It looks like Sony has figured out the best possible solution for smartphone and tablet users in desperate need of removable storage solutions in a world of increasingly sealed devices.
Android has supported USB OTG support for a little while now, but it’s a rarity that you’ll see much of anyone use it for something other than a controller for games. The real benefit to OTG support is removable storage access, specifically the ability to connect a thumb drive or SD card in order to either offload data or play videos from a mass storage device.
Because you need the extra cable to translate from Micro USB to your target accessory, there’s not a ton of people out there using the technology as often as they could. Sony has addressed this issue in a very clever way by making an incredibly tiny thumb drive that supports both Micro USB and standard USB together.
At first glance, Sony’s new thumb drive looks only barely larger than one of those Logitech unifying receivers. If you remove the cap from one side, you’ll see that it gets even smaller as it reveals a Micro USB port. This thumb drive is designed to act as a mass storage device for both kinds of USB ports, making it possible to offload photos and videos from your phone to your PC and back again with a tiny keychain accessory.
Currently the drives only work for devices running Android 4.0.3-4.3, but support for Android 4.4 is being addressed. The drives come in 8, 16, and 32GB variants, with pricing starting at $20 for the base model. Sony plans to sell these at their retail locations and on their website directly at first, and there’s a free file manager app in the Play Store that is specifically built to play nice with the drive if your phone has any problems.
It’s an all around win for removable storage fans, and as soon as 4.4 support is added it’s not hard to see these flying off the shelf.
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