 |
|
|
|
|
1 GB SD card, coming next year
|
|
|
|
By Larry Garfield, Wednesday 9 October 2002  
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Panasonic has a 1 GB SD card ready, bringing full-length DivX movies on a handheld a step closer, but it won't be on shelves for another year. Hopefully by then other companies will have them, too, and drive down prices.
Matsushita Electric Industrial, better known for the brand name Panasonic, has announced as Ceatec 2002 that they have developed a Secure Digital card capable of holding 1 gigabyte of data. It also uses a new, faster data bus to move data from the card to a device, capable of up to 20 Mbps.
Current generations of SD card max out at 512 MB, and are speced to run at a maximum of 10 Mbps. Cards smaller than 256 MB run at only 2 Mbps. All of those speeds are limited by the speed of the device to which they are attached, however.
Unfortunately, the new cards won't be appearing on the market for another year, until Matsushita believes that market demand has increased sufficently and production costs decreased sufficently to warrant producing the cards in bulk. Matsushita intends to have 2 GB cards ready in 2004, and then 4 GB versions in 2005, scaling up to 16 GB eventually.
Secure Digital is one of the three major card formats in use on handheld devices, along with Compact Flash and Sony's Memory Stick. Compact Flash cards have been available in capacities up to 1 GB for several months now, though the 1 GB cards currently sell for around $700 USD. Sony Memory Stick cards come in capacities as high as 128 MB, and it appears that Sony will be foregoing larger cards in favor of their encrypted Magic Gate sticks, which include copy prevention systems. As all three use essentially the same flash memory technology, capacities of all three formats should increase in tandem, depending on market demand and corporate interest in developing higher capacities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
iTunes-enabled Motorola RAZR V3im now available
11 May, EU Edition Take one Motorola RAZR V3i, add support for iTunes synchronization and voilá; you have the tune-toting V3im, complete with a 100-song memory cap, microSD memory expansion and more - now shipping. More...
» More Music phones | | |
| | Nokia N73, Sony Ericsson K610i and more hot 3G phones coming soon
11 May, EU Edition From high-performing multimedia specialists to light and nimble handsets; several hot 3G phones are due out shortly, among them Nokia's feature-packed N73 and Sony Ericsson's sleek K610i. More...
» More 3G phones | | This week's coolest gadgets
10 May, EU Edition Among the most coveted gear this week rests leather-clad ultraportables, Sony's new hard drive-equipped camcorder, GPS navigators supreme, two next-generation gaming consoles and more. More...
» More Most coveted gadgets | | Stylish Nokia 5500 Sport handset debuts
10 May, EU Edition The latest addition to Nokia's range of rugged phones arrives with an unusually stylish splash and dust resistant exterior, an integrated 3D accelerometer, text-to-speech technology and music playback. More...
» More Nokia phones | | Petite phones, massive memory
9 May, EU Edition Can't get enough storage, you say? Three brainiacs from Samsung along with offerings from Nokia and Sony Ericsson hold enough memory to store between one and two thousand MP3s. More...
» More Music phones | | Samsung SGH-X820 claims throne of thin
9 May, EU Edition Besting its own record, Samsung's SGH-X820 measures a mere 6.9 mm yet manages to pack a landscape high-resolution screen, 2 Megapixel camera, EDGE, stereo Bluetooth audio, TV out and more. More...
» More Slim phones | | Review: Nokia E61
8 May, EU Edition Jørgen Sundgot gets up close and personal with the Nokia E61 business phone, sporting a BlackBerry-like design with a thumbboard, landscape-oriented high-resolution display, 3G, Wi-Fi and more. More...
» More Business phones | | Slimline Qtek 8500 business phone revealed
8 May, EU Edition Boasting Windows Mobile 5.0, a 1.3 Megapixel camera, high-resolution display and microSD expansion, Qtek's clamshell 8500 is the slimmest business phone yet - and no heavyweight either at 99 g. More...
» More Business phones | | This week's most coveted phones
5 May, EU Edition Nokia contributes a 4 GB music phone and a thumbboard-toting BlackBerry killer; LG lines up a sleek and slim 3G phone; and O2 chips in with the brainy yet pocketable XDA IQ. It's been a good week in phones. More...
» More Most coveted phones | | BlackBerry clone business phones ready global assault
4 May, World Edition Business phones from veteran maker RIM have won the hearts and thumbs of road warriors everywhere; fresh entrants from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Palm want in on the action. More...
» More Business phones |
|
|
|
|
|
| Hands-on impressions, news, reviews, prices and release dates; now all-in-one-page: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Hands-on impressions, news, reviews, prices and release dates; now all-in-one-page: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Archive