Kingston introduces first 256GB thumbdrive to U.S.

The latest Press Release from Kingston is like this

Fountain Valley, CA — February 18, 2010 – Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of DataTraveler® 310, the first 256GB USB Flash drive in the United States. The DataTraveler 310 replaces the 256GB DataTraveler 300, released in July 2009 to the Asia/Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.

The DataTraveler 300 was 256GB thumb drive launched in July2009 in Asia Pacific Region which has now been upgraded to DataTraveler 310

Compatibility Table
Operating System	File Transfer	Password Traveler
Windows® 7	Yes	Yes
Windows Vista® (SP1, SP2)	Yes	Yes
Windows ReadyBoost™	No	No
Windows XP (SP1, SP2, SP3)	Yes	Yes
Windows 2000 (SP4)	Yes	Yes
Mac OS X v.10.3.x+	Yes	No
Linux v.2.6.x+	Yes	No

Storage Table*
Media Type	Qty	Estimated File Size
Photos	51000	Standard JPEG at 10MP
CDs	365	~700 MB each
DVDs	54	~4.7 GB each

DataTraveler 310 Product Features and Specifications:

Capacity**: 256 GB
Fast***: data transfer rates of 25MB/sec. read and 12MB/sec. write
Safeguarded: includes Password Traveler
Convenient: does not require Administrator rights to access the Privacy Zone
Dimensions: 2.90″ x 0.87″ x 0.63″ (73.70mm x 22.20mm x 16.10mm)
Operating Temperature: 32°F to 140° F (0°C to 60° C)
Storage Temperature: -4°C to 185°F (-20°C to 85° C)
Simple: just plug into a USB port
Practical: loop supports most key rings
Guaranteed: five-year warranty

The price for this device is quite high($1080 MSRP US Only) considering that it is sole device with 256GB available in USB Mode. Although there are options for you to choose between portable Hard disk which you can buy at least 10 in same price and the total capacity would be equivalent to 5TB.

I guess it would not be wise to purchase it right now but to wait at least a year before buying it.