It’s about 60 percent smaller in size, which is nice, but aside from that Sony’s new VRD-MC6 DVDirect looks and acts like the previous VRD-MC10 and VRD-MC5. It can take 1080i video with 5.1 audio from your Handycam’s drive or Memory Stick and shoot out an AVCHD DVD that plays back on compatible Blu-ray drives.

You can also bring in SD video over FireWire, composite, or USB to churn out regular DVDs with automatic chaptering and custom menu backgrounds, or you can just drop in an SD card full of photos and MP3s to create a slideshow.

This 16 GB portable flash drive from Leyio is equipped with a UWB radio module and allows you to securely share your files with other Leyio users. It does speeds of up to 10Mbps photos, videos and other multimedia files can be transferred easily.

With two devices near each other you can connect them using ultra wideband radio technology and select which files to transfer. You can also use a USB port on the side to transfer to other devices. If you do not have a memory stick and need one then a 2GB USB shuttle is built in to the casing and can be removed. Browse your files on the 1.5″ OLED screen for up-to-date information on storage space and transfer speeds.

Synology’s freshly announced DS409Slim NAS keeps things nice, simple and compact. Small? Yes, but you’ll still get four bays for 2.5-inch drives of your choice (up to 2TB total). The company says that using 2.5″ drives increases tolerance for physical shocks, reduces power consumption and results in a smaller footprint. Lower power consumption also allows the cooling fan to stay off “under normal operating conditions” with even four drives installed.

Specs include a 1.2GHz Marvell processor, 128MB of RAM, two USB ports, and one eSATA port. It also features DLNA certification and support for UPnP and other features. It will start shipping this month for about $400.

Somewhere in a parallel universe where Atari is still king, this is what their flash drives look like. In our world USB flash drives are small and come in all sorts of shapes that are smaller than an Atari cartridge. Except this one.

The Atari USB flash drive comes with a USB cable to plug into your computer since the thing is too big to just hang off the USB port. It does evoke some nostalgia from those of us old enough to remember the Atari 2600.

The E-blue Bluetooth iPhone Speaker is a pretty useful accessory for your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS. It features a titanium drive unit and connects to your iPhone via Bluetooth A2DP. The E-blue Bluetooth iPhone Speaker measures 61 x 61 x 121mm and has a built in rechargeable battery. It will pump out a total of 4W.

Some specs include: Magnetic Shield, Built-in rechargable battery that can charge from any USB port, Battery Life: 8 hrs, Bluetooth Support profile: A2DP, Button: Power on & Connect / Power off / Volume Up / Volume Down, Distance: 10M, Driver Unit: Titanium Dome (1.5 inch), Power Rating: 4W, Power: 500mA, Dimensions: 61 (L) x 61 (W) x 121 (D) mm (approx.)

ASUS has taken a fairly basic USB Blu-ray drive and given it a high-gloss makeover. The SBC-04B1S-U isn’t gonna wow you with 4.8x maximum Blu-ray disc reading, 8x DVD burning, a USB 2.0 connection, and Windows compatibility.

The bright blue ‘X’ on the unit flashes and has a dedicated app to control brightness. My main concern with this X is that it might attract government agents looking to give Fox Mulder some deepthroat-like info.

These are not a set of new Mimobots. They are figurine like USB flash drives from Funko that make Star Wars characters adorable. Specifically Darth Vader, Yoda, Boba Fett, and the Stormtrooper.

These 2GB USB flash drives come with no pre-loaded content which is fine, because you are buying them for cuteness alone. The packaging says that this is Series 1. So there should be more coming soon. They’ll be available at Entertainment Earth in October for $24.99

Buffalo is launching a new range of portable hard drives as it moves to join Seagate, Western Digital and HP in offering small sized portable storage on the go. The new Buffalo Ministation Metro will come in your choice of three colors; black, red and white, and comes in sizes up to 500GB.

They feature a sleek look and are about the size of a small paperback book. The company is trying to appeal to those folks who always forget to bring the cable with them by including a USB cable as part of the design. When not in use, the flexible cable wraps around and tucks into the drive, which is convenient.

Last week I looked at a sun visor Bluetooth hands free kit from BlueAnt and found that it worked very well. The thing some drivers don’t like about the sun visor type of hands free device is that everyone in the car with you can hear your conversations. If you prefer an in-ear Bluetooth device, we are checking out the BlueAnt Q1 Voice Controlled Bluetooth Headset today. Read on for all of the details on the BlueAnt Q1.

The PQI Cool Drive U360 looks like a standard USB drive, but it can also be used to transfer data between two computers, with its built in software and a mini USB port. It’s as simple as it looks. Just connect one end to one PC via USB and the other end via the Mini USB port and you can transfer data easily with the built in software.

It comes in your choice of different sizes from 4Gb up to 16GB, and can transfer data between both computers at up to 21 MB/s. Nothing on pricing or availability yet though.

Some call it soccer, others call it football. Some just know it as that sport they played once that got them kicked in the groin. Whatever you call it in your country, it’s a little known fact that the heads of these athletes are removable and store data.

How do you think they come up with their game plan in the locker room? Did you think the coach simply talks to them while pointing a stick at a chalkboard? No, that would be silly. Instead, each 1 GB player removes his head and plugs himself into a port, becoming part of the team “collective” and downloading game plans. Their endgame? World domination with Pele as their new God.

This cannon-shaped USB hub features three ports that trigger an artillery sound effect when a device is plugged in. Pretty cool, but don’t think you are going to win any USB wars with this one. It only supports USB 1.1.

Neat as it is, despite being USB 1.1, it needs to actually fire something and not just look like an old cannon. What would be cool is if it actually held a small USB drive that it could jettison out when you are done with it. If the kids are still saying FAIL this week, I suggest you say it to the Artillery USB Hub. It’s certainly not full of win.

Hot on the heels of their BlackArmor line upgrade, Seagate has updated their FreeAgent drives for the Mac with new features and improved performance. First there’s the FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac, a 2.5-inch external drive that features a FireWire 800 interface and FireWire 400 and USB interface. It will be available later this month in 250GB, 320GB and 500GB sizes and will cost $130, $150 and $190 each.

The other addition to the line up today is the Go Dock+, a USB hub with 3 ports, which is available now for $40.

If you’ve been reading the ‘Brick for awhile then you know that we dig robots. We really love robot flash drives. But as we’ve said before, it’s hard to find decent ones. Well, at last here are some that have true personality.

There are six different models in various shapes and colors, all cute,awesome and retro. They come with a 2 gigabyte storage capacity and their LED eyes even light up when you plug them in. There are the six different colors in all: yellow, black, blue, pink, red and white. These little guys are amazing. I’m gonna order one myself.

Seagate has been pretty busy lately what with the announcement of their revamped FreeAgent drives. Now we come across this new $40 FreeAgent Go Dock+.

What’s interesting is that it doubles as a powered three-port USB hub. The device should prove convenient if you’re into the whole FreeAgent Go thing. Pretty nice. It almost looks like it was designed by apple.