CES 2006 - Part Six

Author	Benny Har-Even
Published	9th Jan 2006

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USB keys are part of everyday computer use these days, but U3 explained to me in a one on one meeting, U3 drives are much more than just dumb storage. A U3 compliant USB key is one that contains preloaded applications. This means that instead of just your own documents and content you can actually use your own applications on any PC without having to worry about whether they are installed on it or not. It’s also more secure and there’s an anti-virus checker on every U3 drive and once you remove your U3 key, no trace of it or any of the applications installed on it is left on the PC.

Because of this feature, applications have to be specifically coded to be U3 compliant. U3 drives from different manufacturers will have certain applications bundled but others can be bought or downloaded for free from www.u3.com. Highlights include Firefox browser, the universal messenger app Trillian and the open source office suite OpenOffice so you can work on your Microsoft documents even if Office it isn’t installed on the PC you are using.

Eventually, U3 images people will work off memory keys rather than hard disk, especially as flash capacities increase. SanDisk calls it a ‘personal workspace’.

The U3 platform was actually created by SanDisk and M-Systems, co-creators of the USB key concept. They together established U3 as a company in order to make U3 a standard rather than just a proprietary system. Now U3 exsits independently, and SanDisk and M-Systems again compete fiercely. It's weird but it works.

On the downside it’s inevitable that not everyone’s favourite application is available on U3. For music, Winamp is compliant but I haven’t used that since 2001. Even more dissapointing is that it’s not Mac compatible. However, it was strongly suggested, though not officially confirmed, that U3 is working on it. Good.

At the show, SanDisk announced a number of U3 drives bundled with Skype, with 30 SkypeOut minutes included in the deal. It also announced new Cruzer drives ranging from 512MB capacity up to a massive 4GB, price from $49 to $299, available in March. Also coming are new Titanium Cruzer at 1GB and 2GB capacities and thirdly, ultra-colourful Gamer CrossFire drives. Designed to appeal to the gaming market, capacity again ranges from 512MB up to 4GB.

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