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Toshiba Cuddles with Microsoft's Vista, Rolls Out TransMemory U2K Ready-Boost Flash Drives

Just 8 GB for now, but up to 32 GB by the end of 2007

Jul 26, 2007 10:41 GMT  ·  By
The 8 GB Toshiba TransMemory U2K USB Flash Drive
   The 8 GB Toshiba TransMemory U2K USB Flash Drive

Although Toshiba and NAND-Flash have a long history together (Toshiba has been one of the most important innovators in this field back in the 80's), the company has not been especially active in this field during the past few years. However, it would seem that things are about to change, as the company has just announced the development of a new family of USB Flash drives, namely the TransMemory U2K Series, designed especially to work with Vista's ReadyBoost feature.

As most users know, Microsoft's latest operating system, the Windows Vista, sports quite a large number of innovative features, including the ReadyBoost function. This special feature allows users to enhance their computer's level of functionality without actually purchasing expensive RAM modules, the NAND flash media acting as some sort of "fake" random access memory.

And since the market demand for Flash Drives with enhanced ReadyBoost functionality has increased over the past few months (as the adoption rate of Windows Vista has increased), Toshiba has decided to launch a whole new line of such devices, dubbed TransMemory U2K Series. The drives in this family sport storage capacities between 1 GB and 8 GB, but the company has also announced that it plans to launch a 32-GB version sometime later this year.

Even if they have different storage capacities, the drives from Toshiba share the same dimensions, namely 63 mm x 18.5 mm x 8 mm, at a weight of around 8.5g. However, the 32 GB version will be a little different, since it will measure 81 mm x 20 mm x 8 mm and will weigh around 12 grams (due to the increased storage capacity).

Moreover, the drives from Toshiba's TransMemory U2K Series feature a downloadable password lock system, and, quite obviously, are completely bus-powered. The company has not provided yet any significant pricing information, but this data will most certainly become available as these things hit the shelves.

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