Kicking around in technology since 2002. I like to write about technology products and ideas, but at the consumer level understanding. Some tech, but not too techie.
Posting on Quora.com as well.
I wrote about the differences of xD cards a while back, and today I found the end-all, be-all xD chart of compatibility. I wanted to pass this along as it seems many have questions about:
“What is the difference of xD cards?”
“What is Type M and Type H xD cards?”
Well, aside from my previous article, you can cross reference what xD card you’d like to buy with the camera you have to make sure there is 100% compatibility. Book mark the chart page (or book mark my page with the link) so you have a quick reference on xD card sizes and their difference.
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Transcend continues their effort into the embedded systems applications with their most recent announcement of the SATA Flash Module. The high-speed SATA flash modules specifically designed for use in thin clients, blade servers, ultra-compact sub-notebooks and space-limited industrial installations allows Transcend to offer up their lightweight and compact SATA flash memory modules.
With solid-state flash memory being non-volatile and more robust than spinning hard disk solutions, it makes the SATA flash module ideal for harsher environments with more demanding applications, such as embedded systems, medial instruments, factory automation equipment, network infrastructure and other industrial equipment.
What I like most about flash memory modules is the low power consumption, shock and vibration resistance, longer data retention durability and instant access time (no spin up or seek times we traditionally see in HHDs).
Transcend’s SATA flash modules are offered in 1GB and 2GB capacities, in both vertical and horizontal versions to satisfy industrial application requirements.
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GFM posted about the Open Source Openmoko NEO phone which created a lot of buzz with our readers. Today I received an email stating you can now download the CAD files for the NEO phone industrial design.
What does this mean? Industrial design artists now have the same freedeom as software engineers in developing this great product. Now, by publishing mechanical CAD files, Openmoko frees industrial designers to fundamentally redesign
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I have my reasons for watching the flash memory market. One of the key elements I look for is falling flash memory prices. For me, dropping memory prices’ is an indicator other activities I’m in will continue to grow. Today I read an interesting article which gave some great detail about the continued drop of flash memory.
I’ll start off with a quote to the article, then you can click through for more:
Prices of NAND flash memory could plummet this year because of weak demand and an oversupply of NAND flash in the market, analysts said on Wednesday.
If concerns about the U.S. economy deepen, consumers may reduce spending on the phones and other devices that use NAND flash, weakening demand for the chips and depressing prices, said Nam Hyung Kim, director and chief memory analyst for iSuppli. He predicted that prices could fall by as much as 55 percent this year.
Up to 90 percent of NAND flash is sold as storage for MP3 players and cell phones, or as cards such as the MicroSD that are slotted into digital cameras and other devices.
The reduced price for flash could lead to cheaper products for consumers. Apple already dropped the price of its 1G-byte iPod Shuffle this week, to US$49 from $79, partly because of the falling prices of flash memory, said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research.
While forecasting strong sales and profitability in 2008, Silicon Motion projects that demand for low-density NAND flash will beat that for the high-density segment, driven by demand for microSD cards and embedded memory, said company president and CEO Wallace Kou.
Silicon Motion guides that annual sales will grow by 25-35% on year with gross margins to stay in the range of 52-53% in 2008. Although memory makers strive to migrate NAND flash applications to higher density under sales and profitability concerns, that makes no difference for controller makers, Kou said. For a controller IC design house, he stressed that memory density has no relationship on controller sales, given that any NAND flash application (such as USB drive or memory card) only requires one controller, regardless of memory density.
In light of global economic trends, Kou said demand for low-density NAND flash products should be better, partially due to sales spurred by the bundling of memory cards with handsets. Demand for microSD cards will continue to expand in 2008, Kuo said. Out of the 96.3 million units of controllers shipped in the fourth quarter, 89.3 million were for memory cards and USB drives, he detailed.
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The list is log on how many people have expressed interest in a CompactFlash down loading device for bulk data transfer (not!). But despite whatever circle I run in, Delkin came out with a 4 unit CompactFlash ImageRouter for concurrent transfer of data off CF to HHD.
I would imagine this product is geared towards the professional photographer who quickly fills CF media with high-res images and needs a clean off-loading device. The Delkin ImageRouter is UDMA and once four (or less) CF cards are loaded you start the process and walk away. With USB connectivity you can expect data transfer rates of 19MB/s and incase 4 ports isn’t enough, you can daisy chain the ImageRouter together for 8 port download. The built-in USB hub handles the rest.
ImageRouter can be purchased separately or with BackupandBurn software. BackupandBurn automatically renames files based on user-set parameters. Users can specify how the files are re-named and re-numbered and even have Jpeg and RAW files automatically sent to different folders. Images can also be copied to multiple locations and automatically burned to a CD or DVD.
KoolSpan is offering up an encryption solution for cell phones, PDAs, smartphones and the like for end-to-end security. For mission critical applications, say government or defense contract work, a simple and convenient security system for cell phones is serious business.
KoolSpan has made encrypted cell phones simple. With any device that has microSD support the KoolSpan system will work. The solution is simple – just dial the number. If the other phone is KoolSpan enabled, then both phones automatically go [256bit] secure.
The KoolSpan encryption process is based off their TrustCenter management center. Here administrators can create security groups and permit / deny users based off security clearance protocols. All the necessary authentication keys, identity codes and crypto algorithms are pre-loaded into the KoolSpan TrustChipâ„¢. From that point on, mobile devices find each other through normal phone calls, and then transparently and automatically authenticate and encrypt sessions for secure end-to-end communications.
The KoolSpan encrypted cell phone solution is plug-n-play with the microSD TrustChip with no further configuration required. The TrustChip runs about $300 USD and isn’t clear on whether a monthly service is required.
KoolSpan TrustChip product page.
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SanDisk announced today a massive 12GB microSDHC card which is 50% larger in storage capacity than it’s previous model (8GB).
So what does this mean? It means our mobile devices are getting one step closer to becoming a storage medium for all sorts of data, phone related or not. From MP3 files, video and data files … with 12GB of flash memory, quit a lot can fit. To put things into perspective, the microSDHC can hold [about] 1,500 MP3 songs, 3,600 photos and 24.5 hours of video.
If you haven’t used or seen a microSDHC card, make sure you stop off at your local computer store and take a look. The size is incredibly small. About the size of your pinky fingernail.
Some background info: The SDHC format applies to SD flash memory which is larger than 2GB is storage space. The new 12GB microSDHC card conforms to the SD 2.00 specification and has the theoretical maximum storage capacity of 32GB.
On a closing note, the new SanDisk microSDHC card has a transfer speed compatible with the Class 4 specification. Too geeky for ya – let me sum it up:
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So what is the best way to re-format your flash memory card in RAW format?
Unfortunately Windows doesn’t recognize RAW partitions as valid memory…so trying to use Windows utilities just wont work. Windows wont format a card unless it’s in a way that Windows can understand – this would be FAT or FAT32 format for a flash memory card.
Sure, you can use Windows utilities to re-format the RAW card into a FAT or FAT32 format, but keeping your RAW format can only be done one way.
The most common use of RAW is with digital cameras, and with every digital camera you have the option to re-format the card. This is the process you should use. Depending on your camera performance this format process might be quick or might take some time. So be prepaired.
Most cameras will recognize a flash memory card that is FAT, FAT32 or RAW format so you should be fine regardless of the re-format you just [accidentily] performed!
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So you drop $1,200 on a Nikon digital SLR camera, buy vacation airline tickets to Hawaii and now want a water tight case for underwater picture taking. Well, save that large roll of cash and purchase the Liquid Image, 5 megapixel underwater scuba mask. Slap in some microSD memory and you’re set for more pictures than your air tanks can hold.
New this year at CES is the Liquid Image underwater scuba mask. The small digital lens/camera can take still pictures or record video at VGA quality with either a 5 MP or 3.1 MP lens. The $99 price point is for the 5 MP version.
Take a close look at the diagram above and you’ll see a AAA battery pack, small storage area, shutter select option, cross hairs for centering and position of the lens along with microSD port & USB port for storing additional images or downloading what you have to PC.
The underwater scuba mask does look bulky but I personally think this is a great alternative to underwater cameras.
SanDisk announced today a massive 12GB microSDHC card which is 50% larger in storage capacity than it’s previous model (8GB).
So what does this mean? It means our mobile devices are getting one step closer to becoming a storage medium for all sorts of data, phone related or not. From MP3 files, video and data files … with 12GB of flash memory, quit a lot can fit. To put things into perspective, the microSDHC can hold [about] 1,500 MP3 songs, 3,600 photos and 24.5 hours of video.
If you haven’t used or seen a microSDHC card, make sure you stop off at your local computer store and take a look. The size is incredibly small. About the size of your pinky fingernail.
Some background info: The SDHC format applies to SD flash memory which is larger than 2GB is storage space. The new 12GB microSDHC card conforms to the SD 2.00 specification and has the theoretical maximum storage capacity of 32GB.
On a closing note, the new SanDisk microSDHC card has a transfer speed compatible with the Class 4 specification. Too geeky for ya – let me sum it up:
Continue Reading
