Microdia beats Samsung to market with world's first 64GB CF card

At long last and a full year and a half after Samsung first touted a 64GB Compact Flash card, Microdia steps onto the scene with the world's first product. Almost. By the end of June, Microdia will begin shipping its 64GB XTRA ELITE CF card to the photog masses. The UDMA card brings a sustained read / write speed of 300x or 45MBps making it perfectly suited to high-burst rate DSLRs. Now if only we had a price to calculate the cost of our new 192GB SSD. Full press release after the break.

[Via PC Authority]

PMA, Brisbane, Australia, June 6, 2008, - MICRODIA Ltd. (MICRODIA), a world leader in flash memory technologies, has announced that mass production of the world's first 64GB CF card will commence in June and has been accepting orders from around the world. The first shipment is expected by the end of June.

At 64GB, with a sustained read/write speed and data transfer rate of 300X or 45MB/sec, the XTRA ELITE CF card is making it the highest capacity and fastest data transfer compact flash technology available.

MICRODIA's XTRA ELITE CF cards are designed to provide the world's best solution for professional photographers and photo enthusiasts and with capacities from 4GB through to the industry leading 64GB, which can store over 19,000 high resolution images* .

As the elite flash memory cards available in the world, the MICRODIA XTRA ELITE UDMA CF cards offer the ultimate in performance, said Louis Leung, Founder and CEO of MICRODIA.

The MICRODIA XTRA ELITE 64GB CF card provides an excellent storage solution for high-profile professional photographers through its reliability, durability and speed.

Capturing, viewing, uploading and transferring large image files is now faster, simpler and more convenient for users.

Being first to market with the 64GB CF is yet another example of MICRODIA's strength in flash memory technology.

MICRODIA continues to place heavy emphasis on R&D to develop the industry's highest capacities and fastest speeds, exemplifying our core philosophy of helping users get the best optimised data flash storage performance for all their digital devices, Mr Leung said.

Mr Leung said MICRODIA chose Australia in which to launch the 64GB CF card as an overall demonstration of its commitment to its emerging markets.

We have only been in Australia for a matter of weeks, and decided the best way to demonstrate our capabilities and intent to offer the world's best flash memory products here was to launch this product at Australia's leading professional photography trade show, PMA.

As a new brand to Australia, but as the world's second largest flash memory company in terms of production capacity with a 17 year history, globally launching the 64GB CF card in Australia at PMA will give us tremendous early momentum in this market.

"It will help position the MICRODIA brand in the minds of Australian consumers and retailers and provide them with a broader choice of flash memory cards," he said.MICRODIA launched its full product range in Australia at last week's CeBIT trade show in Sydney, and National Sales Manager Lee Jefferies said the initial response from the trade, the public and professional photographers had been strong.

The most common response from people we spoke to was "is a 64GB CF card even possible?'" we took great pleasure in telling them that not only was it possible it was actually available, but only from MICRODIA, Mr Jefferies said.

MICRODIA's ultra high speed XTRA ELITE cards are built with the company's proprietary EPM (Enhanced Processing Management) Technology for improved efficiency and performance, thereby delivering some of the fastest sustained read/write speeds in the industry.

XTRA ELITE cards are also based on Single Level Cell (SLC) NAND Flash technology, which stores one bit per cell and uses an optimized controller combined with large block NAND technology to achieve high data transfer rates. Compared to Multi Level Cell (MLC) NAND Flash technology, which allows each memory cell to store two bits of information, SLC NAND Flash technology provides excellent performance well suited for professional use especially those with demanding speed requirements.

With a solid commitment to R&D and continued technical advancements, MICRODIA will continue to play a major role in the flash memory industry.

About MICRODIA

MICRODIA is a global leader in flash memory technologies and the world's 2nd largest manufacturer of flash memory cards. With its heavy emphasis on R&D, MICRODIA leads the way in bringing the latest and most advanced flash memory technology to market ahead of the competition. Since its inception in 1991 as a magnetic data storage media manufacturer, MICRODIA has earned a reputation for quality, reliability and technical excellence. Today, the company provides a full range of Flash Memory Data Storage Solutions, Portable Multimedia Devices and Wireless Connectivity Solutions. MICRODIA's global coverage extends to many corners of the world and continues to penetrate existing markets and expand into new territories. For additional product information, please visit MICRODIA's website at www.microdia.com.

[lance @ Jun 6th 2008 8:29AM]

thats just plain yummy!

[gad get @ Jun 6th 2008 8:26AM]

"World's first product"? Wha--?

[gad get @ Jun 6th 2008 8:27AM]

Why does it look like it's coated in stainless steel?

[tekdroid @ Jun 6th 2008 8:43AM]

to make you think the product is premium, like silver-painted plastic on laptops and phones (my guess)

[gad get @ Jun 6th 2008 9:28AM]

Well, they won't fool me!

It does look rather high-quality though, doesn't it?

I bet it's very durable....

I like that metallic sheen....

So much nicer than other cards....

...I want it!

[ehisforadam @ Jun 6th 2008 3:41PM]

Well...most CF cards have a metal case with plastic guide rails and connector, so it probably is stainless steel anyway.

[wickedpheonix @ Jun 6th 2008 8:36AM]

Honestly what camera needs that kind of speed or storage?! 8GB on a 10 MP card stores like well over a thousand photos already or something...

[bk7 @ Jun 6th 2008 8:44AM]

Professional photography making use of the highest quality settings might have a use for this..
Your 8MP digicam might be putting out at 2mb a pic and might never need more than an 8gig card before you upload, but pros can easily make use of more..

*I'm not saying I'm a pro, I'm just dont have as blinkered a view as you* =)

[tekdroid @ Jun 6th 2008 8:45AM]

i guess you can start shooting RAW without worrying?

[nak @ Jun 6th 2008 8:46AM]

Professionals who might shoot 1,000 photos in a day, you know, like a wedding photographer. Especially if you're shooting in RAW where file sizes balloon.

[Noah @ Jun 6th 2008 1:27PM]

As a professional photographer, I personally use two 2gb CF's, and two 8gb CF's and these will hold approximately 2500 RAW photos from my 8.1mp SLR. 64gb seems like some serious overkill, but then again - serious overkill is always best. This card, at 8.1mp in RAW, should be able to hold approximately 9142 images.

[Tony @ Jun 6th 2008 2:02PM]

Won't most professionals prefer to have multiple memory cards, just in case?

In other words, not to put all their eggs in one basket.

[Max Link @ Jun 7th 2008 2:30PM]

There's video cameras utilizing CF media, and maintaining write speeds for (HD) video is a challenge to any card. Needless to say, video tends to eat up space quickly.

[brian @ Jun 6th 2008 8:50AM]

If this was at the same cost as a blu-ray blank what would that do?

[gad get @ Jun 6th 2008 9:30AM]

I'm not sure I follow.

[Scott Culp @ Jun 6th 2008 8:50AM]

Many "pros" will not accept the compression of the standard .jpg settings. Try shooting in RAW, and consider something with a bracketted exposure (3-5shots in one click)......it eats up space real fast!

[Steven @ Jun 6th 2008 4:28PM]

Bracketting is what you do when you don't have a clue about lighting. I'd be surprised to see a pro do that. AND they'd get 3-5 times as many images on a card!

[BorisBorf @ Jun 6th 2008 8:58AM]

I'm so excited that they are finally making 64gb CF cards!!! I replaced the hard drive in my 60gb 5g iPod with a 32gb CF card because it had failed but I have always been miffed by having only half the capacity as before.
Finally...

[Scump @ Jun 6th 2008 9:02AM]

This is great, I hope these high capcity cards start to fall in price in time for next gen consoles (after the current 'next' gen).

Go away spinning media... I love your cheapness tho.

[dilespla @ Jun 6th 2008 9:19AM]

My Olympus dSLR can store about 230 shots RAW on a 4gb card. Each photo is right around 15MB, so yeah, this card will be nice to have.

[Scump @ Jun 6th 2008 9:09AM]

Ah you beat me to it. How much more reliable and effective would flash media be over similar capacious media. I was thinking if you look at all the current games console and lappies out there, removing the optical drive would have so many added benifits. About 40% extra free space in the 360, longer battery life in laptops and great reliability across the board ie Scores and marks gone forever.

But then look at a 8gb memory card of any type now and think does the price come close to a single dvd disc?

doubt so.

[BorisBorf @ Jun 6th 2008 9:18AM]

Back would come the days of blowing into game cartridges to get the "dust" out. Ah...

[gad get @ Jun 6th 2008 9:34AM]

As opposed to blowing on or gently wiping discs and laser lenses.

[Chuck @ Jun 6th 2008 10:36AM]

I just bought a 8g flash drive for $30 bucks regular price in a store. Give it a year or two, and it will be down to $10 and less.

[D @ Jun 6th 2008 9:41AM]

I can't wait to put this in my iPod mini! Who needs a Touch...?

[fanman @ Jun 6th 2008 9:43AM]

Dang you beat me to it!

[John @ Jun 6th 2008 10:51AM]

I want an iPhone with one of these in it.

[Jonyah @ Jun 6th 2008 10:50AM]

ok i want a few of these put into one of those diy sdd drives.

[kal326 @ Jun 6th 2008 11:18AM]

One would just just fine to replace most lappy drives with a cheaper ssdish option. 45MB/s is what most 80-160GB 5400rpm 2.5 drives can transfer at anyway. not a bad option for a single cf to sata adapter, depending on the price get 3 for a lot cheaper then any off the shelf SSD.

[cory3218 @ Jun 6th 2008 1:08PM]

I hope it is compatible with the red one digital cinema camera.

[David Vogt @ Jun 6th 2008 6:02PM]

No photographer needs 64gb.

[gad get @ Jun 6th 2008 11:01PM]

I don't think you're "no photographer," so how do you know what "no photographer" needs?

o_O

[Ed Agter @ Jul 19th 2008 2:32PM]

hahaha, that whas the comment when the first 1 gb card came out!
"Who needs a one gb card!"

[jspan @ Jun 8th 2008 2:29PM]

I want one for my zaurus! I almost bought a 32Gb one for $175 last month so I estimate these will be $280 or so. When these are under $200 they will be awesome and my preferred portable media.

[Nat Bradford @ Jun 9th 2008 5:48PM]

The launch pricing in Australia is AUD $3,995.