While the 45MB/s speeds are great, the UHS-1 transfer mode supports up to 104MB/s and there’s even a UHS-II mode that triples that rate to 312MB/s. This first-gen version however should probably be a righteous overkill for your Nikon D5000, though. That is if you can justify spending $100 to $299 for cards ranging from 8GB to 32GB when your Newegg-special SD card is working just fine right now.

I usually don’t blog about the many, many memory cards that come out of Japan on a weekly basis, but things are a little different when Sony seems to be determined to continue embracing SD cards. Today, the company announced [JP] both, an SDXC card-compatible reader, the MRW-F3, and a whole series of SD cards.

The reader (pictured above) can be connected via USB 2.0 and is compatible to SDXC cards as well as Sony’s memory sticks. It will hit Japanese stores on November 10 for $18.

On the same day, Sony will start selling a total of six SD/SDHC cards. There will be three class 4 cards (2GB for $14, 4GB/$21, and 8GB/$49) and three class 10 models (8GB/$74, 16GB/$150, and 32GB/$283).

Sony hasn’t said anything yet regarding international availability.

Features:

• 8 GB class 6 SDHC card
• 802.11 b/g/n wireless network support
• supports transfer of JPEG, RAW and video files
• automatically post to Flickr, Facebook, and many other photo and video sharing sites
• MSRP $149

Pros:

• Super simple configuration
• SMS and email notification of file transfers
• “Endless Memory” automatically deletes images from the card after they’re uploaded to your computer

Cons:

• Inconsistent transfer speeds
• Unreliable geotagging due to public hotspot IP configurations
• Potential battery drain on older cameras

Review
It boggles my mind that something the size of a dime can not only hold thousands of digital photos or hours of digital video, but can also pack in a WiFi transmitter capable of sending those photos and videos to my computer. The X2 Pro card is super simple to use, and works perfectly.

Tip o’ the hat to Rick for filming, and letting me play with his Nikon D5000

The 8GB SDHC card is only one third of the equation, though. The other parts of the equation are the Eye-Fi Center which runs on your PC and the Eye-Fi servers. Before you can use the wireless functions of the EyeFi card, you need to tell it about the wireless networks to which the card will connect. Unfortunately, the card cannot connect to wireless networks unless it knows about them in advance, even if those networks are open networks. The exception is public AT&T hot spots, like those found at Starbuck’s and Barnes and Nobles, to which the Eye-Fi cards can connect automatically, but you need to enable that option in the Eye-Fi Center first. It’s important to remember that you need to pre-program the wireless networks: this means you can’t take your camera over to your buddy’s birthday party and expect to upload photos right away — you need to add your buddy’s wireless network to your Eye-Fi card configuration, first.

The Eye-Fi Center allows you to set different options for JPEG, RAW and video files. You select the destination on your computer — whether a specific directory, or a directory created by the Eye-Fi Center based on date, or your computer’s iPhoto library — and optionally configure one or more online services. You can mix and match options based on your needs, so that you upload photos to Flickr and Facebook, but upload videos to Facebook and YouTube. Or maybe you don’t want to share any videos online automatically. Whatever!

You can enable notifications from Eye-Fi, so that you know what’s happening with your photos. Notifications can be sent via email, SMS, Twitter or Facebook. SMS notifications are particularly helpful if you’re sitting in a coffee shop waiting for uploads from the card to finish.

The Eye-Fi cards also support geotagging photos. The Eye-Fi card does not include a GPS receiver, so the geotagging is done through some fancy trickery to identify the local WiFi network you’re using, and maybe the SSID of nearby WiFi networks. Photos get geotagged with the location from which they are uploaded, not necessarily the location from which the photo was taken. If you take a photo downtown, and then go back home to upload the photos, the photos will be geotagged with your home network’s location. When using my own network, the geotagging was way off, because I moved recently: my wireless network was last indexed at my previous address, so photos I geotagged showed that they were taken across town at my old address. Geotagging in the local Starbuck’s was way off, too: it reported that I was in a different state altogether!

The final option in the Eye-Fi Center is how to transfer photos and videos. The default setting is “Automatic”, which means that all photos and videos will be sent to both your computer and any online sharing sites you’ve defined. “Selective Share” mode will still send all photos and videos to your computer, but will not send them to sharing sites unless you specifically select to do so. To mark a photo or video for sharing online, simply use your camera’s protect function. By marking the photo as protected (or locked, or whatever term your camera uses), you’re telling the Eye-Fi card “Go ahead and post this online!” The final transfer option is “Selective Transfer”, which doesn’t transfer anything anywhere unless you tell it to do so. In “Selective Transfer” mode, all images and videos stay in the camera, and only those you mark as protected will be sent to your computer and any designated sharing sites.

One of the really nifty things about the Eye-Fi is support for “Endless Memory”. 8GB may seem like a lot, but if you’re shooting HD video you might run out of space sooner than you’d like. “Endless Memory” mode will delete from the card any items that have already been successfully uploaded. As long as you’re in range of a wireless network you’ve defined — or stop for a breather at the local Starbuck’s — you never need to worry about running out of space. The card will automatically purge items for you, giving your card effectively an infinite capacity!

So, once you’ve set all your card’s options and added the wireless networks on which you’ll use it, it’s time to start taking pictures! The card is plenty fast, and works just like any other SDHC card you might buy. If you’re shooting within range of a wireless network you’ve defined and you want the pictures to be transferred automatically you may need to disable your camera’s auto-off feature. Obviously, photos can’t be transferred if your camera shuts off. Some newer cameras have varying levels of support for Eye-Fi built into the camera firmware. If you have such a camera, the camera will delay shutoff until it knows the transfers have been completed. That’s handy.

The actual operation of the Eye-Fi card is interesting. When you turn on your camera, the card first scans the available WiFi networks to find any that you’ve programmed. If it finds one, it hooks onto it and starts looking for the Eye-Fi Center software running on your computer. If it finds that, then the card communicates directly to your PC, making transfers as fast as your local network. Images and videos go from your card to your computer. If you’ve enabled online sharing, then the images and videos go from your computer to the Eye-Fi servers, where they’re then posted to the sharing sites you’ve defined.

If the Eye-Fi Center software is not located on the network, or if you’re using a public hotspot, then the card communicates with the Eye-Fi servers. Once the images are uploaded to the server, they’ll eventually make their way down to your computer. If you have sharing enabled, the images will be sent directly from the Eye-Fi servers to the sharing sites you have configured. This means that you can leave your computer off while you take a weekend getaway trip to the coast, and upload and share all your photos and videos using a Starbuck’s hotspot.

The Pro X2 offers a unique feature in the Eye-Fi lineup: support for ad-hoc wireless networks. These still need to be defined manually in the Eye-Fi Center before they can be used, but it means you can transfer photos and videos to your laptop wherever you might be. Stick your laptop in your backpack and go on that safari! No need to worry about transferring photos from your camera. And whenever you get back into civilization, the Eye-Fi Center software will automatically send photos to your designated online sharing sites.

There are all sorts of creative uses for the Eye-Fi card. Whether it’s a studio photographer looking to “shoot tethered”, or quick and easy photo and video uploads to Facebook during your kid’s birthday party, or simply the ability to leave your laptop at home while you take pictures on your vacation, the Eye-Fi Pro X2 is a great addition to your camera bag.

Product Page: Eye-Fi Pro X2

Lexar Gaming Memory cards are ideal for gaming enthusiasts using Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Nintendo Wii systems. It allows you to capture gaming data, multimedia, and more.

Okay… Other then labeling, I’m not sure what else makes these gamer level memory cards special. They come in 4GB and 8GB capacities, but don’t have special transfer rates or anything else that stands out.

Available as an M2 or SDHC format, the cards start at $25 and go up from there, depending on the size and format. Currently you can only buy them on the company website, but I’m sure that’ll change soon so they can try and sell them to people who don’t know any better.

HTC may have won the morning, but SanDisk also dropped a bit of news that may interest you. Its got a 32GB SDHC cards, which is due for release this August, that is said to be the world’s fastest, with speeds topping out at 30MB/s.

The card, which has been available in capacities of 4, 8, 16GB for a little while now, is being launched with an eye toward the new MacBook Pro. And now that all these digital SLRs are coming out with support for HD video! See, there’s plenty of use for an SDHC card so fast.

No word yet from SanDisk on how much it wants for this 32GB model. The 16GB model goes for $195, so expect to pay a lot.

The evaluation of data transfer speed rates for SD/SDHC cards is determined by the so called “Speed Classes”, which were constituted by the SD Card Association (yes, there is an association for that). So far, the fastest SDHC cards reached speed class 6, meaning the producers guarantee data transfer rates of at least 6 MByte/s. But now Panasonic in Japan unveiled cards belonging to the speed class 10 category [JP].

In Japan, the company started selling cards with 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB as early as today. Prices vary widely, but the 32GB card, for example, costs a whopping $420 (it boasts a maximum speed of 22 MByte/s though).

Delkin just announced their VideoPro line of SDHC cards ranging from 4GB to 32GB. They’re supposedly optimized for HD recording. The 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB will drop next month for $60, $100, $150 and $240, respectively.

Delkin

Need an SDHC card? Need one in 4GB or 8GB?

Need one that’s waterproof? Unless you work for Magnum, my guess is “no,” but the option’s there, thanks to Elecom, if you want it.

She’s out later this month, but the Japanese firm hasn’t revealed an asking price. Considering you can buy an 8GB SDHC card on Amazon for a little more than $20, Elecom’s new deal should be right around there.

via Akihabara News

Sandisk announced a 16GB micro SDHG card back in September and is now followed by Toshiba, whose model (SD-ME016GA) will be released in Japan in January next year [JP]. According to Asahi Shimbun [JP], one of Japan’s biggest newspapers, it will cost around $200 (Toshiba itself speaks of open prices).

Toshiba also announced two SDHC cards. The SD-C16GT6 holds 16GB and will cost $200 when it hits Japanese stores in April next year. An 8GB model (SD-C08GT6) will be available in Japan for around $100 next month.

Toshiba hasn’t said yet if or when the cards will be available outside Japan.

The card is selling with an MSRP of $129.99 but Costco members can get it for $99 on Costco.com – not too bad for a 4GB SDHC card with a built-in wireless chip that automatically transfers photos to your computer and 25+ online photo sharing services. You can also add automatic geotagging and/or Wayport wireless hotspot access for $14.99 per year, per service.

* Compliant: with the SD Card Association specification version 2.00
* Secure: built-in write-protect switch prevents accidental data loss
* Compatible: with SDHC host devices; not compatible with standard SD-enabled devices/readers
* File Format: FAT 32
* Reliable: lifetime warranty**
* Simple: as easy as plug-and-play
* Capacities***: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB
* Dimensions: 0.94″ x 1.25″ x 0.08″ (24mm x 32 mm x 2.1mm)
* Speed Class 4: 4MB/sec. guaranteed minimum data transfer rate
* Operating Temperature: -13° F to 185° F (-25° C to 85° C)
* Storage Temperature: -40° F to 185° F (-40° C to 85° C)
* Voltage: 3.3V

These SD cards just get bigger and fatter all the time — and by bigger and fatter, I mean internally. After all, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

This one from Panasonic, available in April, is a 32-gigabyte card. Granted, it’s $700 but it does work rather speedily with a 20mb/sec transfer speed.

There’s a SanDisk 32-gigabyte card that’ll also be out in April. At $350, it’ll be half the price of this Panasonic card but it runs a tad slower at 15mb/sec. That might not sound like a big deal but it very well could be for the kinds of people who have $350 to $700 to drop on an SD card.

Other 32-gigabyte cards should be available soon from various other manufacturers in various other formats, which should help to drop prices over the coming months.

Panasonic offers big and fast SD card–for $700 [CNET]

They hit the shelves later this month for less than $100 for 8GB, and $80 for 4GB.

Don’t get me wrong here. Having more capacity is always a plus, but 16GB of space?! I can barely fill up my 8GB SDHC and Kingston comes out with a 16GB Class 4 SDHC memory card. What does Class 4 mean? Well, the minimum data transfer rate on this is 4MB/s. Not too shabby. That’s about all you really need to know, too. It retails for $231.

The SDHC line from Kingston is darn good and I couldn’t be happier with my 8GB. But you don’t have to take my word for it. It is an American Photo Editor’s Choice, but what do they know about photography. Heh.

Product Page

If, for some reason or another, you need more storage and high performance for your DSLR, then by all means, take a gander at SanDisk’s 8GB Extreme II SDHC card. It’s secure, it has a huge amount of storage, can transfer data at a whopping 20MB/sec and cook you some eggs sunnyside-up.

Oh, you thought you were going to get an 8GB SDHC card for cheap, didn’t you? You make me laugh. Really. Be prepared to shell out $179.99 for this bitch as I watch your eyeballs and mind explode from sticker shock.

SanDisk Intros 8GB Extreme III SDHC Card [Digital Trends]

Since Sandisk isn’t making killer products with pictures of hot babes surrounding them, they went for the next best thing: gold. Over in Japan, Sandisk is holding a contest for consumers who bought the Extreme IV 8GB CompactFlash or Ultra ll 4GB SDHC cards. If you bought a specially-marked package, you could win a solid gold version of your card. Incredibly exciting, I know. Totally beats meeting Michael Jordan any day.

The CF card is worth about $5000 here in the US, while that smaller, thinner Ultra II SDHC card comes in at about $2300. Since they’re non-functional and whoever wins it will probably end up losing it within a week, selling it to someone who buys gold is probably their best bet.

SanDisk Gives Gold Memory Cards Away in Contest [Everything USB]

Companies that feature “prosumer” products usually have a good rep. and their products are usually worth the extra cash. However, memory cards I just can’t see becoming “ultra extreme pro” or anything like that. But going against the grain, SanDisk and Lexar have announced multiple high-end memory cards. Lexar will offer a 4GB CF card and 2 and 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo cards as part of it’s Platinum II line of cards.

SanDisk is doing the same crap with it’s Extreme III line of cards. Expect to see a 4GB SDHC card, a MicroMate card reader, and a 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo. Prices for all these cards range from $55 up to $180. Lexar’s offerings will be available by April while SanDisk’s are set to drop by May.

SanDisk, Lexar announce high-end memory cards [Electronista]

Beyond the capacity size there’s the read speed of 18MB per second and the write speed of 3MB per second, so it should store snapshots at a reasonable clip if it’s in you camera.

8GB (60X) Class 2 SDHC Secure Digital Media Card [product site]

These SDHC cards comply to the new SDA 2.0 standard that will eventually allow miniSD to contain up to 32GB. Amazing really. That much capacity on something so small. They should be widely available next year, but for now you can just sit and salivate.

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