Toshiba's long had 64GB SDXC cards in the works, and with claimed read speeds of 60MB/s (yep, megabytes) and write speeds of 35MB/s—upgrading your storage is about to get a whole lot easier. [DailyTech via Electronista]

Right now, they're only shipping in 8GB and 16GB capacities, which have been long available, but soon they'll be releasing 64GB and even higher flash memory. The X4 tech doesn't yet extend to SSDs, though it's not really clear why, but it's still great news for us gadget hounds. Many smartphones, especially those running Android, WinMo and BlackBerry OS, rely on microSDHC cards for memory, and a 64GB or even higher capacity card would make those much more viable as, say, multimedia machines. SanDisk assures us that the price will not skyrocket, which is a relief. X4 chips should start appearing in stores very soon. [CNET]

The MobileLite G2 features a dual-slider design: On one side lies the USB plug, and on the other, the card readers. Both sides, when slid outwards, protect what's within. It sounds kind of complicated, but isn't too hard to use, though it certainly requires more steps than a typical card reader. To insert a card, you push the card reader side toward the middle, revealing the slot for your card. After your card is safely in its slot, you extend that side back out again, protecting the cards (or not, you can leave them unprotected if you're some kind of negligent owner). Then, push the USB side in, revealing the USB jack, and plug it into your computer.

It does sound a little complicated when I explain it, but really it's pretty simple: Both the card side and the USB side extend to cover their respective delicate bits. (Note: The first person to say "foreskin" will be either banned or promoted, I haven't decided which). Unfortunately, the MobileLite G2 only supports SD/HC, microSD/HC and Memory Stick Duo, not CompactFlash, which is a bummer. But it's given an MSRP of $11, and it could well retail for less. It's a pretty handy little gadget to have around, that's for sure, and it should be available later this week. [Kingston]

For instance, you could certainly store small, downloadable Virtual Console games and stream them from from the card. But what about full-game expansions, gigs of data? Traditionally, these couldn't just load from SD as you'd expect.

According to IGN, Nintendo has opened SDHC storage to developers for DLC that can boot naturally with the game, straight from SDHC with no hard drive middle ground.

The reason you'll want a new SD card is pretty simple; SD streaming will kick off with GH5. All the tricks used for both Guitar Hero and Rock Band in the past – leaving internal memory open– is gone. Instead, straight-up booting off the SD card is available, and that means easier downloads, larger expansions, and quicker loads when bringing in song data from the SD card into GH5.

It's good to see that Nintendo is making SDHC a real solution for the system. [IGN via Kotaku]

There's not much of a space for a product like this now, since cellphones account for most of the devices with MicroSD storage, and they generally have some kind of data connection anyway. But it's easy to imagine a (near) future where traditional SD cards are considered too bulky for smaller point-and-shoot cameras and camcorders, and a wireless MicroSD card would make sense. [Tech-on]

To be sure, the Zoom Q3 looks like it neglects video quality in favor of audio: Its paltry 640x480 resolution is sure to look outdated next to the true 720p offered by the Flip UltraHD and others. But the Q3 is all about audio, and we're pretty impressed with what Zoom packed into it. You can see in the picture above that it's got two mics to give true stereo sound, and they can be aimed both manually and with the camcorder's automatic presets. It looks pretty easy to get correct levels as well, with several modes to help get the best possible sound. As for audio formats, it'll do 44.1/48kHz 16/24-bit Linear PCM WAV or MP3 up to 320kbps, which is slightly limited but should do fine.

At the basic hardware level, it's got a 2.4-inch LCD, takes SDHC cards for memory (a 2GB card is included, but you'll want to upgrade that pronto) and runs on 2 AA batteries. It'll cost $250 when it ships in September, which is a little pricey; the Flip UltraHD costs $180 at Amazon. We're not totally sold on the entire package, either: If the Q3 packed HD video as well as this level of audio, we'd be really excited, but we think video is probably more important for most pocket camcorder users than audio. Still, it's definitely a unique product and hopefully we'll see the product line develop more. [Zoom]

These cards are designed for HD video and are marketed with the new MacBook Pros in mind, since Apple's new laptops finally (finally!) have SD card slots. 30MB/s is easily fast enough to comfortably boot an OS from the card slot, which we already know is possible. Plus, with all the new DSLRs capable of taking HD video, more space and faster speeds might be of considerable use to photographers and videographers. The cards will be available this August for an undisclosed price. Press release follows. [SanDisk]

SANDISK UNVEILS WORLD'S FASTEST 32GB SDHC CARD

30MB/s Read & Write Speeds and 32GB Storage Capacity Help
Photography and Video Enthusiasts Do More With Their DSLRs

32GB CardPMA, Sydney, June 25, 2009 – SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), the global leader in flash memory cards, today introduced the fastest 32-gigabyte (GB)1 SDHC™ card on the market. The 32GB SanDisk Extreme® SDHC™ card at up to 30 megabytes per second (MB/s)2 read and write speeds combines industry-leading performance with massive storage capacity, helping digital photography enthusiasts utilize the advanced features of today's DSLR cameras.

"The market for entry to mid-level DSLR cameras is growing, and SDHC is becoming the de-facto card format for these devices," said Susan Park, director, retail product marketing, SanDisk. "Our card's 32GB of storage and up to 30MB/s read & write speeds enable DSLR users to shoot without worrying about storage or speed limitations. SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards provide consumers with a more enjoyable user experience, letting them focus on what is really important – the images that they are capturing."

Lightning-Fast Write Speed Captures Images Quickly
A memory card's write speed plays a crucial role in the overall system of the camera when taking pictures in rapid succession. If a card cannot process data quickly enough then the burst mode shooting may pause unexpectedly as the card catches up to the camera. Burst mode bottlenecks can lead to missing "the" shot, especially at sporting or other fast-motion events. The SanDisk Extreme SDHC card offers maximum data-transfer rates, giving consumers a memory card fast enough to unlock the full capabilities of their DSLRs.

The 32GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC card adheres to the SD Association's new Class 10 specification, which exceeds requirement for today's high definition (AVCHD) video recording. The card offers a sustained write speed fast enough to ensure high-definition video recording and capacity capable of storing 160 minutes of full HD 1920x1080 pixels at 24Mb/s data transfer rate.

Big Files Require Big Storage
Recently-released DSLR camera models like the Nikon D90 and D5000 offer consumers the ability to record HD videos, producing large files that can fill lesser-capacity cards quickly. Today's high-megapixel DSLRs also can generate massive still images like those produced in the RAW format used by professional photographers who want to take advantage of the enhanced picture quality and flexibility that RAW allows during post production.

RAW images demand up to ten times as much storage space as regular JPEG images, and when taken in rapid succession during burst mode can quickly fill smaller storage cards. The 32GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC card can store up to 2500 RAW3 images, providing photographers with piece of mind and confidence that they will not run out of space for their images.

Renowned for their world-class durability, SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards guarantee operation at extended temperatures ranging from minus 13 F (minus 25 C) to 185 F (85 C). SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards are fully compatible with any camera, card reader or other device that supports SDHC cards.

When placed in SanDisk's new ImageMate® Multi-Card USB 2.0 reader/writer, the SanDisk Extreme SDHC card transfers images and video to a computer at rates of up to 30MB/s. The card's fast data transfer rates enable photographers operating under tight deadlines to maximize critical workflow and enter post production as quickly as possible.

Class 10 Performance Sets a New Standard
An SD™ card's speed Class is based on its minimum data-transfer rate, and is used to ensure high-quality video recording standards. The SD Association added Class 10 as part of the SD 3.0 specification released earlier this year. The SanDisk Extreme SDHC card's performance exceeds the requirements of even the highest-quality AVCHD video recording device, and is currently the fastest Class 10 card in the world.

Availability:
The SanDisk Extreme SDHC 32GB cards will be shipping worldwide to major retailers in August. Also in August, the current 4, 8 and 16GB capacity SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards will be upgraded from Class 6 to Class 104.

About SanDisk:
SanDisk Corporation is the global leader in flash memory cards – from research, manufacturing and product design to consumer branding and retail distribution. SanDisk's product portfolio includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders; digital audio/video players; USB flash drives for consumers and the enterprise; embedded memory for mobile devices; and solid state drives for computers. SanDisk (www.sandisk.com/corporate) is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 company with more than half its sales outside of the United States.

According to a fresh Knowledge Base article, a properly formatted SD card can be used to boot OS X from the internal slot. As (vaguely) described, this could be a valuable backup and restoration tool, or a convenient way to maintain a semi-portable install of your OS. In proper giveth/taketh fashion, Apple states in the same posting that, despite being the clear, inevitable replacement for the SDHC standard, SDXC cards won't be supported, meaning storage will effectively be capped at 32GB.

If Apple really wanted to make this useful, they'd extend Boot Camp to support external storage devices; a feat which is currently only manageable through complex and unwieldy hacks. On this, the article is tellingly silent. [Ars—SDXC tip from Richard L.]

Designed by the same folks who brought us those wiseass USB "Keys", the LaCie Data/Share is proudly simple, which is the source of both its strengths and its weaknesses. Along with plain card-reading capabilities, it offers a great way to store an extra SD or MicroSD card on the go, consolidating case and reader into one unit and eliminating dust and fragility concerns for both. That said, it could stand to do a little more; SD cards are well and good, and I know LaCie is aiming to keep things small, but nowadays it's taken for granted that SD readers can handle at least a handful of other flash media as well.

The Data/Share isn't yet listed on LaCie's website, but it's expected to ship at around $15. [Electric Pig]

Three levels of the card reader rotate 270-degrees each, with slots to fit SD/SDHC, T-Flash (Micro SD/Micro SDHC), MMC, M2, MS, MS DUO, MS PRO, MS PRO DUO and XD cards. Just don't be surprised when every jackass in your office is constantly grabbing pulling the hub's USB cable from your computer, only to find that, no, this piece of crap isn't a real Rubik's at all! $12 [Brando]

With the new Wii Menu 4.0 update, you can download content directly from the Wii Shop Channel to your SD/SDHC, and the card will show on the Wii's main menu. You can then open the card to see your content in Channel format (up to 240 SD Channels are supported).

Given that the SDHC format reaching 32GB (12GB more than the hard drive in the original Xbox 360), supporting the open standard sounds like a much better solution than a honking standalone box anyway—at least to me. Other thoughts? [Kotaku Liveblog Here]

The SDXC standard claims a maximum capacity of 2TB, with read/write speeds of up to 104MB/s. There's no doubt that, at 50MB/s, Pretec has achieved impressive speeds, but the company probably should have waited until they could put together an SDXC card with a greater actual capacity than existing SDHC products. Still, to see an actual product so soon after the standard was announced is heartening, although Pretec hasn't yet hinted at a price or release date. [Pretec via Impress Watch]

Apparently it's not just an either/or scenario. The cable can simultaneously charge a mini-USB device and transfer photos to your hard drive. Plus if microSD is more your speed, there's a version for that, too.

Either cable will cost you $12. [Brando via CrunchGear]

They're promising some speedy transfer times with the All-in-One—up to 34MB/s with the speediest CompactFlash cards—and you can use multiple card simultaneously to move stuff between cards. It's $30. The Multi-Card is a little pokier, at 30MB/s read times with a fast enough SDHC card. It's $20.

Since we don't see where the USB cable plugs in, I wonder if they have the same problem as the old-school ImageMate I've got—if you don't have 'em propped up on the stand, the port is so recessed you can't use a standard USB cable with it. Blam actually broke the corner off his to make regular mini USB plugs fit. I hope not, since I wouldn't want to mar these. [Sandisk via Ubergizmo]

In 4GB and 8GB sizes, the quick Class 6 (6MB/sec) memory cards promise to get wet without losing a whole vacation's worth of shots. (Or, for those who already use waterproof cameras, it could just be another level of protection.) There's no price at this time, but look for the Elecom cards on the international market this month. Importing on this piece of gear won't cause you any compatibility issues. [Elecom via Akihabara News]

Computers

The Voodoo Envy 133 for $1,899 with free second battery (originally $2,099—also, the HP Blackbird 002's price has dropped to $1,799).

Computer Peripherals:

22" Viewsonic Widescreen LCD for $190 plus free shipping (originally $249.99 - valid until 11/10. Use rebate form).

Thermaltake Toughpower 750W Power Supply for $99.99 (originally $189.99 - valid until 11/15. Use rebate form).

Canon Pixma MP970 Photo All-In-One Inkjet Printer for $164.99 plus free shipping (originally $309.00).

D-Link DPH-50U IP Telephone Adapter for $14.99 plus free shipping (originally $24.99. Use this rebate form).

Compaq Presario SR5413WM Desktop for $249.99 plus free shipping (originally $599).

Laptop Accessories:

Belkin Messenger Bag for 15.4" Notebook for $9.99 (originally $24.99 - valid until 11/6. Use rebate form).

Audio Players and Accessories:

SanDisk Sansa e280 1.8" Black 8GB MP3 Player for $48 plus free shipping (originally $249.99).

Monster Cable iFreePlay Cordless Headphones for $34.99 plus free shipping (originally $49.95).

Flash Memory:

OCZ 4GB Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) Card, Class 6 for $0 (originally $12.99 - valid until 11/16. Use rebate form).

GPS Systems:

GARMIN nüvi 200W RFB 4.3" GPS Navigation for $124.99 plus free shipping (originally $249.99).

Mio Moov 300 Automobile Navigator GPS system for $164.99 plus free shipping (originally $229.95).

Home Accessories:

iRobot® Roomba 535 Vacuum-Cleaning Robot with 3-pack Replacement Filters for $237.99 plus free shipping (originally $349.97. Use coupon code C56574 for 15% off for new HSN customers).

iRobot Scooba Floor Washing Robotic Hard Surface Cleaner for $149 plus free shipping (originally $399.99).

[Thanks to Ubergizmo, Ben's Bargains, and Robot Stock News]

High on the list of gadget annoyances that make me want to scab my eyes out with a spork—just below cables and batteries—is the unfettered proliferation of memory cards. Even though they all fundamentally do the same thing—store data for handheld devices—they come in a million different sizes and shapes from almost as many companies, giving birth to retarded but necessary accessories. Anyone looking for proof of this can stop at the 80-in-1 card reader. Unfortunately, many of these dumb pieces of silicon and plastic aren't going extinct. As a consolation prize, here's an illustrated guide to all the ones you actually need to know.

CompactFlash is like the Big Mac of memory cards: It may be bulky, but no McRib is going to take its place any time soon. It long ago moved out of the consumer-oriented gadgets now primarily using SD card, but it's the go-to for pro digital SLR cameras because it's durable as hell, it can hold more data (up to 100GB) and transfer it a lot faster (up 66MB/s with the revision 3.0, though higher capacity cards don't yet reach that rate). All of that matters if you're shooting massive RAW photos at several frames a second in less-than-pampered conditions.

CompactFlash UDMA: The latest version of the CompactFlash spec, 4.0 adds support for the Ultra DMA 133 interface, pumping the maximum data transfer rate to 133MB/s. Looks the same as a regular CF card, but will have UDMA stamped on it. Enables longer burst shooting in the latest DSLRs, besides just sounding impressive. Of course, this parallel ATA interface is on the fast track to be slow balls, with a serial ATA based spec in the works that'll deliver 3-gigabit transfer rates, that is, nearly 400MB/s.

Secure Digital, better known as SD, is the memory card of the people. This sliver of plastic is the reigning king of storage in everyday gadgets, from digital cameras to the Nintendo Wii to non-iPod MP3 players to hell, my (admittedly fancy) alarm clock. Most new (non-Mac) notebooks come with an SD card slot, even if they don't support other cards. Its primary advantage over CompactFlash is smaller size—maybe the perfect memory card size, even. On the other hand, the standard version format is significantly slower, stores less data (the spec allows for up to 2GB, larger sizes exist) and is way more fragile. But damn if they aren't cheap.

Secure Digital High Capacity pretty much spells it out in the name—an extension of the SD format that allows for more storage (up to 32GB) and much faster write speeds (SanDisk's latest hit 30MB/s). Classes—2, 4 or 6—let you know what the card's minimum transfer speed is. The major catch is that while they look the same as a regular SD card, SDHCs won't work in older card readers. Most electronics are quietly swapping in readers that can support SDHC, and of course regular SD cards work wherever they physically fit.

MiniSD is, you guessed it, a smaller variant of the SD card format that's about a third of the size. And yes, there's an HC variant to bring its capacity past 2GB, just like SD to SDHC. Originally for the mobile phone space, it's basically been squeezed out by the even retardedly smaller microSD. Truth is, miniSD is all but extinct now. Fortunately it usually comes with an SD slot adapter, so old ones can just be used as standard SD cards.

MicroSD and its microSDHC step-up are ridiculously tiny, and though they're used in MP3 players and other gadgets, they now completely dominate removable storage on cellphones. They've got basically the same specs as the other SD and SDHC card flavors in theory, but they're not quite as speedy or obviously up to the same crazy capacities. Officially they are way too easy to lose.

MultiMediaCard is the format from which SD and its offspring descended. (Its looks should give it away.) There are a few variants, but since it's been displaced by its SD spawn, you probably won't run into them. They're even dissolving the MMC Association, if that tells you anything. The important thing to know is that if you come across one, it'll work in many—but not all—SD card readers.

Memory Stick and its 300 variations: Okay, it gets kind of ugly with Sony's essentially proprietary Memory Stick format. Once upon a time, Samsung, Sharp and possibly others had Memory Stick readers in certain portable electronics, but the days of non-Sony Memory Stick sightings are long gone. If I could punch the embodiment of Sony in the nuts for any single reason, it would likely be due to the continued existence of all 65,000 Memory Stick formats. Here's the rundown:

The original Memory Stick, which is now obsolete, ran in sizes from 4MB to 128MB. There was also the Memory Stick Select, which was basically like two Memory Sticks crammed together with a switch to flip between the two.

Memory Stick PRO was the first legit sequel to the Memory Stick. It's faster, and theoretically holds up to 32GB, but has only been released in versions up to 4GB. PROs with more than 1GB of storage use a High Speed mode for faster transfers.

Memory Stick Duo was Sony's stab at getting small, shrinking its hot-dog proportioned Memory Stick into an SD-card sized package. Otherwise, it's just like a regular Memory Stick, stuck at 128MB and all. With an adapter it'll fit in regular Memory Stick readers too.

Memory Stick PRO Duo has the same SD-like form factor as the original Duo, but allows for much higher capacities and transfer speeds, about on par with SDHC cards. The highest capacity card is currently 16GB. Yes, there's still more Memory Stick where that came from.

Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo is the latest and largest mouthful of the Memory Sticks. Its big hurrah is that its 8-bit parallel interface gives you transfer speeds of up to 30MB/s, and the faster rates are majorly important for HD cameras. There is, unbelievably, another version, the PRO-HG Duo HX.

Memory Stick Micro aka M2 is the tiniest end of the line, comparable to a microSD card. Guess what it's used in? Sony Ericsson phones. Sadly, SanDisk participates in this farce of a format, along with the PRO-HG. The fattest available size is 16GB, which is notably pricier than its microSD cousin. Predictably, cards with heftier storage don't always play nice in older readers.

xD-Picture Cards are another BS format, created by second-tier camera makers Olympus and Fujifilm, that should just roll over and get smushed by the SD train. There, as always, a few different flavors—M, H, and M+—each one successively boosting capacity and/or speed but all fitting in the same small thin form. They're really only used in (you guessed it) Olympus and Fujifilm cameras—Kodak dabbled before hopping on the SD Express—and pathetically they only hold up to 2GB. Die already. Update: Okay, it does have one legit use—as a commenter has pointed out, it's descended from the extinct SmartMedia format, and provides easy access to a standard NAND flash chip, making it ideal for ROM-dumping for hackers.

SxS is another Sony-developed format, but it's geared toward pros and HD camcorders, with transfer speeds of 800Mb/s. It's available in sizes up to 32GB, but obscenely expensive—Sony sells the 16GB card, with one hour of recording time, for $1100. Conveniently, it uses the ExpressCard form factor, so it'll pop right in some notebooks.

P2 is another fancy ass, pricey pro-level card for camcorders, but it was developed by SD-pimpin' Panasonic. Not surprisingly, it was originally a bundle of SD cards in striped RAID array, but now it just uses core memory components in a RAID setup, contained in a ruggedized shell that fits into PC Card slots. It too goes up to 32GB, but the transfer rate is slower than SxS, at around 640Mbps. On the other hand, it's cheaper too, at $900 for a 16GB card.

And that, friends, should just about do you, at least for a little while, or until Sony releases its next Memory Stick flavor of the week.

Something you still wanna know? Send any questions about memory, Johnny Mnemonic or blackjack to tips@gizmodo.com, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

P.S. What other kinds of tech would you like to see an illustrated guide for?

TOKYO, JAPAN, August 27, 2008 – SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today set a new speed record of 30 megabytes per second1 for SD™ flash memory cards with the introduction of the SanDisk Extreme® III 30MB/s Edition line of SDHC™ Cards. The new cards, expected to be available worldwide in September in 4-gigabyte (GB)2, 8GB and 16GB capacities, are designed to deliver peak performance when used with the new digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, Nikon D90.

The Nikon D90 is the industry’s first DSLR camera to support SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC cards at increased performance. Featuring a 50-percent speed boost from previous 20MB/s cards, the new SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC card makes it possible to record 39 images in continuous shooting mode at 4.5 frames per second with a file size of 6.0 MB JPEG L Fine per image.3 The Nikon D90 camera captures high-resolution, 12.3 megapixel still images, and it is Nikon’s first DSLR to offer movie recording capability.

With ever-increasing technology advancements in DSLR cameras, higher megapixel growth and new video capturing capabilities, SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s SDHC cards make it easy for consumers to capture and store more high-resolution images and video content. When placed in SanDisk’s new ImageMate® Multi-Card USB 2.0 Reader/Writer, still images and video can be transferred from the new SDHC card to a computer up to 30MB/s, greatly reducing the waiting time to offload large files from the card to the computer.

“The high capacities and performance of the SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC cards give users the freedom to shoot lots of high-resolution photos and video clips,” said Susan Park, director of consumer product marketing for SanDisk’s performance cards. “The combination of our new SanDisk Extreme III 30 MB/s Edition SDHC card technology and the Nikon D90 camera maximizes performance.”

According to research firm IDC, demand for DSLR cameras is growing as users replace older models with more sophisticated options. Global sales of DSLR cameras grew by 41 percent last year, which was nearly twice the growth rate of the overall digital camera market worldwide.4

“Increasingly we’re seeing more second- or third-time digital camera buyers upgrading to more technologically-advanced prosumer DSLRs because they offer richer feature sets at more affordable prices than ever before,” said Chris Chute, research manager of IDC's Worldwide Digital Imaging Solutions Group. “The new SanDisk Extreme III cards provide optimal performance levels and high-capacity points to match that latest technology innovation.”

“Whether capturing a special moment in sports, a wilderness hike, or just your toddler running across the room, life doesn’t always stop when you want to take a picture. The combination of the new Nikon D90 camera and SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC cards helps ensure that photographers capture winning action shots and experience quicker transfer of files from the camera’s memory card to a computer,” said Mr. Koichiro Kawamura, General Manager, 1st Designing Department, Imaging Company Nikon Corporation

Beyond their high capacities and performance levels, all SanDisk Extreme III cards are capable of functioning in extreme temperatures, from -13 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit or -25 to 85 degrees Celsius. The cards also carry a lifetime limited warranty.5 SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 30MB/s Edition cards, which have a Class 6 performance rating, are fully backwards-compatible; working in any camera, card reader or other device that supports SDHC cards.6

Pricing and Availability
SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 30MB/s Edition cards are expected to be available worldwide in September. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is U.S. $64.99 for the 4GB card, US $109.99 for the 8GB card, and U.S. $179.99 for the 16GB card.

Hitachi Debuts Three Format Hybrid Blu-ray Disc Camcorder

— Hitachi proudly presents the next generation HD camcorder able to record onto the next generation HD format, Blu-ray —

CHULA VISTA, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Hitachi Home Electronics (America), Inc. continues to introduce state-of-the-art consumer electronics with its next-generation Blu-ray Disc Hybrid Camcorder with the ability to record onto the next generation HD format, Blu-ray.

A step above from its predecessor announced last year, the DZ-BD10HA from Hitachi’s Consumer Group contains several new features and improvements. A newly developed 7 mega pixel CMOS image sensor, which captures rich and vibrant videos and stills in FullHD (1920 x 1080) High Definition. The new DZ-BD10HA can also record up to 4 hours 20 minutes of 1920x1080 video or 8 hours 40 minutes of 1440x1080 video onto the built-in 30 GB HDD. Additionally, the built-in SDHC card slot provides added flexibility by allowing for Full HD video and still recordings.

The new DZ-BD10HA also offers a dubbing function that allows Full HD video to be transferred with the single push of a button from either the HDD or SDHC card to the BD drive, all within the camcorder, without having to connect to a PC. Editing functions such as split, splice, delete, merge, and transitions can also be performed within the camcorder before dubbing for additional functionality. The Transcoding feature allows for the camcorder to transfer full HD videos off the HDD or SDHC card to standard definition DVD discs for the sharing of videos with friends and family who may not own a Blu-ray player yet.

Another new feature added to this year’s camcorder is face detection, which automatically detects and focuses on faces to provide the most true to life color accuracy and clarity. Additionally, Hitachi has developed a compact, low power consumption, quiet and highly reliable 8cm BD/DVD drive, which results in a 20% reduction in overall volume compared with last year’s DZ-BD7HA Blu-ray hybrid camcorder.

“Hitachi is well known for having introduced the world’s first DVD camcorder, the world’s first Hybrid camcorder with a DVD drive and a Hard Disk Drive and the world’s first Blu-ray camcorder,” said Daniel Lee, Vice President of Marketing at Hitachi Home Electronics, America. “Hitachi continues to improve upon and deliver cutting-edge and innovative products, and is pleased to offer the latest upgrades in camcorder technology to its customers and consumers. The new DZ-BD10HA underscores Hitachi’s commitment to developing original technologies that consumers can easily embrace.”

While keeping the same core design as the previous Blu-ray camcorder, the DZ-BD10HA has several added features and an ameliorated design. These features include:

Three Format Hybrid Compatibility

This camcorder has the versatility of being able to record HD video onto three separate formats (Blu-ray Disc, Hard Drive, SDHC) and provides the flexibility and ease of playback and long recording time all in one camcorder.

7 Mega Pixel CMOS Image Sensor

The CMOS image sensor in this camcorder is designed to record the highest resolution video with effective 4.67 mega pixels while minimizing distortion and artifacts to ensure the most clear and vibrant high definition picture. The camcorder is also capable of capturing 6.22 mega pixel stills onto an optional SD or SDHC card.

One-Touch Dubbing

With the push of one button the user can transfer HD video from the SDHC card or hard drive to a Blu-ray disc all within the camcorder; this eliminates the need to turn on a computer.

Face Detection

This feature automatically detects and focuses on the face to provide true-to-life color accuracy and sharp picture quality to the user.

O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilization)

O.I.S. automatically detects and cancels camera shake by accurately stabilizing the lens to produce the most sharp and vibrant picture possible.

Pricing and Availability

The Hitachi model DZ-BD10HA model Blu-ray Hybrid with built-in 30GB hard disk drive (HDD) is priced at a Manufacturers Advertised Price (MAP) of $999. The camcorder will be available in Japan on August 9th and will be available in North America in September 2008.

ABOUT HITACHI

Hitachi Home Electronics (America), Inc., Consumer Group subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., markets high-definition plasma and LCD flat panel televisions and monitors, as well as Blu-ray Disc™, DVD and HDD camcorders.

Hitachi has a unique position in the marketplace by manufacturing and developing its own core technologies to provide consumers and businesses with optimal product performance in each of Hitachi's product categories. For consumer products, please visit www.hitachi.us/tv. For Business products go to www.hitachi.us/digitalmedia.

Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. For more information, visit www.hitachi.us.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 390,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2007 (ended March 31, 2008) consolidated revenues totaled 11,226 billion yen ($112.2 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials, logistics and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at www.hitachi.com.

PANASONIC ANNOUNCES ADVANCED PROFESSIONAL AVCHD AG-HMC150 HANDHELD HD CAMCORDER

SECAUCUS, NJ (February 13, 2008) - Panasonic announces a new addition to its growing professional AVCHD product line that capitalizes on the phenomenal success of its popular DV-based AG-DVX100. The new, affordable AG-HMC150 handheld is scheduled for shipment later this year.

The HMC150 is designed to provide enhanced HD production capabilities for video enthusiasts who desire professional features, extended recording capability and the fast, simple and highly reliable workflow offered by tapeless, solid-state recording. The HMC150 features three native 16:9 progressive 1/3" CCD imagers with an optical image stabilization (O.I.S.) function to ensure stable shooting and a 28mm Leica Dicomar wide-angle zoom lens (35MM equivalent). The HMC150 handheld offers 1080i and 720p recording at 13Mbps, comparable to current HDV compression formats with bit rates of 25Mbps. In addition, an enhanced mode with a higher bit rate is planned to be incorporated into the HMC150 for higher-level use. It supports a full range of HD formats including 1080/60i, 1080/50i, 1080/30p, 1080/25p, 1080/24p native; 720/60p, 720/50p, 720/30p, 720/25p, 720/24p native; and it is 50Hz/59.94Hz switchable.

The advanced handheld utilizes the second-generation long GOP HD standard called AVCHD. Based on MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 high profile encoding, AVCHD provides a near doubling of bandwidth efficiency and considerably improved video performance over the older MPEG-2 compression used in HDV formats. Announced by Panasonic and Sony, this industry standard format is now supported by over 30 companies and implemented in numerous camcorders, NLE systems and consumer HD playback devices.

The HMC150 offers professional HD performance with the simplicity of a digital still camera. Since the solid-state handheld records onto SD and SDHC memory cards, professionals can benefit from the reliability and random access of tapeless recording and capitalize on the cost advantages, widespread availability, and growing capacity of standard SD consumer cards. Using the newly announced 32GB SDHC memory card and the camcorder's 6Mbps recording mode, users can acquire up to 12 hours of HD video and audio on a single SD card.

Additional features of the HMC150 include professional XLR audio input connections and a wide range of data and signal interfaces including HDMI out, USB2.0, component out (D terminal), composite out and RCA audio out jacks, a 3.5-inch LCD monitor to display thumbnail images for quick viewing and playback, and a Time Code/User Bits menu. The camera also has remote jacks for focus iris and start/stop functions, a pre-record feature that allows the camera to capture footage occurring immediately before real-time recording begins, and a time/date stamp menu option for documentation purposes.

Panasonic's AVCHD camera line brings the benefits of solid-state recording to budget-conscious professionals. Like digital still photography, recording onto SD/SDHC card offers a fast and simple IT-compatible workflow with ultra-reliable performance and resistance to shock, vibration and extreme temperatures and weather. SD and SDHC memory cards are inexpensive and widely available and can be reused repeatedly. Since AVCHD records video as digital data files, content can be transferred and stored on affordable, high-capacity hard disk drives (HDD) and optical storage media and transferred to future storage media as technology advances.

The HMC150 will be available this fall at a price to be announced.

Capacity is important, but so is speed. That's where the SDHC Class system comes into play. Previously, customers were presented with cards ranging from 66x to 150x, without any real guarantee of performance because there was no standard way of determining what 1x actually was. Currently, there are three classes: 2, 4 and 6, which relate directly to the minimum write speed of the card: 2 MB/s, 4 MB/s and 6 MB/s. Finally, there's an official industry standard. Unfortunately, this system only defines minimum speeds, which is good and all, but we're kinda more interested in maximum speeds. The faster the write speed of card, the quicker the shooting and transfer of images/videos off the card for editing.

The contenders:
Class 4
Delkin eFilm Pro 4GB C4 card they claim 150x speed - $60
PNY 8GB C4 card - $85
RiData Lightning Series 4GB C4 card - $50
SanDisk Ultra II 4GB C4 card with reader - $70

Class 6
ATP ProMax 4GB C6 card with included reader - $75
Dane-Elec 133 Xs 4GB C6 card - $35
Kingston 8GB C6 card with optional 15-in-1 reader - $100 and $15 respectively
Lexar Professional 133x 4GB C6 card with included reader - $100
Patriot 8GB C6 card - $75

I skipped Class 2, but as a basis for comparison, I threw in an old beater Lexar 1GB SD.

Even price turned out to be an unreliable measure of performance when put through my testing gauntlet. My street price searching found the Dane-Elec card to be the cheapest card of all, and it's a fast Class 6.

Benchmark testing:
I ran tests using each card in each of the four included SDHC readers both on a generic PC desktop and a MacBook. On the PC side, I created a 188MB folder containing 20 Nikon Raw images and timed how long it took to write the files to the card. On the MacBook, I used the benchmarking software XBench to see who had the fastest writes. (Longer is better, since we're talking bandwidth, MB/s, here. You can see how all Class 6 cards have 6 MB/s transfer speeds, but you can also see how some have maximums in the teens.)

Real world testing:
Finally, I wanted to see what difference all of this actually meant in the real world, so I loaded each card into a Nikon D80 and shot 20 raw images while timing it. The D80 can only shoot 6 raw images at full resolution before the buffer fills up, therefore the fastest card should allow for a faster 7th image, and that's exactly what I found. The RiData card took over twice as long as the fastest card, the Lexar Pro. I was especially disappointed to see that old 1GB card beat all but three of the newer hotter cards in real-world usage!

Conclusion:
The clear winner in Class 4 is the SanDisk Ultra II, which managed to perform on par with the Class 6 offerings from Kingston and PNY. That should tell you that, if you're going SDHC, go Class 6. The winner there is a close call with Lexar and ATP fighting for top spot. But when all is said and done, Lexar is King of Speed, and even though the price is a little high, the included memory card reader is a better product. If you're strapped for cash, you might look at the ATP or better still, go with the Dane-Elec card. It has no reader, so you'll have to figure that out on your own, but it does have a sweet price to performance ratio.

Professionals may scoff at Panasonic suggesting they use this tiny camcorder, but some pros may indeed employ it in hazardous or dangerous conditions. Heck, that $2099 price amounts to almost a disposable camcorder in the professional realm. It all depends on what you mean by "professional." But this might be just right for some pro situations.

That 40-gig hard drive that's so nicely portable and stores such a tremendous amount of footage makes this camcorder a lot easier to justify in pro-level field conditions. The remaining question: how good is the quality of that H.264 MPEG-4 footage using the AVCHD format, with its measly 15Mbps bit rate as implemented thus far? Will that be bumped up to the AVCHD format's potential 24Mbps bit rate? Only then can it be more accurately called "professional." – Charlie White

Panasonic Unveils AG-HSC1U First AVCHD Pro Camcorder [Camcorderinfo.com]

There was no mention of price or release date, but the anouncement added that the dual-channel card uses Samsung's 63nm process, and will rock a read speed of 22.5MB per second. It wasn't too long ago that this sort of throughput was only possible with a 20-pound disk array. – Charlie White

Press Release [Kingmax, via TrustedReviews]

While the write speed isn't as impressive as Sandisk's Ultra II SDHC high performance cards—clocking in at 9 MB/s—you get twice the capacity and nearly double the read speed for $70 less, at an MSRP of $149.99. – Matt Buchanan

Product Page [via CrunchGear]

Just what we needed, a new standard. But those eight gigs might just come in handy, and there's talk of these cards eventually being able to hold a 32GB of stuff, and they're faster, too. Neat. Hope this one's cheap. – Charlie White

Product Page (rook out, it's in Japanese) [Toshiba]

These SDHC cards are based on the SDA 2.0 spec, put together by the SD Card Association (yes, there is an association just for SD cards) that will enable SD cards to shoehorn up to 32GB of data into their miniscule form factors. Because the cards are exactly the same size and shape as their predecessors, all it will take is a firmware update to accommodate them. But will we be able to use them if we flash the firmware in our existing cellphones and devices?

Expect these higher-capacity cards to become ubiquitous in 2007 as cellphone manufacturers embrace the new standard. SanDisk didn't announce prices yet. – Charlie White

SanDisk Introduces a 4GB MiniSDHC Flash Card for phones [Mobility Site]

An important note is that memory cards using the new SD 2.0 standard aren't compatible with existing SD devices. Standards: they're here to help make our lives easier.

Pretec's line of extra spacious SD 2.0 cards will go into production during the fourth quarter. Right now, if you're on Pretec's party guest list, you can grab an 8GB card for $299. – Nicholas Deleon

Pretec 8GB SDHC Card Announced [Slashphone.com]

Panasonic SDR-S150 [Just a Gadget]