Ahh, USB flash drives, how small can you go? Imation is jumping into the tiny is better USB drive category with its new Imation Atom Flash Drive, priced between around $18 to $100, depending upon storage capacity.

The Imation Atom Flash Drive is tiny, measuring less that 1.5-inches long and .5-inches wide. Weight is around less than an ounce. Storage options on this small drive include 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB.

OCZ Technology is out with yet another USB flash drive for your consideration. This time around it is called the OCZ Diesel -there was no specific pricing or release dates offered up by OCZ.

The OCZ Diesel is a stylish looking USB flash drive available in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB storage capacities. It is housed a durable aluminum housing and offers the ability to attach it to a keyring via its base. It is also extremely small.

OCZ Technology recently introduced a nice looking new USB flash drive which sports a cap-less design. It is called the OCZ Spyder and there is no specific pricing information currently available.

The OCZ Spyder will be available initially in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB storage sizes, according to OCZ. This USB flash drive is most noted by its manufacturer for the slide-top design, whcih the company says helps protect the connector plug and prevents loss of your typical drive end cap.

Computer products company Corsair today unveiled a new compact flash drive which is rugged. It is called the Corsair Flash Voyager Mini and you’ll find it pricing around $30.

The Corsair Flash Voyager Mini is a 4GB USB flash drive which weighs only 5.4 grams and is about 1/3 the size of regular flash drives, according to Corsair. It is enclosed in an all-rubber housing, making it shock-proof and water-resistant.

Edge Tech has announced a new secure USB flash drive which is both durable and encrypted. It is called the DiskGo Secure Guardian and you’ll find it pricing between around $70 and $250, depending upon memory configuration.

The DiskGo Secure Guardian from Edge Tech is available in 1, 2, 4 and 8GB configurations. It makes use of 256-bit AES hardware encryption to secure data as well as complex password protocols and a function which actually erases the drive’s data after eight failed password attempts.

A company by the name of Blackmagic Design does a fair amount of business in video editing products, converters and routers for the post-production and television broadcast industries. It is now crossing over to the consumer side with the introduction of the Blackmagic Video Recorder, priced at around $120.

The Blackmagic Video Recorder is a USB video capture product designed to take video from any analog video source, such as VHS or DVD, capture it and convert it to H.264 video files stored on your computer. This type of video file and can be used with products such as the iPod. Blackmagic says this product is thumb drive sized.

Kingston Technology said today a new USB flash drive it has developed received Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 certification, meaning it supposedly is very, very secure. It is known as the DataTraveler BlackBox and you’ll find it pricing at a maximum of around $424 for an 8GB model.

This FIPS 140-2 certification, said Kingston, “requires a validation process that meets federal requirements set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Communications Security Establishment of the Government of Canada. This is critical because many governmental agencies in the United States and Canada mandate that sensitive “data at rest” (i.e., all information not in the network) must be encrypted with the FIPS 140-2 standard.”  Each time the drive runs it does a power-on self test to verify that the encryption architecture is functioning.

Aleratec, a developer of devices for mass duplication of data onto different media formats, announced today a new USB flash drive duplicator which can work without a computer. It is called the Aleratec 1:11 USB Copy Tower SA and pricing is set at around $1,575.

The Aleratec 1:11 USB Copy Tower SA lets you copy, compare, or erase up to 11 flash drives simultaneously. Controls are handled via a simplistic front panel interface with backlit LCD display. This display “indicates the function selected and also monitors progress and status of each operation and displays the results.”

Corsair is set to roll out to computer users a new 16GB “high performance” USB flash drive. It is called the Corsair 16GB GT Flash Voyager and pricing will be around $170.