Sony Launches Micro Vault Tiny USB Drives

Posted on August 9, 2006

Sony has created some extremely small USB drives called the Micro Vault Tiny drive. Tiny is about the size of a quarter -- it measures about 1/2 inch wide to just over one inch long. Tiny has five color-coded capacities -- 256MB (orange), 512MB (violet), 1GB (blue), 2GB (green) and 4GB (purple). It comes with a clip-on carry case.

Tiny is preloaded with Virtual Expander, which expands the capacity to virtually store up to three times as much data by automatically compressing and decompressing files.

According to Lucas, the industry has come a long way from the once bulky, utilitarian drives to Sony's small wonder. Initially seen as a device craved by early adopters, USB portable storage drives have become as mainstream as digital cameras and MP3 players -- due in part to their ease of use and universal application.

Sony has been promoting USB drives since their inception, launching the Micro Vault line in 2001, with drives about the length of an index finger, and storage capacities maxing out at 64MB. Since then, the company has developed more compact drives with greater storage capacities, adding style along the way.

The USB drives keep getting smaller and smaller. That's good when it comes to transporting and storing USB drives. On the downside, smaller is also easier to lose.



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