PQI Announces 16 GB USB Card Drive

By Geoff Duncan June 7, 2006

PQI Announces 16 GB USB Card Drive

Taiwan’s PQI has unveiled a new credit card thin versions of its Card Drive U510 USB storage devices with capacities ranging from 1 to (coming soon) 16 GB. The drive itself is only 0.12 thick (a mere 3.05 mm), weighs just 0.7 oz (under 20 g) and connects to USB 1.1/2.0 ports with a unique Intelligent Stick retractable connector which stows away inside the drives credit card form factor.

The Card Drive will come preloaded with USB Notebook file manager (for Windows only, although the drives should work fine as storage with Macs and Linux systems): the software enabled Windows users to synchronize email, backups documents, IE favorites, accounts information and security functions.

The Card Drives will be available in silver and grey (ooh, what selection!) and a limited soccer ball edition. The 1 GB model is priced at $49.99, with the 2 GB and 4 GB models coming in at $89.99 and $139.99. The 8 GB and 16 GB editions are expected to ship in early July, and, sadly, PQI hasn’t released any pricing information.

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Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Cars

Self-driving cart for theme parks looks like it drove straight out of a cartoon

sony yamaha self driving cart sc 1 sociable

Sony and Yamaha Motors have partnered up to develop a boxy new self-driving cart that can transport you around a theme park, complete with huge 4K screens on the inside and outside.
The cartoonish-looking SC-1 Sociable Cart is designed to be used places like golf courses and theme parks. The self-driving cart has a maximum speed of 11.8mph, so that movement isn’t going to happen particularly quickly -- but it should be an entertaining ride, at least.
Inside, you’ll find a single 49-inch 4K monitor that can display images, ads, or videos while also allowing passengers to see the world outside the vehicle in augmented reality -- possibly pointing out points of interest as you drive along.

Sony developed a proof of concept of the vehicle in 2016, and completed the SC-1 New Concept Cart prototype in 2017. In 2018, that prototype was used on a special “Moonlight Cruise” ride experience at Kanucha Bay Resort where customers were able to experience audio and video entertainment powered by augmented reality projected against night scenes on a golf course in Okinawa.
Outside the vehicle are four 55-inch 4k displays that can show ads for those passing by. The promos can even be tailored via AI based on who is viewing them. For instance, a group of children might see an ad targeted for kids, while adults might see something different.
“Unlike conventional transport vehicles which are operated by humans, the SC-1 can sense the surrounding environment using images that are in-focus in all directions,” Sony wrote in a statement. “Moreover, the ultra-high sensitivity characteristics of the image sensors and the high-resolution display installed inside the vehicle allow the passengers to see their surroundings at night even without any headlights. Also, in addition to normal operation by the passengers, the SC-1 can also be operated remotely by someone viewing the images via the cloud.”
The vehicle has no windows, instead, displays are situated where windows would traditionally be in the vehicle.
The SC-1 also has ultrasonic sensors and a LIDAR system that allows it to accumulate travel data and optimize its driving over time.
Sony and Yamaha Motor plan to launch services using the new SC-1 in Japan this year, though you won't be able to buy one -- it's not available to the general public -- but it could show up at a theme park near you pretty soon.

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Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

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CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.