Crave

This USB drive from Mercedes-Benz is shaped like a car key, and holds information and photos about the new E-class.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Crazy media kits: USB drives from automakers

As a bit of Friday fun, we gathered up the most unique USB flash drive press kits we've seen from automakers to date. These kits range from diverse brands--Bentley, Ferrari, Kia, and Toyota, among others, and with a sidestep to Caterpillar. Typically they hold photos and documents about a particular car, or sometimes the automakers' entire lineup, and are handed out during the press days at auto shows. Your typical automotive journalist will have a drawer full of these drives.

While many of the drives we receive are fairly standard, some are instances of marketing genius. The most interesting of these drives try to say something about the car they represent, such as the bamboo drive for the Lexus HS, or the key replica for the Mercedes-Benz.

Check out these USB drive press kits from automakers.

Now your computer can sport a "comfortable, natural scent that embodies today's multidimensional male."

(Credit: Jean Paul Gaultier)

I've never had the opportunity to sniff Jean Paul Gaultier's Le Male fragrance (that I know of), but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want my computer smelling like it. Then again, there are those who might fancy the idea of cardamom, lavender, cedar, and amber wafting from their desks. If you're one of those people, read on.

Right now, some Boots stores in the U.K. are giving away free Le Male-scented USB drives with the purchase of a 2.5- or 4.2-ounce bottle of the cologne. The drive supposedly emits only a subtle scent (something your roommates will surely appreciate), but other than the little bit of information we spotted on Gizmodiva, we can't track down details such as storage capacity. We're pretty sure that bulge holds at least 2GB, though.

This isn't the first aromatherapy USB drive we've come across. These redolent drives, for example, promise to hold your favorite scent for up to two hours of use, thus functioning as a combination storage device/deodorant soap. Toss in a scented laptop, a perfumed printer, and an aromatic phone, and you've pretty much got yourself a rave for the senses--or a migraine.

(Credit: TechEBlog)

USB drives have become a commodity, and, like other things we have too many of, it's hard to make individuals stand out. That's why I find this Luke Skywalker-getting-maimed USB drive to be doubly awesome: it's my favorite climactic scene from the original trilogy and a bad-ass USB drive to boot (not meaning it's bootable, just meaning...well, you know).

Sure, it may be cumbersome to have to sever the son of Anakin's hand to access your work documents for serious business, but it will always remind you of the sacrifice the young Jedi had to endure.

As a side note, I'd like to say to any girls who think this is awesome that I live in Seattle and am available most nights after 7:00 p.m.

(Credit: Quirky.com)

I've seen a lot of designs for USB drives: the nerdy one, the credit card one, the key one, the prosthetic finger one, and the San Francisco cable car one. You've probably seen even more.

Now there's another one to add to the repertoire: a double-sided USB drive that's called the Split Stick.

Announced Thursday by Quirky, the Split Stick does just want its name states: it splits its storage into two. This is essentially two storage drives put into one housing. You can use one side for personal files and the other for work-related files.

Quirky is a community that engages participants to collaborate on product creation, where people can summit their ideas about different products. The Split Stick is the sixth product designed and developed by the Quirky community since its debut on June 2.

The drive combines two 2GB drives to make a total of 4GB. The USB drives are retractable and each come out of one end of the housing, which takes the regular shape and size of a typical USB thumb drive.

The Split drive comes in many different colors.

(Credit: Quirky)

The Split Stick is made of an anodized aluminum body and encased in a protective rubber membrane. It comes in a range of colors: orange, blue, pink, red, black, violet, gray, or green. It has a plastic button on top that allows for easily navigating between the two sides of the drive.

Personally, I think this design is rather useless as you can use folders to organize different type of data. And if you forget what folder is for what purpose, chances are you'd mistake one side of the drive for another. Also, splitting the storage means you can't carry larger files with it. For example if your "personal" drive is 1.5GB full, you can't put another file that's 600MB on it, even when the "work" drive is still empty.

It would be a much more useful design, though, if the two drives were combined into one storage source and one of the sides allowed for read-only access, while the other side allowed for both writing and reading. This keeps you from accidentally erasing data or catching viruses when using the drive on computers you don't know are safe.

So, that's my first Quirky submission. Until it becomes reality, you can get the Split Stick now, and it costs $20.

NERDS!

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

I once saw a homeless teenager with piercings all over his face standing on a San Francisco corner, and I asked him about the meaning of those little pieces of metal. Misinterpreting my genuine curiosity, he barked, "To shock people!" and refused my dollar.

Well, while I personally don't believe in self-expression via extreme piercing, I trust these bracelets I got here are gonna scream to the world that you identify as a nerd. In a good way.

The USB wristbands come in many different colors.

(Credit: USB-Hub.net)

They're the USB wristbands from USB-Hub. Basically, they're regular USB drives, up to 4GB in capacity, in the form of bracelets.

The band has a rubberized exterior and makes a complete circle when you put the USB head of the drive into the other end, which is also the lid that keeps the drive protected and holds the ring together. The retention is just strong enough to keep the band from falling off your wrist by itself while still allowing you to pull the USB head out fairly easily when need be.

This is actually kind of convenient and helpful, as you won't have to look in your wallet or fumble through keys and coins in your pocket to find the drive. Some of them are even sort of stylish.

And USB-Hub banks on this notion. The bands come in many different colors, and you can have a logo or text printed on them. One of the bands I got actually has the word "NERD" written on it, which is sort of redundant. However, if you don't want to wear the wristband, you can also securely hang it on another object, like the handle of your laptop bag.

The USB-Hub wrist drives are USB 2.0-compatible and work well with virtually any computer, be it a Mac, PC, or Linux machine. They're available in capacities ranging from 1GB to 4GB, with the latter version costing around $15.

As a bonus, I found out you can also put a few of them together to create a necklace, which will not only increase the amount of storage but also make you look even more nerdy, especially when you also wear two on your wrists.

(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.

Duality indeed exists in me. Just the other day I complained about membership cards and the hassle of having to carry them. Now I am about to rave about something that takes the shape of a card just so that you can carry it around easily.

(Credit: TopTech Products)

It is a USB thumb (or I should say "card") drive from TopTech Products called a Slim Data USB Card. This is a really slim USB drive housed in a case that has the same physical shape as a regular credit card, but is just a tad thicker. When you want to use the drive, you just fold the card in half to reveal the USB connector.

Though original and with obvious practical intention, the device's design, I think, fails to optimize its purpose. As the actual USB drive is so much smaller than the whole device, it would make more sense to put more than one in a package and link them together to increase the storage capacity. Or just make the package smaller; there's no need to make the device with the exact shape and size of a regular credit card just so that you can call it a USB card.

Speaking of which, it would be nice if some credit company took this technology and embedded it onto their actual credit cards as a promotion for signing up. I would probably buy into this more than the junk mail they send.

Other than that, the Slim Data USB Card comes in a variety of colors, including clear, gray, orange, red, and blue. It comes in a 4GB capacity on the Web site, but you can also custom order devices of smaller capacities down to 1GB, and choose different colors. You can even have text printed on its surface.

The Slim Data USB Card weighs merely 0.3 ounce, is compatible with both USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, and is available for purchase now. The 4GB card costs $25.

Maybe it makes sense to have this one extra card in your wallet, now that you have replaced all other membership cards with the CardStar iPhone application.

Doesn't look very waterproof to me.

(Credit: Amazon)

Presidential commemorative merchandise is always a hot seller, but the First Face is usually reserved for porcelain dishes, stamps, or squeezy cheesy T-shirts. Being that our 44th president is a twittering BarackBerry user, it's fitting for Amazon to finally offer an Obama USB Flash Drive. I just wish it weren't so unbearably ugly.

The 2GB drives are manufactured by Active Media Products and sold on Amazon for $9, plus shipping. The design looks unfinished, though, bearing Obama's painted profile across the front of the drive. Also, isn't it a little sad and ironic that the most patriotic part of the drive is its packaging? They couldn't have put those red, white, and blue stripes on the drive itself? Also, the store claims the drive is waterproof, but that smells fishy to me without material specification. For all its faults, the drive does have one neat feature: it comes loaded with almost an hour full of Obama's speeches in MP3 format, including his famous inaugural address.

Buy the 2GB Obama Drive for $8.95 here.

More pics after the jump.

Fujitsu's self-destructing USB drive.

(Credit: Fujitsu)

Now this is something any spy could use.

Fujitsu Labs unveiled a self-destructing USB drive Friday. It's still just a prototype, but it appears ready to solve real-world problems.

It's larger than the average 1GB USB drive, but there's also a lot more going on inside. The device has a processor and a battery. The owner of the drive has two options: the information can be automatically erased after a set time period, or if the USB drive is plugged into a non-authorized computer, the data will erase itself or the entire device will become unusable.

Fujitsu also plans to ensure that the data on the secure device can only be uploaded to a specific server. By installing Fujitsu's file redirect software on a PC, it can prevent data from the USB drive from being uploaded to file-sharing networks, sent as e-mail attachments, or printed, according to Fujitsu.

Beyond international espionage, there are very practical applications for the average corporate cubicle dweller with Fujitsu's new technology. The software/hardware combination can be used to prevent data theft, but also to keep companies in line with compliance rules.

Fujitsu says the prototype is still undergoing internal testing, and that consideration for the device becoming an actual product will come later.