Kingston Digital (http://www.kingston.com), the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, has released the DataTraveler 310, which it says is the first 256GB USB Flash drive in the United States. The company has also released a SDHC Class 10 card in 16GB and 32GB capacities.

The DataTraveler 310 replaces the 256GB DataTraveler 300, released in July 2009 to the Asia/Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. It features Password Traveler software, which allows the user to create and access a password-protected privacy zone. The secure area of the drive can account for up to 90% of the drive's capacity and does not require administrator rights.

The DataTraveler 310 has a protective cap that snaps onto the back for the drive for convenient storage when not in use. This drive is available only in 256GB and costs US$1,008 (nope, that's not a typo).

Meanwhile, Kingston's SDHC Class 10 cards meet the Class 10 data transfer rate specification but has an enhanced performance of up to 22MB/second read and 18MB/second write. The 16GB card has a suggested retail price of $129, while the 32GB card has a suggested retail price of $245.