Flash drive capacities on the market increase continually. As of 2010, few manufacturers continue to produce models of 1 GB and smaller; and many have started to phase out 2 GB capacity flash memory. High speed has become a standard for modern flash drives and capacities of up to 256 GB have come on the market, as of 2009.
Lexar is attempting to introduce a USB FlashCard, which would be a compact USB flash drive intended to replace various kinds of flash memory cards. Pretec introduced a similar card, which also plugs into every USB port, but is just one quarter the thickness of the Lexar model. Until 2008, SanDisk manufactured a product called SD Plus, which was a SecureDigital card with a USB connector.
SanDisk has also introduced a new technology to allow controlled storage and usage of copyrighted materials on flash drives, primarily for use by students. This technology is termed FlashCP.
