According to Cnet.com.au, our trusty Compact Flash memory cards are to be replaced with a new and faster card! Good news is that it could be available by as soon as next year; the bad news is that it may not be compatible with the current Compact Flash standard.

The new version, called CFast, has faster data-transfer speeds that could let photographers take more continuous shots without waiting for the camera to catch up, cut camera makers’ costs for built-in buffer memory, and make it swifter to review photos on a camera or copy them to a computer.

CompactFlash revamp aimed at cameras – CNET News

See our current range of Compact Flash cards here.

SECAUCUS, NJ, Feb 12, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — Panasonic today announced the release date of the world’s first* 32 Gigabyte SD High Capacity (SDHC)** Memory Card with Class 6 speed specification. With a global release in April 2008, the new SDHC Memory Card, RP-SDV32GU1K, is perfect for those wanting High Definition content, as it can record up to 12 hours of High Definition video. The new SDHC Memory Card will have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of US$699.

The newly developed card, featuring a massive 32GB of capacity, is ideal for AVCHD High Definition video recording, a growing demand thanks to the recent expansion of High Definition SD Camcorders. When used with Panasonic’s newly released High Definition SD camcorder, the HDC-SD9, the 32GB card can record approximately 12 hours of 1440 x 1080i High Definition video in HE mode, and approximately four hours of 1920 x 1080i full High Definition video in HA mode. With the Class 6 speed specification and maximum data transfer speeds up to 20MB/s, the 32GB card allows 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. Panasonic will introduce the new labeling feature in its other SD Memory Card models, with a running changeover from the current card designs.

The new card, like all other Panasonic SD and SDHC Memory Cards, is extremely reliable even under severe temperature conditions. Since the cards incorporate an industrial-grade flash memory, they work in temperatures ranging from -13 degreesF to +185 degreesF, while consumer-grade flash memory only guarantees +32 degreesF to +158 degreesF, thus ensuring consistent performance regardless if the user is skiing or snowboarding or if the SD Memory card is left in a hot car.***

The arrival of Panasonic’s 32GB SDHC Memory Card further strengthens the company’s Pro High Speed line-up and brings the total line to six models, joining those currently available: the 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB card sizes with the Class 6 speed specification.

*A 32GB SDHC Memory Card having Class 6 speed specification.

**1 GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Usable capacity will be less. SDHC Memory Cards can only be used in SDHC host devices, which support the SDHC Memory Card.

***Panasonic recommends that you never leave any electronic product sitting in direct sunlight or under other severe heat conditions.

Via FoxBusiness

See our current SD Card range here at Mr.Gadget Australia!

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, January 31, 2008 – Giving photo enthusiasts the freedom to take more pictures and shoot more video, SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today increased both capacities and speeds in its SanDisk Ultra® II line with the introduction of 32- and 16-gigabyte (GB)¹ SDHCâ„¢ cards and an 8GB SDHC Plus card. The announcement was made at the photo industry’s PMA 08 International Convention here.

Ideal for today’s camcorders and point-and-shoot digital cameras that can record both video and still images, the cards offer faster read and write speeds of 15 megabytes per second² (15MB/sec), up from previous speeds of 10MB/sec read and 9MB/sec write in the SanDisk Ultra II line.

“As cameras offer more megapixels and as new high-definition ‘record-to-memory-card’ camcorders are being introduced, the image sizes and files get bigger, requiring higher card capacity,” said Susan Park, senior product marketing manager for SanDisk Ultra II cards. “Cameras also are increasingly used for recording video clips, which demand even more memory and capacity. These mega-capacities in our SanDisk Ultra II line give users the worry-free ability to capture thousands of their memories and hours of HiDef video on a single card, while the faster write speed can reduce the time between shots and the faster read speed reduces time spent waiting to copy those images to a computer,” she added.

The 32GB Ultra II SDHC card, which is the industry-leading capacity and will be the highest capacity consumer flash memory card that SanDisk produces, will be able to store more than 8,000 high-resolution pictures or up to 40 hours of video³. A SanDisk MicroMateâ„¢ USB 2.0 Reader – a $20 value – is packaged with the 32GB and 16GB cards, giving users a one-stop solution for capturing, storing and transferring their images.

Beyond speed and capacity, the 8GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC Plus offers both SD™ and USB functionality in one card. Designed with SanDisk’s unique, patented Hinge Lock technology, the card may be inserted into a USB port on any computer. This two-in-one SD-plus-USB feature eliminates the need to carry cables or card readers to transfer photos and videos from cameras. Despite its small size, the hinge is sturdy – having survived more than 10,000 open-close cycles in SanDisk’s durability testing.

For camera compatibility, please visit www.sandisk.com/compatibility.

Expected pricing and availability

The 32GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card with MicroMate USB 2.0 Reader has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of US$349.99. The 16GB card with reader has a suggested price of US$179.99, and the 8GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC Plus card has an MSRP of $99.99. The 16GB and 8GB cards are expected to be available worldwide in March, with the 32GB slated for shipping in April.

For more information on SanDisk’s entire line of award-winning memory cards for the professional to the avid weekend photographer, visit www.sandisk.com.

View our current range of SD Cards here at Mr.Gadget Australia!

The Swann Ultimate Memory Card Reader reads almost every kind of memory card available today. It is a high-speed USB 2.0 memory card reader.

Features of the Swann Ultimate Memory Card Reader

• USB 2.0/1.1 interface
• Access speed reaches 12Mb/s or 480 Mb/s
• USB bus powered. AC power adapter is not required
• Supports hot-swapping and and mass storage
• Class Drive; adopt to nativ driver provided by Windows ME/XP or ME, 2000 & XP
• With Power and Access led indicators
• Data inserted cards can be exchanged in different reader sockets

SOCKETS : SM/XD 3.3V SmartMedia Card; XD Picture Card
SD/MMC/RS-MMC SOCKET: Secure Digital Card, Mini SD Card, SD Card,
Multimedia Card, Reduced Size Multimedia Card
MS Socket: Memory stick, MagicGate Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo,
MagicGate Memory Stick Duo, High-Speed Memory Stick
CF Socket: Compact Flash Card, Compact Flash Card II,
High Performance Compact Flash, IBM Microdrive

Order your Swann Ultimate Memory Card Reader at Mr.Gadget Australia!

Just a quick note to let all you gadgeteers know that the Sandisk 8GB Micro SD Cards have landed and are ready to be popped into your gadget! If you are even entertaining the thought of upgrading to one of these tiny data monsters please ensure that your device is SDHC compatible. The easiest way to do this is to head to the manufacturer’s website.

Very well priced too, if I do say so myself!

Click here to order your Sandisk 8GB Micro SD / Secure Digital Card!

Sandisk aims to separate itself from the growing crowd of compact flash manufacturers by having the most rugged and speediest compact flash memory cards on the market. Their Sandisk Extreme III range is one such example. More speed. More performance. More reliability. SanDisk’s Extreme III compact flash card delivers everything you want plus a whole lot more!

SanDisk Extreme III memory cards feature innovative ESP Technology for the fastest speeds and highest performance. ESP stands for “Enhanced Super-Parallel Processing”. Simply put, it means you are getting the fastest read/write speeds available – an amazing minimum 20MB per second** sequential read and write speed – speed you’ll definitely appreciate whenever you find yourself shooting and storing pictures in harsh environments, extreme temperatures or at high altitudes.

Every SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash card comes with RescuePRO® so you can recover images, documents, mail, video, music – just about any digital file, with ease. Built with leading-edge media recovery algorithms, RescuePro lets you preview recoverable data before you try to retrieve it. With RescuePRO’s unique recovery algorithm for MPEG audio and MPEG video recovery (MPEG-1/2/3) what you see, and what you hear, is what you can recover.

Sandisk Extreme III 4GB Compact Flash Card available at Mr.Gadget Australia!

Macworld, SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 14, 2008 – Eye-Fi, makers of the world’s first wireless memory card for digital cameras, today announced new capabilities for Mac users, including wireless photo uploads directly into iPhoto and support for Safari and Leopard. This week, Eye-Fi will be demonstrating the Eye-Fi Card at booth number 1338 at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco.

The Eye-Fi Card allows users to wirelessly and automatically send photos directly from their digital camera to their Mac or favorite online photo sharing site using their home Wi-Fi network. The new downloadable Mac upgrade will enable iPhoto to automatically import photos uploaded wirelessly to the Mac, eliminating a manual process and saving iPhoto users time. In addition to iPhoto, Eye-Fi users can upload to any one of 19 leading online photo sharing, printing, social networking or blogging sites.

The Mac upgrade will also allow Mac users to use the Safari 3 browser to access the Web-based Eye-Fi Manager for managing card settings and upload preferences. And, it offers full Eye-Fi software and service compatibility with the new Leopard version of Mac OS X (10.5). The downloadable upgrade is free to current Eye-Fi Card users and will be included in new Cards.

“With iPhoto, Apple has made saving and managing photos a cornerstone of the Mac experience, so adding new Mac capabilities is an important step for Eye-Fi,” said Ben Bajarin, Creative Strategies. “This new automatic import feature for iPhoto will save users time and hassle and deliver the seamless experience Apple customers demand.”

“We know that Mac users especially cherish the kind of simplicity and effortlessness we strive for. We think this is one of the reasons the Eye-Fi Card has been so popular with Mac users,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. “The Mac community is dear to us and the Mac upgrade will give Mac and iPhoto users the very best experience when saving and sharing their memories.”

The 2GB Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card for digital cameras recently won the Yahoo! Tech “Last Gadget Standing” competition at CES. The Card retails for $99.99 USD. For a complete list of Eye-Fi’s activities at Macworld and for more information, please visit www.eye.fi

If you have a digital camera that has less than a 1GB SD memory card in it, think about getting yourself an Sandisk 8GB SD Card. With this in your gadget, you’ll be able to store approximately 2,000 quality sized photos. No more running to your PC and downloading all your photos whenever you run out of room – we all know this is such a hassle on holidays!

Sandisk is also the world’s leader in memory cards like the SD Card (Secure Digital). With the Sandisk 8GB SD Card you have to make sure that your device can take the SDHC / High Capacity cards. Just look for SDHC in your instruction manual or contact your manufacturer.

Order your Sandisk 8GB SD Card (SDHC) here at Mr.Gadget Australia.

LAS VEGAS NEVADA, Jan. 7, 2008 – SanDisk Corporation, (NASDAQ: SNDK) the proven leader in flash memory, today announced it has begun to sample 12-gigabyte (GB)1 microSDHCâ„¢ flash memory cards to major phone manufacturers for testing and evaluation. The 12GB card represents a 50 percent boost in card capacity from SanDisk’s industry-leading 8GB microSDHC cards, which are currently available worldwide, and highlights the growing popularity of mobile phones with storageintensive features that include music players, digital cameras, video recording and playback and GPS capabilities.

“Mobile phones have become a key part of consumers’ lifestyles around the globe,” said Jeff Kost, senior vice president and general manager of the Mobile Consumer Solutions division at SanDisk. “What many people tend to overlook is the important role that removable storage cards play in enabling the key features of these fully featured mobile phones. In fact, many people are not even aware that their phone has a card slot which is why SanDisk recently launched its Wake Up Your Phone™ campaign.”

SanDisk has embarked on a ‘slot education’ program to raise awareness of both the card slot included in the majority of new mobile phones available today and the benefits to the consumers who use it. More information is available at: www.WakeUpYourPhone.com.

A 12GB microSDHC is ideal for storing large quantities of music, photos and video. For example, it will be able to store a combination of 1,500 songs2, 3,600 photos3 and 24.5 hours of video4.

SDHC is the designation for any SDâ„¢ or SD-based card that is larger than 2GB and adheres to the new SD 2.00 specification required for cards and hosts to support 4GB to 32GB capacities. The specification was developed by the SD Association, an industry standards board, which has also created three classes to define minimum sustained data transfer speed. These cards adhere to the SD Speed Class 4 Rating.

In addition to the microSDHC, 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.

Order Sandisk Micro SD Cards here at Mr.Gadget Australia