Buffalo announced a large selection of wireless mice and keyboards, compatible with its new "Simpring" (or so it's called) wireless receiver, which can connect up to five wireless peripherals at the same time, needing a single USB port. The receiver is similar to Logitech's Unifying receiver.

Wireless mice launched includes the SRMB01 series of right-hand oriented 5-button mice available in six color options, priced at 4,200 JPY (US $52); the SRMB02 series ambidextrous 3-button mouse with a matte surface, priced 3,465 JPY (US $42.75), and available in similar color options; and the SRMB03 series of ambidextrous-looking 5-button mouse (back/forward buttons located on its left-side, making it right-oriented in the true sense), priced 4,200 JPY (US $52).

Power Quotient International (PQI), a member of the Foxlink Group, successfully unveiled the Wi-Fi enabled PQI Air Drive during the 2012 International CES to much fanfare. The product was well-received and widely praised, and is officially available for purchase in countries around the world beginning today.

The PQI Air Drive is rooted in the concept of sharing and emphasizes a patented small, lightweight circuit design and the incorporation of the latest Wi-Fi technology. It offers a solution for users of smart phones, tablets, and other handheld devices who often run into the problem of limited memory expansion when the built-in memory becomes inadequate.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, announced today it has expanded the storage capacity of its high-performance OWC Mercury Elite Pro single bay and dual bay desktop storage solution line to 8.0 TB.

By utilizing the industry's only 3.5" 4.0 TB SATA 6 Gb/s hard drive, OWC's Mercury Elite Pro storage solutions deliver 33 percent more storage/back-up capacity per drive over current 3.0 TB hard drives With up to a "Quad Interface" of FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0, and eSATA connections, the Mercury Elite Pro line offers Plug and Play data transfer speeds up to 300 MB/s with Mac and PC computers.

People want things around their living room TV to look like a VCR or a Blu-ray player, something that has a minimalist rectangular facade and that's stackable in decks. HTPC makers such as Tranquil have clearly understood this concept, and now, so did ORICO. The company unveiled the 7662, a dual-3.5" HDD enclosure that's designed for the living room. The enclosure has two 3.5" SATA hard drive hot-swap bays on its front panel, each of the two bays have lockable caddies. The enclosure connects the drives to to a host (an HTPC, or directly to a USB Mass Storage-compatible TV), over USB and eSATA.

ORICO has two variants, the 7662SUSJ has USB 2.0 and eSATA; while the 7662SUSJ3 has USB 3.0 and eSATA. The enclosure has a built-in power-supply and plugs in directly to the wall without a messy power brick. Each of the two bays has a temperature-activated exhaust fan. The 7662 also features auto-Hibernation, which spins down a hard drive if it's been idling for too long. The 7662SUSJ is priced at 448 RMB (US $71), and the 7662SUSJ3 at 478 RMB (US $76).

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, today unveiled its latest slim profile USB Flash drive, the DashDrive UV100. With a length of only 41 mm and a thickness of just 5.8 mm, it enters the market as an extremely compact and economical solution to those who view data portability as a day-today necessity.

The DashDrive UV100 incorporates the capless design that has proved to be a successful hallmark of ADATA Flash drives, eliminating the risk of cap loss. An integral strap hole makes the drive easy to carry on a lanyard or keychain. In a nod to the ever-increasing design requirements of the fashion-conscious, the drive boasts a diamond-cut bevel exterior, allowing owners to express their unique personal style. However, the key feature of the product may well be its highly competitive price point, which will make the UV100 an ideal option for those who use Flash drives on a daily basis and are looking for a highly portable backup drive.

Leading memory storage brand, SP/Silicon Power announces the launch of the Year of the Dragon Souvenir Edition Touch 836 USB flash drive to welcome this lucky Chinese Zodiac Year with customers. The Chinese dragon has a legendary mystery and symbolizes good fortune and luck. SP/ Silicon Power combines traditional Chinese spirit and brilliant design into modern technology to create a unique and excellent product.

Inherited the design concept of the SP/ Silicon Power Touch series, the tiny and one-step forming streamlined casing of Touch 836 thoroughly brings out its exquisite and modernistic features to the consumers. The antique bronze color of the device also perfectly portrays the majesty of the Chinese dragon. The coating is processed using a metal sandblasting technique to reflect a luxurious metallic glamour and also to protect the surface from scratches. The front of the designer casing features an extraordinary dragon totem, and comes with a strap hole that is easy for users to carry it around to satisfy their instant storage needs as well as for good fortune and luck!

Buffalo Japan released a set of colorful new USB 2.0 hubs under the BSH4U17 series, to expand the ever more limited number of USB ports notebooks come with. The hub is bar-shaped, and comes with a short USB 2.0 cable to the host. It features nail mount holes so it could be hung up to walls. Measuring 93 x 38.5 x 14 mm (WxDxH), the hub weighs about 40 g. It is available in four color options: piano-black, pearl-white, hot-pink, and indigo, all priced at 1,720 JPY (US $21.5).

Japan-based Green House Co. has now introduced a fresh family of flashy storage solutions, the GH-UFI-XSA series industrial-grade flash drives. Backed by a three-year warranty, these new drives measure 47.3 x 17.6 x 8.4 mm, they weight 10 grams, and feature a tough metal body, an USB 2.0 interface, SLC (single-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips, ECC, transfer speeds (read and write) of up to 20 MB/s, and an operating temperature range going from - 40 to + 85 degrees Celsius.

The GH-UFI-XSA flash drives come in 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB capacities.

iKey, the world leader in rugged computer peripherals, introduces its latest addition to the innovative SkinnyBoard line of keyboards, the SB-101. At less than half an inch in depth, the SB-101's ultra-thin design makes it ideal for use in small spaces, vehicles, forklifts, and rackdrawers.

With a fully-sealed polycarbonate case and rubber keypad, the SB-101 is rated NEMA 4X, making it impervious to water, dirt, and corrosive cleaning products. The SB-101 also features a QuickLock key, allowing users to quickly disable the keys and avoid unwanted keystrokes during the cleaning and disinfection process.

Having trouble finding a mouse that goes with your notebook and can be neatly put into your suitcase after a meeting? GIGABYTE, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to present AIRE M1 Retractable Optical Mouse to you. As convenient as a wireless mouse, this smart retractable mouse is ready to go by only a simple pull away. Just lightly pull the cord, it can then be collected instantly and hidden in the mouse. You can travel with this compact mouse and free from tangled-cord problem from now on!

Japanese peripherals maker AREA PC introduced a nifty little network controller called the USB2GLAN. Simply put, it's a network controller that plugs into a USB 2.0 port on one side, and gives out a gigabit Ethernet connection on the other. Needless to say, the 1000 Mbps Ethernet connection will be bottlenecked by the 480 Mbps USB 2.0 interface, but it's still a fair bit faster than 100 Mbps Ethernet. The main unit measures 57 x 14 x 14 mm, the short cable is about 8 cm long, the whole thing weighs 23 g, and is self-contained, as it draws power from the USB port. It works plug-and-play on Windows and MacOSX. It is priced at 2,480 JPY (US $32).

Buffalo Japan announced a new DriveStation external hard drive with the ability to record TV, the HD-LS1.5U2J. The drive provides 1.5 TB of storage, and can be programmed by a PC to perform scheduled TV recording with the PC turned off. When not recording or serving a PC, the drive enters into a low-power state that cuts power draw by 97%. When connected to PC and idling, the eCOManager software takes over, and spins down the hard drive while keeping other electronics awake. The drive connects to a PC over USB 2.0. Measuring 39 x 189 x 123 mm, the drive weighs about 1 kg. Slated for market release in mid-February, the DriveStation HD-LS1.5U2J will be priced at 18,690 JPY (US $242).

Following reports that Kingston is reducing prices of its NAND flash-based products by up to 15%, SanDisk too is reportedly preparing price-cuts of its own. Unlike Kingston, SanDisk's entire product portfolio is connected with NAND flash memory, it is the world's largest vendor of memory cards, and also has a vast lineup of USB flash drives. SanDisk will lower its prices just enough to maintain competitiveness with Kingston's products. The company maintains that initiating a price-cutting strategy is intended to boost sales volume and maintain the company's leading market share. According to DRAMeXchange, major NAND flash vendors are initiating price cuts to clear inventories, to make way for flash memory built on newer fabrication technologies.

May good fortune come to you in the Year of Dragon 2012! Team Group Inc. presents Team C121 Lucky Dragon USB Disk to make another auspicious and lucky year! C121 Lucky Dragon integrates chic technology and Chinese totems and adopts the brilliant one-finger push-based mechanism. It is compact and attractive as a popular 3C product in 2012, specially crafted to create unique personal styles for personal use or as gifts.

Team C121 Lucky Dragon is compact with push-based mechanism to prevent cap loss and to ensure outstanding protection and simple operation. The item is compatible with USB 2.0 transfer interface, offering 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities to choose from. Meanwhile, it supports hot plug and plug-and-play, also compatible with USB 1.1 transfer interface to store and read information anytime, anywhere. In addition, its brilliant and user friendly strap holes to allow users to easily connect with other everyday mobile belongings to increase its convenience. Team C121 is the best assistant for carrying documents and running multi-media or digital photos.

Donya Japan unveiled a new value mechanical gaming keyboard, the N-YKB-F2139L. Although the manufacturer of the switches is not known, it appears similar to those made by ALPS Electronics. The keyboard has a standard 109-key QWERTY layout with English and Japanese hybrid keyset. The keyboard includes special orange-colored replacement keys for the W, A, S, D, and arrow keys. These keys have rubberized surfaces with bumps that improve tactile location and comfort in extended gaming sessions. The keyboard measures 465 x 165 x 35 mm (WxDxH), weighing 1 kg (mechanical keyboards tend to weigh more, 1 kg is Kosher). The keyboard uses USB interface with electronics that increase NKRO. The cable is 1.3 meters long. The N-YKB-F2139L is priced at 4,999 JPY (US $65.2).

Memory industry major Kingston is working towards reducing prices of its products that are based on NAND flash memory. This includes a large chunk of Kingston's product portfolio, as the only products excluded would be DRAM. NAND flash-based products include memory cards, USB flash drives, and SSDs. Kingston will reportedly cut prices by as much as 15 percent. Responding to a DigiTimes report, Kingston said that it is adjusting its NAND flash product pricing to coordinate with the rest of the industry to shift towards more advanced processes, and that it wants to enhance its presence in the NAND flash market. In other words, Kingston is clearing its inventory to make way for newer, more advanced technology.

Announced late last year together with the HS-W1 Wireless Headset, ASUS' MS-100 USB speakers have now went their separate way to be the focus of an unboxing/preview piece. Pictured below, the stereo speakers target mobile users and feature a cone design, a glossy black coating, a rubber stand that reduces vibration, and only USB connectivity (no need for a separate power cord).

The MS-100 makes use of 54 mm drivers, it has a frequency response of 100 Hz to 20 KHz, and delivers a total output of 3 W RMS. Still no word on pricing or availability but it's likely the speakers will be out very soon.

LG Electronics has just announced the European arrival of its slim and curvy BP40NS20 optical drive which is capable of writing Blu-ray discs at up to 6x speeds. Seen below, LG's external Blu burner features 3D Blu-ray and BDXL support, an anti-scratch UV coating, a USB 2.0 interface, 4 MB of buffer memory, the Silent Play technology for reducing noise during movie playback, and the Jamless Play function which smoothes out playback of damaged discs.

The BP40NS20 also has LightScribe support and offers writer speeds of up to 6x for BD-R, 2x for BD-RE, 8x for DVD-R/+R/+RW, 6x for DVD-RW, 5x for DVD-RAM,, and 24x for CD-R/CD-RW. The drive can be found on sale at 109 Euro.

Japan-based Green House Co. has today announced a new addition to its flash drive offering, the PicoDrive Secure family of drives with hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption. These drives measure 55 (W) x 23.5 (D) x 8.5 (H) mm, weight just 11 grams, have a USB 2.0 interface, and a capless design (retractable USB connector), and offer protection against autorun malware, and a read-only mode to prevent accidental data loss.

The PicoDrive Secure line will debut in mid-February with 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB models priced at about $85, $157, $226 and $298, respectively.

Genius, a leading maker of computer peripherals, today announces DeathTaker, a professional laser gaming mouse designed for MMO and RTS gamers. The DeathTaker is the debut product of the GX Gaming Series which will be unveiling throughout the coming months.

With nine buttons DeathTaker gives gamers the ability to customize their gaming experience. Genius' included "Scorpion" UI lets gamers manage macros for up to 55 keys in 5 profiles, as well as a selection of up to 16 million backlight colors. The on-board memory design prevents game block and stores preferred macro settings for ready-to-play action on any computer.

With the ever-shrinking laptops of today, space constrains mean that each component on the logic board has lesser board space, as is the case with audio. The cylindrical capacitors and FETs on PC motherboards are reduced to weaker surface-mount ones to conserve board space, on laptop logic boards. Audio quality takes a beating. Hence there's a sizable market for USB audio devices that provide better audio for laptops. Enermax' entry into it is the DreamBass AP001, a 2-channel USB audio device. It is designed to look like a vacuum tube that gives it a classy analog amp look.

In reality, it is completely digital. At the heart of it is a VIA VT1620A USB 2.0 2-channel HD audio CODEC, which provides stereo output with 24-bit resolution and 96 kHz sample-rate. It has a signal-noise ratio of 80~90 dBA, which is not much of a departure from most laptops' HDA CODECs, if it isn't for the MOSFET-based amplifier circuit packed into the DreamBass AP001, that's capable of 80Hz/+6dB Bass. The device features a 3.5 mm stereo jack and mic input. Enermax also has a variant called the AP001E, which includes earphones that have 10 mm drivers, 95 dBA SNR, and 32 ohm impedance. The DreamBass AP001 is priced at 3,280 JPY (US $43); the AP001E goes for 3,980 ($52.2). It could be a good investment if you think your laptop's audio sounds like a greeting card.

We have previously reported on the super cheap ARM-based Raspberry Pi hobby computer that's been under development from the Raspberry Pi foundation. However, it's now going into production and is generating a lot of interest, so gamesindustry.biz interviewed its founder, Eben Upton, about it (free registration required).

The computer's primary purpose is as a computer science teaching aid in schools and colleges and also for home brew use by enthusiasts who want to tinker with it and make specialized solutions out of it. However, it seems that enthusiasts will have a nice surprise in that the onboard GPU is surprisingly good. The actual ARM implementation is a Broadcom BCM2835 System on Chip (SoC) containing an ARM 11 CPU and a custom graphics core, which has been designed by the Raspberry Pi team, including Upton. In the interview, Upton claimed that it can double iPhone 4S performance and handily beats NVIDIA's Tegra solution, because of its tile mode architecture.

Charging large numbers of iPads, iPhones and iPods is a challenge for many schools, businesses and other organizations. A new 16-port professional USB charging station now makes this possible.

Compact, light and easy to use, the Power Pad 16 (DS-IP-PP16) provides the optimum power required for charging iPads and other iDevices. It can be used to replace bulky power strips and the AC adapter bricks of the standard chargers.

PNY Technologies, Inc. ("PNY") is considered a leading designer, manufacturer and a worldwide leader in DRAM Memory and Flash Memory products, has announced the release of their elegant and stunning range of Clip Attaché USB flash drives. The Clip Attaché serves a dual purpose of an efficient storage device as well as a vanity feature to suit the pace and the trend of the metropolis lifestyle.

PNY Clip Attaché is encased in a colorful metallic case illustrated with 4 different floral designs (plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum) inspired by traditional Seiko art and is an effortless blend of modern technology and classic culture. Available in four different colors to choose from it provides a personalized selection of storage accessories.

This is not even stuff the creative directors of the 007 franchise could have come up with. Lifestyle retail brand Brookstone listed a new pair of polished-silver cufflinks that open up to reveal a USB connector. When plugged into USB (at least as a power source), the cufflink functions as a WiFi hotspot, letting you access its 2 GB flash storage. When plugged to a PC, the cufflink connects to it as both a mass-storage device and a networking device, letting you set up a hotspot. The device measures 75" L x .75" W x .25" H each, and comes in sets of two, priced at US $249.99.