ForcaTech Blog

That’s right. The highly anticipated Android port for the HP Touchpad is here–somewhat. The popular aftermarket Android firmware distribution team has been working on the port ever since HP removed themselves from the tablet market and began selling their unsupported tablets starting at $99.

Today they released the “LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS” ALPHA edition of Android 2.3.5 for the HP Touchpad built on CyanogenMod 7.1.0. The thing to keep in mind here is that it is the ALPHA release and as such it is 100% AS-IS, unsupported, non-warranted and installation is NOT encouraged.

What doesn’t work? Phone and messaging related items have been left in the build but–obviously–are not supported. Many–MANY–apps have compatibility issues including the fact that some can not be found in the market at all! There have also been reports of issues with sound, camera and wifi just to name a few.

TO INSTALL:

Install is supported on Windows, Mac and Linux however I have only attempted the install from Windows XP as well as Windows 7.

You can find all of the steps to install as well as all files needed from the official thread on rootzwiki. You can see a video of the ACMEInstaller process here.

Alternatively, I have downloaded all needed files you need to get Android working on the Touchpad including the instructions and packaged them into a single ZIP file which you can download here.

TO INSTALL ANDROID MARKET:

One thing that the CyanogenMod team didn’t include in the install instructions is how to install the Market. If you are left wondering “How do I install the Android Market on my Touchpad” here you are.

Start by downloading the latest Google Apps zip. At the time of this posting the latest is 0828 which you can download here.  DO NOT extract the ZIP. Boot your touchpad into Android. Connect it to your PC and turn on USB storage when prompted.  Copy  apps-gb-20110828-signed.zip to the root of your touchpad and then unmount and reboot. When the boot menu appears choose boot ClockworkMod. From there you will want to install the .zip file from SD card. Reboot and when you boot into Android you should be prompted to log in to your Google account and then you are all set. The Market will appear in your app drawer.

INSTALL EXPERIENCE:

After installing this on two touchpads I can say that I am very impressed. This release doesn’t feel like an Alpha to me. 95% of the of 100+ apps I tried to install were compatible and didn’t have any major issues. Several seemed to lack rotation support but other than that they seemed to run very fluid. The rom runs much more smoothly on the touchpad than on several phones that I have used it on and I am excited to see what happens as the rom community grows around the touchpad.

To see the rom in action check out the official CyanogenMod video here and while you’re at it check out the other Touchpad videos on his channel[Rootzwiki].

[As always you are responsible for any bricks, void warranties or explosions. ForcaTech is in no way liable for any damage your device may incur due to any information here. Install at your own risk.]

So its almost here. Excited? February 10th fan boys and girls will be rushing to their nearest retailer to pick up their long awaited Verizon iPhone. But should you?

Sure. I guess. There are plenty of reasons why you should and shouldn’t. For those of you coming from an AT&T iPhone 4 you may be disappointed. While Verizons voice and data coverage is much better their 3G speeds are lacking in comparison to AT&Ts. From my experience I was able to get speeds around 300kbps while indoors with AT&Ts 3G as opposed to around 80kbps with Verizons 3G.

Another down side to the Verizon iPhone is the CDMA network it is on. While using the AT&T flavor of iPhone you can use voice and data simultaneously. Verizons network is limited to either data OR voice until LTE hits later this year however the iPhone 4 isn’t LTE capable.

One other difference while not as big of a deal to me personally is the lack of a SIM card. If you need to swap between handsets you won’t be able to simply swap SIM cards. Instead you will have the pleasure of going into a Verizon store or calling customer service.

On top of all of this the iPhone 4 has been out for 8 months and with Apples yearly release schedule a new flavor of iPhone is bound to be coming out fairly soon. Perhaps an LTE version of iPhone will be release just a few short months after you get locked into another 2 year agreement…

Despite all of this hundreds of thousands of you will be picking up your modern, shiny iPhone 4 thanks to the marketing genius that Apple is and Verizons iPhone pre-orders have been sold out for a while.

Of course there are arguments in favor of getting the iPhone with Verizon. For starters there are those of you bound to Verizon whether it be from being locked into a family plan, AT&T not having as good of service in your area or various other reasons. For me who is rarely on the phone, always using data and in a good AT&T coverage area the AT&T iPhone is the way to go.

Then again you could always go android, but I will open that can of worms later.

The battle rages on. Pre just got its WebOS 1.2.1 update. What does this mean? Not much if you don’t use iTunes. If you do, you can sync your pre once again. Hurry and sync it up! Apple is sure to come out with an update in the coming weeks that will once again block it. Then, a few weeks later Palm with come out with WebOS 1.2.2 that will unblock it once again. And so on, forever.

Hiroo Iwata–developer of the robot tiles seen above–has created what will one day be a virtual floor at a VR lab at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. The Robot Tiles are covered with a conductive fabric that is able to detect the direction you are walking and bring the blocks in place in front of your feet.

As they are this is not very functional but with some work these could potentially be a seamless, infinite floor. In a virtual reality environment this could allow you to realistically feel like you were walking from California to New York while remaining in a relatively small room.

Once these became more efficient and usable they could even create different textured blocks or blocks with varying densities so that if in your virtual environment you walked from a street to the grass you would feel the difference below your feet.

Well, the device that Sony said would change the way we listen to music forever is here. And is it changing the way we listen to music? Not so much. I am not going to deny the fact that it is pretty awesome but definitely not Earth shattering.

The technology is this. The ear buds use capacitive technology–just like the iPhone and G1–to detect that it is in its ear. To start listening to music shoot these in your ears. When the ear buds hit your capacitive skin they begin playing the music. To pause take one ear out. Pretty cool. [SE]

When we first mentioned the Sept 9th conference and the rumors circling it the new Nano is not one that we brought up. Why? Mostly, I have no idea but alot of it had to do with the fact that I mostly just don’t care. For those of you who do here is what was announced:

• Video camera (640×480)
• NO STILL CAMERA
• Integrated mic
• Integrated speaker
• FM Radio!!!!! That you can pause!! And iTunes tag!
• One-click YouTube uploads (through your computer)
• Voice Over like Shuffle
• Pedometer with Nike+ syncing online
• Voice Recorder
• 2.2-inch screen(whoo hoo .2in bigger than the last)

The 8GB Nano is available today for $150 and the 16GB is available for $180. So if you are looking to get a Nano I don’t know why you would go with the 8GB as opposed to the 16GB. Some pretty cool upgrades for the Nano but seriously, no still camera?

The 3rd generation iPod touches were announced as well. The iPod Touch now comes in 8GB, 32GB and 64GB for $199, $299 and $399. The bigger storage is nice but our hopes and dreams were shattered when we heard that there was no camera and no mic in the new iTouch. The 32GB and 64Gb flavors do have a “50% faster processor” just like the iPhone 3GS. The graphics processor has also been updated to be OpenGL ES 2.0 capable–hence their push on the gaming market.

So why didn’t we see a camera and mic in the 3rd gen? We can’t be sure but here are some possible reasons:

• Not enough room – Anyone who has held a 2nd gen iTouch and compared it to the iPhone they know there is a big size difference. One part of that is the iPhone having the phone hardware in it but the camera also plays a big role in that. Us being camera/mic-less could simply be due to the fact that there wasn’t enough room

• Feature flow- The small iPod Nano now has a camera so why not put it in the iTouch? The iPhone has a relatively impressive camera for being a cell phone. If I were to get a 3rd gen iTouch I would expect the same quality–quality that the video camera in the Nano doesn’t have. The Nano camera is very cheap and wouldn’t flow in the larger iTouch.

• Manufacturing issues- This one is less likely. Some people have said they believe that Apple was planning on releasing the iTouch but during manufacturing they ran into some problems and decided last minute to leave it out. I could buy this if the iTouch wasn’t available TODAY but it is! If they had run into manufacturing issues they more than likely wouldn’t have made their deadline–which they did.

• Pricing- Apple wants a $199 iPod touch. Which they have–even if it is because the 8GB iTouch being offered is really the 2nd gen. If they were to add a camera to it the price most likely would have to be more than $199 in order to keep Apple’s margin at a reasonable level.

• Market control- Apple has had its eyes on the Flip which is available for less than $150. Apple wants to compete with the Flip and it will be impossible for Apple to make the iPod Touch that price and still make a reasonable profit margin.

• Consuming the iPhone market- One reason I was so excited for the Touch to have a camera and mic was so that I could use it like an iPhone when I was in Wi-Fi areas. Which is probably a big reason why Apple didn’t add these features to the Touch. If they did they could potentially take some of the market away from the iPhone–like me. For me, I would still eventually get an iPhone but it may keep me from making the plunge for longer than I would have otherwise.

• Evolution of a giant- In almost every market that Apple has products in they are the number one player–all other companies are clamoring to compete. As of now no other company has released a product that can compete. If you have the best products on the market why do your best when “good enough” is keeping you ahead of the pack? They may just be keeping a few “secret weapons”–Apple Tablet?–in case another company releases something that may steal some of their market.

The new shuffles are pretty cool. The tiny MP3 player is now more tiny and comes in 2GB and 4GB models. The shuffle is now just big enough to have a clip on it that will attach it to your shirt, etc. One of my gripes with the shuffle in the past has been the lack of any kind of screen so you have no idea who the artist is or what song is playing. Now, the shuffle has a VoiceOver option that will–in a wonderfully robotic voice–at the press of a button say the artist and track name. For an extra $20 you can get a polished stainless steel version as well to go with the polyester pants you wear to the gym.

The iPod classic hasn’t died yet. The 160GB is now available for $250.

iTunes 9 is now available as well. New features include:

• Home Sharing — This allows you to share your songs, movies and TV shows with up to 5 other computers on your local network. You can copy the files to the other computers or stream them over the network.
• iTunes LPs — Basically bonus CDs for digital albums. If you buy an entire album on iTunes you will now get the LP complete with extra songs that only you get, lyrics, photo albums as well as some video content and generally some live concerts.
• iTunes Extra — aka iTunes LPs. With iTunes Extra you get the equivalent to the “Bonus Features” disc when you buy a DVD.
• New Storefront — The store is now more intuitive and feels more like a piece of software you download rather than a bloated web page feel that it has had in the past.
• Updated Interface — For the most part no real improvements here. I think Apple just felt the need to put their hand in the code and wave it around a bit. The artists list and albums list now have their own columns to the left of the music as well as the artwork column. The silver header on iTunes is now a lighter gradient that kind of looks strange at first glance.
• App Manager — iPhone/Touch fans are now in luck. iTunes 9 has a new feature which allows you to rearrange the way apps are displayed on your device and can be dragged and dropped as well as synced.
• Palm Pre Blocked — With those of you who have been keeping up with the gauntlet to the death between Apple and Palm, iTunes 9–once again–has blocked the Pre from syncing with iTunes. Palms WebOS 1.2 will fix that though. And then Apple will come out with another update that will block the Pre again. And so on and so on, forever, until the end of the world–then, Palm will come out with another update.

Steve Jobs made an appearance which was exciting but still not enough to bring life to this disappointing conference.

As for the Apple Tablet, no hope for us in sight. Apple isn’t giving us any information or even acknowledging the rumors but we know in our hearts that there is something brewing at the Apple HQ.

So lets wrap it up.

iPod nano – Now has a video camera and FM radio, no still camera.

iPod Touch — No camera in sight, bigger storage options, no Mic.

Apple Tablet — Still just a figment of our imagination.

iPod Shuffle — Now smaller, new colors, VoiceOver

Steve Jobs – Still alive, or Apple has developed a very realistic cyborg–which not likely but possible.

iTunes 9 — Updated interface, media sharing, App manger, 1 point for Apple in the Pre vs. iTunes battle royale.

The long awaited Touch Pro2 is going to be making its appearance tomorrow. The phone boasts a 3.6 tilting screen, QWERTTY keyboard, intuitive TouchFLOW 3D user interface, and is available in any color you want it–as long as that is black. The TouchFLOW 3D user interface sits on top of Windows Mobile 6.1 OS and is designed to make it more finger friendly.

I have seen rumors around the interwebs that it will be upgradeable to WinMo 6.5 and have no doubt that this is true. With Windows Mobile 6.5 less than a month away it would be a mistake by all parties involved if the phone wasn’t upgradeable.

Key specifications and features:

• High-speed connectivity over Verizon Wireless’ Mobile Broadband network (1x/EV-DO Revision A 800/1900 MHz)
• Global connectivity to allow customers to access e-mail and data in more than 180 destinations and to use the phone for voice calling in more than 220 destinations (GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz WCDMA/HSPA 2100 MHz)
• Wi-Fi capabilities (802.11 b/g)
• 3.6 inch WVGA resolution (480 x 800) tilting touch screen
• Advanced speakerphone with noise-cancelling technology
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera with video capture
• Touch-sensitive zoom bar
• Seamless connectivity with Microsoft(R) Exchange, Outlook and Office applications with Windows Mobile(R) 6.1 Professional
• Bluetooth(R) 2.1 with EDR and A2DP stereo
• Processor: Qualcomm MSM 7600A, 528 MHz
• Memory: 512 MB ROM, 288 MB RAM
• Dimensions: 4.57″ x 2.33″ x .68″ (length x width x height)
• Weight: 6.3 ounces (with standard battery)
• Extended 1500 mAh battery for longer operation times
• Up to 5.3 hours of talk time (CDMA) or up to 13.5 days of standby time (CDMA)

Other Features:

• Linked contact view delivers e-mail, text message, call history, and even Flickr images and Facebook(R) updates to a single location
• Push Internet technology ensures that favorite Web sites are always ready for viewing at a moment’s notice
• 3.5 mm audio jack and stereo Bluetooth support to enjoy multimedia content through a variety of audio equipment
• Optional expandable microSD(TM) memory with up to 16 GB to store music, video, images, applications and other content
• Built-in GPS for VZ Navigator(SM), VZ Navigator(SM) Global and other location-based services and applications

The Touch Pro2 will be available tomorrow, September 11th, for $199.99 after the $100 mail-in rebate with a two year contract. The rebate is provided in the form of a debit card which is frustrating. Hopefully online you will be able to get it for $199 and not have to deal with the MIR, or maybe if you haggle them in the store enough–threatening to go to the iPhone–they may be able to waive it for you.

Hopefully Verizon will decide to be nice and unlock the GPS so you can use it with your non-Verizon programs like they did recently with the first generation Omnia.

Meet the Toshiba Camileo S20. Capable of full 1080p video recording and only 17mm thick this has got to be the slimmest of its kind.

Only 17 mm thick, the Camileo S20 is one of the slimmest full HD camcorders available. Featuring a 5MP CMOS sensor, the S20 is capable of shooting 1920x1080p high definition images and features 4x digital zoom. With its ultra slim form factor, stylish design and a rotating 3” display, the Camileo S20 is the ultimate camcorder for style conscious consumers and first time users looking for high quality HD images at an affordable price.[Toshiba UK]

How affordable? This is listed on the site for £119.99–just under $200 USD! The bad news? If you stocked up on that good deal you found for VHS cassettes in bulk you are going to be out of luck. This camera is only SDHC memory compatible.

Features:

• Full HD resolution (1920x1080p)
• Super Slim (17mm)
• 4x digital zoom
• 5MP CMOS sensor
• 3″ rotating LCD screen
• HDMI
• YouTube upload function & hot-key
• SDHC compatible

With all the rumors swirling around about Apple products they are we are lucky we only have 7 days left to wait.

What will we be seeing this year? Apple tablets? Apple iPods with cameras? Death to the classic iPod?(notice the headphones in the image above are plugged into the bottom of the iPod like a Touch not on top like a Classic) Will we see MMS for the iPhone in the US?

All of these questions and more answered Sept 9.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is now officially coming to us on October 6th. For more information you can read the Windows Mobile Blog. It is not a very interesting post. It is mostly just propaganda for Microsoft about how WinMo is going to be the phone OS for everyone and about how if someone is buying their first smart phone they would rather purchase a Windows phone because it is a brand they know will break down trust.

We have liked what we have seen about the mobile phone OS, but will it be as intuitive and finger friendly as we would like it to be?

This also means one of two things for Omnia 2 fans. Since the leaked info has all said that the Omnia 2 will have Windows Mobile 6.1 the phone will either come out some time in the next four weeks or it will come later and with WinMo 6.5.

You are probably tired of hearing about the Omnia 2 considering all of these posts but here it goes.

With the–rumored–leaked release date of the August 23rd Omnia 2 release to Verizon just around the corner I decided to stop by a local Verizon retail store and sniff around.

Before walking in I really had my doubts considering we have heard nothing about the release of the device and Verizon is still keeping its mouth shut. As I walked up to the store I was almost positive that the Omnia 2 was not going to be here in the next few days.

I walked in and was immediately asked for my name and why I came in that day. I said my contract was about to run out and I was hoping to find something that would keep me from switching to the iPhone in the next month or two. The guy set the clipboard down and began to help me right away. He first walked up to the Storm and I shot him down. He hasn’t been reading my blog.

He walked me over to the first gen Omnia and the HTC Ozone and their other devices and I wasn’t impressed with any.

I asked him about the Omnia 2. I told him I had gotten to see some GSM versions of it and heard that Verizon would be getting one as well.

His words to me were, “Yes we are! I was very impressed with the phone myself but haven’t heard an official release date. However our biggest phone releases are in the 4th quarter so I would expect it this year.”

Booo! I was really hoping he would leak us some information that we weren’t already 90% sure of. Only a few more days to go and I doubt that we will be seeing the Omnia 2 any time in the next few weeks. Our only hope is that Verizon is trying to keep it a big secret to blast everyone into staying/switching to Verizon. I highly doubt this as it would have been smarter to advertise for it months ago when the Pre and iPhone 3GS were being released. I know of many who have left Verizon for the Pre as well as the 3GS.

TomTom software for the iPhone 3G and 3GS is now available in the App store. The down side to this is you will be spending $100USD for the US and Canada version which is just about $20 less than what you can find a dedicated GPS unit for.

It will make it convenient. You almost always have your phone with you so you won’t have to worry about forgetting the GPS or about it getting stolen out of your car.

The iPhone is even able to receive calls while being a GPS and simply cuts out your GPS audio while you are on the phone.

The downside of course is that if for any reason you need to use your iPhone you will lose your navigation momentarily, it will suck your battery and you are going to have to spend more money to get the windshield mount and other accessories that you may want which will put the cost of using your iPhone as a GPS solution at around $200.

I think I would wait for some more usage reviews before dropping the money personally but here is one review to get you started.

Like technology from an outdated sci-fi movie the color picker concept pen designed by Jinsu Park can scan the color of an object in the real world and reproduce it using a mixture of Red, Green and Blue.

Why they thought to go with RGB instead of CMYK is beyond me. It could be that Jinsu is more used to digital design where RGB is better suited instead of printed design where CMYK is better. One way or another it is still impressive that the technology is there that can scan an object and automatically mix together the correct levels of ink in order to produce a match. All it needs now is a USB connector so you can scan the color of something and use it on your computer or push a color from your computer to the pen.

Rumors are buzzing all around the net about several different pieces of Apple news. One of the more reliable rumors bouncing around is that Apple will be hosting a keynote event for the week of September 7th. At this event the voices rumors say that Apple will be announcing some new products. This would follow the companies habit of releasing new iPods every fall.

The products that are to be announced are the new iPod touches which boast a camera, microphone and versions with 16, 32 and 64GB. These are rumored to be released for $199, $299 and $399.

More rumors include the notorious Apple Tablet that we have been hearing about. But, there are no solid rumors about that so we will just have to see. Hopefully more info will begin to leak out about the Apple Tablet such as what OS it will be running, hardware specs, will it have service through ATT or some other carrier?

An undisclosed source has said the following:

“The device, which I’ve held mock ups of, is going to have a 10 inch screen, and when I saw it looked just like a giant iPhone, with a black back— although that design could change at any time, with the same black resin back, and the familiar home button.”

“But it will come in two editions, one with a webcam and one for educational use.”

“The first prototype was built around the end of 2008. The time to market from first prototype is generally 6-9 months.”

External hard drives are pretty nifty but if you really want some decent external storage you have to carry around the hard drive, USB cable and power adapter. That was the case until now. Western Digital’s My Passport Essential SE is now available in 1TB and 750GB models that get their power via USB doing away with the need for a power plug and additional cord.

The 1TB version is going to cost you $300 or–if you can do without the extra 250GB of storage–you can get the 750GB model for just under $200.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have come up with an idea that would allow you to use scratching as an input method. The idea is that any surface can be turned into an input device allowing you to turn down the music at a party by scratching the wall anywhere in the room in a certain way or doing basic commands on your computer by scratching your desk. In theory it is a pretty good idea but probably one of those that we will never see make its way into our daily lives.

This photo supposedly is a from a Best Buy computer showing the arrival of several upcoming devices. The one of course that jumps out to us is the Omnia 2 scheduled to come out on August 23rd. There are some confusing things here such as the G2 Black and Red that is probably referring to the mytouch3G that is already out at T-Mobile. Also the Tour is there on the 23rd as well which is already available through Verizon and Sprint.

I doubt that this photo is legit. Through several trips to Verizon stores and speaking with 4 or 5 different reps none of them had heard of or were familiar with the Omnia 2. One of them said to me “if we knew of one coming out later this month we could let you know but as of now I don’t know that any are”. I think I am going to wait for some more legit leaks to pop up or for an official statement as to the official release date of the Omnia 2 to the Verizon network.

We all think the same thing as we pull out that digital camera to snap some quick shots, “man, I wish this thing had a projector built in!!” Now all of our hopes and dreams have come true.

Information has leaked about the next line up of Nikon digital cameras. The one that has stood out to us the most is the S1000pj. It comes complete with a built in projector that can push a 40″ image onto any flat surface.

From Nikon Rumors:

“The Coolpix S1000pj is the first digital camera with a built-in projector that lets users project photos or movies clips on any flat surface at up to 40 inches in size. A handy projector stand is included, as is a remote control that can be used to operate the projector, release the shutter, and more. This model features an effective resolution of 12.1 megapixels and a 5x Zoom-Nikkor lens with 28mm (equivalent) wide-angle coverage, along with a similar image stabilisation system to the Coolpix S640.”

Now this does actually have potential to be really cool. If the quality of the image or video that is projected is high enough it would be worth every penny of the leaked $587 USD.

The Omnia 2 has been officially announced for a Verizon release later this year. It has a 3.7 inch 480 x 800 pixel screen–largest screen ever put on a cell phone. While this is no iPhone 3GS it is a beautiful phone and has some features worth mentioning.

First the bad. It is going to come with Windows Mobile 6.1. Windows Mobile has never been a finger friendly intuitive touch screen OS like the iPhone has. Every smart phone I have ever owned or used that had Windows Mobile on it made me feel like I needed a stylus. With the iPhone it feels smoth and natural with your fingers.

It does have the Samsung TouchWiz 2.0 as you can see on the left side in the picture above but it is still just sitting on top of WM6. There will be the option to upgrade to WM6.5 which is suppose to be much more finger friendly.

One of the features that initially jumped out at me was the forward facing camera at the top left corner of the screen in the above picture. This with 3G or Wi-Fi and a program like Skype would allow you to video conference with a friend.

We don’t know much about the phone right now–Verizon is limiting the amount of info that Samsung can release now but here is what we do know:

• 65K WVGA AMOLED Display (3.7-inch, 480 x 800–largest AMOLED display yet in a phone)
• Advanced R-type Touch Screen
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (upgradeable to WM 6.5)
• 5-megapixel CMOS camera with autofocus and face-detection, plus geotagging and a photo editor
• Video recording at 30fps@720×480, plus video editor (trim video, audio dubbing, live dubbing, add subtitle much like the iPhone 3GS)
• Audio supported: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, WMDRM, OMA DRM 2.1, plus FM radio
• Video supported: DivX, XviD, H.263, H.264, WMV9, MPEG4
• A-GPS with Navigation (3D Map)/LBS
• TouchWiz 2.0 UI with Mobile Widget/3D Media Gate
• Multitask manager/3D Interactive Games
• Bluetooth Stereo Headset (A2DP)
• WiFi
• 2GB/8GB/16GB of internal memory (3 different models)
• microSDHC expansion slot (up to 32GB)
• Up to 10 hours (3G) talk time
• Up to 430 hours (3G) standby time
• Dimensions: 4.65 x 2.36 x 0.47 inches (HWD)

For those trapped by the Verizon regime using Verizon who don’t have the option to get an iPhone this phone could be a good way to hold you over for a few years until the iPhone comes to Verizon if you want to get an iPhone with Verizon and pay more per month.

There isn’t an official release date yet but we can expect this phone to hit Verizon stores later this year.

With USB 3.0 on the way I don’t know who would want to buy a 256GB USB thumb drive. On Kingston’s website it doesn’t specifically say that it is going to be USB 2.0 but I would assume since it is currently on their site that it is.

On the site it boasts the ability to store 10 Blu-ray discs, 54 DVDs or 365 CDs. With USB 2.0 it would almost not even be worth it. Yes right now there are external USB hard drives that are larger than that and there are many uses for them but with USB 3.0 right around the corner I think it would have been smart for Kingston to wait to release this then.

One way or another having 256 GB of storage on your key ring is still pretty awesome but if the rumors of the price being around $900 I think I may hold off.

From the Kingston website:

Features/Specifications:

• Capacity — 256 GB
• Speed — Data transfer rates of up to 20MB/sec. read and 10MB/sec. write
• Safeguarded — includes Password Traveler security software for Windows
• Convenient — does not require Administrator rights to access the Privacy Zone
• Dimensions — 2.78″ x 0.88″ x 0.65″ (70.68 mm x 22.37 mm x 16.45 mm)
• Operating Temperature — 32° to 140° F (0° to 60° C)
• Storage Temperature — -4° to 185° F (-20° to 85° C)
• Simple — just plug into a any 1.1 or 2.0 USB port
• Practical — durable, capless design
• Guaranteed — five-year warranty
• Enhanced — for Windows ReadyBoost™ on Vista-based systems