(This article has been significantly revised because the whole “Cryptex” concept from The DaVinci Code flew over my head. My apologies. And now, we return to your scheduled programming.) The Crypteks USB drive doesn’t just have a mechanical lock like the DIY Cryptex drive. It has additional security features aside from the mechanical lock, like 256-bit AES hardware encryption, a read-only mode and the ability to set the number of wrong password attempts before the drive goes Men in Black and wipes its contents.

The Crypteks USB has already earned more than twice its target goal on Kickstarter. The fundraiser will still be up for 22 days, so sneak your way to its project page if you want to be one of the first to own a Crypteks USB drive. Those of you who want to play it safe with your money (but apparently not with your data!) can avail of the retail version when it drops mid-2012. My only complaint about this drive is that it’s USB 2.0-spec only, which is kind of disappointing considering the drive costs $130 (USD) for the 8GB version and $160 for the 16GB version.

[Crypteks via The Verge]

Now a company called DriveSavers has announced that they are offering their data recovery services for Apple’s tablet. They claim to be able to recover data with a 24-48 hour turnaround time on most iOS devices. The service isn’t cheap though, clocking in at around $1000 for an iPad. They will give you a free analysis to make sure that they can indeed recover the data. I say for $1000, you should find a good way to keep your truly important data synced somewhere.

[via Ars]

Some researchers in China have found a cool way to use the E.coli bacteria to store data. The data can even be encrypted using site-specific genetic recombination. It turns out that bacteria can store lots of data too. A bacteria colony of only 18-cells was able to store the amount of data that the Declaration of Independence would need.

Scaled up, a 1g sample of the bacteria would be able to store 90GB of data. The downside to the tech is that the researchers fear the bacteria would mutate and possibly delete data and retrieving the data requires a sequencer and is expensive. I wonder if you would have to feed your computer if this ever goes mainstream.

I’m not knocking on Archivist or anything, it’s just that I’m sure some people will die of shock from being exposed to volumes and volumes of their shallow comments, forgettable pictures or pretentious profile info. Their grandchildren will disown them. And that’s just when they find out that their grandpa actually printed the contents of his Facebook.

If you think that your account is worth preserving – hint: it’s probably not – Ninuku Archivist will do just that for $24 (USD) a year. The company offers a free trial, but aside from that I think you also have to read their terms very carefully to make sure your data doesn’t get preserved anywhere else.

[via Switched]

Even if your game or program is not officially supported, you can add it to the backup list using the “Custom GameSave” feature. One downside to GameSave Manager is that it only works on Windows; I’m not sure if you can port it to Linux or Mac using WINE, or if there’s any sense in doing so.

You can download GameSave Manager at its official website for free.  As RPG gamers say: Remember to save, and save often… and save your saves, and save your saves often.

[via Download Squad]

The prototype circuit sends signals using radio waves in the 60GHz millimeter waveband (I think I saw them play at a local nightclub last night), and can transmit data at up to 11Gpbs over a distance of up to 14mm. As the components get further apart, transmission speeds drop to about 4.3Gbps from up to 60mm away.

In addition to cutting down on the complexity and cost of wiring, the breakthrough could someday be used to create gadgets that could be disassembled and maintained much more easily than today’s electronics with all of those wire harnesses that need to be disconnected for service. Never mind the fact that the wireless circuit board concept could allow for much more flexibility in where the various circuit boards are placed within a piece of equipment.

No word on if or when Sony will introduce this technology in any production devices, but it’s a pretty cool idea for sure.

[via Tech-On!]

GML was created by Jamie Wilkinson, Evan Roth, Theodore Watson and Chris Sugrue and stores gestural graffiti motions as a set of XML data tags. They fondly refer to GML as “today’s new digital standard for tomorrow’s vandals.”

There are already a variety of applications that can read and store GML data, including Grafitti Analysis, Laser Tag (which is completely awesome all on its own), Fat Tag Deluxe (for virtual iPhone graffiti) and EyeWriter (for drawing with eye movements), among others. You can even upload and store your graffiti creations and share them for others to download over at 000000book.com.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

There’s even Robotagger, an industrial robotic arm with a paintbrush in it’s grip, and programmed to follow GML paths to create robotic graffiti!

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The guys over at Robots.net even go so far to imagine a future where you’d record your graffiti at home, then send out your own robotic army with their own spray cans to do your bidding. Sweet. Just not on my garage, please.

LaCie is known for making aesthetically pleasing – or at least interesting – gadgets that are equally functional, and Starck’s new babies seem to be no exception. Both the desktop and mobile versions of the external hard drive have aluminum casings that help dissipate heat while providing ample protection. The desktop versions have 3 mm casings, a “Starck signature” LED, and a touch-sensitive front panel that can be customized so that it “opens the application of your choosing, depending on whether you use a short tap or a long touch.”

Unfortunately we don’t have a video of the touch panel being used so I don’t have an idea where exactly the touch panel is, if the whole thing is the button or what. It could also be that I’m an idiot, but please, just play along and act like you’re as dumbfounded as I am. The 1 TB desktop hard drives sell for $130 (USD), while a 2 TB drive can be yours for $250.

The 320 GB mobile version on the other hand sells for $100, while the 500 GB version sells for $140. The mobile hard drives have 2 mm aluminum casings, but no fancy signature LEDs or touch panels. What they have is an embedded USB cable that tucks neatly inside it’s butt derriere. So yeah, still functional and beautiful. They’re a bit pricey though. Oh yeah, about the love affair, here, watch monsieur Starck admit it on camera.

Did I let you down? I probably did, but you were also treated to lots of sexy, heavily-accented English, so that makes up for the disappointing metaphorical tryst. Good on you.

It’s Hello Kitty wearing a Hello Kitty suit. Either that or it’s a Hello Kitty monster with Hello Kitty’s head in its mouth. Either way this needs less kittens. Fortunately there are other, less mind-boggling designs.

You can buy the Hello Kitty MIMOBOT flash drives at mimoco’s online shop. The 2 GB flash drive sells for $25 (USD), the 4 GB sells for $35, and the 8 GB sells for $50. I’ll wait for the Keyboard Cat MIMOBOT.

[via Josh Spear]

The device can hold 2 GB of data. It’s pointy too. However, if you’re a real ninja you know that this is not a real Kunai and so it must not  be treated as a weapon. Your fist however, is a different story altogether. Your fist, especially if it is of the North Star, can punch holes through men. For real.

You can buy a Kunai USB drive at GeekStuff4U for $125 (USD). It seems that real ninjas have lots of cash money as well.

[via SlipperyBrick]

It’s probably something that ninjas and spies use to carry – or steal – data. Yes that’s it: it’s an ninja’s USB drive. It’s more awesome to think of it that way, as opposed to it being your grandmother’s flash disk.

Made of an exquisite combination of bamboo, wood and cotton, deftly manipulated by someone who can only be a master fansmith, and finished off with 5 layers of lacquer resulting in a life-altering sheen, the sensu 16 GB USB drive is freakin’ expensive: it’s selling for about $300 (USD) at Geek Stuff 4 U. Yes, it’s as expensive as a PS3 Slim. But is a PS3 Slim handmade? No. Can a PS3 Slim keep you cool? No. Can ninjas use it to steal data? No. And Sony says that their console only does everything. Pff.

[via DVICE]

Unfortunately he’ll have to be decapitated before you can save your data.

He also has a prehistoric storage capacity, a measly 2 GB. But I bet that’s more than enough to carry all your stuff. And since the actual flash disk is wrapped inside his head, you don’t have to take his entire body with you.

So go and tell mom and dad to buy you one from robotbaby at Etsy for only $28 (USD). Tell them “This is a great way for me to be introduced to the world of computers and learn the perks of flash storage as well as the value of regularly backing up my data!” Eh what the hell. You probably know how to download from Usenet already.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

The 4GB TUFF CLIP is the blue one, and its currently being sold for a mere $17 (USD) at Amazon. The black drive is the 8GB model, and it sells for $25, also at Amazon.

[via GetUSB]

Seriously: A terabyte’s worth of data in your (cargo pants’) pocket.  According to Western Digital’s estimates, that’s equivalent to 200,000 pictures, or 250,000 mp3 files, or 380 hours of DVD quality video, or 120 hours of HD quality video. And Western Digital is sure that the 1TB drive is worth $300 (USD). Unfortunately, even though the press release says that the 1TB drive is already available online, I can’t seem to find a store that’s selling it. Fortunately for those who reckon they don’t need the extra 250GB, the 750GB drive is available at Western Digital’s online store for a much cheaper $200.

[via gadgetell]

The duplicator can be used as a single 60-port device or as three separate 20-port devices. The duplicator only works with Windows; for some reason its product page says that it requires Windows XP SP2. Additional minimum system requirements are: Dual Core 2.0 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, 3 USB ports (for a 20 to 1 port ratio – not bad!) and Microsoft .NET.

I’m not sure if you can use it as a USB hub, as support for USB devices is not mentioned. Although I’m pretty sure none of you own 60 USB devices.

You can get Nexcopy’s 60-port USB duplicator at ProDuplicator for $3,000 USD; shipping is free within the 48 contiguous states.

Santa’s data-belly capacity ranges from 64MB to 8GB, so if you want to save money you can buy a bunch of lower capacity ones as gifts. Unfortunately the manufacturer’s site doesn’t have prices, but it does say that the disks are covered by a 3-year warranty. Also, worst title ever. I’m sorry.

[made in china via 7 Gadgets]

So the big mama is a Petabyte, inside her is a Terabyte, followed by daughter Gigabyte – and so forth – all the way down to a teensy little baby Bit.

The set of 7 dolls is handcrafted by artisans from Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod and comes inside an intricate Birch wood container, and can be found over on Charles & Marie for $220.

A modder going simply by the name of Brett got his hands on an old Black Box (actually, it’s sorta reddish-orange) over on eBay, ripped out its guts, and mounted a fully-functional computer inside the compartment. For some reason, I think that the holes he had to cut for the PC ports and cooling fan might have compromised the integrity of its crashworthiness a little bit.

Oh yeah, and when Brett first cracked open the case, he discovered a healthy dose of fiberglass and asbestos, so you probably won’t want to try this at home unless you want to contract a case of Mesothelioma.

Surprisingly, the interior of the box is so cramped that he could only fit a Mini-ITX motherboard inside, so it’s only got an 800MHz Via C3 CPU under the hood. Still, that should be plenty to perform basic server tasks like serving files, web pages and the like. In keeping with the “Crashproof” theme of the mod, Brett installed a bare-bones install of Slackware Linux, which should stay online indefinitely, assuming the computer itself doesn’t overheat in the cramped quarters of the Black Box case.

You can check out the full build log over on Brettsprojects.

Be sure to have your speakers turned on for this video clip or you’ll miss how it works.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The Robot Audition Project is a collaborative effort by Kyoto University and Honda Research Institute Japan. The team has been working on developing these complex voice processing capabilities for several years now, but it’s only recently that they’ve got the system working so well. The application can not only recognize voices in real time, it can determine where they’re coming from using both auditory and visual cues, including face recognition technology.

The engineers who’ve designed the system have honed it enough now that they’ve even got it running on several different robotic platforms, including the Robovie R2 (seen in the video) and the well-known Honda Asimo.

Perhaps once they get these robots working in the real world, they’ll finally get my order right at the Burger King.

Plans start at $59.99 per month, depending on how many voice minutes you want. Also bundled in are 200 SMS text messages per month. The starter plan includes 450 voice minutes, while $79.99 gets you 900 minutes, and $99.99 lets you yak for 1350 minutes every month. All plans offer rollover minutes, so if you under-use your time, you won’t be penalized.

All in all, pricing is about what I expected. It’s still pricey relative to what you’d pay for a good high-speed internet connection at home, and I’m bummed that there’s no Wi-fi access bundled (yet). That said, the rates are pretty typical for a data/voice plan as mobile phone companies go.