Hasta La Gadget!

SanDisk was busy trumpeting the benefits of X4 technology way back in February, and now the company’s tooting its own horn once more by shipping the planet’s first memory cards based on the new tech. For those who’ve forgotten, X4 can hold four bits of data in each memory cell, which is twice as many as the cells in traditional MLC NAND memory chips. In theory, this stuff will allow for bigger capacities in the flash memory that we so dearly love, but for whatever reason (read: cost concerns), the first X4-based SDHC and Memory Stick PRO cards top out at just 16GB. Wake us up when we can slam a sub-$50 256GB SDHC card into our D90, okay?

Filed under: Storage

SanDisk ships world’s first X4-based flash memory cards, humans wait for capacity increases originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Putting a cheap memory card into a DSLR is like putting vegetable oil into the tank of a Ferrari*. The camera will write slower and you’ll saturate its internal buffer sooner. In short, if you have spent the money for a fast camera, then you should spend the money for a fast card.

I use SanDisk Extreme IV cards as they go great with my Nikon and have rather resplendent packaging (since reduced in size). They’re fast, to-ing and fro-ing data at up to 45MB/sec, which keeps my camera’s buffer free and means transfers from card to computer are also quick.

Today, these have been superseded by the Extreme Pro, a Compact Flash card available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB sizes. They run at a blistering 90MB/sec, or double that of the previous cards. The catch is the price, which starts at $300 and rises quickly to $800. Extreme indeed.

Even the next model down, the Extreme III, has been ousted. This time the new range is simply called “Extreme” and offers rates up to 60MB/sec on cards from 8GB to 32GB and prices from $130 to $375. My lowly 4GB cards are starting to look a little old-fashioned.

Product page [SanDisk]

Press release [DP Review]

*OK, it’s not quite the same. A slow card won’t actually trash your camera, but you get the point.

In what’s hopefully indicative of future trends, the upcoming Guitar Hero 5 for Nintendo Wii has the ability to stream content — in this case, extra songs — directly from the SD card. Up until now, everything from the card had to be transferred to 512MB internal memory before use, meaning you’d be pretty limited if making that near-endless set list of premium downloaded tracks. With 32GB of space now at your disposal, it looks like the only limit is your bank account and your predilection to Eagles of Death Metal. So when are we gonna see this trick in other Wii titles, eh Nintendo?

Filed under: Gaming

Guitar Hero 5 for Wii can stream downloaded songs directly from SD card originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’ve never seen a shred of evidence adumbrating that movies loaded onto flash cards move the proverbial meter, but evidently they’re moving well enough in Japan for Walt Disney to dive into the madness. Just today, the outfit responsible for classics that filled your childhood with innocence is announcing plans to offer pre-recorded microSD cards together with DVDs in the Land of the Rising Sun. The dual-format package will supposedly give DVD viewers the ability to easily watch their favorite films on the go, but that’s assuming you can even find a portable media player that accepts microSD cards. The bundles are expected to ship in November for around ¥4,935 ($52), or ¥1,000 ($11) more than the DVD alone. Eager to hear what titles will get this special treatment first? The “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “National Treasure” series — huzzah!

[Via HotHardware]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video

Disney to offer films on microSD cards, consumers to pass on by originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hankering for an SSD that’s as big as your traditional HDD? So is Intel, or so we hear. In fact, we’ve been hearing whispers that a capacious 320GB solid state drive was in the works since January, and now those whispers have been upgraded to library-like voices. According to the generally reliable Golum, Intel’s so-called Postville SSD family is well on its way to reality, and with them should come much needed price drops. The new series should top out at 320GB, with an 80GB and 160GB version falling underneath. Word on the street has it that both of the smaller two will be around $100 cheaper than the same-sized X25-M drives, though there’s been no leaks on the 320GB model’s MSRP. Still, Intel has a golden opportunity here if it’ll just get these things to market — a cheap(er) SSD with a brand name like Intel could blow the solid state market wide open.

[Thanks, Marius]

Filed under: Storage

Intel’s 34nm-based 320GB solid state drive creeps closer to reality originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments