Keeping an eye on stylish
gear and technology.

Thanko Tape Dispenser USB Hub. Your general tape dispenser but with four USB ports to power even more of your nifty USB-powered stuff.

AudioCubes: Thanko Tape Dispenser USB Hub ($55.00)

The Attaché Optima USB Flash drive is apparently the fastest in the world (20MB/sec), but I’d buy it just because of the looks. It’s available in 4 and 8GB models, both Windows Vista ReadyBoost-enabled and featuring AES encryption to keep your files secure.

PNY.eu: Attaché Optima Product Page

Here’s the HDMC Pocketable HDD (HDMC-U16ZM) by Japanese I-O Data. A water and shock proof USB 2.0 Flash drive with 16GB of storage (droppable from 122 cm and sinkable down to 1 meter in 30 minutes). You can even put this baby in the freezer without worrying about data loss.

The 16GB HDMC will start shipping mid-December to a price of ¥25,300 (about $233 US).

Iodata.jp: HDMC-UZM Product Page (Japanese)

Here’s the Folding Keyboard by Matias. A full-size keyboard small enough to fit in your laptop bag when folded and large enough to be comfortable when open. Matias promises a responsive and tactile feel due to high-quality dome switches and it sports goodies like a number pad, a smart Fn key as well as media keys (like volume control), page navigation, cursor keys and so on.

The Folding Keyboard is available on pre-order now and expects to start shipping mid-December.

Matias.ca: Folding Keyboard ($59.95 USD)

(Via OhGizmo)

So there’s rugged USB Flash drives with huge storage capabilities and then there’s products like Mokkatanten’s Porcelain Memory. This cute little Moomin-lookin’ thing is handmade and features a modest 1GB of storage and an internal LED that glows through the porcelain when active.

One gigabyte might not be much these days but to compensate for that every stick ships with a hand-knit pouch to keep it warm and cozy.

Porcelain Memory USB Flash Drive by Mokkatanten (€90.00, about $147.00)

» More USB Flash drives on Freshpilot

Wattson is a wireless device able to constantly measure and display how much electricity you consume in your home. Just clip the transceiver to the wire leading to your meter and fusebox and you’re done.

The exact number can be read on the display on the top (you can choose between watts and pound sterling) and by the ambient lights beneath it - blue means low energy consumption, read means high.

It’s USB-friendly as well, so if you hook it up with a computer you can compare your electricity usage with fellow Wattson owners around the world. Sweet.

Firebox UK: Wattson (£149.95, about 300 USD)

Here’s the Rechargeable USB Lighter, designed by Nathan Gabriele. It might look like a regular Zippo at the first glance, but flip this “premium giveaway” open and you’ll find that it is flameless and works by resistance coils - like a car lighter. Whenever the juice runs out you just plug it in a free USB port to recharge it.

Oh, and to top it off there’s USB flash storage in it as well.

Coroflot: Nathan Gabriele Portfolio

(Via Yankodesign)

Here’s “Shining Stone” UP3 S2, LG Electronic’s brand new MP3 player with a jewelry concept design. It’s all metal and available in 1-, 2- and 4GB models and in five jewel-influenced colors (black diamond, crystal silver, ruby red, pink topaz and sapphire blue).

Among the features we find MP3/WMA/OGG/ASF/FM-radio playback as well as voice- and FM-radio recording but although it does feature a 65,000 color OLED display it doesn’t do videos or images. File managing and battery charging are easily done by USB 2.0 though.

More pictures at AVING

LG Press release (Korean, Google translated)

(Via Anything but iPod)

Make a Mixa is a pretty cool idea for anyone old enough to remember the good ol’ mix tape days. Select a blank cassette tape in white or black, upload the pictures you want to decorate it with (either from your harddrive or from web services like Flickr) and voilá - you’ve got yourself a custom and USB-enabled 1GB cassette tape ready to be filled with whatever you want (mp3’s, images, emo poetry…).

www.makeamixa.com

Also see:
» The Cassette Tape MP3 Player
» PlusDeckEX: External USB Tape Player
» Cassette tape belt buckle in 18K gold

Skulls and skeletons works just as good all year round - not just during Halloween - so here’s the glow-in-the-dark RayD8 Mimobot USB Flash Drives by Mimoco.

Available in both happy and evil models with storage ranging from 512MB ($39.95) to 4GB ($109.95).

Mimoco.com: RayD8 USB Flash Drives