Kingston unveils 256GB USB Flash drive

Huge capacity, but with a price tag to match.

Memory maker Kingston Technology has launched the world's first 256GB USB Flash drive.

The DataTraveler 300 packs the enormous capacity into a cap-less design with a retractable USB port, promising read and write data speeds of 20MB/s and 10MB/s respectively.

"The DataTraveler 300 will enable users to carry huge volumes of data with them everywhere they go, up to 365 CDs for example. That's one album for every day of the year, and it demonstrates how far Flash technology has developed," said Kirsty Miller, product marketing manager for consumer at Kingston Technology Europe.

"Business users and consumers can also safeguard their data by initialising the Password Traveler software, which will allow them to password-protect their data in a privacy zone without the need for administrator rights."

The portable storage device also features password protection, but the Password Traveler security software is currently supported only by Windows. Similarly, users who run Vista can make use of the ReadyBoost feature to speed up performance as a drive for disk cache.

Kingston supplies the DataTraveler 300 to order for an eye-watering $1299 including a five-year warranty.