Kingston's DataTraveler HyperX Predator flash drive uses USB 3.0 to provide high-speed access to 1TB worth of files, though at a high price. (Image courtesy of Kingston).

The big announcement from Kingston at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show was the unveiling of a 1TB USB 3.0 flash drive— the first of its kind — giving specialists a new tool to transfer large data files quickly, and pushing the envelope for flash storage.

Kingston hasn’t officially announced a price for the new yet, but with its already-released 512GB model retailing at $1750, the rumors are pointing toward something greater than $3000 when it releases later this financial quarter.

Such a high initial price could limit the new drive to a niche market for professionals like video editors or graphic artists who would actually use such large storage capacities, as a typical consumer can find portable hard drives with more capacity for cheaper.  With 240MB/s read and 160MB/s write speeds rivaling those of SSD storage, however, the drive could prove truly useful to those specialists.

Kingston technically wasn’t the first attempt at a 1TB thumb drive; Swiss Army Knife maker Victorinox announced a similar 1TB drive last year, but among a number of software problems the product has yet to materialize.

With flash memory getting more and more affordable, high-capacity storage devices like Kingston’s USB drive could be more common in the future.  Flash storage, known for its reliability, might also be attractive for consumers wary of security and dependability issues with cloud storage services.

Kingston’s USB drive is just one of many ways flash technology is expanding as well.  An article from Forbes detailed how other companies at CES ‘13 demonstrated their developments in Hybrid HDDs and smaller storage options for laptops.

From Forbes:

Flash memory is the backbone of modern mobile consumer devices and the higher performance and ruggedness of this storage technology make it attractive for computer application as well.  USB flash drives are increasing in capacity, although 1 TB will not be a normal capacity for many years.  Flash memory in notebook computers will become more common, either alone or perhaps more commonly, in combination with HDDs to increase overall system performance.

Regardless of how Kingston’s drive performs when it releases this year, the tech media’s fascination with the announcement is probably a good sign for portable storage makers.

You can reach Staff Reporter Shea Huffman here or follow him on Twitter.