Accessorizing yourself with a flash memory drive
By Kim Komando
You need a wristwatch to keep time. Perhaps you need to carry valuable data with you, too. New gadgets let you do both in style and without breaking the bank.
Gannett News Service
Manufacturers are taking accessories such as watches, pens, and key rings and adding flash memory drives. These tiny devices can store gigabytes of data. They connect to your computer via a built-in Universal Serial Bus port, which as been standard on PCs and Macs for years. Once plugged in, they show up as an extra storage drive (like a hard drive or rewritable CD) and work the same way.
The SwissMemory key ring includes a pocket knife and other tools with your flash memory drive.
USB flash-drive watches won't make you feel like Dick Tracy (they're not walkie-talkies), but they do have a James Bond feel to them. The sleek designs of the watches have "security personnel on high alert" written all over them. You could quickly hook up to a computer, transfer files and walk away without anyone realizing it.
Early USB watches were bulky and unattractive. The latest offerings won't embarrass you.
For example, you can find a DiskGO! 128 MB steel dress watch (www.edgememory.com) on the Web for about $75. There's a 256 MB version for about $40 more. The Meritline Rist Memory Watch (www.meritline.com), for about the same price, comes in a variety of colors.
Some watches have a USB cable built in, normally around the watchband.
You just plug the watch into the computer's USB port. While this is more convenient, these watches tend to be bulkier than those that use a separate USB cable.
If you don't want jewelry, check out the pens.
DiskGO!, Meritline, PNY (www.pny.com) and Super Talent (www.supertalentflash.com) offer refillable ink pens. Remove the top of the pen to expose a USB plug, and insert it into your computer's USB port.
Prices range from $30 for a 128 MB unit to as high as $1,000 for a 4 GB unit. But there is a downside. Pens are easily lost or stolen. Your personal data could easily find its way onto someone's else's computer.
If you want something that won't leave your side (or your desk), look into a flash drive that doubles as a key ring. It's not as surreptitious as a watch or pen, but it's less likely to be stolen.
The SwissMemory (www.swissarmy.com, $69) is a key ring with a Swiss Army knife. A nail file, screwdriver, scissors, mini-light, retractable ballpoint pen and, of course, a 64 MB flash drive all are included.
Encryption can improve your security. If you should lose the key ring, your data would be at risk.
If your primary concern is security, the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium (www.sandisk.com, $149.99) holds 512 MB of data. It encrypts your files and requires a password to access them. It comes with an optional pocket clip, key ring and lanyard.
