Storage Devices

Panasonic announce 32GB SDHC memory card

Recently I’ve posted a number of news items about the ever increasing capacities of memory cards. Panasonic are the latest in line to announce high capacity cards, their’s is 32GB!!

Panasonic 32GB SDHC

Panasonic announce the development of the world’s first 32 Gigabyte (GB) SD High Capacity (SDHC)Memory Card with Class 6 speed specification, perfect for recording High Definition video. With the ability to store up to eight hours of High Definition video.

The newly developed card, featuring a massive 32GB of capacity is introduced in line with the huge growth in High Definition SD Camcorders and AVCHD High Definition video recording. With double the storage capacity of the current 16GB card, the 32GB card is able to record approximately eight hours of 1440 x 1080i High Definition video and approximately five hours and 20 minutes of 1920 x 1080i full High Definition video. Hours and hours of High definition recording time ensures that you never miss out on a moment. Fly on the wall documentary at work sound interesting? You will have no problems in capturing your whole day with the ability to record around eight hours worth of high definition footage. With the Class 6 speed specification and maximum data transfer speeds up to an impressive 20MB/s, the 32GB card is the industries fastest of its size, allowing users to enjoy superb performance and high-quality recording.

The card is also equipped with a new user-friendly labeling feature, which allows users to write titles or comments directly onto labels on the front and back of the card. Archiving all those holiday snaps has never become so easy. Panasonic is planning to introduce the new labeling feature in its other SD Memory Card models, with a running changeover from the current card designs in spring 2008.

The arrival of Panasonic’s 32GB model further strengthens its Pro High Speed line-up which currently has five models available: 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB card sizes with the Class 6 speed specification. The 32GB SDHC memory card will be available from March 2008.

This seems like the ideal memory card for my Asus Eee PC. I’ll should be getting one for review soon and will be back with my review asap.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): Tracy & Matt, panasonic, SDHC, Memory cards]

SanDisk Launches 8GB Mobile Cards

SanDisk today announced the availability of its 8GB microSDHC and M2 flash memory cards to retail outlets worldwide. Compatible with the new breed of mobile phones with card slots, the 8GB SanDisk microSDHC and M2 cards are ideal for the growing number of consumers who make their mobile phone—with its built-in music player, digital camera and video player/recorder—the centerpiece of their digital lifestyle.

Sandisk 8GB SDHC & 8GB M2 cards

SanDisk’s ongoing ‘slot education’ program is aimed at raising awareness both of the presence of a card slot in the majority of today’s new mobile handsets and the benefits available to those who use it. With a high capacity memory card in this slot, consumers can ‘Wake Up Their Phone’ and turn their handset into the ultimate lifestyle accessory, including the ability to store more than 2,000 digital songs, or more than 5,000 high-resolution pictures, or up to 5 hours of high-quality MPEG 4 video.

Once digital content is stored on a high capacity SanDisk card, consumers can share their world with others, through simple uploading of content onto social networking sites such You Tube, MySpace and Facebook –allowing friends and acquaintances to share the experiences they have captured on the card. Content can be transferred through the mobile phone or through synching the card up with a PC.

In celebration of the launch, SanDisk has teamed up with festival and event producers Guerilla Union (Rock the Bells, Paid Dues) for the “Sunset Strip Block Party,” an unprecedented event incorporating exclusive headline performances from world famous artists on the world famous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, CA. The massive fete is scheduled for Friday, October 26, and will take place throughout three of the Sunset Strip’s most legendary nightclubs—The Key Club, The Roxy Theater and the Viper Room, making it the first event ever of its kind to use all three venues in unison. The event is the official kickoff for the SanDisk “Wake up your Phone” education campaign that will be continued throughout 2008.

Performances from Linkin Park, Common, The Crystal Method, Cut Chemist (visual performance) and Z-Trip will come together to celebrate this historic event. Staying true to the campaign and the night’s ‘slot education’ theme, SanDisk is encouraging the invited guests to capture the event on their mobile phones.

In addition to the microSDHC and M2 card, SanDisk also offers a broad range of both embedded and removable storage solutions for mobile handset manufacturers and mobile network operators. These include iNAND™ and mDOC™ embedded flash drives; microSD™, miniSD™ removable flash cards; and SIM and MegaSIM™ cards.

SanDisk’s 8GB microSDHC and M2 cards are now available in major retail outlets worldwide with suggested retail prices of $139.99 and $149.99 respectively. For more details, please visit www.sandisk.com for details or your local retailer.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, Cruzer, M2, microSDHC]

Samsung announces new high capacity NAND memory

Samsung has shown off what it claims is the world’s most powerful chip for use in memory cards.

Samsung NAND Flash Memory

The 64 gigabit (Gb) chips could be used to make flash memory, commonly used in MP3 players, capable of holding the equivalent of 80 DVDs, the firm said.

The chips are built using circuits with a minimum feature size of just 30 billionths of a metre (nanometre).

Rival firm Toshiba has said it is also working with similar technology. Both firms will release products in 2009.

Flash memory is a so-called non-volatile computer memory, primarily used in memory cards, USB drives and MP3 players.

Non-volatile memory retains information even when there is no power to the device.

Samsung said there was currently “exploding demand” for flash memory as a storage medium in a range of applications.

The new chips are designed to be used in a specific type of memory known as NAND flash.

NAND Flash is a special form of Flash memory. Flash memory is a memory technology that keeps data even when the power supply is cut off; this is known as a non-volatile memory type. Flash memory can be read pretty fast, but writing to Flash memory is pretty slow compared to many other -volatile- memory technologies such as SRAM or DRAM. Flash also has a limited number of write-cycles; manufacturers typically specify something in the area of 10,000 writes for the lifetime of the part.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Samsung, Flash Memory]

Sandisk first to release 8GB M2 cards

SanDisk Corporation today announced that it is shipping 8-gigabyte Memory Stick Micro (M2) flash memory cards to phone manufacturers and mobile network operators for testing and evaluation purposes. Primarily used in Sony Ericsson mobile phones, the 8GB SanDisk M2 cards are ideal for the growing number of consumers who make their mobile phone—with its built-in music player, digital camera and video player/recorder—the centerpiece of their digital lifestyle.

Sandisk 8GB M2 card

At 8GB, SanDisk offers the largest capacity M2 card in the world. The new card will allow consumers to listen to more than 2,000 digital songs, or store more than 5,000 high-resolution pictures, or up to 5 hours of high-quality MPEG 4 videos. The announcement was made at IFA, the world’s largest consumer electronics show, where SanDisk is exhibiting at Booth 130, in Hall 15.1 of Messe Berlin, through Sept.

“With the addition of an 8GB SanDisk M2 card, consumers will instantly have the same amount of storage as the largest capacity iPhone,” said Jeff Kost, senior vice president and general manager of the Mobile Consumer Solutions division at SanDisk. “Furthermore, removable cards make it easy to share content you create with friends, ‘sideload’ content and files from a computer and have virtually unlimited storage by simply purchasing more cards. SanDisk is enabling people to get more out of their phones than ever before.”

Retail release of the cards and availability to phone manufacturers and network operators is planned for Q4 2007. Pricing has not yet been determined.

In addition to its Memory Stick Micro M2 cards, SanDisk also offers a broad range of both embedded and removable storage solutions for mobile handset manufacturers and mobile network operators. These include iNAND and mDOC embedded flash drives and microSD, microSDHC, miniSD and MegaSIM cards.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, Cruzer, M2, Memory Stick Micro]

Sandisk launches Multi Card ExpressCard Adapter

SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today launched the SanDisk Multi Card ExpressCard™ Adapter, offering fast transfer speeds from memory cards to notebook computers without the need to carry cables or external card readers. The announcement was made at IFA, the world’s largest consumer electronics show, where SanDisk is exhibiting at Booth 130, in Hall 15.1 of Messe Berlin, through Sept. 5.

Sandisk Multi Card ExpressCard™ Adapter

The new adapter fits into the ExpressCard slot now found in most new notebook computers, and accepts six card formats: SD™, SDHC™, MultiMediaCard™, MMCplus™, Memory Stick Duo™, Memory Stick PRO Duo™ and Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™. Many competing ExpressCard adapters only accept the full size Memory Stick format, running counter to the swing in market momentum toward the smaller Duo form factor.

“With the SanDisk Multi Card ExpressCard Adapter, we’re supporting the rise of the ExpressCard slot in notebook computers,” said Matthijs Hutten, Senior Product Marketing Manager at SanDisk. “We expect ExpressCard to completely replace the PC Card standard in the near future, so offering an ExpressCard adapter which integrates many popular card formats is a natural move for SanDisk.”

For notebook computers without embedded memory card slots, the SanDisk Multi Card ExpressCard Adapter is an easy system upgrade. Users only need to pop the card into the ExpressCard slot – there is no software to install, with no external cables or hardware required. To transfer data, users simply take a memory card out of a device such as a digital still or video camera, an MP3 player, a portable game player or a mobile phone and insert the card into the adapter.

Even for notebook computers with embedded memory card slots, the SanDisk Multi Card ExpressCard Adapter can be useful. Embedded slots today don’t always support the new SD High Capacity (SDHC) format or the Memory Stick PRO Duo form factor, requiring users to carry an external reader. SanDisk’s new adapter offers native SDHC and Memory Stick PRO Duo support.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, ExpressCard, SDcards, Compact Flash]

SanDisk extend ‘Extreme Ducati Edition’ range

SanDisk® today launched a line of turbo-charged flash memory cards – the SanDisk Extreme® Ducati Edition CompactFlash® and the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition SD™ Plus. Both have the quickest read/write times of the SanDisk portfolio and represent the company’s ultimate performance products for digital photographers.

The announcement was made during a press conference at SanDisk headquarters on the eve of the U.S. Grand Prix MotoGP race on July 22 at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Present for the launch were Casey Stoner of Australia, a Ducati competition rider who is currently ranked number one in the international MotoGP circuit, and teammate Loris Capirossi of Italy.

The SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition cards are the result of a sponsorship and marketing relationship between SanDisk and Ducati Corse, the racing arm of Italy’s famed Ducati motorcycle company. The line-up consists of 4- and 8-gigabyte[ii] (GB) capacities for the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition CompactFlash card and 4GB for the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition SD Plus card. The latter features a snap-open connector that enables the card to be plugged in directly to the USB port of a personal computer without requiring a cable or reader. Distinctive bright red labels and packaging bear images of Ducati MotoGP racers and the Ducati Corse emblem.

“With the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition cards, we have reached a new threshold of speed – 45 megabytes per second for the CompactFlash cards and 20MB/sec1 for the SD Plus card,” said Tanya Chuang, director of worldwide retail product marketing for the high performance imaging market at SanDisk. “These speeds allow for fast transfers of images from the cards, and are especially useful for professional photographers in their work-flow environments.”

The SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition CompactFlash card is twice as fast as the SanDisk Extreme III card and is 5MB faster than the new SanDisk Extreme IV card, she added.

SanDisk’s relationship with Ducati Corse, which was launched in January, “takes the marketing of our memory products into a new dimension,” said Wes Brewer, vice president of SanDisk’s Cards and Accessories Division. “Ducati is on the leading edge of motorcycle design and performance, and SanDisk is the world leader in flash memory cards. Both companies share a passion for speed and for pushing the envelope of technology. We feel that SanDisk’s new products will resonate not only with photographers but also with the millions of Ducati and MotoGP fans around the world,” he added.

SanDisk is currently rolling out a worldwide merchandising and marketing campaign that leverages the Ducati MotoGP sponsorship.

Initial distribution is planned for August in North America and Europe, with the cards available through photo specialty stores, high-end niche retailers, high-end department stores, Ducati network shops and other outlets, including on-line. Suggested retail prices are $164.99 for the 4GB CompactFlash card, $314.99 for the 8GB CompactFlash card and $129.99 for the 4GB SD Plus card. They will also be available for pre-order on the SanDisk website at www.sandisk.com/Ducati.

Clearly Ducati obsessed, SanDisk® today also rolled out the sleek SanDisk Extreme® Ducati Edition USB Flash Drive. A tribute to Ducati’s distinctive Italian design and engineering, the new drive has the same glossy red chassis and black trim as the Ducati Corse team motorcycles now racking up victories on the MotoGP circuit.

The true “Ducatisti,” as aficionados of Ducati motorcycles call themselves, will appreciate the attention to detail in the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition USB Flash Drive, including the Ducati Corse logo on top of the drive and the red tail light that illuminates whenever the drive is inserted into the USB port of a computer.

On the inside, the drive offers a generous 4 gigabytes1 (GB) of capacity and front-of-the-pack read and write speeds of 20 megabytes per second2 — the fastest of the SanDisk portfolio of consumer USB drives. In other words, there isn’t a long wait to fill the drive’s big fuel tank with documents, photos, music and other digital data.

“Ducati and SanDisk share a passion for bringing together performance and design,” said Alessandro Cicognani, Ducati Corse marketing and licensing manager. “That’s why Ducati was proud to welcome SanDisk as a sponsor of our MotoGP team back in January, and why we’re delighted today that SanDisk has created a product so closely mirroring our commitment to excellence.”

“There has never been a USB flash drive that looked like this,” said Greg Rhine, senior vice president and general manager of the Consumer Products Division at SanDisk. “The SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition USB Flash Drive is fast and functional, but it’s also a way for everyone to share the excitement of Ducati motorcycles and Ducati’s long history as a racing champion.”

The SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition USB Flash Drive comes with a custom lanyard, as well as SanDisk’s RescuePRO® Deluxe software for recovering data that is accidentally deleted. The drive is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and versions 10.1.2 or better of the Mac operating system.

The drive has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $124.99 in the United States. It is expected to be available in North America and Europe in August, and worldwide in September. The drive will be sold through high-end niche retailers, high-end department stores, Ducati network shops and other outlets, including on-line. It will also be available for pre-order on the SanDisk website at www.sandisk.com/Ducati .

Posted by: Mark

[Technorati tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, Ducati, SDcards, Compact Flash]

Samsung First to Mass Produce 16Gb NAND Flash Memory

Samsung announced today that it has become the first to begin mass producing 16 gigabit (Gb) NAND flash, the highest capacity memory chip now available. The company said it will fabricate the devices in 51 nanometers (nm), the finest process technology to be used in memory mass production to date.

“In rolling out the densest NAND flash in the world, we are throwing open the gates to a much wider playing field for flash-driven consumer electronics,” said Jim Elliott, director, flash marketing, Samsung Semiconductor. “To minimize production costs and improve performance, we have applied the finest process technology a ‘half generation’ ahead of the industry, which is introducing 55nm and higher.”

Samsung’s 51nm NAND flash chips can be produced 60 percent more efficiently than those produced with 60nm process technology. Samsung achieved this new migration milestone just eight months after announcing production of its 60nm 8Gb NAND flash last August.

The new 16Gb chip which has a multi-level cell (MLC) structure can facilitate capacity expansion by offering 16 gigabytes (GBs) of memory in a single memory card. Furthermore, by applying the new process technology, Samsung has accelerated the chip’s read and write speeds by approximately 80 percent over current MLC data processing speeds.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Samsung, NAND, Flash Memory, Windows Mobile blog]

SanDisk introduce 32GB 2.5″ Solid State Disk

You may recall that we reported about SanDisk’s 32GB 1.8″ Solid State Disk a few months ago. SanDisk have just announced the 2.5″ version of the drive with the following press release:

SanDisk today broadened its solid state drive (SSD) product line for the portable computer market with the introduction of a 32-gigabyte, 2.5-inch Serial ATA (SATA) interface model, compatible with most mainstream notebook designs. Coming just two months after SanDisk introduced a 1.8-inch SSD for ultraportable notebooks, the 2.5-inch SSD is now available to PC manufacturers as a drop-in replacement for hard disk drives.

“The SanDisk 2.5-inch SSD brings the extreme durability, outstanding performance and low power consumption of solid-state flash memory to the entire notebook computer market,” said Amos Marom, vice president and general manager of the Computing Systems division at SanDisk. “As SanDisk continues to drive innovation in flash memory, the per-gigabyte price of SSD storage will come down and SSD capacity will go up. PC manufacturers and consumers will find it easier and easier to move away from rotating hard disks to the superior experience of SSDs.”

The vast majority of notebook computers manufactured today use 2.5-inch hard disk drives. The SanDisk 2.5-inch SSD fits in the same internal slot as 2.5-inch hard disks, so notebook manufacturers can switch to the SanDisk SSD without altering their hardware designs.

The key benefits of SanDisk SSDs for computer manufacturers and their customers are:

“There are several reasons computer users and manufacturers should consider SSDs as prices become more affordable,” said Joseph Unsworth, Principal Research Analyst for flash memory at the Gartner research firm. “For example, Gartner research shows hard disk failure is tied for first place with motherboard failure as the leading cause of overall hardware failure in notebooks, with each accounting for 25 to 45 percent of the total8. The higher reliability of SSDs lowers total cost of ownership, and could be a driver for adoption of SSDs. This is part of the explanation of why Gartner projects global consumption of SSDs in consumer and business notebooks to leap from about 4 million units in 2007 to 32 million units in 20109.”

The 32GB, 2.5-inch SanDisk SSD is available now to computer manufacturers, with initial pricing of $350 for large volume orders. SanDisk SSDs will be demonstrated at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany, from March 15 to 21, 2007, in Hall 23, Stand B28, and will be featured on March 16 during the PressExpoUSA @ CeBIT 2007 event.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, Solid State Disk, SanDisk SSD, CeBIT]

SanDisk introduces 8GB SDHC Card

SanDisk introduced an 8-gigabyte (GB) SanDisk Ultra II SD High Capacity (SDHC) card to meet the growing demand for more photo and video storage. The new cards can store over 4,000 high-resolution pictures or up to 15 hours of MPEG 4 video. The announcement was made at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where SanDisk is displaying its photographic products in Booth G191 on Level 1 of the South Hall.

The SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card features write speeds of 9 megabytes (MB) per second and read speeds of 10MB/sec. The cards are targeted at digital photography enthusiasts with 5 megapixel or higher resolution cameras or videographers with camcorders that require significantly faster flash storage cards. The card carries a Class 44 speed rating.

The SanDisk MicroMate USB 2.0 reader, which normally retails for $19.99, will be included with the 8GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card at no extra charge. SDHC cards require an SDHC-compatible reader to transfer images from card to computer, and the MicroMate readers work with both SDHC and SD cards.

“As new SDHC-compatible digital still cameras and camcorders arrive on the market with greater frequency, consumers should select a memory card that meets the demands of these devices,” said Anna Enerio, retail product marketing manager at SanDisk. “This combination of an 8GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card and a MicroMate reader gives consumers high capacity, proven performance and convenience at an exceptional value.”

The 8GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card adheres to the SD 2.00 specification, a new design that is required for cards and cameras to support capacities from 4GB to 32GB. The specification was developed by the SD Association, an industry standards board, which also defined three speed classes for speed and performance capabilities. The speed rating system, adopted by the SD Association, is intended to help consumers select the right card for the desired application. It does not denote the fastest memory card.

Though standard SD and SDHC cards look identical in size and shape, only SDHC-compatible cameras and devices can accept the new SDHC cards. SanDisk differentiates its new cards with the SDHC logo on the card and retail package.

Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, SanDisk, 3GSM, JAQ4, Tracy & Matt]

Pretec 16gb Compact Flash

Pretec have just announced that they will be shipping 16gb Compact Flash cards.

The company says the demand for higher capacity and better performing flash cards has been increasing with introduction of ever higher resolution digital cameras and the emergence of new multimedia appliances and industrial applications. Over the last 10 years the company has seen a 4,000 times increase in CF capacity from the first announcement of Pretec 4MB CF card to this 16GB unit.

Access speed can be up to 80X (12MB/s) for Pretec industrial CF card and up to 133X (20MB/s) for Pretec commercial CF card. Pretec 16GB CF card will start sampling in October with mass production in Q4 of this year.

I don’t know what price these 16gb cards will be selling for but the price of the 12gb cards is as high as $10,000+ in some online stores!!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Compact Flash, Memory, Pretec]