New SanDisk Flash Drive With Automatic On-line Storage

January 4, 2008 by Mary Anne Simpson

SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus. Credit: SanDisk

SanDisk will demonstrate their new Cruzer Titanium Plus 4GB flash drive at the 2008 International CES in Las Vegas, Nevada next week. One unique feature is the partnership between SanDisk and Belnsync that will enable users to automatically back-up files. A six-month subscription to Belnsync is provided to all purchasers.

The Cruzer Titanium Plus is the first USB flash drive with automatic on-line backup produced by SanDisk. The drive comes with a six month subscription to Belnsync back- up service and a two-year subscription to Boomerangit.com. Lost files can be retrieved using any Internet connected computer if the drive is lost, destroyed or corrupted. Bommerangit provides tracking of lost or stolen electronics by essentially providing a vin number for items registered on their site.

The 4GB device´s best feature is the ability to access archived documents, images and work product while on-line or off-line by signing into the Belnsync secured web site. If the user forgets to bring the 4GB flash drive on a business trip or vacation, all of the automatically stored data is available by logging into Belnsync account.

Belnsync is an on-line data management service used by Amazon to store enormous amounts of files. The service has been perfected over the past 12 years by Amazon which includes AES encryption. Belnsync utilizes the Amazon Web Service to store literally all types of files. The Cruzer Titanium Plus comes with a 6-month subscription to Belnsync. After the 6-month trial phase, the service costs $29.95 per year. A credit card is necessary for the annual renewal.

According to Adam Selipsky, SanDisk Vice President of Product Management and Developer Relations with Amazon Web service, the "Cruzer Titanium Plus will enable companies of all sizes to develop new products and services for their customers." The device will enable any size company to access the billions of dollars in infrastructure and web-scale computing platform used by mega-on-line store Amazon. A simple registration by the user is all that is required and a password enables all users to protect their files automatically.

The concern by many home computer users is the fear of losing important financial data and other records. The ability to automatically save and transfer data to a secured site is a personal convenience in addition to the obvious benefits to business. The data is encrypted at the time of the transfer and if the user is off-line the system automatically updates the transfer to Belnsync with the user goes back on-line. It is a "see it and forget it," method of saving and securing data.

The new flash drive Cruzer Titanium Plus will be on show at the 2008 International CES in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 7-10. It is expected to retail for $59.99. It is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista.