March 28, 2006 More innovative thought is being focussed on the flash drive than we thought possible, because every week or so, we seem to run another story about an important new design feature incorporated into a flash drive. This week it’s a USB 2.0 Flash/Jump drive with a scrollable window display enabling consumers to view stored file names without a computer connection. The Royal EZVue Vista Drive will be available in of 256MB (US$50), 512MB (US$80) and 1GB (US$100) memory sizes plus there’s what we think will be a killer app – a US$30 SD Card Reader/Writer with the same scrolling display, offering a wide-range of really useful applications including digital photography and music storage. On-the-go consumers can now easily find the files they want in a muddle of SD cards.
With their compact size and robust storage capacity, USB 2.0 Flash/Jump drives have grown increasingly popular for use in transporting office files, school notes, music and other data. But until now, however, consumers had no way to determine which flash drive stored which files unless the drive was first connected to a computer. Royal has now eliminated that task. With a built-in, scrolling two-line display (patent pending), the EZVue Vista series makes it easy for consumers to quickly see the names of the stored files. Files are viewed within their respective directories or subdirectories that are clearly identified on the display. Scrolling to the right will reveal longer file names with file extensions along with the size of the files and the date they were created. A jump key allows users to rapidly jump between directories and subdirectories. The display will also show the particular name a user has assigned to the drive along with the capacity and free space remaining on the drive Additionally, every Royal EZVue Vista Drive with internal flash memory will include pre-loaded Allway Sync Pro file and folder synchronization software. Allway Sync Pro allows consumers to easily copy files to Royal Vista Drives or to select one-touch or automatic synchronization between folders and files stored on an EZVue Vista Drive and the consumer’s PC. This award-winning software developed by Usov Lab, normally retails at $29.99 but is free on select model EZVue Vista drives. With Allway Sync Pro backing up files on the PC has never been easier. Bob Robinson, Executive Director of Marketing for Royal Consumer Information Products said, "Keeping track of what is stored on each flash drive or SD card not only taxes the memory, but is a real source of consumer frustration. But with our built-in, two-line displays, Royal's EZVue Vista USB drives eliminate all that guesswork. And our free Allway Sync Pro file synchronization software on our flash memory models is one more example of Royal’s commitment to introducing user-friendly, advanced and affordable technology to value-conscious consumers. “ Dmitry Usov, founder and owner of Usov Lab, said: “We feel our Allway Sync Pro software is the perfect software compliment to Royal EZVue Vista Flash Drives. We are pleased to be working with Royal, an industry-leader in hand-held consumer information electronics.” Royal EZVue Vista Drives will be available in memory sizes of 256MB, 512MB and 1GB. For those consumers who prefer the versatility of external SD card data storage, Royal will also introduce the Royal EZVue Vista SD Card Reader/Writer. This new model redefines the external SD card reader category since it also includes Royal's 2-line EZVue scrolling display. It’s a must-have accessory for a wide-range of high-tech applications including digital photography and music storage. The Royal EZVue Vista Jump/Flash Drives can be used on both Windows and Macintosh platforms and are USB 1.1 and 2.0 compatible. Allway Sync Pro PC software is compatible with Windows-based personal computers.
