out the details for a 16GB version of the iAudio 7, as well as a version of the Cowon D2 that's been beefed up to 8GB and is capable of using 8GB SD expansion cards. No word yet on pricing or availability in the United States. Along with Creative's announcement of its 16GB Zen V Plus last week, there's a good chance that 16GB players will be filling the shelves for the holidays.
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