Transcend's JetFlash 330 Debuts

Hardware makers have literally been flooding the web with news of newer, larger, faster and more reliable storage solutions, whether they are SSDs, HDDs, flash drives or optical drives, and it seems that this inflow is not bound to stop. Transcend is, naturally, one of the sources of storage solutions, having unveiled various units that tried to stand out through aesthetic value or just raw performance (or both). This once, however, it seems that the company isn't necessarily interested in making that strong an impression, seeking, instead, to launch a USB flash drive just good enough to suit users' every day needs.

The latest USB flash drives from Transcend are the latest addition to the JetFlash series and are known as the JetFlash 330. Unlike other products, which did their best to impress through groundbreaking USB 3.0 speeds or unprecedented data security, these three new models only seek to become a convenient tool for carrying images, documents and music. As such, they have a maximum transfer speed of 15MB/s (on USB 2.0), which is more than enough for small files which copy in under a second each. What Transcend did put effort in, but not enough to seem ostentatious, is the overall design.

The “porcelain-like” JetFlash 330 measure 60 x 18.8 x 8.6 mm, and have a weight of only 8.5 grams, which means that they are “lightweight enough to carry around and easy to slip into the user’s pocket or purse.” This small frame houses 4GB, 8GB or 16GB of storage space, as well as a set of features which add a touch of convenience, such as the compatibility with Windows ReadyBoost, a feature of Windows 7 which optimizes system performance by increasing memory. Basically, the flash drives can act as RAM.

Unfortunately, there is no word on how much these three newcomers will cost, although it shouldn't be much considering that they are aimed at the masses. Either way, this information will be revealed sometime during the next few weeks, when shipments begin.