I remember when flash drives first started to come onto the market. The things at the time had capacities measured in low megabytes. Today the flash drive is a popular and widely adopted device with storage capacity rivaling many SSDs on the market.

Kingston has announced a new flash drive today called the DataTraveler 200, the first 128GB flash drive on the market. The drive features a capless design that uses a retractable USB connector to prevent damage and the user doesn’t have to worry about a lost cap.

Mimoco is offering up their latest clever Star Wars mimobot flash drives. They are all from the dark side. Both Darth Vader and Clone Rex have removable masks, and one out of six Vaders will have the scarred-up, pale and pudgy face underneath that we all know and love from Return of the Jedi.

Pray you do not get the whiny young Anakin version(As played by Hayden Christenson). That’s the true path to the darkside….And bad acting.

The InnoDisk 128GB Nano SSD drive is not your typical micro USB flash drive. It’s a full fledged 128GB beast in a micro form. Future netbooks will have more storage in less space with the InnoDisk installed, which leaves room for other cool stuff. And we do want it all in a small form factor.

It’s pretty awesome. In the video above, the tiny drive functions flawlessly with 20g’s of accelerative force being placed on it.

Most computers only have about 2 to 4 USB ports, even the best motherboards only offer 10 or 15 USB ports. But let’s face it, you need more. You have your flash drives, your USB toys, USB Christmas lights, drink coolers etc. You NEED more ports in a USB hub.

This baby has 49. That’s right 49. You’ll never be without a USB port again unless you have way too many USB gadgets. Like say, 50. It’s actually meant for a more professional environment, like say, getting input from 49 different cameras simultaneously and the like. But you can have one too. It’s powered from a standard ATX power supply.

Corsair has been in the PC hardware business for a long time. The company offers and produces some of the most popular enthusiast memory products around and has a full line of flash drives and SSDs that are available.

Corsair has announced two new modular power supplies that are both 80 Plus Silver certified for energy efficiency. The new models include the HX850W and HX750W and the modular design of the PSUs means that there are no extra cables left inside your PC chassis that you don’t need.

If you’re concerned about the environment, the recycled cardboard USB flash drive is right up your alley. These are basically disposable USB flash drives. As newer, larger capacity drives become cheaper, the older ones typically get tossed aside.

That’s why this is a good idea. No one wants to see a landfill full of old drives. Five of these come together as one large piece. The idea is that when you need one, you just snap one off. And most of the drive can be recycled when you are done with it.

One of the most common ways to transport data and save files today is the ubiquitous flash drive. The little drives are available with tons of storage space and many of them offer encryption to protect sensitive files.

A new product form Gemalto called the YuuWaa has been unveiled that combines the function of a flash drive with software and secured online storage services. The device is available in two models with a YuuWaa Go featuring 4GB of flash storage and 8GB of online storage. The YuuWaa Plus has 8GB of flash storage and 16GB of online space.

We’ve seen our share of Lego USB drives, but these new Lego USB hubs are actually stackable, therefore totally awesome.

Each Lego USB Hub comes with four USB ports, and in a variety of colors that include red, blue, yellow and black. Sadly, they aren’t an official Lego product and so are only available in Korea for about $12 each. That’s a shame. I really wanted to build an entire Lego wall using these and go for the coveted Guinness world record of “Most hubs in a single wall, made by some lonely dork”.

I think we are all pretty sick of seeing bland and boringly designed flash drives. So, whenever we see one that stands out, we salute the maker and give it it’s props. These mini MPC 2000XL and SP1200 flash drives are pretty awesome.

These two drives are replicas of the AKAI MPC2000XL sampler and the EMU SP1200 drum machine. Devices that made hip hop happen. Both drives come in 4GB capacities and can be pre-ordered now for $40. They should ship in June.

Yinlips intros yet another portable device with the sad name of Yinlips attached. The TDB G80 MicroPC offers you another MID alternative that’s more affordable. For $189.99 you get a MID with the Yinlips moniker that has the following specs.

How about a Samsung S3C443 533MHz processor?, 4.3″ touchscreen display at 480 x 272 resolution, 64MB internal memory, miniSD memory card slot, Windows CE 5.0 operating system, and Integrated Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity.

Flash drives are useful little gadgets that allow computer users to easily transfer data between multiple machines and act like the floppy discs of the past. The problem is that moving sensitive files on a flash drive can make for trouble is the drive is unsecured.

Ennova Direct has announced that it has been granted a new patent on a flash drive that features a retractable USB connector. The flash drive has a flip up lid that covers the small OLED screen featured on the drive.

One of the problems with using a Mac computer is that many of the devices that Windows users can take advantage of are often not Mac compatible. This is especially true of products like flash drives that use encryption to protect data.

Kingston has announced that its DataTraveler Vault Privacy Edition is now compatible with Mac OSX 10.4x to 10.5x. The drive connects to the computer via a USB port and offers hardware-based data encryption.

Samsung just released three new 240Hz LED TVs, which are competing with LG’s 240Hz LH90 LED TVs. Known as the PAVV 8000, 7000 and 6000 series, these TVs are compatible with YouTube, DLNA, and feature a USB 2.0 port to display both photos and DviX videos from USB flash drives.

The Samsung PAVV 8000 series will be available in 46 and 55 inch and will be available in the US in May as well as Europe and Southeast Asia. Sadly, the specs for the PAVV 7000 and 6000 series are still unavailable. They must not be all that awesome.

Flash drives are great and all, but most are long and get in the way, whether in your laptop or wherever. They aren’t a good shape and size. Well, the EagleTec Nano from Brando is small. Tiny in fact. This tiny USB flash drive will cost you just $33 for 8GB and $22 for the 4GB.

It sure is tempting. The speed is 15Mb/s read, up to 6Mb/s write. It can fit right on your key chain, so it won’t get lost. The whole thing is about the size of a quarter.

This 2GB flash drive is just a few inches wide, but it’s full of intricate details, even lens markings and a viewscreen that we hope can actually light up. The lens is removable and has a USB jack inside. It’s awesome. It’s neat. Cool. Dare I say it? It’s adorable.

It comes with an extension cord to fit it into your USB port. Apparently it’s a promotional item from Canon, which is why you’ve never seen one. But you may be able to find one on eBay. You’ll pay dearly for it(there’s one up right now for $103).