By | Chris Mellor 14th July 2010 11:38

LaCie touts tough truck-resistant flash drive for tough guys

Laughs in face of pressure, heat, water; has actual hairy chest

LaCie is bringing out a USB flash drive that can withstand being run over by a 10-ton truck.

The XtremKey comes inside a metal pipe, the walls of which are 2mm thick, made from a zinc, aluminium, magnesium and copper alloy called zamac. The pipe is sealed with an O-ring and wear-resistant screw threads.

LaCie claims it's tough enough to resist five metre drops, to function in a +200^oC to -50^oC temperature range, and be watertight up to 100m of depth.

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It is around three inches long, has a USB 2.0 interface, and comes with 8 to 64GB capacity. A distracting aspect of its planned appeal is that it wobbles on the desk - designed that way by LaCIe, which says it has a "playful personality".

The XtremKey will be available in August priced from $49.99 in LaCie's online store, for those who really feel their rough-and-tumble lifestyle requires it. ®