HD Camcorders are fast becoming the norm and tapes are growing ever rarer for storing digital video. Canon added three new camcorders to its VIXIA HD camcorder line up this week that all have the same 1080p resolution and record to internal memory.

All three camcorders record at 24Mbps bit rate in AVCHD format — the highest bit rate available for the AVCHD format. The VIXIA HF11 Dual Flash memory camcorder can record up to 12 hours of HD video to 32GB of internal flash memory. It also features a SDHC card slot for more recording space when needed.

When it comes to backing up data on our computers most of us never do it. The sheer amount of data that could be lost to a hard drive crash on most user’s computers is disturbing to think about. External hard drives are the storage solution of choice for users that have more data than a flash drive will hold or want an automated backup solution.

Addonics has a new external enclosure called the Portable Dual Drive Enclosure that supports dual hard drives and RAID configurations for even more data safety. The enclosure can hold dual 2.5-inch SATA hard drives 9 to 9.5mm in height. Using SATA-CF adapters, you the enclosure can also support up to four compact flash cards.

Solid Alliance is known for doing some pretty funky USB drives. This one though, the USB Commander, is quite the opposite. It looks slim and sleek, but you may think price about that $319 import price from Dynamism.

The USB Commander is a 4GB flash drive designed to pair with “ultrathin notebooks.” The logo and name illuminate when its plugged into a USB port and it is described as being “designed for easy-slide.”

Most of the gadgets that we use right now will be tossed away within a few years and probably end up in a landfill somewhere. That’s why it’s nice to see that at least some companies are looking at biodegradable gadgets. Hoshino announced “the world’s first biodegradable USB disk.”

And since it’s made of the corn-based plastic called polylactide, they fashioned it into the shape of an ear of corn. The material can be easily broken down. There’s not a lot of information on the device, but they have apparently made the entire drive biodegradable, and not just the casing. Aside from the obviously corny design, that’s good news. No one wants a bunch of flash drives in landfills.

Kingston Technology is getting colorful and miniature with some new USB flash drives tied to its DataTraveler line. These are called the Kingston DataTraveler Mini Slims and you’ll find them pricing around $11 for 2GB or $19 for 4GB.

The Kingston DataTraveler Mini Slim come in three different colors, including black, blue and pink. Memory capacity goes up to 4GB of storage and the drive measures 1.529- x 0.645- x 0.253-inches, making it one small device. It is definitely something you’ll have to be careful not to lose.

From overseas comes a new HD wireless media center enclosure  – all you need do is add a hard drive. It is called the Chinavision CVSBN-6000 HD Wireless Media Center and there is no pricing information available as of yet.

The Chinavision CVSBN-6000 HD Wireless Media Center is designed to provide 1080p output to your television, making it similar to other products in the media center world. What it does do which is cool is allow for up to 500GB of hard drive storage while also supporting a wide variety of audio and video file formats. It is also 802.11 wireless, allowing for wireless access to media on your PC.

Micron is a big name in the flash memory and storage world. It announced a pair of new solid state drives (SSDs) today called the RealSSD P200 and the RealSSD C200. The two drives are aimed at distinctly different markets and use different technologies.

The RealSSD P200 has the performance, power, and reliability that are needed in the enterprise environment. The P200 uses Micron single-level cell NAND technology and uses a 2.5-inch form factor. Storage capacity for the P200 line ranges from 16GB to 128GB and the drives use the 3Gb/s SATA interface. Maximum read and write speed for the P200 line is 250MB/s. The P200 SSDs are good for up to 2 million hours mean time between failure.

CMS Products has a new encrypted flash drive on its hands which is set to be used by others. It is called the CMS Vault OTG and prices range from around $45 for 1GB to $145 for 8GB.

These new Vault OTG drives make use of the company’s CE Secure encryption software for protecting and securing data stored upon them. Pass phrases provide controlled access to the data on the flash drive, which is protected utilizing 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption.

Hard Drive Wind Chimes – video powered by Metacafe
I love the sound of the wind hitting my data in the morning. Here’s a great project that will take care of all those old hard drives you have laying around the house, while prettying up the outdoors with tech. And it doesn’t look half bad either. Kinda futuristic and modern.

You won’t need any mad skills in the DIY department since you are just taking hard drives apart. When you’re done you can relax and admire your work as you try to figure out what to do with your other 50 drives.

Never one to miss out on taking a geek’s money, Mimobot has introduced the new batch of Star Wars flash drives. Choose between the elongated forms of C-3PO, Wicket the Ewok, Imperial Guard and Emperor Palpatine.

They’ll keep your data safe and are even said to be durable enough to withstand the digestive juices of the creature in the Sarlacc pit. Is it just me or does C-3PO look a bit like a fish? These are all well and good, but what I really want is the ships. Boba Fett’s Slave I, the Falcon. Who’s with me?

Flash drives can offer the business user or government employee a great way to carry needed documents and files with them on the go or to meetings at remote offices. The catch with a flash drive is that if it is lost and not encrypted the data on the drive can fall into the wrong hands.

Lexar introduced the latest flash drive in its line today called the JumpDrive Solo Vault with FIPS Validation. FIPS stands for Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 Level 1 security software is used on the drive without the need for centralized management.

I guess to some users a flash drive is a fashion accessory since they come in all sorts of colors and a few different styles. You can look at the Mimobot’s to see that some people like to collect flash drives for more than merely storing their music or porn.

Super Talent has announced its latest flash drive that is tiny and covered in 24k gold plate. The little drive is called the Super Talent PICO-C gold and packs 8GB of storage into a 31.3mm x 12.4mm x 3.4mm package.

Finally, more robot USB drives are hitting the market. Now we are getting more then we can handle. Some are even downright shiny like this one. Philips’ Active Crystal collection has been around for awhile. This time around it’s got Swarovski crystals in the 2008 range. The 2GB Robot Naughty Raymond, in black, is already available, and to give him some companionship, here comes the USB Happy Laura.

It’s set in white with sparkling crystals for the body and features for the face. The cute girlly bot even has ruby lips! Happy Laura has a 2GB capacity and will be available in Europe for $238. This is probably more glitz and glamor then you really want on a USB drive, but if you happen to be a rich robot loving gal, I guess it’s perfect.

SimTech Systems, developers of the MindMapper creativity and personal productivity software, have taken MindMapper portable. It is know available as the MindMapper 2008 USB Edition, priced at around $150.

The MindMapper 2008 USB Edition comes in the form of software installed on a 4GB USB flash drive. It automatically starts up when you plug in the drive, eliminating the need to install the software on your PC.

Remember that VW bus that drives around on records? Yeah, this is kinda like that. This one can go wherever it wants, wandering like a train on a track made of vinyl records.

Yuri Suzuki and collaborator Yaroslav Tencer are quick to point out that the records they used are just cheap finds from used record shops, so don’t worry, nothing rare or priceless was sacrificed. They’re creative, not nuts. Imagine what you could do with this thing. You could have it zipping around every which way, in and out of other stuff while it makes it’s music. Check out the video below.