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SD Card Association: flash card speeds to triple by 2012
The SD Card Association (truth be told, one of our favorite card-related associations) has a new spec in the works that will almost triple the speed of its SDHC and SDXC cards, according to CNET. The specification, which should be complete Q1 next year, will achieve 300MB per second by adding a second row of electrical contacts on the bottom face of the card, and will be backward compatible with older, slower devices. Although being referred to internally as SD 4.0, brand names for the technology are still being considered -- with UHS-II (the successor to UHS-I ultra-high speed bus cards) as one possibility.
SanDisk ships 64GB Ultra SDXC card for $350
Here's hoping you didn't pull the trigger on of the world's first SDXC cards to ship, 'cause if so, you just paid a painful premium. Nary two months after Panasonic served up the first 32GB and 64GB SDXC cards to the masses, SanDisk has stepped in to ship its highest capacity Secure Digital card ever in the 64GB Ultra SDXC. Said device boasts a 15MB/sec read speed, a Class 4 speed rating and an exFAT file structure that helps you capture 1080p clips without any glitches or hangups. It's also based around the minty fresh SD 3.0 specification, so make sure that you pick up an SDXC reader or a device that specifically supports the format (you know, like ASUS' Eee PC T101MT). If you're finally ready to leap, this one's available now for the not-quite-reasonable price of $349.99, though if we were you, we'd wait for the rest of the competition to hit the ship button and drive down the MSRP.
Panasonic shipping first SDXC cards next month for ungodly amounts of cash
Here we go, folks. Nearly a year to the day after the term "SDXC" cemented itself into our vernacular, Panasonic has announced the first two that'll ever ship to end users. Unless a competitor jumps in and steals the thunder before then, of course. Announced here in the desert, the outfit has proclaimed that a 48GB and 64GB SDXC card will begin shipping to fat-walleted consumers in February, bringing with it a Class 10 speed rating and maximum data transfer rates of 22MB/sec. You know what else they'll be bringing? Price tags that are guaranteed to make you simultaneously weep and hoot -- the 48GB model will list for $449.95, while the 64 gigger will go for $599.95. Tissues, anyone?
Video: SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash card does 600x, the hokey pokey
Naw, it ain't the quickest CompactFlash card our eyes have ever seen, but it's certainly up there. SanDisk's new Extreme Pro CF line packs an impressive 600x rating, which is twice that of the Extreme IV CompactFlash card that it shipped right around this time last year. Available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flavors, this unit promises 90MB/sec read and write performance, guaranteed operation at extreme temperatures and a thumbs-up from Chase Jarvis. Also introduced is the 8/16/32GB SanDisk Extreme, which features 60MB/sec of read and write performance (400x) while going a little easier on the wallet. Both families should be available any day now, with the Extreme gang ranging from $130 to $375 and the Extreme Pro crew starting at $300 and stopping at around $800. Oh, and if you're scouting an ExpressCard reader to handle the new speeds, the Extreme Pro ExpressCard Adapter will splash down next month for $49.99. Enthralling demo is after the break.
PhotoFast CR-7100 MicroSDHC adapter helps obsolete CF cards
That noise you hear is the sobering death rattle of the CompactFlash memory format. Allegiance to the now decidedly less than compact memory sticks seems to keep crumbling away bit by bit. The latest assault comes in the form of this here converter, capable of utilizing a MicroSDHC card in the high-end camera of your choice. The CR-7100 is available in Japan now for ¥2,980, or about 31 greenbacks. Here's hoping this agent of memory interoperability nirvana shows up in US and European markets sooner rather than later.[Via Akihabara News]
SanDisk ships first ever multicard readers with style
Okay, so maybe you've seen a multicard reader or two in your day that wasn't unsightly to the nth degree, but it's a rarity, let us tell you. Furthermore, SanDisk's latest bunch are amongst the first we've seen that we'd actually feel somewhat proud to have sitting on our desks, and considering that there's only so much added functionality you can give these things, aiming for high fashion was probably a good move. The new line of ImageMate readers are currently shipping out to retailers in North America, with the All-In-One reader listing at $29.99 and the Multi-Card reader selling for $10 less.%Gallery-45872%
Panasonic hoping to launch 64GB SDXC card
SDXC may have a theoretical capacity range of 32GB to 2TB, but Panasonic has already confessed that it's hoping to launch a 64GB card as soon as feasibly possible. Regrettably, pricing and availability is still yet to be determined, but we're going to go out on a limb here and guessing it'll be somewhere between "pricey" and "crazy expensive."
Fujifilm dishes out new platter of Secure Digital cards
It's not making the same sized splash as the tidal wave created by SanDisk today, but Fujifilm is still vying for your flash card dollars with a bundle of newcomers. On the vanilla SD front, we're seeing a new 1GB SD and 2GB SD card, while those scouting a microSD card can key in on the new 1GB and 2GB flavors there, too. Stepping it up are the 4/8/16GB SDHC cards and the tinier 4/8GB microSDHC units. There's no mention of dollars and cents, but the whole colorful group should be on store shelves next month.
SanDisk fesses up to 16GB microSDHC and M2 memory cards
What's been keepin' ya, SanDisk? We knew these little buggers were legit late last week, but for whatever reason, the outfit chose to keep its trap shut until today. Finally, SanDisk has confessed in painful detail that its 16GB microSDHC and M2 cards are for real, marking the largest capacity available in both formats. Of note, even Sony doesn't have a 16GB M2 card on the market, though it's possible the firm is too busy dealing with all those other proprietary formats to mess with this one. At any rate, Best Buy Mobile and Verizon Wireless stores will be your go-to place for either one, though we'd be prepared to shell out $99.99 (16GB microSDHC) or $129.99 (16GB M2) when they land in November.
Potential flash cart ban helps R4 sales
Chalk this one up to "we saw this coming," but the troubled waters that flash carts have found themselves in has led to an increase in R4 sales.Nintendo and fifty-three other companies are filing a suit against retailers selling flash carts, demanding that they stop the sales and imports of said cards. According to Kotaku, Japanese retailers in Akihabara are noticing a difference in demand for flash cards already. Regarding the R4, one staffer noted, "The rush in demand has been amazing. These devices always sell well. But this weekend should be staggering, don't you think?" Amazon.jp has also seen a rise in cart sales, which is to be expected.We're sure Nintendo foresaw the immediate panic following the company's announcement, and that's the risk they decided to take -- watching things get worse before they get better. If Nintendo and the others win the suit, though, it will likely be worth their while in the end.[Thanks, supa_s!]
Nintendo and others file suit against flash cart sellers
Nintendo is finally taking aggressive action against piracy, as the company is suing five Japanese firms over flash cart equipment. The Big N is just one of many plaintiffs in the case, though, with fifty-three others joining in to aid the fight -- just a few companies that you may have heard of, like, oh, Square Enix, Sega, Level-5, Hudson, Pokemon, Capcom, Namco Bandai, SNK Playmore, Koei, and so forth.While details are scarce, we can imagine a lot of popular carts (like the R4), if not all carts, will be affected. Should Nintendo and friends win the suit, selling and importing such carts will be illegal, meaning that people would have to resort to the black market to get their hands on one.We understand why Nintendo and other companies would want to fight the good fight against piracy, but we can't help but fret over the impact on our precious homebrew hobby. At any rate, we'll give you more information as this case unfolds. [Via Joystiq; Thanks, Kimiko!]
Retailers hoping for R4 ban in UK
Retailers in the UK are losing sleep over DS flash carts, and that's turning them into big old grumps. As you probably know, flash carts not only offer interesting homebrew opportunities, but they also provide owners with the means to pirate games. Piracy has been cutting into DS software sales, and retailers? They're not very happy.The cart under attack is, of course, the R4DS -- it is the most mainstream one, after all. Retailers don't want R4s to be sold anymore, and are calling for a UK ban on the product. SimplyGames.com has already pulled the flash card from its site after a "conversation with Nintendo." (As far as we can tell, the site isn't selling alternative carts, either.)We know what you're thinking -- the R4 isn't the only piracy option out there. Yet, it's likely that other flash cards will find themselves on the chopping block, too. A nationwide ban on the R4 and others probably won't happen, though, and even if it does, many will just turn to imports.Being the good souls that we are, we're assuming that most of you aren't pirates and can sympathize with suffering retailers. Still, do you think that warrants a ban on flash carts?
DSVision's virtual store lacks virtual goods
According to Spencer over at Siliconera, the DSVision store isn't all it's cracked up to be. The launch of the service has left him wanting, considering there are only 30 items available in the online store, with users expecting much, much more from the launch of the service. He does admit that the pricing is favorable, however. Episodes of television shows are only $2, with digital manga fetching $3 per chapter. The books on available on the service range from free for a trial to $6 for a 1,000-page novel. Did any of you bother to import it?
Here's a vision of DSVision
Even though we have our own flash carts, we can't help but covet DSVision. We'd like to see for ourselves how an official cart compares to our own -- not to mention, this demo video makes the service look pretty rad. While it doesn't seem like there's too much downloadable content on the official website yet, we like that all different kinds of media (anime, manga, movies, novels) are readily available in one place. Unfortunately, most of us who don't live in Japan have to adopt a "look but don't touch" policy if we want to do the nifty official things shown in the video, as we lack something vital for buying content -- a Japanese credit card. We're used to not having as many cool toys as our friends in the East, though, so we'll just suck it up as per usual.
DSVision pricing and release date announced
DSVision, the content download service using an official homebrew-like flash card, will (probably!) begin operations in Japan on July 3rd, though the actual hardware will be available June 26. Electronics stores throughout Japan will sell the card package for 3980 yen ($38), which will include the card, a 512mb microSD card, and a USB adapter. The site will sell novels and comics for prices ranging from 100 to 600 yen, and movies from between 500 and 1000 yen. Users will also be able to put photos on the card and augment them with graffiti and music. That is, if it comes out this time.
Olympus rolls out high-speed Type M+ xD-Picture Cards
Believe it or not, Olympus' original Type M xD-Picture Card crashed the scene over a year ago, so it's about time its successor showed up, don'tcha think? The revamped (and ever-so-slightly renamed) M+ card promises data transfer speeds of up to 1.5 times faster than the vanilla Type M, yet somehow still supports "virtually all digital cameras with xD-Picture Card slots" -- whatever that means. Unfortunately, these speedsters still cap out at 2GB, and while pricing deets remain undisclosed, they should be landing sometime in April for all to see.
Pretec intros 16GB / 24GB / 48GB CompactFlash cards
Just in case you haven't had enough flash storage for one day, Pretec's making sure you really do get your fill. Announced today at CES, the outfit unveiled a 16GB, 24GB and 48GB CompactFlash card, with the 2GB - 24GB iterations available in 333x flavors (50MB/sec) and the 1GB - 48GB models available in 233x (35MB/sec). Unfortunately, the details we're really after -- you know, price and release dates -- are curiously missing, but hopefully Pretec will toss those tidbits out in the near future.
Transcend joins the 16GB SDHC Class 6 party
We already saw A-DATA unveil what it claimed was the "world's first" 16GB SDHC card in the Class 6 family, and now Transcend is hitting us all up with a very viable alternative. The card guarantees a minimum write speed of 6MB/second, includes ECC to automatically detect and fix errors and sports a lifetime warranty, too. Not a lot to say beyond that -- especially considering the glaring lack of a price or ship date -- but we doubt you'll be waiting too much longer before seeing this on store shelves.[Via AVing]
Rumor: Official flash cards for downloading Game Boy games
Normally, if we saw an unsourced rumor stating that Nintendo was planning to release its own DS flash media, for the purpose of offering downloadable Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles via a Virtual Console-type service, we wouldn't even take the time to write one very long sentence about it. But, as the previous very long sentence suggests, we have reason to at least consider the plausibility of this rumor. It was reported by the usually trustworthy EDGE magazine, so it gets at least a "we don't know" shrug from us. Maybe?If true, EDGE speculates/reports, this development would then lead to a download service like Wii Ware, for original DS content. Confusingly, this is cited as a move to allow officially-supported homebrew content, and thus removing some of the usefulness of non-Nintendo homebrew devices, which can also, of course, be used for piracy. Would it be worth giving up homebrew for the ability to buy the same games? Standardization would at least be nice. And we'd all love some downloadable Game Boy games.
A-DATA unveils 16GB SDHC Class 6 flash card, amongst others
16GB SDHC cards aren't all that atypical these days, but A-DATA is claiming to have the "world's first 16GB SDHC Class 6" iteration ready to roll. Additionally, the firm is introducing an 8GB Super SDHC Duo (saywha?) card of the Class 4 variety, and for those still scouting a new CompactFlash card, it's cranking out a 32GB version for you. Regrettably, we've no idea how soon A-DATA plans to get these on the market (nor how much it plans to charge), but it shouldn't be long before we all find out.[Via ITNewsOnline]
