Need Small, Secure Storage? Check Out JumpDrive Mercury!

November 5th, 2006 at 2:00 PM - Columns and Opinions by John F. Braun

2GB JumpDrive Mercury ($109.99 from Lexar)
Lexar

USB flash drives are one of the best ways to move around small amount of data between computers, thanks to the fact that every modern PC is equipped with some sort of USB port. Your author had recently been using a 1GB iPod Shuffle for a flash drive, but after putting it through the wash, decided it was time to get something new. Fortunately, the state of the art has progressed nicely, with the JumpDrive Mercury offering some of the latest features.

JumpDrive Mercury with Capacity Meter

Of course the JumpDrive Mercury offers a USB 2.0 interface which can transfer data at up to 480MB/sec, and either 1GB or 2GB of space. The first innovation with this drive is that it has a capacity meter using technology from E Ink Corporation. The cool thing about this display technology is that, unlike a traditional LCD screen, E Ink can retain an image even when power is removed.

Secure II Software

The other feature that makes the JumpDrive Mercury stand out is that it comes with Secure II software which will allow you to create an encrypted vault, encrypt a single file and securely shred a file. An encrypted vault is saved as a file on the Mercury, but when activated, appears as an additional volume on your desktop. The vault is encrypted with AES 256-bit encryption, which should protect against prying eyes, just make sure you choose a good password. Best of all, the Secure II software works on both Mac and Windows.

So get a jump drive which combines the latest technologies with file protection, and check out a JumpDrive Mercury today! Have any other Gadgets that are cutting edge? Send an email to John and heill give it a look.

John is a software engineer who works in the corporate R&D group of a Fortune 500 company, focusing on imaging and printing technologies. He has AS, BS and MS degrees in various computing disciplines, so his friends and colleagues are somewhat surprised that he’s a Mac enthusiast.  After spending the day developing in an environment comprised largely of PCs, and watching colleagues wrestle with the horror that is Windows, he’s glad to come home to a MacBook Pro and PowerMac G5 at the end of the day.