LaCie’s iamaKey: An Almost Completely Sensible Pocket Storage Solution

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LaCie’s iamaKey: An Almost Completely Sensible Pocket Storage Solution

Some really smart ideas may seem entirely obvious after they’ve been done, but that doesn’t detract from the initial wisdom of the concept or the labor required to make it a reality. So when you see the pictures below of LaCie’s iamaKey, and think something like, “well, duh, those things were called USB keys,” sure, they were. You could even attach some of them to keychains or necklaces, toss them into gym key pockets, and so on. But LaCie’s gone and taken the next step: it has made a USB storage key that blends in with the rest of your keys and can be carried with them wherever they may go.

Actually, it has come up with three: iamaKey is the thin version shown here with an half-open USB connector, claimed to be highly scratch and water resistant. LaCie includes a clear and quite possibly losable protector for iamaKey’s pins, the only part of the design that we aren’t totally thrilled with; you pop it off, turn the key upside down, and plug it into any Mac or PC USB port for instant access to your files. Another version is itsaKey, a bigger key with a traditional USB connector, which means that it doesn’t require the clear protector, but also doesn’t look quite as key-like at the bottom. Both iamaKey and itsaKey come in 4GB or 8GB versions, with up to 30mb/sec read and 10mb/sec write rates. There’s also a third version, PassKey, which is nothing more than a microSD USB Card Reader, designed to turn a leftover or separately purchased microSD/SDHC card into a USB key. Thicker than the others, it includes a keyring. All were designed by 5.5 Designers, a French design firm that’s now officially on our radar.

What’s really interesting about these keys? They start at $10 in price for the PassKey, and will be available from LaCie’s web site on Monday. It’ll be interesting to see what you guys and gals think of this new storage idea, but we really like it, and the fact that LaCie keeps pushing the design envelope on drives. Updated: itsaKey goes for $15 or $24, and iamaKey for $18 or $28, depending on capacity.

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Comments

1

Bright idea. You plug the thing into y
our Latop, and now you have not only the
USB key but all your other keys and remotes
hanging down from your USB port. Duh?

Posted by Bill T. on March 6, 2009 at 10:56 PM (PST)

2

That would never be an issue in the places where we use our laptops, as the key and others would be no more than a half-inch (probably less) from the surface they’re resting on. But I suppose that there are many alternative situations one could imagine in which various devices don’t work for certain people given their individual usage models.

Posted by Jeremy Horwitz in East Amherst, NY, USA on March 7, 2009 at 4:54 AM (PST)

3

I can’t find any information on either of these. LaCie’s website only mentions the innovative CurrenKey, which it says is the third in the series.

Posted by Japester on March 8, 2009 at 4:11 PM (PST)

4

Not until tomorrow.
Only 8/16GB though…seems dated to me.
I’d have preferred 16/32.

Posted by slb on March 8, 2009 at 8:05 PM (PST)

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