The Compact Flash Organization [site] released their new 5.0 specification earlier today.  It just blew the cap off the lid of storage limits.  The current specification for Compact Flash is 137GBs…now that is 144 Petabytes, or PBs.

Petabyte is a big number, and most people haven’t heard of it.  Well, to break it down, a petabyte is [around] 150 million Gigabytes.

Look around your house for some Blu-ray discs, that would equal six million blu-ray titles on one Compact Flash card.  I guess that means no more RAID boxes, right?  I mean, what’s better than solid state memory and storage the size of Texas?

We started doing the math on the time it would take a CF Duplicator to copy a 5.0 Compact Flash card, laughed and stopped.  There just isn’t technology out there for bulk data loading to a device like this…let alone finding a ligitimate use of putting that much information on the card anyway.

So we don’t see a practical use for the 5.0 spec yet, but there are other improvements we should get excited about.  The CFA says Revision 5.0 brings an optional quality of service framework that guarantees a certain level of performance and prevents dropping frames, more efficient cleanup of unused space, a new electrical design that better complies with ATA standards.

There’s no mention of when CompactFlash 5.0 cards will ship, but if you are still interested you can read up on the new spec here [PDF], or download the official specification for a C note. (more…)

SD cards come in all sorts of GB sizes and speeds.  Today I thought it a good idea to take a look inside an SD card along with breaking out the speed differences.

To start, the SD media is broken down into “Classes”  The Class depicts the speeds at which a device reads and writes.

There are different speed grades available, measured the same as CD-ROMs, in multiples of 150 kB/s (1x = 150 kB/s). Basic cards transfer data up to six times (6x) the data rate of the standard CD-ROM speed (900 kB/s vs. 150 kB/s).

The maximum read speed and maximum write speed may be different. Maximum write speed typically is lower than maximum read speed. Some digital cameras require high-speed cards (write speed) to record video smoothly or capture multiple still photographs in rapid succession. This requires a certain sustained speed, or the video stops recording. For recording, a high maximum speed with a low sustained speed is no better than a low speed card. The 2.0 specification defines speeds up to 200x.

Some manufacturers use the read speed in their X-ratings, while others (Kingston, for example) use write speed.

SD Cards and SDHC Cards have Speed Class Ratings defined by the SD Association. The SD Speed Class Ratings specify the following minimum write speeds based on “the best fragmented state where no memory unit is occupied”:[9]

• Class 2: 2 MByte/s - 13x
• Class 4: 4 MByte/s - 26x
• Class 6: 6 MByte/s - 40x

SD and SDHC cards will often also advertise a maximum speed (such as (more…)

Nexcopy released a new line of flash memory duplication systems, the CF Duplicator 150PC, 300PC and 450PC.  These PC based systems are ideal for doing bulk data loading to Compact Flash cards.

Nexcopy has some unique features to make any data loading job a breeze.  For example, you can put unique files to each CF card through their Unique Data Copy function.  Or a user can easily copy bootable Compact Flash cards by using the bit for bit Short Image copy function.  The Short Image copy function means only the data clusters used on the CF card will be copied to the target devices…rather than the entire thing.

However, Nexcopy also provides a Full Image copy function if that is required.  I’m thinking this would be good for Ext2 or Ext3 Linux formats where there are potential files that could be in any sector of the CF media.

Nexcopy CF Duplicator line starts out with the CF150PC at $1,200 with an upgrade path to the 30 port and 45 port systems.  So the CF Duplicator is modular in design.

Nexcopy also mentions a user can mix and match duplicator boxes, so you could now copy to SD media, CF media and USB sticks all through one software interface, and at the same time!  Not bad.

You can learn more by visiting the product page: CF Duplicator by Nexcopy. http://www.nexcopy.com/cf-duplicator/

Source: GetUSB.info.

Yes, you read the title correct.  We now have a dual processor on Compact Flash cards.  The new SanDisk Extreme Pro clicks along at an impressive 90MB/s transfer rate.

Just what the doctor ordered for the professional photographer and photo analysis equipment applications.

So what does this mean for transfer rates?  Well consider a typical [high performance] CF card runs at 45MB/s write speed.  The new dual processor CF card runs [basically] twice as fast.

Of course the device itself is only half the equation, you still need a host who can accept such fast speeds, such as the Canon EOS 7D or Nikon D300s dSLRs to name a few.

For those who have the camera already, you might need the SanDisk Extreme Pro ExpressCard Adapter which plugs into the ExpressCard slot on laptops. Compared with typical card readers which offer up to 20MB/s transfer rates, the SanDisk adapter allows up to 90MB/s read and write speeds.

The Extreme Compact Flash series is targeted at enthusiasts and available in 8GB (S$139 (US$99.43)), 16GB (S$269 (US$192.43)) and 32GB (S$399 (US$285.43)) capacities.

For professional photographers who need fast, high-capacity media, the Extreme Pro comes in 16GB (S$413 (US$295.44)), 32GB (S$741 (US$530.08)) and 64GB (S$1,382 (US$988.63)) versions. The new cards are in retail stores now.

Elecom has a slick new card reader.  It’s compact in size and versatile in memory card support.

Traditionally card readers are like flash drives, rectangular in shape with a little dress-up on the outside case.  Elcom’s is a creative twist.

The circular card reader includes a magnet on the base so you can attach it to your 1970’s metal desk, or use it to pin up your kids latest drawing on the refrigerator door.

The circular card reader is available in black, white, pink and lime green.  List price is $27 and ships directly from Japan.

So here is an interesting twist to how a company can introduce a product.  Nexcopy used the common theme of a Movie Trailer to position their new 40 and 60 port USB Duplicators.  The quality of the video is excellent and the short 1 minute video gives you just enough information to peak your interest, yet not bore you to death.

We’ve mentioned Nexcopy before with their flag ship 20 port USB duplicator, then SD Duplicators and USB Copy Protection solutions.

For those who know, the Samsung branded NAND flash memory is considered the Tier 1 quality that everyone talks about.  It’s the best stuff out there…highest quality, best in performance, yet always a touch above others [Micron, Hynix, etc] in price.

Well that might change because Samsung is entering the retail market with their solid state flash of Secure Digital, Compact Flash and microSD media.

Samsung will release sizes from 4GB to 16GB capacity before the end of 2009.  These cards will be in the ‘Plus’ memory card class and compliant with the Secure Digital class 6 performance standards.  Cards boust a speed range of 17Mbps to 45Mbps.

Intel and Micron are two of the primary NAND flash memory makers and are partners in such manufacturing.  Earlier this month they announced new technology capable of 3-bit per cell storage which is based off 34-nanometer technology.

The 3-bit per cell concept allows for more storage in the same realestat of flash memory.  This imporvement yields larger storage capacity of flash drives and SSD at a lower price.

However, the new technology doesn’t come without some draw backs.  According to Kevin Kilbuck, Director of NAND marketing at Micron indicates the 3-bit per cell technology isn’t as stable as they’d like.

For example, Kevin indicates the 3-bit per cell NAND technology will be found in less mission critical devices like USB flash drives, SD memory and CF memory.  The technology will not find it’s way into SolidState Disks until the manufacturing process is perfected.

“The companies explained that they need more experience in production volumes before they will be confident to position it as a chip suitable for the high-write environment of the SSD”

You can expect the 3-bit per cell to hit the streets sometime in Q1 of 2010.

However, as with most technology, it’s on the way out before it’s ever even in; SanDisk and Toshiba disclosed in February that they had developed 4-bit-per-cell technology, which the two companies said was the highest-capacity flash memory technology in the industry. (more…)

Wouldn’t it be nice…a 2 Terabyte Sony Memory Stick?  It just might replace my trusted 8GB flash drive I use obsessively.  Bummer it’s not a real product [yet].

Sony put out a specification for this new Memory Stick Format Series for Extended High Capacity on the oss-formats.org website earlier today.  The new series uses the exFAT format to reach these higher capacities, but still offers up poor transfer speeds of 480Mbps [60MBs per second].  That translates into a data load of about 555,555 hours - WOW - is my math wrong?

The Memory Stick XC format series should deliver a maximum capacity of 2TB, 60 times larger than the company’s Memory Stick Pro, currently at 32GB. What’s even more interesting is that, at least on paper, the XC series will have the same form factors as Sony’s current PRO series.

Samson just released a great looking product, the Q3.  It’s a hand held video recorder and what is particularly nice about this unit, is the huge microphone perched at the top.  Now it’s easier than ever to capture that perfect moment - in both video and audio.

In addition to the well positioned microphone, the Samson Q3 also has an expansion slot via SD card for additional memory capacity.  Up to 32GBs to be exact.  Thus the title of the article.

The Samson Q3 also has VGA output so you can easily connect the device to your TV for instant viewing.

Use HandyShare to edit and share video on your favorite websites including YouTube, Facebook and MySpace. You can connect the video recorder to your computer via USB connection. (more…)