All Aboard! Emtec’s One-Inch DUO USB-C Flash Drive Connects To All USB Ports

With Apple bringing the USB-C port so definitively into the light back on March 9, there could be no doubt that it would only be a matter of time — and not a lot of time at that — before the inevitable onslaught of USB-C compatible peripherals and accessories. In fact, the very next day in these very pages HotHardware reported on LaCie's new "Porsche Design" portable hard drive, designed for use with systems sporting the new USB-C port...and the race was on! 

Most computer users remain saddled with legacy non-reversible USB ports. In deference to this reality but determined to keep an eye towards the future too, Emtec is introducing their DUO USB-C flash drive, which comes equipped with connectors for both USB-C and full-size USB (2.0 and 3.0). As such, the DUO USB-C defines backwards compatibility in the USB flash drive space, ready for use with all of the soon-to-be-perceived-obsolete computer systems currently sitting on desks and laps as well as with such spanking-new devices as the new MacBook (one USB-C port) and Google's just-announced second-generation Chromebook Pixel (two USB-C ports).

Though ripe with "cool", the Emtec DUO USB-C's effort to ride the front of the technology innovation wave is unfortunately limited to its interface (make that 'interfaces'). Performance specs out at 110MB/s read and 20MB/s write (slower than USB 2.0!), and as of now the DUO USB-C is set to release at 16GB and 32GB capacities only. Of course, much can change before the DUO USB-C's slated second quarter release, so perhaps we will see 64GB and 128GB SKUs added to the mix. 

Pricing for the DUO USB-C has yet to be announced, and if Emtec can find the sweet spot for their DUO USB-C skeleton-key drive the spec limitations may be acceptable caveats for target users looking for full USB tech compatibility on a tiny scale.