Sandisk Extreme III Memory Cards

Extreme III Product Line Based On SanDisk’s New ESP Technology, A Major Technological Breakthrough

The SanDisk Extreme III line of CompactFlash, SD and Memory Stick PRO digital film cards are according to SanDisk Corporation the world's fastest flash memory cards. The CompactFlash and SD cards have minimum write and read speeds of 20 megabytes per second (MB/sec.), while the Memory Stick PRO has minimum write and read speeds of 18 MB/sec. The SanDisk Extreme III cards, which range in capacity between one and four gigabytes (GB), have doubled the performance speeds of SanDisk's predecessor Extreme product line which currently has the fastest working cards in many of today's digital single lens reflex (SLR) cameras.

The new SanDisk Extreme III cards are targeted primarily at advanced and professional photographers who require high-performance flash memory storage cards for new high-end digital cameras. The cards will start shipping worldwide in October-November to high-end, retail photo specialty stores.

Yoram Cedar, SanDisk's senior vice-president of engineering, said, "SanDisk has developed a new ESP (Enhanced Super-Parallel Processing) technology that gives our new SanDisk Extreme III line its performance advantages. ESP technology is a major technology breakthrough that combines our in-house design of both NAND flash memory chips and controller chips using advanced 32-bit RISC processing and leading edge algorithms. Our engineers worked closely with major camera manufacturers in developing our new ESP technology."

Cedar also explained, "ESP has super-parallel write and read operations that are coupled with an accelerated flash data bus architecture to allow data to be transferred at twice the rate of most competitive cards. In addition, the ESP architecture streamlines every aspect of read and write data transfer operations through advanced hardware automation. The ESP architecture effectively removes the card as the bottleneck in data storage applications."

The cards also include RescuePRO software that allows photographers to easily recover accidentally deleted images, lost digital images or data. The software on these cards is compatible with both Windows and Mac and requires no driver download or special card reader.

SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash cards will be sold in 1, 2 and 4GB capacities with suggested retail prices ranging from US$139.99 to US$559.99 (EUR 135 to EUR 540, excluding VAT). The SanDisk Extreme III SD card will be sold in a 1GB capacity at a suggested price of US$139.99 (EUR 139, excluding VAT). And Memory Stick PRO Extreme III cards, sized in 1 and 2GB capacities, will carry suggested price tags of US$279.99 and US$559.99 (EUR 289 and EUR 576, excluding VAT).

Panasonic Announces Pro High Speed Series SD Cards

Panasonic have introduced the "PRO HIGH SPEED Series" SD cards that have double the speed of Panasonic's "Super High Speed Series" SD memory cards. They have so far announced a 512MB and 1GB version, that have data transfer rates of up to 20MB a second, when used with SD products which comply with a newly upgraded interface.

They can be used with current SD-enabled products to achieve the same maximum high-speed data transfer of up to 10MB/s as that provided by Super High Speed Series. Sale of the memory cards worldwide is scheduled to begin in October.



Source: Shuttertalk

Kodak to Adopt xD Card Format

According to Dpreview, the xD card format, which is currently only supported by Fujifilm and Olympus cameras, will be adopted by Kodak. Kodak cameras have traditionally used the SD media format type, but the newly announced EasyShare LS755 will take advantage of the smaller and faster xD card format.

MultiMediaCard Association Announces MMCplus and MMCmobile Cards

The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) today introduced the MMCplus(TM) and MMCmobile(TM) product names and logos for memory cards built to the previously announced high-speed MultiMediaCard (MMC) standards that feature the highest data transfer rates among all existing memory card standards.

MMCplus(TM) cards in the standard-size MultiMediaCard form factor (32 x 24 x 1.4mm), while MMCmobile(TM) cards come in the reduced-size MMC form factor (18 x 24 x 1.4mm). When operating at 26MHz and the optional 52MHz clock frequencies in x8 bit mode, MMCplus and MMCmobile cards can attain a maximum data transfer rate of 26MB/sec and 52MB/sec, respectively.


Source: Shuttertalk

Toshiba and Sandisk Unite to Build Chip Plant

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk Corp. created a joint venture and will spend $2.5 billion to build a semiconductor plant in Japan to meet demand for wireless phones with cameras, music players and other features.

SanDisk, the world's biggest maker of flash-memory cards for consumer electronics, and Toshiba, Japan's second-biggest chipmaker, signed an agreement last week to form Flash Partners Ltd., SanDisk said in a regulatory filing. The plant in Yokkaichi is expected to begin production of 300-millimeter chips by the end of 2005.

Demand for memory cards for consumer electronics is increasing as companies including Sprint Corp. and Verizon Wireless introduce cell phones that do more than make phone calls. Flash memory stores digital photos or music files and retains data when devices are shut off.

Toshiba, based in Tokyo, and Sunnyvale, California-based SanDisk each will get half of the chips made at the plant, said Lori Barker Padon, SanDisk's director of investor relations. SanDisk will use its chips in flash memory cards for multimedia cellular phones, cameras and USB flash disk drives.

The companies jointly opened a 200-millimeter wafer plant in 2002. That plant is running at capacity, and other chips are being purchased from companies including Samsung Electronics Co., Barker Padon said.

Toshiba owns 50.1 percent of the new company, and SanDisk owns 49.9 percent. Toshiba said Tuesday that it will spend about $1.8 billion in a separate agreement with Canon Inc. to make flat- panel screens through a new company named SED Inc.

Shares of SanDisk rose 39 cents to $25.90 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Toshiba shares fell 5 yen to 411 yen Thursday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story:
J. Kyle Foster in Princeton at kfoster2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Emma Moody at emoody@bloomberg.net.

Lexar to Incorporate Encryption into Professional CompactFlash Cards

Lexar Media has announced plans to include encryption technology into its Professional CompactFlash(TM) cards, which will provide security when used with compatible digital cameras. Once configured, digital content stored on the memory card can only be accessed via the digital camera(s) with the corresponding encryption key or via a PC with a valid username and password. This unique security system utilizing the memory card and the camera offers a secure digital imaging solution.

Nikon will be the first camera company to incorporate Lexar's technology into a digital camera. Nikon is incorporating the new security technology into the Nikon D2X digital SLR.

Source: Shuttertalk

SanDisk Drops Prices on Shoot & Store Cards

SanDisk seem to be pushing their single-use Shoot & Store memory cards quite aggressively. evidenced by the reduction in price just one month on from their initial launch in July. The 32MB card, priced previously at $14.99, now has a suggested retail price of $9.99; and the 64MB card has been reduced from $24.99 to $14.99. These price changes are being applied throughout the Shoot & Store product lineup.



These prices are effective August 30, in the US market.

Source: Shuttertalk

Finally Nokia joins SD Card (Secure Digital) industry group

By Dinesh C. Sharma CNET News.com September 14, 2004, 10:10 AM PT

Nokia on Tuesday said it has joined an industry group working on technical and specification standards for Secure Digital memory card applications.

Becoming a member of the SD Card Association signals the phone maker's intent to deploy SD memory cards, in addition to multimedia cards, in its mobile products.

SD cards are removable data storage devices about the size of a postage stamp. They can be used in products such as mobile phones, digital cameras, camcorders, PDAs, printers, desktops and television sets.

Nokia said SD memory cards will be in used in addition to the multimedia cards it currently supports in mobile devices. Nokia users will be able to exchange digital content among SD-enabled devices on the market, the company said.

The SD Card Association is an open industry standards body set up in 2000 by Matsushita Electric, SanDisk and Toshiba. More than 700 companies support it. The body recently formed a mobile-phone task force.

"With mobile devices driving the ongoing digital convergence, the demand for memory capacity multiplies to enable extensive storage of digital content in mobile devices," Timo Poikolainen, vice president of technology marketing at Nokia, said in a statement. "Therefore, we aim to ensure that the needs of the mobile device industry will be met in the development of future SD card standards."

EDGE Tech Corp Introduces a 3-Port USB 2.0 Hub Plus 9-in-1 Card Reader

EDGE Tech Corp Introduces a 3-Port USB 2.0 Hub Plus 9-in-1 Card Reader; New EDGE(TM) Hub Plus Reader Now Shipping

DALLAS, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- EDGE Tech Corp, a leading supplier of DRAM and Flash memory upgrades, portable computing products, storage devices, and other experience-enhancing technology solutions announced today the launch of a 3-Port USB 2.0 Hub Plus 9-in-1 Card Reader. This is the first USB Hub product that the company has added to its expanding product portfolio.

The EDGE 3-Port USB 2.0 Hub Plus 9-in-1 Card Reader is now available for sale at the company's reseller and distribution partners and offers three USB Ports to accommodate multiple USB devices, with the added convenience of a digital media reader supporting nine card formats. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $29.95 after mail-in rebate.

"With the growing number of USB devices we are selling, this product was a natural addition to our product offering. It allows us to meet more of our customers' needs, which is the primary goal of all new products we release. Our customers can expect us to continue to develop a wide array of experience- enhancing products that allow them to perform day to day functions, whether in business or leisure, more efficiently," stated Jeff Thompson, President and CEO of EDGE Tech Corp.

The EDGE 3-Port USB 2.0 Hub Plus 9-in-1 Card Reader utilizes a USB 2.0 interface for high-speed data downloads via the USB ports or the card reader. The 9-in-1 reader supports SD Memory Cards(TM), MultiMedia(TM) (MMC) Cards, Memory Stick(TM), Memory Stick PRO(TM), Memory Stick Duo(TM), SmartMedia(TM) Cards, Type I/II CompactFlash(R) Cards, and IBM Microdrive(R).

The product is available for purchase at PCConnection.com, PCMall.com, eCost.com, TechDepot.com (an Office Depot Company), CDW.com, Zones.com, and Insight.com, and through distribution at Tech Data, Ingram Micro and D&H Distributing. For more information about EDGE Tech Corp, visit the company's website at http://www.edgetechcorp.com/

Sandisk miniSD Flash Memory Cards in new Samsung Hi-Res Phone Cameras

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2004--

Samsung Combines a Mobile Phone with a Zoom Lens in One Device

SanDisk(R) Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) today announced that it is supplying Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. with 32-megabyte (MB) miniSD(TM) memory cards that will be sold with a first-of-its-kind Samsung digital camera phone. The SPH-S2300, which has a resolution of 3.2 megapixels, is reportedly the world's first such device with a 3X optical linear zoom. It has started selling in the Korean market.

Photo: Business Wire

According to Samsung, the camera phone combines quality imaging and phone functionality. In addition to the high megapixel lens and optical zoom, the device has both automatic and manual settings for ISO and white balance, and the flash has been upgraded from an LED to a full, brightness-adjustable camera flash. Also, said the manufacturer, the device can record more than two hours of videos and can be hooked up to a television set for immediate viewing.
"The S2300 personifies the incredibly rapid transformation of camera phones," said David Guidry, product marketing manager for SanDisk's handset business unit. "These high quality devices demand high-capacity, removable memory. With SanDisk's miniSD card, users will be able to fully leverage the capabilities of the digital camera features while at the same time enjoying the functionality of a mobile phone."

In addition to viewing their images and videos on a TV, users also will be able to see them on a personal computer using a USB cable hookup or one of the low-cost USB readers currently on the market, said Samsung.

Measuring 21.5 mm long by 20 mm wide by 1.4 mm thick, the tiny miniSD was designed by SanDisk in cooperation with Matsushita and Toshiba to specifically meet the small space requirements of the mobile phone market, and is based on the industry-leading SD(TM) card standard. The miniSD card is less than half the size of an SD card but has the same electrical interface and functionality built into it. Currently, SanDisk manufactures versions that range from 16MB to 256MB.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2003 parent company sales of US $36.4 billion. The company's website is http://www.samsung.com/.
SanDisk, the world's largest supplier of flash memory data storage card products, designs, manufactures and markets industry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audio storage products using its patented, high density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, CA.
SanDisk's web site/home page address: http://www.sandisk.com/.

MMC / Multimedia Card Sale at Mr.Gadget!

Been waiting to upgrade your MMC/MultiMedia Card? Well now's the time at Mr.Gadget Australia with prices on MMC/MultiMedia Cards being reduced even further!

What is a MMC / MultiMedia Card?
Reference: Sandisk (www.sandisk.com)

The MMC/MultiMediaCard is designed to provide flexible storage for today's digital devices. The card weighs less than two grams and is the size of a postage stamp.

The small size of the MMC/MultiMediaCard allows digital device product manufacturers the ability to continuously design small, portable devices. The MMC/MultiMediaCard has been designed into products that include digital music players, digital camcorders, cellular phones and global positioning systems (GPS).

Advanced Features of the MMC / Multimedia Card:
- High storage capacity
- Non-volatile solid-state; no moving parts maximizes battery power. Data is not lost when power is turned off
- Operating shock rating of 2,000Gs, equivalent to a 10-foot drop to the floor
- Compatible with all digital music players, digital camcorders, handheld PCs, mobile phones and other devices that feature a MultiMediaCard-compliant slot

Get your MMC / MultiMedia Card here at Mr.Gadget!

Remote Control SD Card

News By: pdaBlast! StaffSeptember 09, 2004
http://palm.pdablast.com/articles/2004/9/200499-NoviiRemote-Blaster-SD-Card.html

NoviiMedia, unveiled a new product today - NoviiRemote Blaster - an SD card and CD-ROM for turning your handheld device into a powerful, easy to use universal remote control! This unique product is the first-ever universal remote control on an SD card.

NoviiRemote Blaster turns your handheld into the household remote. Easily program the hard buttons on your handheld for all of your entertainment devices, including TV, Cable/Sat, DVD/CD, VCR, TiVo, etc. Brilliant colors on your screen identify volume, channels and other functions. NoviiRemote Blaster controls over 100,000 home entertainment devices!

The Blaster is powered by the most popular remote software on the market… the winner of numerous awards and accolades. See what journalists from The New York Times and Associated Press have raved about, and why thousands of owners of NoviiRemote love it.

The developers of NoviiRemote Blaster set out to create a remote control that works better, looks better, is easier to use and is faster to set up, when compared to the many other remote controls on the market. This first version of the Blaster works on the following handhelds from palmOne: Zire 72, Tungsten E, Zire 71, Tungsten T2 and Tungsten T. A future version will work on most handhelds with an SD slot. NoviiRemote Blaster is available for purchase from NoviiMedia’s website at http://novii.tv/blaster for US$59.99.

6-in-1 Multimedia Device : here they come!

Ricoh Press Release : 09/09/2004 16:33:43

Vivitar takes convergence electronics to a new level with the launch of the world’s first 6-in-1 multimedia recorder/player. Due for release in September, the Vivitar DVR 390H offers outstanding versatility combining a MPEG4 video camera, digital still camera, TV/video recorder, digital photo frame, MP3 player and voice recorder in a compact and stylish device.

Unique to Vivitar, the DVR 390H features massive storage capacity with 20 Gigabytes of onboard memory and SD card compatibility. That’s the equivalent built-in memory of many notebooks and PCs. Coupled with a super long-life lithium-ion battery, it can capture an outstanding 15 hours of VGA movies, 24,000 high quality still images and more than 5000 MP3 music files. The mains cradle unit further expands functionality with AV-in and out, USB and microphone connectivity catered for.

Multifunctional recorder Using the tiny detachable camera/camcorder module (just 40mm wide x 71mm long x 30mm deep), the DVR 390H captures superior MPEG4 video in both VGA and XVGA formats. A 270-degree swivel lens ensures optimum manoeuvrability for capturing those tricky camera angles while the 2x digital zoom enables the user a closer view.

The DVR390H can also record video from virtually any video source including TV, VCR and DVD. Together with its huge storage capacity, users can easily store movies, videos or TV programs and view them when convenient.

The combined digital still camera features 3.1-Megapixels and produces high resolution images. It also offers a macro lens of 0.7m to 1.4m. User friendly features include variable quality settings, a self-timer with 10-second delay, built-in flash with red eye reduction and optional date stamping. The DVR 390H also functions as a voice recorder. Using the microphone input connection it records high quality sound clips and is ideal for recording lecture notes or interviews.

The ultimate player Delivering brilliant LCD playback review is the huge 3.6 inch LPTS TFT LCD screen. With five levels of brightness control the DVR 390H provides excellent viewing clarity in full colour. It is also large enough to play stored movies and videos when on the go, making the DVR 390H a great entertainment solution for road trips.

The large screen enables the DVR 390H to function as a digital photo frame. Simply sit the device in its cradle for continuous AC power and select the slide show format to electronically present those favourite snaps.

In addition, the DVR 390H stores and plays MP3 music files through its built-in speaker or included headphones, with volume adjustable to five different levels. All of this in a compact device that measures just 106mm wide x 71mm long x 32mm deep.

Brilliant functionality The DVR 390H offers superb functionality and is compatible with PCs and MACs. Using the cradle it can connect to a range of other peripherals including TV, PC, notebook or printer. Even its 20GB hard drive can be used to store unrelated data and computer files.

The Vivitar DVR 390H offers excellent value for money including a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, charger and AC adapter and comes with a complete software package that includes Photo Suite, WIN DVD Creator and Muvee Auto Producer.

Available from major retailers, leading photographic and imaging specialists for $999 rrp. Consumer enquiries: 1300 363 741

Media enquires For further information, visuals or product samples please contact: Louise Mezzina or Jody Hammond Write Away Communication + Events Phone: 02 8904 1622 Email: louise@writeaway.com.au , jody@writeaway.com.au

About Vivitar US-based Vivitar Corporation was established in 1936. In 2002, Ricoh Australia formed a strategic alliance with the company to market its comprehensive range of digital and 35mm cameras locally. Vivitar’s high quality and affordable product offering particularly complements Ricoh's high end photographic models, enabling Ricoh to market and support a full range of digital cameras.

Toshiba Announces 1G SD Card and 512 Megabyte High Speed SD Card

Toshiba have today announced the availability of a new 1GB Secure Digital memory card, and also a high speed 512MB card, using 90 nanometer NAND flash technology.

The new 1GB SD uses Toshiba's new 8 gigabit(3) (Gb) Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND memory ICs, eliminating the need for advanced stacking technology to achieve this high density, and providing high cost/performance value.

The 512MB high speed card uses the older 4Gb Single Level Cell (SLC) NAND Flash chip, but is able to achieve a maximum write speed of 10MB/sec.(4) and a sustained write speed of 5MB/sec.



The 1GB standard SD Card and 512MB High Speed SD Cards are available now, priced at $350 (USD) and $225 (USD) respectively.

Source: Shuttertalk

Compact Flash to IDE Adapter

STAFF -- ECN, 9/1/2004
Mesa Electronics has announced a low cost IDE to compact flash adapter that allows connecting one or two compact flash drives to any system having an IDE port. The CFADPT7 fits a standard 2.5″ hard drive footprint to allow easy retrofit of existing products.

In addition to the standard 44 pin 2 mm IDE connector, it can also have a 40 pin IDE connector. It has both single and dual drive versions. Both type 1 and type 2 CF cards work with it and the newer DMA capable CF cards. The CFADPT7 is US$17 for a single drive and US$25 for a dual drive. Mesa Electronics

SanDisk Launch Shoot & Share Flash Memory Cards in Mexico

Line of Affordable Cards Will Be Sold in Latin America's Largest Market for Digital Cameras MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 7, 2004

SanDisk(R) Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK) today announced that it will sell its Shoot & Store(TM) line of affordable flash memory cards in Mexico to meet expanding consumer demand in Latin America's largest market for digital cameras. The announcement was made during a series of press briefings in Mexico City.

The cards, offered in capacities of 50 photos (32-megabyte) and 100 photos (64-megabyte), are aimed at consumers who are transitioning from film-based cameras to digital photography or who want the simplicity of storing their images indefinitely without downloading to a computer or saving to a CD-ROM or DVD. The Shoot & Store line consists of the most popular flash card formats -- SD(TM), CompactFlash(R) and Memory Stick PRO(TM).

Read the full story here.

Addonics new 4-slot media reader

NEWS BRIEF: Addonics 4-slot UDD reads/writes to multiple devices
Addonics Technologies has combined 4 full size PCMCIA slots into a mini, stylish and high performance 4-slot external reader/writer that allows users to simultaneously transfer data between any combination of the PCMCIA hard drive, ATA Flash or flash media supported.

It uses four independent USB connections so users can simultaneously read/write or transfer data to as many as four PC Card hard drives or four ATA Flash, or any combination of four flash media. The transfer rate for each slot is at full USB 2.0 speeds or the latest Serial ATA (SATA) for a maximum data transfer up to 150Mbytes/sec.

Users can select either a USB 2.0 or Serial ATA interface cable for the 4-slot UDD. When used in conjunction with an Addonics SATA RAID controller, the 4-Slot UDD is also the smallest high-performance RAID system on the market. The 4-Slot UDD can be configured as a RAID 1 or RAID 0 system using two PC Card hard drives or a RAID 1+0 with 4 PC Card hard drives. Users not only have simultaneous and quick access to the most popular types of flash storage, they also have an ultra-fast and compact SATA RAID solution for back-ups and data protection.

For more information, visit www.addonics.com .

Pretec 2GB MMC 4 Card - I didn't know that they were this big!

A friend asked me today what were the biggest capacity MMC cards. I wondered about this one because having stocked Sandisk for almost a year now, I never saw anything bigger than a 128MB MMC (multimedia card) - recently a distributor asked me to sell 512MB MMC. I thought, "surely there have got to be bigger cards than this!" with the SD Cards and Compact Flash cards now available in 1GB-4GB sizes (in Australia).

I came across this article at DPReview that talks about a 2GB MMC flash card. I know that this is not going to seem much in a couple of months time, but wow! This 2GB Pretec MMC 4.0 card is also very fast with write speeds of around 18MB/sec (120x)!!! Get this, read speeds are around 22.5MB per second (150x)!!! Now that's fast...

Read the full story here at DPReview (www.dpreview.com) :
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0405/04053101pretecmmc4.asp

Fujifilm announce 1GB xD Picture Card - about time...

xD Picture Card users are finally going to be rewarded for their patience with Fujifilm announcing the availability of a 1GB xD Picture Card in the not too distant future.

Dennis Hissink : September 3th - 13:45 GMT
"The range of memory cards by Fujifilm has now been increased to include the MMC card. With capacities of 64 MB to 1GB the new memory media is used primarily in mobile phones and PDAs. "

Letsgodigital (www.letsgodigital.org) has the full story, here's the link:
http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/news/articles/story_1668.html

Rob Galbraith's Compact Flash Database

Check out Rob Galbraith's Compact Flash Performance database that is a regularly-updated compilation of write and read speed test results, vendor information and technical background designed to aid the serious and professional photographer in selecting storage media for a digital SLR.

The link to Rob Galbraith's Compact Flash Database is:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

Compact Flash Comparison

Ever wondered what's the difference between all the compact flash cards out there? Well DPReview.com provide a great article that helps distinguish the growing number of compact flash cards available. This article explains the true story behind the "X" in speed and "MB" in megabtyes.

Check it out here:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/

xD Picture Card : Cheap as Chips at Mr.Gadget!

Sandisk xD Picture Cards are more affordable than ever! Been waiting to update that over-used 16MB or 32MB xD picture card? Well now's the time at Mr.Gadget! We've reduced the prices of xD picture cards by up to $30!

The xD memory cards by Sandisk are compatible with any Fuji or Olympus digital camera that takes xD picture cards. Current Fuji and Olympus xD picture cards on the market are actually just rebranded Sandisk cards. Read here about it at DPReview:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0310/03103101sandiskfujifilmxd.asp

Features of the xD Picture Card:

Connectivity and Compatibility
Compact and durable, the Sandisk xD-Picture Card is the ultimate reusable digital media. Besides offering compatibility with most manufacturers xD-compatible devices, it's the only xD card that supports the Panorama function found on most Olympus digital cameras. And it's just as easy using non-xD devices as well, thanks to a number of groundbreaking adapters that will be available including a CompactFlash Adapter, SmartMedia USB Reader/Writer, and PCMCIA/PC Card Adapter.

So Small, It's Huge
An exceptionally compact design means manufacturers will be able to deliver smaller, more stylish, and more powerful digital devices in the future.

Room for Growth
Designed with the most advanced storage technology available, the Sandisk xD-Picture Card system meets the memory capacity needs of today, while also being readily available to fulfill the increased memory
capacity needs of tomorrow.For a detailed look at the xD's storage capacities, view our Capacity Chart. (Flash required.)

Durable
Sandisk xD-Picture Cards were designed for maximum durability, so it’s easy to feel comfortable trusting them with important digital information.

Panorama Support
Sandisk xD-Picture Cards support the Panorama function found on most Olympus digital cameras.

List of xD Picture Cards at Mr.Gadget:

- xD Picture Card Sandisk 64MB
- xD Picture Card Sandisk 128MB
- xD Picture Card Sandisk 256MB
- xD Picture Card Sandisk 512MB

SD Card Sale

SD Card Sale at Mr.Gadget! Toshiba SD Card (Secure Digital) prices have dropped! Finally the maker of quality notebooks, pocketPCs and other PC gadgetry has realized that there's also good money to be made in memory cards. Besides offering great prices, Toshiba SD Cards come with a 5-year warranty!

What is an SD Card?
For those who don't know what SD (secure digital) memory cards are, they are highly-sophisticated memory devices about the size of a postage stamp that put advanced digital storage technology quite literally at your fingertips.

SD cards are non-volatile, which means they do not require power to retain the information stored on them. They are solid-state devices, so they have no moving parts to skip or break down. SD memory cards offer an incredible combination of high storage capacity (only 32 MB & 64 MB in 2000, now with 2GB only months away), fast data transfer, great flexibility and excellent security. And of course, incredibly small size.

Of the Toshiba SD card range we currently have 128MB SD Card, 256MB SD Card and 512MB SD Card versions.

Click on the pictures below for more SD Card information:

Gadgeteers with digital cameras, MP3 players, pocketPCs and Palms...now's a good time to get some more memory!

Toshiba SD Card Product Links:

- SD Card 128MB Toshiba
- SD Card 256MB Toshiba
- SD Card 512MB Toshiba

Sandisk SD Card Product Links:

- SD Card 128MB Sandisk
- SD Card 256MB Sandisk
- SD Card 512MB Sandisk
- SD Card 1GB Sandisk

Samsung and Denali Accelerate OneNAND Flash Adoption

According to this press release, Denali Software Inc. and Samsung Semiconductor have announced a collaborative effort to develop advanced verification models for Samsung OneNAND™ Flash devices.

"Today's next-generation smart and camera phones require a high-degree of memory storage to support advanced multimedia functionality. OneNAND offers an integrated memory solution, enabling handset designers to add in media- and application-rich features without changing the existing architecture. Since OneNAND decreases the number of required components, build costs and design time are also reduced."

Technology gets better every day -- that's what I say....

Compact Flash Sale at Mr.Gadget!

This morning we reduced the prices of our Compact Flash Memory Card range, especially those from Sandisk. It's amazing the way that memory cards, such as compact flash and SD cards have dropped in price the last couple of months. Word on the street is that reduction in memory card prices is a result of improved manufacturing techniques in Asia. This is excellent news for you the consumer as it means that you can now but larger capacity compact flash cards! Having bigger compact flash cards means that you won't have to be so picky about which pictures you keep stored when you're on holidays...hopefully allowing you to relax just that little bit more!

Check out our very competitive compact flash prices here at Mr.Gadget!

Below are links to the Sandisk Compact Flash Memory Card Range:
- Compact Flash 64MB Sandisk
- Compact Flash 128MB Sandisk
- Compact Flash 256B Sandisk
- Compact Flash 512MB Sandisk
- Compact Flash 1GB Sandisk
- Compact Flash 2GB Sandisk
- Compact Flash 4GB Sandisk

Sandisk Ultra II High-Speed Compact Flash Cards:
- Sandisk Ultra II Compact Flash 256MB
- Sandisk Ultra II Compact Flash 512MB
- Sandisk Ultra II Compact Flash 1GB
- Sandisk Ultra II Compact Flash 2GB

For those unfamiliar with what Compact Flash is, here's a concise definition that I found on Google:

"Data storage A standard for small-sized, non-volatile memory cards and other peripherals used in mobile computers, PDAs, digital cameras, and some MP3 players. Whilst only around 3x4cm in size (and only a few mm thick) compact flash memory cards are available in sizes of 128Mb+. IBM also now manufacture various "microdrive" hard disks to fit in compact flash (CF) slots, with a current maximum capacity of 1Gb."
www.nottingham.ac.uk/cyber/fullglos.html

Not another memory card format!?

Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and some local IT firms will soon mass produce a new type of memory card called “μcard”, which will be unveiled during the Taipei International Electronics Show (Taitronics) from October 8-12, according to sources.

Read the full story at Digitimes (click here).

Memory Stick O Memory Stick! Get them here at Mr.Gadget!

Tired of running out of space on your memory stick? Sick of having to ruthlessly delete photos because you've run out of room on your memory card? Despair no more! Mr.Gadget has Sandisk Memory Sticks at excellent prices so you can get that extra bit of memory you need. Especially with the holiday season and Christmas coming, you cannot go to that next engagement armed with nothing less than a 128MB Memory Stick Pro!

Sandisk phasing out standard Memory Sticks
Just an FYI, Sandisk are phasing out the normal Sandisk Memory Sticks and replacing these with the Sandisk Memory Stick Pro series. The prices of the Sandisk Memory Stick Pro have dropped so you can afford one of these for the same price of a standard memory stick! The difference between the two? Sandisk Memory Stick Pro cards have faster read and write time, so that means if you're using it in a digital camera, you'll be able to take shots and review them quicker. A quick note to say that Sony devices take Sandisk Memory Sticks with no problems!

Here's a list of links to the Sandisk Memory Stick range at Mr.Gadget Australia:

Sandisk Memory Stick: standard memory stick with five year warranty.
- Memory Stick Sandisk 64MB
- Memory Stick Sandisk 128MB


Sandisk Memory Stick Pro: faster than standard memory sticks. Check device compatibility. Five year warranty.

- Memory Stick Pro Sandisk 128MB
- Memory Stick Pro Sandisk 256MB
- Memory Stick Pro Sandisk 512MB
- Memory Stick Pro Sandisk 1GB
- Memory Stick Pro Sandisk 2GB

Sandisk Memory Stick Pro Ultra II: fastest memory stick with write and read speeds of up to 10MB per second. Lifetime warranty.

- Memory Stick Pro Ultra II Sandisk 256MB
- Memory Stick Pro Ultra II Sandisk 512MB
- Memory Stick Pro Ultra II Sandisk 1GB

Sandisk Memory Stick Duo: used in mobile phones and portable devices. Comes with an adapter so that it fits into any other memory stick device. Five year warranty.

- Memory Stick Duo Sandisk 32MB
- Memory Stick Duo Sandisk 64MB
- Memory Stick Duo Sandisk 128MB

Sandisk Memory Stick Pro Duo: faster than standard memory stick duo cards. Also comes with an adapter so will work in any memory stick pro device. Five year warranty.

- Memory Stick Pro Duo Sandisk 128MB
- Memory Stick Pro Duo Sandisk 256MB
- Memory Stick Pro Duo Sandisk 512MB

What is a Memory Stick?
Here's a definition that I found on Google:
"A memory format. A removable, chewing gum sized smartcard produced by Sony. Compatible with most of Sony's extensive portable digital range, but not with equipment produced by other manufacturers. Capacities range from 4MB to 128MB."
www.tiscali.co.uk

The definition above is a bit outdated now for two main reasons:
- Sandisk also produce memory sticks now
- the largest standard Sandisk Memory Stick is 256MB with memory select (has two inbuilt 128MB chips, so you can choose which one to write data to). Sandisk currently have a 2GB Memory Stick Pro.

Click here to see Memory Sticks at Mr.Gadget!

Sandisk supplies RSMMC for Siemens s65 mobile phone

Sunnyvale, CA, August 19, 2004 – SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced that it will supply Siemens Information and Communication Mobile of Germany, the world's fourth largest producer of mobile phones, with Reduced Size MultiMediaCards (RS-MMC) for sale with the new high-performance Siemens S65 handset.

At roughly half the size of a postage stamp, the SanDisk RS-MMC is one of the world's smallest flash memory form factors. A 32-megabyte RS-MMC will be bundled with sales of the Siemens mobile phones, which are expected to reach dealers in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America by October 1, 2004.

“This represents a significant OEM design win for the RS-MMC flash memory form factor, which we recently introduced, and we're pleased that Siemens has decided to include our cards with this exciting new mobile phone,” said Heinz H. Schulte, sales director for the mobile phone market segment in Europe. “The tiny size of the RS-MMC, coupled with its high capacity for storage, is well-suited to the demands of this advanced, full-featured handset.” Siemens said that the S65 is the company's first mobile phone to have an integrated 1.3-megapixel still and video camera. Unveiled in March at the CeBIT 2004 trade show in Hannover, Germany, the Siemens S65 also comes with a full suite of business software, a large 65k TFT color screen, a speakerphone, Bluetooth wireless communication, instant messaging, and synchronization with Microsoft Outlook and IBM’s Lotus Notes. The video recorder films at 15 frames per second and the video clips can be e-mailed, played back or stored on the RS-MMC card.

In late July, as part of its mobile products line, SanDisk began shipping retail versions of the RS-MMC in Europe and Asia. The card includes an extender, which allows it to adapt to a full-sized MultiMediaCard/Secure Digital slot. SanDisk's RS-MMC, measuring 24 by 18 by 1.4 mm, is about half the size of a standard MultiMediaCard. The company also offers 64MB and 128MB capacities for RS-MMC.

The market for mobile phones with flash memory card slots is projected to increase rapidly. Market research firm IDC is predicting that manufacturers will sell over 157 million such phones by the end of this year, and that by 2005 the number will reach 246 million. According to a report from Gartner, Inc., worldwide sales of all types of mobile phones totaled 153 million units for the first quarter of 2004, representing a record 34 percent increase over the first quarter of 2003. This robust market is prompting Gartner to predict that mobile phone sales will exceed 600 million units for 2004.

SanDisk, the world's largest supplier of flash memory data storage card products, designs, manufactures and markets industry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audio storage products using its patented, high density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, CA.

Lexar re-invents itself

FREMONT, CA, August 5, 2004 — Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR), a company known for digital media products and accessories, unveiled today a new corporate identity reflecting its growing worldwide popularity, leadership in digital media technologies and expanding portfolio of innovative products. Moving forward, Lexar Media will be known as Lexar, more accurately depicting its broadening market opportunity as removable digital media pervades consumer electronics.

"Providing advanced solutions for digital photography is a mainstay of Lexar, and the new look symbolizes its spirit of innovation that has led to advanced solutions in digital photography, USB flash drives and digital music players," said Jim Gustke, general manager, marketing. "By creating a new logo and evolving the name, we are aligning the corporate identity to better illustrate who we are today and how we are growing to meet the future needs of our customers."
With a reputation for superior technology, Lexar has long been a preferred brand among professional photographers. The evolution of the corporate identity extends the company's appeal to consumers purchasing its award winning digital media products now sold in over 55,000 retail storefronts worldwide. The new logo was designed as a symbol of the superior technology, high quality and customer satisfaction all consumers can expect from Lexar.
The new corporate identity introduced today will be implemented through a transitional process. From advertising to product packaging in popular retail outlets to a best of class website, consumers should expect to see the new image everywhere over the coming months.
About Lexar Media, Inc.

Lexar is a leading marketer and manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers and ATA controller technology for the digital photography, consumer electronics, industrial and communications markets. The company holds over 70 controller and system patents, and licenses its technology to companies including Olympus, Samsung Electronics, SanDisk Corporation and Sony. For more information, please call 1-800-789-9418 or visit http://www.lexar.com/

Sandisk CompactFlash Memory Card Survives Blast

Cape Giardeau, MO., August 23, 2004 – When a demolition crew set off an explosion to bring down an old highway bridge on the Mississippi River, newspaper photographer Don Frazier was so close that his hair stood on end. His digital camera, positioned on a tripod at an even closer point to remotely capture the event, fared much worse. It was blown to bits.

But to Frazier's amazement, there on the ground, inches from the shattered remnants of his new pro-level camera, was his SanDisk 256MB CompactFlash card, which he had owned since 1999. Surprisingly, except for a few nicks, it was unscathed, even though it had been blasted from the camera chamber. And when he inserted the card into a PC reader, up popped an image that has astonished everyone who's seen it.

Read more about this story of the indestructible Compact Flash Card at Sandisk!

I am here

The Shuttertalker is here! Bring on the memory cards!