USB drive gets new form factor

Small, convenient, but often very easy to lose, USB drives have a knack for wedging themselves at the bottom of briefcases or sliding behind car seats. So why not make them the same shape as something we are very used to carrying safely - a credit card. That's the solution offered by this 2GB wallet-sized USB drive from CA, which has used the drive for the release of its latest security software packages. Once the CA software is installed, wallet-size flash cards can be used to transport music, photos and documents - a much better option for the consumer that being left with a useless CD.

The drive can be purchased pre-loaded with CA Internet Security Suite 2007 CA and Secure & Store Flash Drive software, both designed to work with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. The cards offer a transfer speed of 480 Mbps and the 2 GB of storage becomes available after installation and deletion of the 160MB of software from the drive.

The CA Flash Drive costs USD$69.99 with the CA Internet Security Suite and USD$79.99 with CA Secure & Store Flash Drive.software. The latter also works with Windows Vista "ReadyBoost" technology to enable faster application speed and boot-up time for Windows Vista systems.

Walletex also offer a credit-card sized Flash drive weighing in at 12g and just 1.9mm thick. Capacities range from 128MB to 2GB (USD$69.90).