ioSafe is known for keeping your data SAFE. How safe? Well, first we took the initiative to burn and water-soak a drive, and the data was still recoverable. Then, starting with CES 2010, ioSafe decided to show everyone that their drives are capable of withstanding burning, soaking, dropping, and crushing. In 2011, we upped the ante again and took shots (yes, using a gun) at an ioSafe drive, and the data saved on the ioSafe drive came out unscathed. Well, we wondered what they would do next and, at CES 2012,  we found out.

Honestly, what we saw shocked us …… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

My thumb drives are functional and dull, to tell you the truth.  I use Corsairs, the ones that are hardened against the X-Ray scanners they use at the airport.  I had a cheap flash drive and, sure enough, it got zeroed out on one my b’zillion airport trips, so I went to a Corsair.  But it’s not exactly cute or attractive; it looks like one of those cylinders you put waterproof matches in when you go camping.

But not everyone is under quite as much necessity to go with function over form.  And even I, were I less paranoid about data loss, would consider a drive that looked like Unagi Nigiri sushi, or a figure from… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Image Courtesy of Mimoco (yes, this wallpaper is included)

Everyone has a few flash drives lying around these days but unless you have a Han Solo mimobot with a Carbonite case key chain then you have no shot at defeating the Dark Side. One of my favorite stops at CES was the mimobot booth and certainly for good reason. If you are a fan of Star Wars or any comic book heroes then mimobot probably has something for you. Thomas an I had a nice conversation with Evan who was working the booth that day and he hooked us up with a review unit of the Han Solo 4GB flash drive. There were plenty… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Things are winding down at CES 2012, which was nice for Francis and me, as we were able to walk around more freely due to less traffic and spend more quality time with some vendors. Luckily for us, we were able to stop by and visit our friends from myCharge and PowerBag. We have reviewed the PowerBag Messenger and PowerBag Backpack in the past, and Dan mentioned how useful a PowerBag can be. They also have a great brand called myCharge, which is a set of portable batteries for recharging mobile devices, including iOS and Android devices.

The team at myCharge was nice enough to provide… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Try saying Mimoco announces Mimomicro five times fast, and when you’re done admire how cute these are! Sure, you can use a boring USB card reader, but how much better is it to transfer data from your microSD through Darth Vader, Wonder Woman or Batman?

From Mimoco:

(Las Vegas, January 10, 2012) — Mimoco (www.mimoco.com), renowned makers of the MIMOBOT® line of character-based designer USB flash drives, has unveiled a new product line of fashionable personal data storage devices called MIMOMICRO™. The MIMOMICRO™ product line can best be described as a smaller, more versatile evolution of the MIMOBOT® collection. Not only can MIMOMICRO™ be used as a USB flash drive with interchangeable microSD memory

My new laptop finally has USB 3 in a couple ports and now Lexar finally has releases a couple new flash drives that may help me fill my USB 3 ports.

First up is the new JumpDrive Triton model which boasts itself as one of the fastest USB 3.o flash drives available.

The new JumpDrive Triton is more than 20 times faster than standard USB 2.0 flash drives based on benchmark tests, offering 155MB per second read and 150MB per second write speeds for exceptionally fast and reliable downloading and transferring of content. Available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities, JumpDrive Triton is the premier, high-performance offering in the Lexar line of USB 3.0 flash drives.

The JumpDrive… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I practically live on my MacBook Pro. All of my Gear Diary posts are done using it, most all of my internet browsing and I even use it full time at work instead of my supplied Windows machine. Some would say I love this computer since it is with me everywhere I go. There is one problem with the MacBook Pro. The speaker is terrible! It is too small and provides thin, weak audio quality. The machine is so beautiful, it is a shame that the audio quality is so poor. I have tried several options to improve the audio, all of which are not exactly mobile. As luck would have it, the folks… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

You know, it’s stuff like this that makes me feel old.

I was in college–college!–when the Mac was released.  As a nerd, I’ve kept up with the multiple waves of new tech.  Heck, I post articles for a tech web site, and work on cloud computing for my “day job”!–but something deep inside will always consider the first real personal computer “modern”.  I’ll be 70 and still feel that way, I bet.  So to put it on a cover for an iPad 2 and call it “retro”, well . . . old.  Old.  OLD!

But you don’t have to feel that way; you can just buy it and appreciate the irony.  Because you’re young, and… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

When it comes to USB drives I tend to be fairly utilitarian – I want something fast, portable, durable, and reliable. The top brand drives all offer that stuff, so what makes you choose one $20 8GB drive over another?

Kingston is hoping that their urDrive software embedded in the DataTraveler 109 will offer users a differentiating factor that will be a deciding factor for a purchase. Let’s take a quick look!

The Hype:
Kingston’s DataTraveler® 109 is a fashionable USB Flash drive available in seven colors that make it fun to connect and share photos, music, videos and more with friends and family. Its small, capless design easily attaches to a… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Mice seem to be ubiquitous.  Everyone has one.  Not many people even consider buying one that didn’t come with their computer while some are fanatical about the mice they use.  I tend to be one of the former.  As long as it has a scroll wheel I am usually happy, but now I have a new favorite wired mouse in the Digital Innovations AllTerrain Wired 3-Button Mouse.

What makes this mouse All Terrain?  Well anyone who has used an optical mouse and tried to use it on a glass surfaces knows that they usually will not work on glass table top or glass blotter like you find in a hotel room.   The Digital Innovations AllTerrain Wired 3-Button Mouse… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

I’m old enough to remember the days when, unless you got a Mac (and even the early Macs!), you could get any color you liked, so long as it was beige plastic.  Nowadays we’re seeing more colors and materials, but believe me, for a while there it was lots and lots of beige plastic, and man was it dull.

Brinell feels that they don’t want that dullness to extend to peripherals, either, so they’ve taken some time and expended some effort to makes stuff that looks–let’s face it–pretty!  Now, I don’t have a generic thumb drive myself:  I use a rather pricy one by Corsair called The Survivor, which has a case that looks like… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Sometimes, the sheer variety of things that USBFever puts out kind of amazes me.  I mean, I expect them to do cases and chargers and mounts and stuff like that, but camera lenses?  Optical mice?  Keychain speakers?  Really, these guys just don’t sit still.  I have this mental image of a bunch of nerds all meeting twice a week, and the Head Nerd says, “Okay; what 5 new products are we going to develop this week?  Charlie?  Jane?  Sudheer?”  This week, yeah, it’s a set of lenses for your iPhone, but next week, who knows?  But keep your eyes peeled to this space, pilgrims, and you’ll find out.

This week’s list of USBFever releases:

One of the things that’s always kinda interested me is the difference between the Queen’s English, and American English.  For example, we here in the U.S. call potato chips “chips”, while in the U.K. they call them “crisps” (both equally valid, in my opinion).  U.S.:  Cookies; U.K.:  Biscuits.  Etc.

So it makes me wonder; if USBFever is offering their latest product, pictured above, in the U.K., are they calling it the iSpanner, instead of the iWrench?  The fact that I even ask myself these questions is a good indicator that I am a nerd’s nerd.  In any event, it’s one of this week’s new USBFever launches.

This week’s list o’ USBFever releases is:

I’m not much of an artist–which is a polite way of saying that my drawing abilities totally stink–but even I think that stylus that you can see above is pretty durn cool.  And of course given that it’s from USBFever, it’s hardly the only thing that they’ve released this week, because that’s just the kind of bunch they are.  So without further ado, the full list of USBFever launches for this week includes:

• TUNEPENCIL DrawPro – stylus pen for iPhone / iPad / Smart Phones
• Twine Leather(Carbon Look) Case For APPLE iPhone 4 / 4S
• TUNEPRISM for iPhone 4S/4 case
• iSolider – The Mighty Stand for your iPhone