These golden ancient Egypt inspired USB 2.0 memory drives - available in two models; Sphinx (left) and Egyptian (right) - are capable of carrying up to 2 gigabytes of data. Features: Metal Housing Retractable USB connector Hi-Speed USB 2.0 certified, backward compatible with USB 1.1 Plug and Play, Hot-Swapped capability Mass Storage Device class compatible Support: Windows Vista, XP, 2000 and Mac OS Dimensions: 41 x 36 x 14mm (Sphinx), 44 x 22.6 x 7.8mm (Egyptian) Weight: 30 Capacity: 2GB The Egypt Series USB Drives are available from the USB Geek website for $22 a pop.

This stylish USB 2.0 flash drive from JT, available in 4GB and 8GB versions, comes with a handy little bonus feature - it has a built-in mircoSDHC card reader. Features: USB 2.0 High performance controller inside Memory expendable through MicroSD card slot; Maximum support 8GB MicroSDHC card Reading speed over 6Mbps; writing speed over 3Mbps Plug and Plug without drive installation Boot-up function (mainboard must support either USB-zip or USB-HDD as first boot device) Support Window 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS 9.1 or above Dimension: 57 x 18 x 8mm (approx.) Weight: 12g The JT 2-in1 Flash Drive + MircoSDHC Card Reader is available in three different colors; red, blue and orange. The 4GB model costs $22 and the 8GB is set to $33.

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has finalized specifications for the next-generation transfer technology. The completion of the roadmap for USB 3.0 means the technology is now ready for device manufacturers to bring the so-called SuperSpeed USB technology to the market. "The finalization of the specification is very significant and has been anticipated in the industry since work on the specification was announced a little over a year ago," said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF president and chairman.

That blur you saw at the edges of your vision just now? That would be the Internet continuing to move at light speed to your cell phone and other mobile devices. So Adobe's argument is, how can anything move that fast without Flash? The company is staging its MAX 2008 conference in San Francisco this week, and Adobe is putting the spotlight on announcements focusing on its market-dominating Flash Web media platform. The news item getting the most early attention is a deal with mobile microprocessor technology company ARM.

Unveiled on Monday by the USB Implementers Forum, the USB 3.0 spec can theoretically support data-transfer speeds of up to 4.8Gbps - 10 times the speed provided by USB 2.0. The new standard, also known as SuperSpeed USB, is also expected to be more power-efficient than its predecessor. "SuperSpeed USB is the next advancement in ubiquitous technology," Jeff Ravencraft, the president of the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the industry group that promotes USB technology, said in a statement on Monday. "Today's consumers are using rich media and large digital files that need to be easily and quickly transferred from PCs to devices and vice versa. SuperSpeed USB meets the needs of everyone, from the tech-savvy executive to the average home user."

SanDisk unveiled new technology Wednesday that it said could increase solid-state drive performance by up to 100 times in computers running Windows Vista. Dubbed "Extreme FFS," the next-generation flash management system is an advanced file system for SSDs that accelerates performance and reliability for computing applications, according to SanDisk. "Extreme FFS is a step in the right direction for SSDs," Jeffrey Janukowicz, an analyst at IDC, told TechNewsWorld.

It's no secret that SSDs suffer from performance penalties when it comes to small random writes. Even though more modern SSD try to solve some of these issues hardware-wise, software can also play a major role. Instead of resorting to things like delaying all writes until shutdown and storing them in RAM, SanDisk claims it has a better option. At WinHEC yesterday, the company introduced its Extreme FFS, which it claims will improve write performance on SSDs by a factor of 100.

This USB 2.1 channel sound adapter is a handy computer accessory that will provide you with a bunch of extra audio jacks and other options when sharing your music. No drivers required. Just plug and play for instant audio playback, also comatible with wall major operation systems. Features: Double USB Microphones, double USB Headsets Compliant with USB 2.0 Fll-speed (12Mbps) specification Compliant with USB Audio Device Class Specification 1.0 Compliant with USB HID Class Specification 1.1 USB bus - powered mode, no external power required Connectors: USB Type-A, Stereo output jack, Mono microphone-input jack Functional Keys: Microphone-Mute, Headset-Mute, Volume-Up, Volume-Down LED Indicators: Microphone-Mute Status, Activity Driverless - No driver required for Window XP/Vista, Linux, Mac OS Dimension: 55 x 12 x 62mm (approx.) Weight: 11g The USB 2.1 Channel Sound Adapter is yours for $15 from USB Brando.

This USB 2.1 channel sound adapter is a handy computer accessory that will provide you with a bunch of extra audio jacks and other options when sharing your music. No drivers required. Just plug and play for instant audio playback, also comatible with wall major operation systems. Features: Double USB Microphones, double USB Headsets Compliant with USB 2.0 Fll-speed (12Mbps) specification Compliant with USB Audio Device Class Specification 1.0 Compliant with USB HID Class Specification 1.1 USB bus - powered mode, no external power required Connectors: USB Type-A, Stereo output jack, Mono microphone-input jack Functional Keys: Microphone-Mute, Headset-Mute, Volume-Up, Volume-Down LED Indicators: Microphone-Mute Status, Activity Driverless - No driver required for Window XP/Vista, Linux, Mac OS Dimension: 55 x 12 x 62mm (approx.) Weight: 11g The USB 2.1 Channel Sound Adapter is yours for $15 from USB Brando.

Mac users often get the short end of the stick, since many data storage peripherals that have been released are missing the much faster FireWire port. Fret not, as Western Digital has decided to throw in the towel by adding a high speed FireWire 800 interface to its range of popular My Passport Studio portable drives, finally offering Mac users as well as other creative professionals the fast performance they need. The new interface will no doubt be the perfect storage companion for the newly introduced Apple MacBook Pro computer. Just to give you a glance of what FireWire connectivity can do, read on right after the jump. According to Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s Branded Products and Consumer Electronics Groups, “Photographers and videographers, be they creative pros or Mac computer enthusiasts, have a genuine need for large amounts of fast, portable storage for their high-definition files. With a new FireWire 800 interface, My Passport Studio speeds up editing and transferring of big media files making it perfect for performance-minded Mac computer users on the go.” Users will definitely fall in love with the integrated illuminated capacity gauge that informs users of just how much spare space left there is within the hard drive, and this gauge is powered as long as the device is plugged into a computer. Of course, if you happen to be missing a FireWire port on your computer, there is always the good old standby - USB 2.0, although the data transfer rate of USB 2.0 won’t be able to hold a candle to what FireWire offers. You will be able to pick up the new My Passport Studio with FireWire 800/400 from select retailers and at WD’s online store, picking up the 400GB and 500GB models for $229.99 and $249.99, respectively. Press Release