Paul said:
I have received USB items that look like that. Instead of
a regular USB connector, they make a dirt-cheap thin connector
to save money.
As for what is inside, there are a couple possibilities.
It could be Wifi or 4G. It could be a storage device.
If the casing is metallic, it's not Wifi. If the casing
is plastic, it still leaves the options open.
I tried an image search, but the search engine tried
to match the "color" of the image, rather than the "shape".
So no good search results.
If you're concerned about the quality of the USB connector,
turn off all power on the computer (unplug it, so not even
+5VSB is running). Plug in the USB device, being careful to
orient the thing right side up (if the connector has no
keying feature, you'll have to be careful). Only when
you're completely happy with the orientation, feel it
is securely installed, *then* turn on the power. If there
are issues with the quality of that connector, you don't
want to find out with the power flowing.
Paul
OK, I tried an image search on "USB tradeshow" (thinking it's a gift
item), and got a hit here.
http://www.usb2u.co.uk/articles/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/usb2u_flip_card2_07_L.jpg
It's a "USB business card".
http://www.usb2u.co.uk/articles/2012/01/usb-business-cards-–-delivered-in-24hrs/
"USB Business Cards – Delivered in 24hrs
Here’s an interesting idea – don’t just hand out an inert paper based business
card during your next meeting or at a trade show or event card but instead upgrade
your business cards and hand out the latest USB business cards!
USB business cards are the size of a credit or bank card, they are printed with
the same information as a usual business card (name, title, company details,
phone numbers, email address and your company logo etc.) but the one big difference
is that the card has up to 16GB of on-board memory. The on-board memory can start
at 1GB and options at 2GB, 4GB, 8Gb and 16GB are available.
Although they look like any standard business card, they work just like any regular
USB flash drive – just flip out the USB connector and connect it to any PC or Mac
and your business card can deliver thousands of documents, a full multi-media
experience or links to your website or any combination of these!
So, instead of your business card supplying basic contact information about
you and your business it can now offer the recipient pretty much anything you
want to offer them including company presentations, product brochures, price lists,
media files, (movies, audio file etc.) links to your web site, flickr pages and
Facebook pages etc.
They’re ideal for use at Trade Shows, Press Events, Seminars, and Company
Visits/Meetings. The fact that the recipient can make use of the memory (storage)
on your USB business card to save and store their own data means there is much
more likelihood they are going to remember you..."
Um, yeah, especially if the cheap flash fails on it
Paul
