Interview with Head of Nexcopy on USB Duplicators

Recently, Everything USB had a chance to sit down with Greg Morris, President & CEO of Nexcopy to chat about their latest flash memory duplicators. Nexcopy is readying their new 40- and 60-port USB duplicators, and we thought it a good idea to get some additional information. In the Skype interview, Greg discussed with us the scalability and strength of their thumbdrive duplicators, and he also offered insights into this mass niche market. Full transcript after the jump.

EverythingUSB: So what's new with Nexcopy?

Nexcopy: We are launching 40 and 60 port USB duplicators this month. We have crushed the drive letter barrier of Windows to offer these larger systems. It's exciting because users may configure the system as a large 40 or 60 port USB duplicator or smaller 20 port USB duplicators - it's a modular design.

EverythingUSB: Interesting, how did you get past the drive letter issue?

Nexcopy: Well now...we can't give away all our secrets!

EverythingUSB: Ha! Okay. What is the target market for this type of product?

Nexcopy: The new system allows Nexcopy to target three main category of customer. 1) The promotional industry where data loading USB sticks are done for give-away drives at trade shows, seminars etc. 2) The corporate environment where IT professionals are managing large numbers of flash drives for their sales, marketing or support teams and 3) The service bureau industry who require flexible configurations for large and small duplication jobs.

EverythingUSB: We've seen standalone systems, what are the strengths of a PC based system?

Nexcopy: Well, each have their advantages. A high level overview would be standalone systems are good for single button copy of USB sticks, where as a PC based systems is better suited for those who require more performance feedback of the duplication process and need flash drive management.

EverythingUSB: What do you mean "flash drive management?"

Nexcopy: A PC based system has a software interface so the user has better visibilities. In addition, a PC based system gives the user more tools to perform more difficult duplication jobs. Standalone systems are bulk file copy systems without any additional functionality, and your feedback is through a 24 character LCD display.

EverythingUSB: What are some examples of these "tools"?

Nexcopy: Well for example, the Nexcopy software allows you to Copy Add content to a flash drive. Meaning you can simply add data to a USB stick without formatting or deleting what's already on there. We also have several new software features that are very powerful. Nexcopy now has a Data Collection feature. This software feature was created for schools and teachers. It allows a teacher to collect data off a group of student's USB sticks and put them in a specific folder - in bulk. Another powerful tool Nexcopy offers is the ability to toggle On/Off Read Only partitions or other partitions on a USB device. This allows the user to copy data to a specific partition on a USB device. Some great applications for this include copying to USB hard drives, or duplication of U3 USB sticks which have the CDROM partition. Finally we have the ability to data stream unique content to a set of USB sticks.

EverythingUSB: So you can data stream different information to all the drives - who needs that?

Nexcopy: Yes. The Nexcopy software has an API so IT managers can integrate the USB duplicator into their back-end solutions. Many times a client will require unique serial numbers or unique data loaded to each device and the Nexcopy API allows for an easy way to integrate that requirement.

EverythingUSB: So what can you tell us about USB drives?

Nexcopy: LOL. I can definitely say; not all USB drives are created equal. We see a great number of devices that are B stock flash memory and even recycled memory. What consumers don't understand is that memory is now made in 2GB wafers. So any flash drive smaller than 2GBs is a down sized device...or basically B stock flash memory. When you see flash drives that are 256MB or 512MB, the flash has been down sized so dramatically, it's a very unstable device. But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

EverythingUSB: Thank you Mr. Morris for spending time with us and good luck with the new series of USB duplicators.