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Lexar's flash card reader supports USB 3, SDXC

Lexar Media has overhauled its 2007-era dual-slot professional flash card reader to support fast new cards and the higher-speed USB 3.0 interface that have arrived in the last four years.

Like its predecessor, the new reader handles CompactFlash (CF) and Secure Digital (SD) memory cards. Unlike its predecessor, it can handle SDXC, a newer member of the SD card lineage that provides for larger capacities, and SD's UHS-1 higher-speed interface.

Things didn't change on the CF side of the shop; the older model supported the present high-speed standard for CompactFlash, called UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access). CompactFlash … Read more

512GB SSD dips to price of single MacBook Air

To say that high-capacity solid-state drives are getting inexpensive may be a bit premature considering you could purchase an entire MacBook Air for the price of a high-capacity SSD. That said, it could be a lot worse.

Lexar Media, an arm of solid-state drive manufacturer Micron Technology, said today that Crucial-branded m4 SSDs are now available worldwide, coming in capacities of 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.

The 512GB model is $999--the cost of a low-end 11.6-inch Air. Now, that may seem pricey but let's not forget the good old days when high-capacity SSDs were priced in the exosphere, … Read more

Lexar ships 128GB SDXC memory card

If Lexar's recently reviewed 128GB Echo MX thumbdrive makes you wonder when you'll have something like the same capacity for your camera, the answer is here.

Lexar announced today that it is now shipping the first 128GB Professional Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) memory card.

First announced at CES 2011, the new SDXC memory card comes in two capacities, 128GB and 64GB, and offers speeds of up to 133x (about 20MBps). This means the new card enables you to take multiple hi-def photos continuously or record extended-length 1080p HD videos without having to stop and swap the memory … Read more

Lexar's SDXC memory card to reach 128GB

Lexar Media, one of the premium-brand flash memory card makers, will introduce its first SDXC cards later this quarter with two high-end models geared for professionals, a 64GB card for $500 and a 128GB card for $700.

The 128GB model illustrates the narrowing gap between the SD lineage and a rival format popular among professionals, CompactFlash, which tops out at 64GB for mainstream brands. But while SDXC might be a step ahead in capacity--at least when it comes to announced products--CompactFlash leads in a different domain, data transfer speed.

Each of Lexar's new SDXC cards, with a 133X speed … Read more

Lexar ships thumb drives as backup solutions

Thumb drives are becoming more viable as backup solutions as their storage capacities continue to grow. On Tuesday, Lexar announced two new thumb drives that come bundled with backup software designed specifically for Netbook and notebook users.

The two drives are the Echo SE and the Echo ZE. Both are flash-based and offer very high capacities for their physical size. The Echo SE is a compact thumb drive that can hold up to 64GB of storage; the Echo ZE is an ultracompact thumb drive that offers up to 32GB of storage space. The Echo ZE is just slightly longer than … Read more

Lexar midrange pro memory cards reach 32GB

Lexar said Tuesday it's increased the capacity of its midrange professional CompactFlash memory cards with a 300X transfer speed to 32GB.

Lexar, which competes chiefly with Sandisk for the attentions of photographers who need both high capacity and high transfer speeds, has been fleshing out its CF cards that can transfer data faster by virtue of the UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) interface technology. Lexar already announced in October a 32GB card and a transfer speed of 600X (90MBps), but the 300X (45MBps) card should do fine for those who don't need quite that data transfer speed.

Lexar … Read more

Hands on: Lexar total security thumbdrive

Thumbdrives offer arguably one of the most convenient ways to carry data around. However, because they are so small, they have been frequent culprits of data breaches. Enter the JumpDrive from Lexar.

The company announced Thursday its new JumpDrive Safe S3000 FIPS, which it claims is the world's first smart-card-based FITS 140-2 Level 3 validated flash drive.

Lengthy name aside, this is the most secure and easy-to-use thumbdrive I've ever gotten my hands on.

(FIPS 140-2, by the way, stands for Federal Information Processing Standard and is a U.S. government computer security standard used to accredit cryptographic modules. Level 3 of this standard is the second highest level of data security, which prevents the intruder from gaining access and requires a physical security mechanism to protect the data inside.)

Physically, the new JumpDrive looks very much like most standard thumbdrives on the market with a detachable lid that reveals the USB head. However, it is noticeably heavier due to its thick metal housing and a presumably sophisticated mix of high-security components inside. Its lid also has a thick layer of rubber insulation to keep the moisture out. According to Lexar, the drive exceeds military waterproof standards.

Lexar said the JumpDrive Safe S3000 FIPS is certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and features hardware encryption and is the first of its kind to have atemper-resistant smart card to manage all security critical computations. The drive uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit technology and utilizes an onboard hardware cryptographic controller to encrypt and decrypt data.

From the user's perspective, however, the drive is almost as easy to use as any thumbdrive. I tried it with a few computers and it worked very well. … Read more

Lexar releases new solid-state drive in Crucial brand

The market for consumer solid-state drives just got slightly more diverse.

Lexar Media announced Monday its latest line of solid-state drives (SSDs), the Crucial M225 SSDs. Lexar has been a known flash storage device maker, while Crucial is a known brand for computer system memory, or RAM.

The M225 SSDs come in three versions, 256GB, 128GB, and 64GB, and offer throughput speeds up to 250MBps in reading and 200MBps in writing.

These drives utilize a SATA 2.0 (3Gbps) interface and feature MLC NAND flash components housed in an industry-standard 2.5-inch drive enclosure. This means they are compatible with … Read more