Toshiba U3 Flash Drives to Reach 16 GB

Toshiba plans TransMemory flash drives with U3 technology to move applications and settings between systems, at capacities which will eventually hit 16 GB.

Toshiba America Electronic Components will be announcing a new series of TransMemory flash drives at IFA 2006 in Berlin, offering support for U3 machine-independent applications and computing environments. Toshiba’s new drives will be available at first in standard capacities of 512 MB to 4 GB, but—here’s the kicker—indepedent reports seem to confirm a Limited Edition will eventually reach 16 GB.

The U3 smart drive platform is designed to enable users to carry their entire computing environment—from documents, music, video, and images to entire applications and system settings—on a USB flash drive, pop it into any Windows 2000 or XP system, and instantly access their files, programs, and data. No compromising data is left on the hosting computer, and users don’t have to worry about whether the computer they’re using has the programs they need. When inserted, the drives automatically run U3 Launchpad, which offers a list of available programs and files; a U-Safe password utility protects data from unauthorized access.

No everybody is sold on the U3 platform: for one thing, users can’t just put any software on a U3 device: software has to be adapted for the U3 platform, often purchased anew, and, while many applications are available, many mainstream programs are not.

"Toshiba’s new USB U3 smart drive series offers a high level convenience and portability by enabling users to carry U3 smart programs and content together on a single U3 smart drive and access them on most Windows-based PCs to maintain a familiar personal workspace," said Scott Nelson, director, memory marketing, for TAEC.

The 512 MB to 4 GB TransMemory drives will ship in late November; the Limited Edition 16 GB units should be available by the end of the year.