There has been a lot of buzz about the next generation of USB 3.0 400MB/s over the last couple of years. What does the new standard mean for the promotional industry?
So far there has not been sufficient backing from large powerhouses such as Intel and AMD to propel the new USB standard to new heights. The good news is that Intel is planning on committing to the technology in 2012. With Intel backing others will be hard pressed to follow suit.
Currently, the prices on the promotional flash drives are double of the USB 2.0/1.1 standard. The transfer speeds are important in the promotional drives, however USB 2.0 offers plenty of speed for storing documents, presentations, music, etc.. There is really no need for higher speeds unless you plan on storing very large amounts of data (16G up to 128GB) for videos or computer backup.
We all know that price of the drive is important when ordering hundreds or thousands of drives for an event. The idea is to get your potential clients or customers to see your brand/company name as much as possible. Promoting with a practical drive that has enough space for common data storage is the best way to ensure product use and name visibility.
The flash drive with 1GB data storage is perfect for documents/presentations as well as occasional storage of high resolution pictures; the 4GB drive expands into regularly storing high-resolution photos, documents/presentations, and a couple of video files. Reducing storage space makes sense based on the promotional needs, however increasing the storage space has to be based on a significant justification for doing so. The significant price increase can hurt your budget, however the clients may not always appreciate the higher storage space.
The USB 3.0 standard may not be far away from being used in the promotional drives. It can offer faster transfer speeds for the more streamlined experience; however, for the time being, the 3.0 only represents a higher cost.