Fingernail-Sized USB Drive Packs Whopping 32 GB

Lexar Media revealed two backup drives, one smaller than a fingernail.

Lexar Media today launched two "Echo" flashed-based backup drives that may be hard to grasp in a visual sense. The Echo ZE drive is slated to be one of the smallest USB drives in the world, measuring just 20.1 x 15.1 millimeters. It's also probably obvious that this model doesn't provide a massive load of storage space... that's coughed up by its larger cousin, the Echo SE series.

Outside the ZE's particular size, the biggest feature both drives offer is their ability to keep the PC backed up at all times thanks to software provided on the drives. The larger SE version isn't really suitable to stay plugged into a laptop (or a desktop for that matter), however the miniature Smurf-like ZE drive is designed to be "plug-and-stay," meaning it won't stick out like a mutated appendage.

Lexar Media claims that the larger SE drive offers read speeds up to 28 MB/s and write speeds up to 10 MB/s. The company didn't really provide read and write numbers in regards to the ZE drive, but did mention that both will securely encrypt user files. Both are also compatible with Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OS X operating systems.

Although no price points were offered, the SE comes in three capacities: 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB. As for the tiny ZE drive, it comes in 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB capacities. Lexar Media said that the drives will begin to hit the market next month.