Imation Debuts its Smallest USB Drive Yet

It seems like just a month ago Imation was announcing that it created an even smaller USB thumb drive – and it was – but it looks like the company has wasted no time in outdoing itself. It announced the Atom flash drive on Wednesday, the definitive smallest drive in its line at just 1.5 inches long.

Imation claims the drive is “roughly the size of a paperclip,” though a more accurate description might be “the size of a stack of paperclips turned on its side.” Unlike the month-old Nano, which claimed its place as the smallest swivel-cap flash drive in Imation’s line-up, the silver-and-black Atom features a more conventional fully removable cap with a small loop for attaching it to lanyards.

The drives will come in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities, all of which include built-in password protection and tools for partitioning the drive as needed. They’re also compatible with Vista ReadyBoost, meaning they can be plugged into Vista systems to provide a performance boost by offering an extra memory cache.

Imation’s Atom USB flash drives are available now for between $17.99 and $99.99, depending on capacity.