UPDATE: Michael Leung's hardwood Flash drives are now available for purchase at GreenerGrass Design and Singulier.

I firmly believe that there is no reason for functional not to be beautiful. These USB Flash drives, encased in gorgeous hardwood and leather, make my point nicely -- they'd look great hanging from anyone's neck. They are a product of Michael Leung's creativity (take a look at his site for other cool techie designs).

The Hardwood USB is produced and distributed by LEXON. It will be launched at Maison et Objet, a trade show held in Paris from January 26th through the 30th. Leung says he's hopeful the drives will be picked up by retailers within a month or so. I can't imagine that they won't be! The price and storage capacities are yet to be confirmed.

[Thanks to PC Magazine graphic artist Aaron Able for pointing me to these.]