We're all used to thumb drives [3] by now--they're so convenient and have such capacity they've killed the recordable CD and DVD and keep turning up in embarrassing government data loss [4] news items. But if you're a fanatical thumb drive enthusiast you're probably going to need to sit down for this info: At the CES show Kingston revealed [5] its DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 unit with one terrabyte of capacity.

The tiny 2.8-inch by 1-inch thumbdrive runs at USB 3.0 speeds and comes in 512 GB and 1 TB sizes--capacities you'd more normally associate with a large mains-powered desktop external hard drive. The price is as yet undisclosed, though you can probably expect it to be astronomical. The innovation does prove one thing, though: The end of the spinning storage disk [6] really is approaching.

Is a 1TB thumbdrive something you'd use? Or is it asking for all sorts of terrible data-leaking accidents?

[Image: Flickr user william_christiansen [7]]