Waterproof electronic devices just always seem kind of cool for some reason. Anytime you can take some electronic gadget under water and it still works, even when there is no need, automatically moves it up the “cool” list a few points.

A good example is the mDrive waterproof USB Flash drive from Gidis. The slim drive comes packaged in a CD jewel case with a smooth looking black and red Taegeuk design, but what’s most noteworthy is that its waterproof. We’re not sure just how many things you’re going to be able to actually plug this thing into when your under water but when a device comes along with a functional, underwater USB port, Gidis will be ready. Then again, this of course could be handy right after you’ve downloaded the secret documents onto it while on your secret spy reconnaissance mission, and then have to dive into the ocean in a narrow escape.

If you are looking for the ultimate in security for a new thumb drive take a gander at the IronKey, the military’s solution to keeping their secrets safe. The IronKey is made to be both tough physically as well as data attacks.

For starters it encrypts your password using 256-bit AES and then encrypts that info a second time using 128-bit encryption. It may sound like overkill but heck why not do it? If a hacker wants to try and guess your password they only get 10 tries before the IronKey destroys all of the data it contains. If the villain tries to pop the drive open and get at the chips inside he will have a next-to-impossible task pulling it out in one piece since the guts are coated with an epoxy and would gum up the removal process.

Even though the size of hard drives are continually increasing so does the media that you store on them, requiring you keep buying more drives and bigger capacities to store all of your awesome-quality high-def content. A real pain however is having to go through the process of powering down your computer, opening up the case and connecting one of these new hard drives just so you can format it or transfer some data to it. Also, I’ve found that sometimes there just isn’t another SATA or IDE connection available once I get the case cracked open.

The folks at Tripp Lite have made this a whole lot easier with this set of cables designed to let you connect your SATA or IDE drive external through a simple USB 2.0 adapter. The U238-000 USB 2.0 SATA/IDE Combo Adapter allows for individual or simultaneous connection to a drive to configure it or transfer data without having to install it, turning any internal hard drive into an external USB storage device.

SanDisk has announced a doubling of the drive capacity of their SanDisk Cruzer Micro flash drive, brining the total capacity to 8 Gigabytes from the previous maximum of 4GB.

This capacity equates to around 1,600 high res photos or 2,000 songs on this single, 2-inch long, half an ounce USB Flash drive. The drive, like the previous Cruzer’s, features the retractable USB connector so there is no cap needed and more importantly no cap to loose. The connector retracts into the drive when not in use. When …

Iomega is back in tech news today announcing a new line of network hard drives designed for network storage at home. The Iomega Home Network Hard Drives come in 320GB ($200), 360GB ($150) and 500GB ($200) storage sizes.

The Iomega Home Network Hard Drives make use of 10/100 Ethernet technology to enable network storage. A Windows utility is included to get the drive connected to each PC which will share the drive. The drives inside are 7200 RPM SATA-II hard drives with an 8MB cache.

In a world where your cell phone can be a camera, mp3 player, portable video device, and access the web you most definitely need a lighter that can be used to secretly store your personal data. Combining two of my favorite things, information and fire (the true key to the modern world), the memlite is a hybrid lighter and USB flash drive that would even make Q himself jealous.

The memlite will eventually come in five colors (black, grey, blue, red and green) and soon will have a capacity of 4GB… more than enough room …

It seems like lately we’ve been seeing more and more gadgets being made out of wood; adding to the list is the Shadow external hard drive from Suissa Computers. The Shadow comes in a round wooden enclosure made from Maple in three different styles called the Silver, Natural and the Shadow Glass shown here.

Each enclosure contains a USB 2.0 connection to a 750GB hard drive housed inside. The box also has 4 USB ports and jacks for audio out and a microphone. The Suissa Shadow drives are designed to give …

1TB of external hard drive space…mmmmm….tasty. You get the general idea of this newly remodeled data storage device from I/OMagic, the TeraBank 1000GB. This massive drive is priced at around $300.

What makes the TeraBank 1000GB remodeled, said I/OMagic, is a “more sturdy, sleek, black and silver enclosure.” While aesthetics are certainly nice what really matters to us is the ability to use this device to archive our gigs and gigs of music, video, digital photos, etc. The TeraBank 1000GB lets us do that through a USB 2.0 connection capable of a maximum transfer rate of up to 480MB per second.

Canon today has officially launched the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III digital camera featuring a 21.1 megapixel CMOS sensor with the Dual “DIGIC III” image processor, a 3 inch LCD display with Live View and multiple brightness settings and a shutter speed of 5 fps giving bursts of as many as 45 full resolution JPEGs or 12 RAWs at a time.

The camera uses a recording mediums of CF Cards, SD/SDHC (1 slot each), and can also use an external USB hard drive through an optional transmitter. It’s powered by a …

Available in colors of black, pearl blue, red, and silver, the Korean company DIGIX has released a ballpoint pen that also houses a USB flash drive. The pen measures 6.1×0.5×0.5 inches and has 1GB of storage capacity. Simply remove the cap from the back of the pen to expose the USB 2.0 compatible plug.

via Aving

Proving USB drives can both be ugly and functional Corsair rolled out today the Flash Padlock. This manual security code dependent device is available in 1GB ($30) and 2GB ($40) capacities.

What is perhaps most interesting about the Corsair Flash Padlock is that you can set a PIN up to 10 digits long for accessing the drive’s contents. You have to then enter this PIN on the keypad built into the drive’s body. The Flash Padlock also seems noteworthy for its security feature of automatically locking itself when you remove it from an attached PC.

Network Attached Storage (NAS) for the purposes of sharing media across a home network is a category more and more computer companies seem to be wandering into. Newer Technology adds its own entry into the race with its new miniStack NAS.

The Newer Technology miniStack NAS, available in storage sizes up to 750GB and starting at around $120, is geared towards the home or small office network. Newer Technology says this NAS device, which connects with up to 20 Windows or Mac users, can stream multimedia files to compatible media players and only requires installation of a device driver to each connecting computer. One can also connect to the miniStack through USB 2.0.

Along with the new iMac announced today Apple has also released that rumored super-thin keyboard we heard about not too long ago. As it turns out those preview photos appear to have been pretty accurate and now we’re looking at not only one but two new, thin aluminum keyboards available from Apple.

Both keyboards are made from anodized aluminum like the new iMac and have dedicated keys to adjust the monitor brightness, volume, drive eject, Expose and play/pause. One of the two new keyboards is a …

Sony unveiled today three next-generation dual format DVD/CD recordable drives for computer users. The most interesting looking of these three drives is the slim, external DRX-S70U.

The Sony DRX-S70U ($130, September) is geared towards those who want a more stylish DVD burner sitting alongside their notebook PC. This burner supports both dual and double layer formats, offering 8X DVD+/-R, 4X DVD+/-R DL, 8X DVD+RW, 6X DVD-RW, 5X DVD-RAM, and 24X CD-R/RW recording speeds. It comes bundled with a full version of Nero 7 and sports a USB 2.0 interface.

Today Steve Jobs announced Apple’s new iMacs at the companies summer press conference. The announcement came as no surprise to most as rumors of the new iMacs and their features have been plentiful over the past weeks.

Jobs made heavy reference to the construction materials of aluminum and glass with the new iMacs, talking of its “elegant” look, the fact that the glass is scratch resistance and how both materials are recycle-friendly. The new iMacs will come three models of 20-inch and 24-inch glossy …