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Archive for the ‘USB2U News’ Category

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USB Memory Stick Sales Support Housing Market Recovery

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

The latest survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows average house sales are now at a three year high – still way off where they were in the boom days but at least things seem to be heading in the right direction at last!

The RICS survey was supported yesterday by news from the Halifax who reported a 1.1% increase in house price in the UK during April. Clearly Spring has arrived and the house selling and buying season is underway.

If sales of USB memory sticks to some of the UK’s leading house builders and estate agents are anything to go by then they certainly seem to think that the housing market has turned a corner. During the height of the property boom we supplied thousands of promotional USB sticks to major house builders many of whom were handing them out like sweets on the streets around their developments. But, this all came to an abrupt halt as the economy and housing market went into free fall.

But, in the last couple of weeks we’ve started to take orders from National and local house building firms all of whom are looking to use USB memory sticks to hand out to prospective customers. Given the quantities they are being bought in they are clearly expecting a lot of interest or they’re planning to use the sticks to drum up the interest.

All of the USB sticks are being pre-loaded with details of each development, floor plans, house designs, estate layouts, prices and even video “walk-throughs” of each house – effectively a virtual showroom on a USB stick!

We’re not suggesting USB drives are a panacea for all of the UK housing woes but we do think the renewed interest in them by house builders is a clear sign that they think the market is finally on the up!

If you’re in an industry that needs a shot in the arm then perhaps you might want to consider buying some promotional USB sticks. After the blip earlier this year pricing finally seems to have settled down again and continues to fall week after week. We’re not quite back at the pre-Chinese New Year levels again but we’re not far off.

 

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USB Memory Stick Sales Support Housing Market Recovery

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Best Way to Send Data for USB Sticks to USB2U

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

We offer free data loading of 200MB onto all USB memory sticks we supply* so understandably a lot of customers take advantage of this offer – after all they’d be daft not to!

One of the most expensive elements of any USB memory stick is the flash memory and typical promotional USB drives have around 2GB to 4GB memory which gives plenty of scope to large some pretty hefty data files, videos, sales brochures, conference notes, press releases etc. to be pre-loaded onto them before they are handed out.

Loading data onto USB sticks yourself has got to be one of the most mind numbing, tedious and soul destroying jobs there is! Even before you start you need to get your data structured and ready on your PC by creating a “master copy”, then comes the fun task (not) of removing  the USB sticks from their packaging, remove the caps and then inserting them one at a time and copying over the files. At the end of each copy you’ll have to click to “safely remove” the USB stick before you can repeat the process over and over again – data-loading sticks this way can easily burn through hours and hours of time.

Much easier to send the files to us and let us load them using our professional data-loading machines – we can load up to 50 USB sticks at a time.

But, one of the inevitable challenges faced by companies who buy USB sticks from us (particularly those that buy them and need them printed or engraved and data-loaded within a day or two) is how they get the data to us. Our email system, in common with most email systems, won’t accept files much over 20MB so email is not always an option. Even when it looks as though an email has been sent “OK” it can often get blocked (at either end) by overly aggressive anti-virus and filters that use on most corporate email systems.

The safest and easiest way to send the data is to either load a copy onto a USB stick or CD and post it to us or even better (and easier still) is to use a file transfer service like Dropbox, yousendit or even SKYPE. You can open accounts with any of these companies for free and you can typically send many hundreds of megabytes of data without incurring any charges – they’re easy to use and you get confirmation when the data files have been delivered.

If you’re not sure how to set up an account just speak to your account manager and they’ll talk you through the options and guide you through the process.

However you get the data to us please do take advantage of the free data loading offer!

USB Data Transfer Options

USB Data Transfer Options

*free uploads does not apply to our SuperExpress and Express Services where charges may apply.

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Best Way to Send Data for USB Sticks to USB2U

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Even in Death You Can’t Escape USB Memory Sticks

Monday, April 29th, 2013

Technology has a habit of permeating every facet of our daily lives and USB memory sticks are proving they are no exception to the rule. Whether they’re used to celebrate a child’s birth, to record childhood events, to store precious wedding photographs or to record the mundanities of everyday life there is no doubting the impact they have made since their introduction some 10 years ago.

Millions of USB sticks are bought in the UK every year and millions more are given away as promotional products to support product launches, as competition prizes and to hand out at conferences and university open days! Wherever there is a need to store and transport data, to hand out data or to raise brand awareness USB sticks are being used.

Today even in death USB sticks can’t be avoided – in the last couple of months we have supplied printed USB memory sticks to Funeral Directors, Will writing companies and to family members of the deceased.

Funeral Directors and Will writing companies are using them just like any other company – they’re printing their brand and logo on the USB sticks, pre-loading them with information about their services, links to their websites, testimonials from customers etc. and then they are handing them out to prospective clients. Apart from the subject area there is nothing unusual in how these particular USB sticks are being used.

But the USB sticks being supplied to relatives of the deceased are interesting because these are typically printed with a photo that celebrates the life of the person that has died. The memory on the stick is then loaded with what amounts to a “scrapbook” of their life; photos, video clips, music they loved, tributes from friends and family and links to websites that they have created: Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr etc.

The USB sticks are then either handed out on the day of the funeral or sent out to friends and family to help them celebrate the life of the loved one that has died. Whilst they might not be for everyone there is no doubt that done well they are a loving tribute to person that has died and they help the person putting them together to heal from their loss.

With the seemingly relentless march of technology into every aspect of our lives we are all going to have to think about how our own personal “digital footprints” are managed and remembered.

 

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Even in Death You Can’t Escape USB Memory Sticks

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Posted in Printed USB Memory Sticks, Promotional USB Sticks, USB Memory Stick, USB Memory Sticks, USB2U News | Comments Off

USB2U – English and Proud of it

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Why is it as we write this that we have a slight tinge of unease? Why are we so nervous of outwardly expressing our pride at being English – it’s certainly not a problem shared by our friends in Scotland, Ireland or Wales!

Do we have some innate fear upsetting our neighbours within the wider British Isles? Have we lost our sense of identity or are we just concerned about being labelled jingoistic and associated with extremes groups like the National Front and the EDL?

It’s time to reclaim St George’s Day and celebrate it, to celebrate England and all that’s good about this fantastic multi-cultural country that we live in – it’s even time that we were given a day’s public holiday to celebrate it properly! (a recent YouGov poll conducted for the IPPR thinktank found that 73% of the public want St George’s Day to be a public holiday)

Even David Cameron has gotten on the bandwagon by today saying: “I send my best wishes to everyone celebrating St George’s Day today,” Cameron said. “I think it’s great that in recent years it has become more and more popular to mark St George’s Day.”

“I’m very proud to be English and I think it is important that people in England can celebrate St George’s Day, just as other nations of the United Kingdom celebrate their patron saint’s days.”

At USB2U we’re incredibly proud to be English (and British) and we wish all of our customers (English or not) a Happy St George’s Day!

If you want any USB sticks with the St George’s Flag on or anything else for that matter just give us a call or pop onto our website and request a quote.

USB2U - St George's Day

USB2U - St George's Day

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USB2U – English and Proud of it

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USB Wedding Favours – Do You Favour?

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

Mention Wedding Favours and it’s one of those subjects that seems to divide the nation and generate plenty of heated debate on wedding forums and comments on wedding photographers blog sites.

For some they’re an essential part of any wedding, they’re an expression of thanks to the guests for attending the wedding and they’re a fun way of giving something back to those that have come together to make the day special. For others at a time when the economy is still in trouble they are just an extra expense that they can’t afford but feel obliged to offer anyway. Aren’t they just another thing that contributes to the on-going commercialisation weddings?

USB Wedding Favours

USB Wedding Favours

If you’ve got a wedding coming up and you’re in the camp that is very much pro-wedding favours then you’ve no doubt already done your research and have found that favours tend to fall into two distinct camps; the edible “foodie favour” or the “keepsake favour”.  The food-related options tend to be the old favourites like cookies, sweets, chocolates, jams, macaroons and teas but anything goes albeit presentation is everything!

Keepsake wedding favours include options like; CD’s or DVD’s with a handpicked playlist, jewellery, candles, pens and pencils and even lottery tickets in personalised lottery ticket holders (printed or engraved).

A relatively new idea is the USB memory stick favour. These are USB sticks that are printed or engraved (typically with details of the wedding, the names of the bride and groom, the wedding date etc.) and the USB sticks are then pre-loaded with details of the wedding, the engagement, photos of the happy couple (the more embarrassing the better), photos from the hen and stag nights and if you’re able to photo from the wedding day itself!

USB Memory Sticks Wedding Favours

USB Memory Sticks Wedding Favours

A few year ago fully personalised USB memory sticks would have been too expensive for most people but lately prices have been falling and memory sizes have been increasing (as things tend to do in the computer world). Today you can order as few of 25 printed or engraved USB wedding favours for only a couple of pounds each. The range of styles and designs available is huge and you can choose from some really good looking wood, metal, leather or plastic styles some of which can be supplied (personalised) in only 24hrs – handy if it’s a “shotgun wedding”!!

The really nice things about these using USB sticks as wedding favours (aside from the fact that you can easily load them with lots of personal data) is that they come in a wide range of great looking gift boxes that can also be individually personalised – these can then be used as name “cards” on the tables to add that extra special flourish!

 

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USB Memory Stick Price Could Stay High For a While – Here’s why

Thursday, March 21st, 2013

It’s all the fault of Samsung. OK, maybe that’s an over simplification and it’s perhaps unfair to point the finger of blame solely at Samsung but they are a major contributor to the current turmoil in the USB memory stick market.

The underlying issue is that Samsung is the leading supplying of flash memory with a market share of around 40%. Its flash memory chips are used in a wide range of consumer products including their own popular smartphones but products like smartphones require more sophisticated and higher capacity flash memory chips.

The new Samsung phone, the Galaxy S IV, is expected to be the “hot phone” of 2013 with demand for it expected to outstrip Apple’s iPhone. Consequently Samsung are believed to have shifted their resources from the manufacture of low end flash (the type used in USB sticks) to the production of higher capacity NAND flash (the type used in mobile phones).

Unfortunately the void in the low end flash memory market left by Samsung has not been filled by other flash manufacturers because they have also moved much of their production to the more profitable high capacity products. Smartphone seems to be where the money is and understandably the factories that produce flash are following the money.

The consequence of all of this is that we are facing a critical shortage in the supply of low end flash memory (the type used for promotional USB memory sticks) and there is no apparent end in sight. To compound matters even further it’s rumoured that production of all sub 4GB flash is likely to stop in the next couple of months.

In contrast to this the demand for cheap, low end, low capacity promotional flash drives continues unabated so we have the classic and uncomfortable situation of too many customers chasing too little stock – cue price increases!

In the UK the problems have been exacerbated by the weakness of the pound (GBP £) against the dollar (USD $). All flash memory is traded in dollars so ignoring the other supply/demand issues in the market at the moment the circa 9% fall in the pound against the dollar over the last few weeks has already had its own impact on prices.

Against the backdrop it’s perhaps no surprise that suppliers of promotional USB memory sticks are now reluctant to offer prices that are valid for longer than 1 or 2 days. It’s a challenging time for everyone in the market and it doesn’t look as though things are going to settle down anytime soon.

If you are looking to buy USB sticks now then take a deep breath and expect to pay more than you paid on your last order – waiting for the market to “recover” could be a long wait.

Promotional USB Memory Stick Prices

Promotional USB Memory Stick Prices

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USB Memory Stick Price Could Stay High For a While – Here’s why

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Engraved USB Boxes – So Detailed Some People Think They’re Printed

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

One of the big success stories during the last 12 months at USB2U has been our customised black gift boxes. It’s pretty clear that for some sectors and in particular professional photographers and wedding photographers that a top quality gift box for their USB sticks is a must.

Of course there are lots of options to choose from but what makes the black gift box unique amongst the range of boxes currently on offer from USB2U is that it can be engraved rather than printed. In fact engraving is the best option for this box because it gives a consistent, high quality finish that simply can’t be matched by silk screen or digital printing. It helps that we use the latest state of the art laser engravers because these can achieve a level of detail that is difficult to achieve with even the best printers.

Interestingly some of the feedback we’ve had from our customers on these black engraved boxes is that the quality is so good they “can’t believe the boxes have been engraved” because the finish is more akin to a very high quality print. But, engraved (or laser etched to be precise) is what they are and as you can see from the images shown here the results are fantastic.

Our black gift boxes are manufactured from re-cycled cardboard and each one is supplied with a custom black foam insert that is specifically tailored for the model of USB stick that they are going to be used with. Being manufactured from recycled cardboard they overcome most concerns people have about using unnecessary packaging or offending customers and clients who might have a strong “anti-packaging” agenda.

Engraved Black USB Gift Boxes

Engraved Black USB Gift Boxes

A good, strong image or design works best on these black boxes and arguably the more complex the better albeit you will need to supply your artwork in a high quality vector format for us to work with. The final finish on the boxes is achieved by “etching” off a very thin layer of the black paper coating on the box and revealing the lighter colour of the cardboard below. Don’t think engraved as in a deep gouge that you see on trophies or wood engravings think more about a very fine etching.

We recommend engraving on these boxes rather than printing simply because the surface of these boxes when examined under a magnifying glass is not perfectly flat so any print can appear slight dappled and uneven whereas etching cuts through the surface leaving a precise and high quality image.

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Engraved USB Boxes – So Detailed Some People Think They’re Printed

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USB Cards – and we’re not talking just USB Credit Cards.

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

USB Cards come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes these days and by size we don’t mean memory size but the physical size of the cards.

The advent of the smaller USB “chip on board” technology that integrates the USB connector, the flash memory and the controller chips into an incredibly small form factor has enabled USB memory stick designers to come up with a much wider range of product options.

One of the first new products to be released using this “chip on board” solution was a card in the same shape/dimensions as a standard credit card. Various ways to integrate the USB connector into the card which preserved the card shape whilst allowing USB element to be inserted into a USB port were experimented with but the most popular proving to be a “flip out” or “fully removable” option (see the images below).

USB Credit Card Variants

USB Credit Card Variants

The credit card shaped USB memory sticks have become incredibly popular because they offer a large flat print area (on both sides of the card) to work with and because they fit neatly into a bag or wallet! At only 2mm thick they’re only fractionally thicker than a conventional credit card and despite being wafer thin they come in memory sizes all the way up to 16GB.

The concept of a “USB card” has now been extended to other shapes including a circular “badge shaped USB card” and a smaller, more rectangular version of the credit card. Again both of these give plenty of space to support the printing of high quality logos or designs but they’re also small enough to be worn as a “button badge” or a conventional name badge.

USB Badges

USB Badges

All of these “card” options are held in stock in the UK by USB2U and can therefore be supplied (printed and data-loaded) in as little as 24hrs. All we need from you is your artwork, your data and an address to send your order to.

If you do opt for the larger USB Credit Card option then have a look at our gift boxes and leather wallets. Both of these can be printed or supplied blank – the gift box comes with custom cut foam for the card to fit snuggly into.

If you’re interested then please give our team a call on our Freephone number or fill in the quote form on our web site.

 

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USB Cards – and we’re not talking just USB Credit Cards.

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Printed Small Tin Gift Boxes for USB Memory Sticks – Wow!

Friday, March 15th, 2013

People often say that the best things come in little packages and our latest small tin gift boxes are no exception to this rule. It can be a challenge trying to find a decent looking gift box to hand out your promotional USB memory sticks in – some are simply too big and bulky, others too flimsy and cheap looking and some are simply too expensive for what after all is often a freebie giveaway.

These new small tin boxes with a see through window in the lid score on all levels – they look great, they feel like an expensive high quality gift box, they can be printed with a logo (although with the see through window this is not always necessary), they’re compact and they come with a custom foam inlay to hold the USB stick in place. Despite this they’re relatively inexpensive.

Small Gift Tins for USB Memory Sticks

Small Gift Tins for USB Memory Sticks

What’s more these small tin gift boxes are a stock item with tens of thousands available so next day delivery (even printed) is rarely an issue.

When they are printed (and they can be printed top and bottom) they really come to life. Even though we are printing directly onto the tin the print process does not dull the colours as the examples here show.

Printed and engraved USB memory sticks have long been one of the most popular promotional products and have all but replaced CD’s and DVD’s as the preferred option when companies (and schools and universities) want to distribute lots of information. Part of the reasoning for buying and then “giving away” USB sticks in volume is that people will remember the company/brand associated with the USB stick, they’ll hopefully use them on an on-going basis which in turn will lead to increased brand exposure and awareness and ultimately they’ll buy into the product/service of the company giving the USB sticks away.

Tin boxes for USB Sticks

Tin boxes for USB Sticks

This being the case it’s important to make as big an impact as possible with the USB sticks when they are handed out – make the branding on them strong, bright and clear. Get noticed and make an impact because this will help with brand recall. Putting your USB sticks in a gift box or gift tin will help raise their perceived value and again just helps lift the bar in terms of impact.

As well as these small window tin boxes we also carry small tin boxes without a “window” and options with a “hinged lid”

 

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Printed Small Tin Gift Boxes for USB Memory Sticks – Wow!

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USB Web Keys – An Interesting Alternative in these Challenging Times

Friday, March 15th, 2013

Anyone who’s been in the market for promotional USB flash drives over the last couple of weeks will be all too aware of the current turmoil in the market. In short, prices have rocketed by up to 60% over the past few weeks. The reason is too much demand chasing too little stock. It’s a situation exacerbated by some flash memory manufacturers deciding to cease production of TLC flash that is commonly used in the production of promotional USB sticks.

For UK suppliers the problem has been compounded by sterling’s 8%+ fall against the US dollar – a situation which today Sir Mervyn King (the governor of the Bank of England) today said had gone far enough. He told ITV News “We are moving to a properly valued exchange rate. I think we’re probably there”.

Because flash memory is a commodity that is traded in US dollars any weakness in sterling has a direct correlation to the price paid so we now have the “double whammy” effect of price increase at the factory gate fuelled by supply and demand which are then compounded by a weakened pound.

In such chaotic circumstances a USB web key might be an interesting alternative. USB Web Keys look like any standard USB memory stick; they have a standard USB connector, they come in a range of different shapes and styles, they can be personalised (engraved or printed) just like a USB stick BUT they don’t have any internal memory.

They’re called a “key” because when pushed into a USB port on a PC or Mac they automatically “open” the default web browser and load the web page that has been pre-loaded onto the web key. Any web page can be pre-set before the USB keys are distributed. Typical uses are to open up a company’s website homepage, a competition page, a Facebook page or other Social Network site. In times when everyone seems to be encouraging customers (and prospective customers) to “Like” their pages or to actively participate and endorse their on-line presence getting people to your websites is of critical importance.

USB web key are significantly cheaper than a standard USB memory stick because they have no internal flash memory. Equally the pricing tends to be more stable again because there is no exposure to the volatility of the flash memory commodity market.

So, if you are looking for a USB promotional giveaway that will help to drive and develop your brand and will encourage customers to visit your website(s) then USB keys might be a better, more cost effective solution for you. Put some web tracking solution on the landing page the web key points to and it’s pretty easy to calculate the effectiveness of them.

Available now from USB2U.

USB Web Key

USB Web Key

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