INTRODUCTION

   Well it's finally official, Chris Roberts and his team managed to gather over $6.000.000 for his next state of the art space-simulator called Squadron 42/Star Citizen via crowd-funding so all that's left is to see which of our favorite WC (Wing Commander) actor or actors will come back to give their voice to the game (Mark Hamill, Malcolm MacDowell or Tom Wilson? Hopefully all three) and to wait patiently for a full year until the launch of the first Alpha test version (easier said than done). In any case until that day comes we will follow our regular routine (because let's face it, when that day comes we may see several update blackouts around here) and so today we are taking an in-depth look at the latest (and quite small) Firma F80 32GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive by Silicon Power.

   Silicon Power Computer & Communications Inc., founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic specialists in International Business, Global Marketing, and Technical Engineering of flash data storage industry. Well dedicated in brand image and product quality, Silicon Power has been recognized and well accepted by millions of end-users in more than 100 countries, becomes the world's leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, DRAM modules, solid state disks, and portable hard drives in less than a decade. Headquartered in Taipei, we continuously established various branches throughout the world including Netherlands, Japan, Russia, Mainland China and other emerging market to reach the worldwide market. Silicon Power's overall performance has gradually drawn great attention worldwide. In 2006, we received Taiwan Rising Star Award for our foreign business achievement. In 2008, we won 17th National Outstanding Small & Medium Enterprise Award for our outstanding progress. Moreover, with superior quality and innovative design, our products stood out in several competitions and awarded Taiwan Excellence and COMPUTEX Design & Innovation Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Winning trust of global consumers, Silicon Power holds a record of successive double-digit revenue growth for last seven years. According to the Common Wealth Magazine's 2010 Survey of Taiwan Top 1000 Manufacturers, our 2009 revenue growth rate was ranked No.11 among Taiwan's top 1000 manufacturers, and even ranked No.1 in semiconductor industry. Positioned as Passionate, Creative and Hungry for Success, Silicon Power introduces products for users who are seeking individualized, unique and personal digital storage devices. With the mission of creating unprecedented experience for users, Silicon Power will endeavor to deliver a full range of high quality products that have innovative designs, distinctly unique features and comprehensive after sales services to create and fulfill your personal memory.

   We all know that the market is filled with countless USB and eSATA flash drives from low to ultra-high end models, unfortunately however there aren't many of those out there allowing you to easily carry them with your keychain. Sure most come with an small lanyard that makes it easy for you to attach them with your keys but due to both their size and weight that's not usually something many do (especially with their car keys). Now we have seen some very small USB flash drives in the past from Super Talent, Verbatim and others but almost every single one is not what I’d call durable and so I’d strongly advice against having any of those with your keys at all times. Kingston and LaCie were the first (to my knowledge) two manufacturers to introduce USB flash drives made by durable metal and with sizes no larger than those of a small key. Naturally it was only a matter of time before others jumped onto the wagon and Silicon Power just did with the Firma F80 32GB USB flash drive. However such drives (to date) have a single drawback and that's their USB 2.0 connectivity and although i was hoping that the F80 was going to be the first USB 3.0 compatible one that isn't the case.