If you're like the rest of us geeks at Gearlog, you probably have a collection of USB thumb drives lying in a drawer, on your keychain, or in a box with a bunch of other flash media like SD, CF or Memory Stick cards.  Memorex's TravelLink is a pocket-sized device that can transfer files and folders between digital memory cards and USB Mass storage devices (like hard drives and thumb drives).  The TravelSync is the TravelLink's little brother, and can only transfer data between USB Mass storage devices.  Both are powered by three AAA batteries, and both have B&W LCD screens to help you find and transfer files.

It was neat being able to transfer pictures from a SD card to a 512MB thumb drive using the TravelLink, which you could totally do in the field.  You could use the TravelLink to backup then delete the files off of your SD/CF/MS card then go shoot more pictures.  Both the TravelSync and TravelLink are also useful to transfer stuff between thumb drives on a keychain.  A couple glitchs I found: Both could not power up a notebook-class hard drive alone (you need external power for the drive), and both had some trouble with accessing large RAID 1TB USB drives.  TravelSync is $59.99 and TravelLink is $79.99

I've never been a geek for watches--that is, all of the watches I've owned never came with any cool features, like a compass, thermometer, or alarm. When I was younger, I had one of those finger watches with the fake diamonds that you wear like a ring. Then I had a Timex watch with the light feature (which I guess is as geeky as I could get it). Shortly after, I sported a silver and blue Guess watch. Then I went through a really bad Betty Boop stage, and bought a red Betty Boop watch. I got sick of that, so then my boyfriend opted to get me a simple, elegant-looking Armitron watch. Basically, I've always been used to a watch performing one simple function: telling the time.

Casio's new watches, the PathFinder PAG80-1V and the PAG80T-7V, make me feel like I've been "wasting time".

Available in silver with a titanium band or in black with a resin band, both Pathfinder Watches feature:

• Digital Compass
• Altimeter
• Barometer
• Thermometer
• 100 Meter Water Resistance
• Auto EL Backlight
• Alarm
• 1/100 Second Stopwatch
• Countdown Timer
• World Time shown in 29 time zones
     

The coolest feature, is that it runs on solar power, which is definitely helpful since I never found anyone who could open the back of my Guess watch to replace the battery. The black PAG80-1V is $250 (or $189 on Amazon) and the Silver PAG80T-7V sells for $300 (or $189.95 on Amazon).

[Reviewed at WristWatchReview]

If you edit digital images on your PC, you'll find that it's infinitely easier and more precise to use a pressure-sensitive pen tablet instead of a mouse. Wacom recently introduced its Graphire4 line of tablets, which added some nice features from their higher-end Intuos line such as shortcut keys. But the prior generation Graphire3s were no slouches, and stores seem to be still have some in stock. In fact, OnSale.com has a white or blue 6x8 Graphire3 (for Windows PCs and Macs) for only $53.49 after $40 in rebates. That's $100 cheaper than the same-sized Graphire4. The tablet comes with a very capable, if somewhat aging software bundle, including full versions of Photoshop Elements 2.0, Corel Painter Essentials 2.0 (a terrific tool for the budding artist); and nik software's Color Efex Pro photo filters.

OnSale also has the 4x5 Graphire3 for $38.02 after rebate, but for the few extra dollars, I'd definitely go with the larger unit.

Jeff Bezos sure is brave for his decision to rival Apple's line of iPods. Amazon will be entering the digital music business with its own MP3 players and music service. In fact, Bezos is chatting with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, and EMI Group PLC in hopes to launch the music service by this summer. The service would charge a flat monthly fee for unlimited music downloading. For any subscribers to the service, Amazon may give away a pre-loaded player for free, as long as the subscriber keeps the service for a year.

As far as an Amazon-branded MP3 player goes, the company has mentioned its likely partner will be Samsung Electronics.

Will Amazon deliver the goods? Well, I hope so, after reportedly hiring 3,000 people companywide for the project.

For more information on Amazon's plans, read the Wall Street Journal's article.

[Found via enGadget]