Samsung YP-U3 Featherweight Media Player Packs Haymaker Sound

It�s almost criminal how much hot, steamy gadget action you can get for less than a hundred clams. Take Samsung�s new YP-U3, a pack-of-gum sized audio player that has 2GB of flash memory, FM radio, data storage, LED display, EQ controls, and voice recording for all those brilliant Web 3.0 ideas you get while riding the bus.

The U3 is so small and light that you could damn near lose it in a shirt pocket. And you might want to keep it there, because its gaudy color choices � our review unit was a loud fluorescent green � and plastic-on-plastic build quality won�t win over fashion-conscious shoppers. Looks can be deceiving, though, because the U3 has some cool tricks up its sleeve: a retractable USB 2.0 connector slides out the bottom of the player and the flat-surface navigation buttons are super touch-sensitive.

The menus and features are a breeze to figure out (thankfully I had no RTFM incidents along the way) and the LED has a groovy bright-blue display. The voice recorder activates with the flick of a button, and the mic is surprisingly sensitive � I was able to capture clear dialogue on a TV from about ten feet away. The earbuds are cheapo and produce a thin, tinny sound (I blame it on Apple, for setting the Crappy-White-Earbuds standard), but when I hooked in my trusty Grado SR 80 cans, the audio had plenty of depth and detail.

It may not be as elegant or stylish as the iPod Shuffle, but for about the same coin the U3 gives you double the memory, more features�and kitschy colors visible from 200 feet!

WIRED Lots of bang for the buck, and flash memory means snappy playback and good battery life. Tiny form factor is great for outdoorsy, Ironman types. Sliding USB connector is handy, and eliminates cables.

TIRED Easy to accidentally hit the touch-sensitive buttons, so the Hold button is a must � but then you can�t advance tracks. D�oh. Only time will tell if plastic case can hold up to the rigors of portable play. And why no FM recording?

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Greenhouse USB SDHC card reader

What looks like a faily small USB flash drive is actually a USB SDHC memory card reader from Greenhouse of Japan. You get the maximum data transfer offered by USB 2.0 (480Mbps), comeplete with a cover that allows one to use the device as though it is a pen drive.

With SDHC cards tipped to hit capacities of 32GB in the near future, it makes perfect sense that devices like this would be a pretty hot seller in the future. The Greenhouse GH SDHC USB card reader is also compatible with SD, microSD/SDHC, miniSD, RS-MMC, RS-MMC4.0 and MMCmicro cards. At $5 a pop, this is worth getting if but for its convenience.

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USB flash drive alive?

There is no doubt that USB Flash Drives became a significant part of everyday people's life. We use them everywhere in case there is a need to deal with any kind of information. So, it's quite an understandable fact that people pay more and more attention to the design of such devices. Considering the fact that everybody has them, we understand that the only way to be different is to have something really unusual.

This unusualness can show itself in different ways, such as: colors, forms, durability etc. As regards given gadget the only feature that distinguishes it from other counterparts is its ability to change physical appearance. Thus, if you buy this device it will look like very simple one.

However, when you come home and begin working with the gadget, copying a lot of files to it, you will find out that your flash drive becomes bigger and bigger. In case you delete files from you device, you will observe just reverse effect. As far as other characteristics are concerned it should be mentioned that they are quite usual ones: average speed and capacity (there are just three types - 512MB, 1GB and 2GB).

So, I think its "abilities" won't pass unnoticed for sure. Yet, some people may think that just one difference is not enough for a thing to be considered as a special one.

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