Japanese company shows off $50 USB thumb drive with integrated digital camera

A Japanese company is showing off a new USB thumb drive that integrates a fully functioning camera. April Tokyo’s 3-in-1 USB memory & art camera delivers portable storage, still photography, and video camera functionality in a form not much bulkier than a mainstream storage-only device. If you are interested in this product, it is live on Japan’s largest crowdfunding portal, Makuake, for the next 24 hours (at the time of writing).

Before further analysis of ‘why?’ let us consider the specs of the 3-in-1 USB memory & art camera, and weigh its value. The device is a nice example of miniaturization and integration offering its 3-in-1-ness within 70mm x 40mm (including flash) x 20mm (including lens bump).

A removable cap on one end exposes a USB Type-A port. On the other end, there is a microSD card slot with 32GB included, and a loop for a lanyard, phone charm, keyring, or whatever you have. The product also includes a top-mounted shutter button, mode and menu buttons on the rear, a status light, and a 0.9-inch circular screen on the back for monitoring the camera view. That’s quite an ergonomic setup, considering the product size. There is also a built-in rechargeable battery of unknown rating or stamina.

The crowdfunding pages include some sample shots from the 3-in-1 USB memory & art camera. Quality will be limited by the tiny lens and cheap sensor equipped. It can record both stills and videos. Recorded JPEG images are a little higher resolution at 1280 x 960 pixels, with AVI videos captured at just 1280 x 720 pixels with 30fps, at best. However, it could be OK for ‘art.’ With artistic scene crafting in mind, the tiny device even includes some “unique filters,” but they turn out to be just a set of four color filters.

They say the best camera is the one that you have with you. April asserts that “USB memory is convenient for storing and carrying data at work, so you always want to carry one with you,” and thus it can fill this role. However, how many people who are inseparable from their flash drive don't also carry a smartphone?

Mediocre image quality could be forgiven if this gadget had a great price, because who doesn’t like X-in-1 devices - with the more X the merrier? The current early bird crowdfunder backing pledge required for a 3-in-1 USB memory & art camera is 7,216 Japanese Yen, which is roughly $50, so it could be an impulse buy for some, if not sat next to simple cheaper alternatives with the same capacity (like this $10.99 pack of three 32GB flash drives from PNY).

April Tokyo seems like a company determined to one day enjoy runaway success for its niche-targeted products. Looking through its existing product library, it is marketing things like: an AI smart pillow with height adjustments available in 1mm increments; a double-barreled hair dryer, and; an electric bed pad that emits “far infrared rays.”