Making USB Flash Drives Smart

Have you ever thought what it would be like to sit down in front of any computer, boot it up and have your favorite applications and files immediately at your fingertips? The reality of this dream up to this point has been mostly unrealized - you can perhaps piecemeal using someone else's Microsoft Office and your Excel and Word files, for example, but that flies in the face of true on-the-go personalization.

Enter U3. A company formed by USB flash drive makers M-Systems and SanDisk. The two companies, independent minded U3 and a vast consortium of other USB flash drive companies and software developers are betting that consumers will be interested in turning a standard flash drive into a "personal workspace". They gathered recently in San Jose, California for a first ever developer's summit to discuss their ideas and learn from U3 the ins and outs of developing for this new hardware platform. Read more at Designtechnica