Two interfaces for even more versatility

Nov 20, 2008 18:11 GMT  ·  By

Up until now, most external storage devices connected to a computer via the ubiquitous USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface. However, given the increasing popularity of eSATA interfaces (due mostly to their capacity of reaching very high data transfer speeds), the Kanguru company has decided that it would be a very good idea to bank on this trend and launched the Kanguru e-Flash, a highly-innovative flash drive equipped with both eSATA and USB connectors.

By combining these two interfaces in a single device, Kanguru has managed to achieve two very important goals. First of all, it has created an external storage solution that works with pretty much any computer out there (all computing systems, whether we're talking about netbooks, notebooks or PCs, feature a USB port). Then, its storage solution can attain some fantastic transfer speeds, namely around 3000 Mbps or 300 MB/s, if connected to an eSATA interface (which, however, is still rather rare).

The storage capacities provided by the e-Flash drive are quite impressive, namely 16GB or 32GB. Moreover, the company plans to release a 64GB model in January 2009, thus hammering yet another nail in the coffin of portable HDDs.

While just about any computer user out there knows how to connect a USB flash drive to a computer, things might be a little different in the case of eSATA. For this reason, Kanguru's flash drive comes preloaded with Hotswap! software for easy and safe eSATA connection and ejection, as well as with an eSATA + Power bracket and an eSATA + Power cable for easy hookup to a computer.

As expected, these things are expensive, but they're not significantly more expensive that some of their "only USB" counterparts. Thus, the 16 GB version sells for 85 bucks and the 32 GB for around $120, while the 64GB flavor will most likely be available for under $200.

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