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CustomUSB News - Introducing New Products, Services, and More
USB 3.0 coming in early 2010 with 10x speed boost, more power, and better energy efficiency
USB 3.0 ports will be backwards-compatible with USB 2.0
You'll need to use newer USB 3.0 capable-cables due to the new technology, but plugging in existing USB 2.0 cables and devices will work just as well as before.
The USB 3.0 protocol is 10 times faster than USB 2.0
USB 2.0 tops out at 480Mb/s; USB 3.0 is capable of a blazing-fast 4.8Gb/s transfer speed.
USB 3.0 carries about nine times more power over the bus.
Devices that recharge batteries via USB will do so faster, and USB 3.0 can charge multiple devices (more than four on a single hub). The 3.0 spec also allows heftier devices which previously could not be charged by USB to recharge as well.
The USB 3.0 spec is more energy-efficient.
The new technology includes an intelligent regulation feature that tells the bus when devices are idle and don't need to draw power.
New USB Novelty Toys & Desktop Accessories
These quirky USB novelties range from productivity-damaging goofy (think USB Missile Launcher) to downright useful (the soft Roll Up Keyboard is great for travel).
New Custom USB Flash Drive Styles
Below are the very newest additions to our flagship product line, the Custom USB Flash Drives. The Innovative Medical Info Drive is pictured to the right.
Now Offering CD & DVD Media Publishing and Duplication/Replication Services
Custom USB is pleased to formally offer disc publishing services. Our growing content-delivery clientele frequently requests CD and DVD duplication and we've been happy to service their needs on many projects over the last few years. Our team members' extensive experience in data services and content delivery has equipped them the skills and know-how to make adding these services a snap.
RTS Portable Security Suite Now Available as a Data Service for Your Privacy and Security Needs
Custom USB is proud to announce our official partnership with Research Triangle Software! We now offer licenses of their security and encryption apps and preload the software on your Custom USB flash drive order.
You can read the official press release here.
Information about the RTS Portable Security Suite software applications.
Website Redesign: We Want Your Feedback!
We have recently done a low-level redesign of our entire website and we want to know what you think! Please drop us a line with any of your thoughts, especially if you're having trouble finding something or come across a bug/broken link!
The homepage has the most significant updates and is completely new. The 'news' column gives us a logical place to add fresh content, and the 'products' and 'services' columns should help visitors find their way around (and understand what we do).
Global layout elements (like the header, footer, and side menus) were given a unified style and we hope they are more navigable as well. The drop-down menu (at the top) also features deeper submenus now.
Canadian Rock Band Barenaked Ladies Becomes First To Release CD On Flash Drive
The popular Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies came to Custom USB looking to make history. They became the first mainstream band in the world to release material on USB Flash Drives. "Barenaked on a Stick," the 128MB USB Flash Drive (right) contains 29 songs, including "Barenaked for the Holidays," a few live versions of fan favorites, as well as photos, chat-buddy icons and a video. Read More
Students Using Flash Drives As "Digital Backpacks"
Students are now getting this year's class materials in a new way: on USB Flash Drives. These "digital backpacks" can hold textbooks, novels, homework assignments, a dictionary, graphing-calculator software and many more educational resources. Exciting new software and technologies such as Migo and U3 now allow for removable storage devices, such as USB drives, to essentially function as portable computers. Read More
Contact a friendly Custom USB Sales Associate via e-mail at Sales@CustomUSB.com to discuss how your organization can benefit from Migo and/or U3 Smart Drive Technology.
Flash Drives Become A Popular Method Of Promotion
When Toyota recently promoted its 2006 Lexus RX 350 sports utility vehicle in a U.S. mass mailing, it didn't print up glossy brochures and cram them into bulky envelopes. Instead, it sent out 21,000 digital devices smaller than cigarette lighters.
While some recipients may have been confused at first, they surely caught on when they pulled off a plastic cap and found a familiar Universal Serial Bus plug. Sticking the plug into a computer USB port, they gained access to the device and its contents: RX 350 pictures, video clips, interactive demos and more. Lexus isn't the only company that is handing out such gizmos -- which go by such names as thumb drive, pen drive, pocket hard drive and USB flash drive -- like candy.
The storage devices, which keep digital data in non-mechanical “flash” memory, have displaced the venerable floppy diskette as a convenient means for transporting and distributing computer files. As a result, the flash drives have become popular among companies that distribute promotional materials by mail, at industry gatherings or in meetings to clinch deals.
Flash drives are becoming the new darlings of conventions and trade shows, largely because of their increasing ubiquity and affordability. About 30 million were sold worldwide last year, including about 5 million in the United States.
When Frank Beeck of Brooklyn Park, Minn.-based Siemens Transportation Systems prepares for one of his industry's exhibits, he no longer needs to weigh himself down with printed materials.
Increasingly, he puts his information on 64-megabyte flash drives because these can be quickly reloaded with updated info if necessary. An alternative he considered, the CD-ROM, can't be updated once recorded and must be replaced with a newly burned disc. This takes too long, Beeck said.
Beeck's flash drives proved so popular at one recent transportation show that he ran out even though he had tried dipping into his stash of several dozen devices selectively. No matter: He dashed to a local Radio Shack store and bought a fresh batch.
Marlene Nelson of St. Paul, Minn.-based Sight Creative and Interactive multimedia-design company creates a variety of promotional materials for corporate customers such as Medtronic. She is increasingly putting the materials on flash drives.
Their key advantage, said Nelson, is that they can be reused. Once recipients have perused the devices' contents, they're free to use the drives for their own files. The “killer application” for such drives remains portable storage, said Steffen Hellmold, the group's president, but he said they have other uses -- as authentication devices for locked rooms, cars or computers, for instance.