You have the choice between the Hulk’s fist, Captain America’s shield, Iron Man’s helmet and Thor’s hammer. Personally, the Iron Man USB flash drive (which looks very familiar) looks the most appealing, but no one is stopping you from choosing the Hulk if you prefer a green fist sticking out of your computer. They also just announced a War Machine USB drive, which also looks pretty sweet.

Each of these USB flash drives has 8GB of storage, and they sell for $30 each. 4GB versions are also available for $20. They’re currently listed on Yahoo and eBay, but they’ll probably be available through more retailers soon.

[via HiConsumption]

When configured with an audible password, Voicelok will not be recognized by a computer even if it’s already plugged in, not until it “hears” the password via its built-in microphone. The phrase has to be 2 to 4 syllables long, but the real password is your own voice. It’s the way you say the password that unlocks the drive. It’s your voice that rouses it from slumber. Your voice brings it to life. Your voice makes it believe it can love again. What?

But obviously you still don’t want to say the password aloud when you’re in a crowded place. You’re just alerting spies and ninjas that you have top secret data and a high tech flash drive. Here’s where the secondary color-coded input comes in. Voicelok has two switches that toggle two LEDs, one red and one green. I think it’s even more secure than the voice password. Watch the video below to see what I mean.

Hammacher Schlemmer is selling the 8GB Voicelok USB drive for $50 (USD), but I guess inconvenience is the real price for added security. That confounding initial setup would drain my patience. Then again, I don’t have top secret data to protect. But that’s just what I would say if I did have top secret data. Does that mean I do have top secret data? Is it so important that even I don’t know about it? But that’s just what I would say if I did have top secret data and do know that I have it. Wait. So do I have top secret data or not? Aaaaargh…

[via Voicelok & Bonjour Life]

Some people are trying to bring that concept back to life with these porcelain USB drives.

These Top Secret USB drives are safe to use wax seals on because of the material that was used to form them. Specifically, porcelain.

Of course, it’s still recommended that you protect the contents of the drive by encrypting the data or setting a password before allowing access. But taking one look at the drive–and at the seal–will let you know straight away if anyone tried poking their noses (or cursors) where they don’t belong.

The kit comes with wax, the press, and the porcelain 2, 4 or 8GB stick and is priced at €35 ($46).

[via Oh Gizmo!]

It’s a shame really, because unlike other gimmicky flash drives that just look like other objects, the Bulavkus actually works as a safety pin, making it less likely that you’ll lose your flash drive (or your pants.) It could work as a weapon too.

Seriously though, knowing Art Lebedev Studio, I think this has a decent chance of becoming an actual product. Whether or not it’s practical is another matter altogether.

[Art Lebedev Studio via Newlaunches]

You can paint it red for added authenticity, further discouraging any attempts to steal or even look at the flash drive.

If it’s that time of the month for you to transfer data, head to Meninos to order the tampon flash drive. It comes in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities (Meninos calls them light, moderate and heavy flow) and sells for $30 to $55 (USD).

As you can see, one other advantage it has over its big brother is that it has a neat blue LED to indicate drive access.

The exact same hard drive in the pictures above is an 8GB drive made by infoThink and is available from Amazon for $22(USD). There’s also a very similar flash drive available on Newegg made by another company called Tcell, with the 8GB selling for $17.49 and the 16GB for $27.49. Tcell also claims that its flash drives are waterproof and shockproof, more traits that put them above their ancestor.

[via GeekAlerts via Gizmodo]

Fortunately the Hum Blank USB drive is cheaper than those Empty Memory drives, although it’s still way more expensive than ordinary flash drives, especially considering you’re paying extra for an empty (and small) bottle and a piece of cork. It only comes in 2GB capacity and is available for ¥3,465 (~$43 USD) from Rakuten. I wonder if scientists would find the Hum Blank useful, perhaps store a sample in the bottle and then the data about the sample in the cork.

[via Matomeno via Notcot]

If you’re car guy or just like quirky flash drives, this line may be perfect for you. All of the cars are highly detailed you have a USB plug sticking out the back like some sort of jet engine. Thankfully, that connector slides in and out using a switch on the bottom of the cars so you don’t have to look at it all the time.

They even have rubber tires but lack side mirrors. Granted, the only Mini Cooper of this vintage I have seen in real life lacked side mirrors as well. Perhaps someone familiar with real vehicles can enlighten us on whether vintage Coopers came with side mirrors at all.

These Mini drives have 4GB of storage, and sell for about $36(USD) over at GizmoAgent. These aren’t the fastest or biggest flash drives in history, but there certainly some of the coolest.

[via EverythingUSB]

This isn’t the first Transformers flash drive we have seen, back in 2009, an official flash drive rocking Transformers’ looks surfaced, and then there were some cartoony Mimobot drives too. This new flash drive comes with either the familiar Autobot and Decipticon face logos on it, along with a “TF3″ logo that lights up when accessing data.

The face logos are made of die-cast metal, though the rest of the drive appears to be plastic. The USB connector retracts so there is no need for a cap, making for one less thing to lose. You can even flip the metal face up to find another Transformers logo underneath.

The Transformers drives are available on Amazon in 4GB and 8GB capacities starting at $33 (USD).

[via EverythingUSB]

These drives have a 4GB capacity for anger/data and the USB drive itself is hidden inside the body of the bird or pig that you choose. If you love flinging birds at pigs with a slingshot, then you will probably love these drives.

You can score one for €19.99 (~$26 USD) from EMTEC. That’s not a bad price for a bird or pig USB drive. I think that yellow guy looks like Bert from Sesame Street, but more pissed off, which I didn’t think was possible.

[via Journaldugeek]

The Empty Memory drives come in two variants, each with its own subtle visual trick to indicate vacuity. The Structure only has an outline of a body while the Transparency is, you know, transparent. The functional part of the flash drives take up only a small part of the whole thing.

The message is supposed to be that you’re going to fill that emptiness with your own memory, a metaphor that fails when you consider that the drives don’t change appearance when the drives are no longer empty. But still, they’re really nice to look at. I particularly like looking at the shot with the Structure drive plugged-in.

Logical Art’s online shop is now accepting pre-orders for the drives, which by the way are cast from stainless steel, hand-polished and finished in various colors. If the title didn’t already clue you in, that previous sentence should prepare you for their price tags. The drives are only available in 4GB capacity and sell for £48 (~$73 USD) for the standard stainless steel finish and £60 (~$92 USD) for the gold or rhodium variants. I know, you could get a 1TB external drive for just a few dollars more, but will it have the fancy illusion? And can you wear your terabyte drive as a pendant? I didn’t think so, peasant.

[via Logical Art via MoCo Loco]

Since most USB designs are pretty boring, I’d like to see this idea expanded on. Say, one large spaceship with some smaller ones in the docking ports maybe. I’m sure it will become a reality one day.

[via Likecool]

Most flash drives come with chain or one of those loops which you can use to tie around your wallet or bag or keychain. But I think this simple clasp on the LOOPO flash drive makes the whole hanging on thing easier and much quicker and easier. Basically, one end of the LOOPO features a loop with a clasp, much like the one found on necklaces. So just save your stuff, clasp it on, and unclasp when needed. Perfect!

The LOOPO is a design of Emami Design, and there’s no word on if or when they’ll come to market.

[via Yanko Design]

This promotional flash drive comes filled with a tiny bit of beer, complete with foamy head. For the low, low price, of $14 to $17 each, you can order up a batch of at least 25 of these lowly 4GB flash drives filled with this foamy yellow substance that I’m not even sure is really beer. Either way, it’s a crappy low capacity flash drive, filled with some yellow fluid you’d never want to drink or accidentally have spill into your computer. Sounds just like the kind of thing I’d never buy.

[via Fancy]

(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]

I protect my folders using third-party software, and everything was fine and dandy until last week, when the program suddenly crashed and locked me out of my other non-work related folders. Thankfully, I had a backup of my other files, but I wish I had a much simpler way to partition different folders without risking a crash, kind of like how designer Hyunsoo Song from SADI envisioned organizing files with the Amoeba Modular USB Flash Drive.

The Amoeba USB drive is basically four, separate drives connected into one: there’s a segment for personal files, a segment for photos and related media, another segment for music files, and a segment for documents. So when someone wants to copy something from you or when you need to pass on a certain file, just separate the entire thing and hand off the segment with the file to be shared. (Plus, you know, it saves you from possible embarrassment if you happen to have files on your drive that are meant for your eyes only, if you know what I mean.)

[via Yanko Design]

If like me, you thought that the cufflinks would give you a mobile hotspot on their own, prepare to be disappointed. You have to plug either of them to a computer that’s connected to the Internet before it can create a network. You do know you can do this for free with software like Connectify already, right?

It would have been awesome if they worked like the MiFi and could turn a person into a walking wireless network. You’ll surely be a hit at parties. People will flock to you so they can go online and post about this dude who has a Wi-Fi hotspot on his wrists. Eh, I guess they’re still useful, but I’m just not sure if they’re worth the price – Cufflinks.com is selling them for $250 (USD) a pair.

[via Cool Material]

A novel and pretty presentable way of keeping a closer eye on your drives is with Memory City from Koziol. It’s a molded plastic case with slots where you can stick your USB drives and memory cards in. Once you’ve got enough drives on the thing, it will start to look more and more like a (you guessed it) memory city.

There’s enough slots for 3 micro SD cards, 3 SD cards, 4 USB sticks (just right for me)  but just 3 USB lids (although you can just fasten the lid on to the bottom part of your USB drive.) Memory City goes for 9,95 € (~$14 USD), which is already inclusive of VAT and shipping. You can get one from Design 3000 or Made in Design if you want one.

[via Holycool via Oh Gizmo!]

Needless to say that this USB flash drive would be ridiculously expensive, but odds are after a few months, flash drives in the 500GB to 1.5TB sizes would hit the market costing less. If this happens, it’ll make a lot of sense to ditch USB hard drives for flash drives, unless you need to run a RAID array.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While Transcend thinks it’s possible, it might also take a while, as the biggest USB flash drives currently on the market only hold 256GB.

[via Computer World via DVice]

Journey to Etsy to wield one yourself. The drive comes in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacity and sells for $34 (USD), $40, $44 and $60 respectively. No, Zantaff doesn’t accept rupees.

[via This is Why I'm Broke]