DRAMeXchange published a market research paper stating that NAND flash memory will continue to flood the market at lower prices. NAND flash memory is primarily used for storing songs, photos and other data on gadget type devices like digital cameras, MP3 players and iPods. The biggest contributing factor on why the market will continue to see cheap NAND is lack of sales.

Since production forecasts run months ahead, the market has sitting inventory. To move this inventory prices are continueing to drop. For example, DRAMeXchange reported a drop of 20% in June for NAND memory related devices.

The NAND flash market has been so bad that the creator of the chips, SanDisk, on Monday reported a surprise loss of US$68 million for the second quarter. The company blamed the supply glut for its problems, pointing out that it sold a record amount of flash, 120 percent more than the same time last year, but that prices are down 55 percent compared to then.

SanDisk also reported the flash memory pricing might get worse [better for us] in the third quarter. So, it might be a good idea to start picking out your Christmas items now and make sure it’s some type of flash gadget.

On the flip side, with today’s surplus means these companies are cutting back production as well, so once this flood dries up, we could see a shortage for NAND and prices jumping up…and the cycle goes on.

Source: Network World.

As things unfold for the miCard today we find a picture of the first [actual] product.

Here we see the Pretec S-Diamond miCard which is the new memory card standard from the MMC Association. The new format is expected to house anywhere from 128MB to 2TBs!

Measuring only 21mmX12mmX1.95mm, miCard is the smallest USB flash drive in the world, with an area 40% smaller than miniSD (volume is about 18% smaller than miniSD).

miCard can also be an SD/MMC card with an inexpensive adapter. The specification of miCard should be able to be released to MMCA members later this year.

S-Diamond is the 2nd generation of Pretec i-Disk Diamond series, which has been the smallest USB flash drive for years, which can now also serve as an SD/MMC card, saving not only consumers cost, but also saving hassles by getting rid of card readers and carrying multiple flash cards in different form factors. (more…)

So Griffin developed a 5:1 card reader that fits in your PCMCIA slot - gee aren’t there like 52:1 card readers out there now? Well, if you’re a Griffin fan and need a Memory Stick, SD, MMC, xD card reader this is the ticket for you.

Oh, you say only 4 cards listed, that’s right - Griffin counts the Memory Stick PRO as #5. WOW, maybe we should contract these guys for a marketing campaign. As one could expect, the Griffin ExpressCard reader is plug-n-play and requires no additional battery power. Good job guys. (more…)

It’s very possible the end of MultiMediaCards or MMC flash memory is at our front door. Over 62% of new cell phones in ‘06 used a smaller format like MicroSD and only two known phones where introduced exclusively with MMC expansion slots (Nokia N72 and BenQ M81).

“Between them, Samsung and LG introduced 65 new handsets with removable memory card slots in the last nine months, all of them using the microSD slot format,” comments Stuart Robinson, Director of the Handset Component Technology service at Strategy Analytics. (more…)

Finally a digital picture frame which holds some worth, the Kodak EASYSHARE digital picture frame is loaded with features. First, as any Kodak buff would expect the digital display is fine tuned to Kodak color standards then stack on some MP3 capability to sooth the sole of those fond memories.

Next, bring pictures to life with the EASYSHARE picture frame’s capability to play MPEG 1, 4, MOV and AVI files then funnel those joyous moments through the built-in stereo speakers - load these formats up via compact flash, secure digital, multimedia card, xD, memory stick or interface via USB. And if this isn’t enough (more…)

Memorex jumped into the jump drive market nearly two years ago and with it’s great success, Memorex is now splashing in flash memory. The first of ‘07 Memorex announced their TravelCard flash line of media. This includes SD, MiniSD, MicroSD and a full line of MultiMediaCards.

With world flash drive consumption to reach over 450 million units by 2008 this is a great move. Most popular sizes for the TravelCard will be 1GB and 2GB sizes. (more…)

It’s about time these kinds of surveillance cameras came in to the public domain. This camera has been hidden in a digital clock, which is not that new. However, this camera does have motion detection, and will record motion video in DivX to a standard SD or MMC flash memory card! It will record at 30 frames per second during motion, and stop when motion ceases.

(more…)