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This USB 3.0 Flash Drive Has 2 TB of Storage

by - source: NetbookNews

Taiwan's ITRI and Transcend has teamed up to create a USB 3.0 thumb stick featuring 2 TB of storage.

During Display Taiwan, Transcend and Taiwan's ITRI displayed a finger-long USB stick that reportedly offers 2 TB of storage. That's no typo. It somehow holds up to 2 terabytes worth of information.

So far neither company has released anything official in regards to specs or a simple introduction, nor does the high-capacity USB 3.0 stick appear on Display Taiwan's website. But as seen in the video below, the "Thin Card" thumb drive is even smaller than a thumb, measuring slightly thicker than a penny. It offers a minimum of 16 GB and a maximum of 2 TB.

According to the rep, the USB stick hasn't become available thus far because an international standard for USB 3.0 has yet to be set. That said, ITRI and Transcend won't push the tech onto the market until USB gives the international green light on v3.0.

The ITRI, or Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, is a national research organization with a mission of "conducting technological research, promoting industrial development, creating economic value and improving social welfare for Taiwan." That said, the drive is expected to arrive in Taiwan first, and then other territories shortly thereafter.

So how much will a 2 TB USB 3.0 thumb drive cost?

2TB USB Slightly Thicker Than A Penny

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mrmoo500 08/29/2011 10:05 PM
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-20+

Makes you wonder why ssd's and HDD's have such low storage capacities.

Hellbound 08/29/2011 10:08 PM
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-3+

Nice, but I wonder how much..

burnley14 08/29/2011 10:09 PM
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-8+

An arm, a leg, and a kidney. But worth it.

soccerdocks 08/29/2011 10:11 PM
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-20+

On the video it says "Actually the one that we looked at on display was only 16GB but the technology behind that particular 16GB stick is capable of scaling to 2 Terabytes." In other words they'll have to wait years for smaller manufacturing processes to occur before a 2 TB drive is made.

Dragoza 08/29/2011 10:16 PM
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-5+

2TB on a usb stick but, why ssd don't have that capacity. Both use Flash memory!

dragonsqrrl 08/29/2011 10:29 PM
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-5+

Dragoza :
2TB on a usb stick but, why ssd don't have that capacity. Both use Flash memory!


Because it probably has just about the worst read/write performance of any USB 3.0 flash drive on the market. There are many different types of flash memory, some of which perform absolutely terribly.

danwat1234 08/29/2011 10:30 PM
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-3+

I bet she is talking about when ~9nm flash chips come out in like 5 years from now, then 2TB will be possible. The highest capacity USB stick I've seen is 256GB right now.
Unless they find a way to just have 1 long flash chip on the PCB with a ton of silicon FakeEstate in it (1 on each side of the PCB), instead of multiple regular-sized chips.

tmk221 08/29/2011 10:34 PM
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-4+

soccerdocks :
On the video it says "Actually the one that we looked at on display was only 16GB but the technology behind that particular 16GB stick is capable of scaling to 2 Terabytes." In other words they'll have to wait years for smaller manufacturing processes to occur before a 2 TB drive is made.



You are probably righy. Why would they show off 16gb version otherwise..

Area51reopened 08/29/2011 10:42 PM
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Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JamesSneed 08/29/2011 10:46 PM
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-3+

I just imagine USB stick the size of a broom stick.

hoofhearted 08/29/2011 10:50 PM
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-7+

THat's alot of pron in your pocket

pug_s 08/29/2011 10:51 PM
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--3+

I heard of these kind of fake usb sticks out there. These usb sticks use compression so it can store 'up to 2tb,' but in reality it is slow as well because it has to compress this kind of data.

Meatymutawings 08/29/2011 10:53 PM
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-9+

so they show us a 16GB USB stick and blabs about random 2TB crap? I can give you a 128MB stick and tell you it could be 100000TB and 128MB is only a minimum, wtf?

prunestida 08/29/2011 10:58 PM
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-0+

I would totally get one of these to replace my external HDDs.

DSpider 08/29/2011 11:20 PM
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You know, I was expecting something like this ever since microSD reached 64 GB.

I was thinking that they could probably stack a dozen on top of each other and create a thumb stick-looking SSD, of at least 500 GB/1 TB. Didn't expect 2 TB, though... Nice. But first they need to work out all the bugs before it hits mainstream, because if they chain a bunch of chips together the chances of one of them failing will increase exponentially.

nutcase_63 08/29/2011 11:23 PM
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-2+

"First a standard must be set"
O common,they dont care about that if they could sell it,i hear a lot of bla,not sure for what reason other then trying to hype things a bit,they probably trying to attract some new shareholders with this bate.

memadmax 08/29/2011 11:29 PM
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-4+

She's hott...

Hetneo 08/29/2011 11:35 PM
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-6+

soccerdocks :
On the video it says "Actually the one that we looked at on display was only 16GB but the technology behind that particular 16GB stick is capable of scaling to 2 Terabytes." In other words they'll have to wait years for smaller manufacturing processes to occur before a 2 TB drive is made.


Yep this is outright incorrect article. Video say "this could be 2TB", but it doesn't say is it limit of the flash memory type or of USB 3.0.
Mr Parrish I call your article the utter rubbish.

popatim 08/29/2011 11:36 PM
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not!

Wish I Was Wealthy 08/29/2011 11:53 PM
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-0+

It's good to see technology going leaps & bounds. I wonder how long before the porn buffs start to get interested in this 2TB usb stick.

c0oim4n 08/30/2011 1:29 AM
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-2+

And it can all be yours for only $400,000!

tomc100 08/30/2011 2:37 AM
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--1+

Now how about a desktop hard drive that's 10 tb or an optical drive where blank media holds 1 tb. I need to back up all my porn.

mark0718 08/30/2011 3:32 AM
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They don't have a 2TB device.

The 2TB refers to each the MBR limit of 2TB or a pinout limit
on some chip (which would not be a limit).

Similarly, it doesn't transmit at 5gb/second, it just sends bits
at a rate of 5gb/s for short periods.

http://www.itri.org.tw/eng/news-an [...] 90&print=1

amk-aka-phantom 08/30/2011 5:42 AM
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I see a problem here. In the last few years, when USB 2.0 thumb drives gained capacity, they lost transfer speeds. Seriously, my 1GB thumb drive is faster than any 8GB one I've tested, and the trend was recognized in some articles, too. I'm afraid that the 2TB drive will reduce its transfer speeds all the way down to USB 1.1 speeds... If not - I'll get this. That is, if the price is anywhere near reasonable.

bennaye 08/30/2011 8:16 AM
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The way I see it, the more info it carries, the more cold sweat that will be spurting out of every orifice of your body when you realise you've gone and lost it. You can cram as much space as you want, but it still doesn't save it from human error. At least with hard drives they all boil down to either mechanical failure, or DOA, ie. out of control of humans to a certain degree.

I'd rather a fast 8GB or 16GB stick. Much more useful imo.

belardo 08/30/2011 1:01 PM
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-0+

How many of us have put our USB thumb drives through the laundry? I've had 1 stick last 3-4 washing and drying cycles... :)

I use them to move data. I'd use the 2.5" drives to store/move lots of data. I use the 3.5" for major storage / backup.


In the future.. I will hold, in my hand.... an 8TB thumb drive!

reggieray 08/30/2011 1:34 PM
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Dragoza :
2TB on a usb stick but, why ssd don't have that capacity. Both use Flash memory!


Probably some new stuff they have been working on, SSD are probably going to be getting much bigger too.

nebun 08/30/2011 2:24 PM
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-1+

women and technology don't mix

drwho1 08/30/2011 3:22 PM
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Maybe in some distant future we would have half of that (1TB) on an USB stick... If at the right price I would get one of those.

Perfect size for movies while on a trip or vacation.
Or to keep kids occupied watching some kids shows/movies during long drives.

Anonymous 08/30/2011 3:46 PM
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I have to agree, this article is utter nonsense....Pure Hype.
Showing us a 16G device that "may" scale up to 2TB is pure bait and switch selling technique to get investors or media attention.

Anonymous 08/30/2011 4:22 PM
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Weasel words "up to 2tb" and they are held up by USB3? This stinks of total BS.


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