Porsche Panamera owners rewarded with USB drive shaped like... Panamera

If you're a hardcore Porschephile, then you're going to love this post, because it's about Porsche minutiae that no one else really cares about.

Turns out that if you bought a Panamera, you may have gotten an extra gift from Porsche (besides the car). A tipster sent in pics of a package he received that included a knick knack looking just like his Panamera key fob, which itself is shaped like a Panamera. Lo and behold, the doo-dad was not an extra key fob (that would've been nice) but a USB flash drive. We've got no info on what the drive's capacity is or if the thingamajiggy does anything else, but we suspect it's just a marketing gimmick that cost Porsche little in the grand scheme of things.

It got us thinking, though. Since so many keys today are actually keyless, wouldn't it be a great idea for a keyless key fob to actually be a USB flash drive? Not only could you store tunes on it, but such a device could interface with your car's electronics, carry updated maps for your nav system and keep a record of any warning codes. Sure, any old USB flash drive could potentially do these things, but combining one with the key you carry around at all times just makes good sense. We've seen this done before in concept cars, but for some reason the USB key hasn't crossed over into reality yet. Well, our idea is free of charge for automakers to use, so make it happen. The next one, however, will cost ya. Thanks for the tip, Brad!