There’s a rumor circulating in the blogsphere that MS is planning to offer Windows 7 on a flash drive which would make it third way to get the OS without buying a new PC. The other two are through download & retail DVD. While the decision is still being made, this move is being considered in the first place to appeal to the ever growing netbook crowd whose under-powered machines usually lack any optical media drive.

Having said that, thumbdrives logically become the easiest, not to mention fastest route to get Windows 7 running on a netbook. In fact, they have already become the unofficial install method for XP, Vista and now 7 if you are comfortable with command prompt. If tweakers can teach newbies to do it in 10 minutes, it should be dead easy for MS to get a Windows 7 thumbdrive package ready.

Let’s face it – you can’t get enough of storage. When you think your brand new 32GB flash drive has you covered, you will soon find new ways to fill it up, such as backing up the whole system for data recovery on the go. Before you know it, you will be googling your next thumbdrive again. Kingston will be shipping a 128GB flash drive – the largest capacity yet as of this writing.

Designated DT200, the series also comprises of 32GB and 64GB, has a capless design, comes with five-year warranty, and includes data protection that is less likely going to rival that of Ironkey. It’s not going to matter anyway since most recovery software already incorporates some form of AES encryption. Keep in mind the 128GB is build-to-order only, and Kingston asks for a staggering $546, not to mention the drive is limited to USB 2.0. (Where is SuperSpeed USB when we need it?) As for the other two, the same company has been selling 32GB and 64GB that belong to the DT150 at a relatively attractive price.

The fourth series of Mimoco’s Star Wars Mimobot line of designer flash drives has landed. Without much fanfare, the latest installment of the series celebrates the tenth anniversary of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace although none of the characters featured in the themed drives appeared in the said movie. Mimoco brought back Darth Vader, and cut his ears that were found on the original version in the first of the Star Wars themed Mimobot series. This should be a relief for fans.

Unmasking the Darth Vader reveals the scarred countenance of Anakin Skywalker, as played by Hayden Christensen. And one in every six Vader’s will have the classic Anakin face. Either of them is simply more authentic and better looking than the original Darth Vader with dreadful pointy ears. The series also comprises Darth Maul, and Captain Rex whose helmet can also be removed to find the clone’s face beneath. Mimoco so far has created sixteen different Star Wars themed collectible drives.

Super Talent has come up with a very American USB flash drive that mimics a miniature version of the Statue of Liberty. The flash drive component is inside the robed goddess which sits on a foundation (or a dock in this case). The USB connector is revealed by separating the statue from the base.

Even though there’s no word on the scale of the model, souvenir shops will surely stock up a bunch of these for the visitors flocking to Big Apple as soon as economy picks up again. Milking on one of the most recognizable icons of United States is perhaps a better idea for a flash drive than paying a hefty sum for The Godfather license to put the name of the epic film on some ordinary looking flash drives.

 Before

Windows Vista and XP’s Autorun have become a hotbed for virus & malware activity, notably the Conficker worm spreading primarily via USB flash drives. To put a halt to the spread, Microsoft said it’s making a change to the default way of how Windows 7 handles USB drives. The first release candidate version of Windows 7 that will soon be released will stop any AutoRun tasks from tricking unsuspecting users into launching the apps.

 After

CDs and DVDs as well as so-called “smart” drives (i.e. U3) that emulate a DVD drive will continue to use AutoRun. An old school way for all of us is perhaps to hold SHIFT key when plugging a drive or inserting an optical disc. Microsoft also intends to make this update available to Vista and XP users eventually.

What’s YuuWaa? Despite an awkward name, YuuWaa from Gemalto is an all-in-one USB flash drive complete with cloud storage offering online data backup service. As soon as you bring home the YuuWaa (either 4GB drive with 8GB online storage or 8GB drive with 16GB cloud space) and plug it in, you will be prompted to register, and new files will automatically be backed up to Gemalto’s servers via a secure link. You can select which files to share with your friends. This comes in handy if they are video or anything larger than what most email providers can handle.

If you lose the YuuWaa, you can still access the content from a PC, but Gemalto didn’t mention if you can wipe out the flash drive’s content remotely. So, this is very obvious the company is more interested in generating recurring income from the cloud storage subscription (£1.79 for 8GB or £3.99 for 16GB per month after 6 months of free trial) than making money from the drives. Sandisk Cruzer Titanium Plus earlier has offered Beinsync data sync with Amazon servers, but it wasn’t particularly successful partly due to the pricing.

Coming just in time to greet the Transformers’ Sequel trailers is this Ravage Transformer flash drive. Movie tie in flash drives are becoming common place and may some day be just as important as a mouse. One of the best things about custom flash drives like this is the ability to separate them visually and keep track of what data is on them. My NIN MP3 collection would definitely be on the Resident Evil Chainsaw drive and Rampage here would have to hold our Portable Anti-virus software. We’re not sure what data goes on a USB Sushi drive but once you decide on it you’re bound to remember it.

This new transformer drive makes these old ones look like Go-bots. Cold, but true. Ravage holds 2GBs of data and is rated for USB2.0 connections. Actual memory speed is unknown. Of course you can probably expect much better throughput if you connect Ravage to Optimus Prime. Manufacturer’s warranty is void though if you merge him with the All Spark. NB this is an adult toy, not made for children, more for collectors. To suite the collectors they offer special shipping that guaratees the quality of the packaging for those out there that aren’t looking to play with it or use it out of the package. Either way you order it, it’s not due to arrive until September but will only $42.99.

USB flash disks with biometric fingerprint sensors are a dime a dozen. So what makes the Sellgino Dragon Security biometric drive unique? It may be the first biometric-enabled flash disk to use a fingerprint sensor that detects the live skin layer.

Sensors found on other devices scan only the surface of the finger, which means that if your hand is dirty you might be locked out of your disk. In fact, even fingers that are too dry can compromise the detection rate of normal biometric sensors.

By seeking the live layer of the skin, the Dragon Security has a much higher accuracy rate even if you fail to wash your hands after eating chocolate. It doesn’t require any driver installation on Windows XP or Vista and can store up to 10 fingerprints. The only issue we have with it is that the current capacity is capped at only 2GB.