lexar

LAS VEGAS--Lexar plans to introduce faster, higher-capacity CompactFlash cards using a new generation of the flash memory technology, a company executive said Wednesday.

Lexar's current top-end 300X-rated CompactFlash cards use a standard called UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) to transfer data at 45MB/second, and their capacity tops out at 16GB. But using a new generation of the standard, UDMA 6, Lexar will release cards that have significantly faster transfer speeds and larger capacity, Jeff Cable, director of marketing, said in an interview here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show here.

Cable wouldn't be pinned down on precise details, but he said the new cards' capacity "probably" would be 32GB, and their transfer speeds likely would "pretty close to" UDMA 6's threshold of 100MB/sec, which is more than double that of today's UDMA.

Only newer SLR (single lens reflex) cameras support current UDMA technology, but it's spreading, and there are benefits. For example, cameras can take longer continuous bursts of photos, and photographers can zoom faster to check focus when reviewing shots on the camera LCD. Video, which is arriving in new SLRs, also can saturate data-transfer pathways. … Read more

Lexar Media, a maker of digital storage cards, announced on Monday its 16GB version of the Kodak-branded Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) high-speed card.

The new card offers speeds up to 60x, which translate into about 9MB per second, allowing for capturing full-motion video without interruption. However, this speed is still not fast enough for dSLR cameras, whose photos can easily be as large as 9MB each, especially when you want to snap multiple photos at a time.

The new SD card works not only with Kodak cameras, but also any SDHC-compatible digital cameras, camcorders, and PDAs. It comes with a … Read more

Photo enthusiasts take note. This morning Lexar announced that its Professional UDMA 300x CompactFlash Card will be available in late September in a 16GB version for $349.99 MSRP. By comparison, B&H has the 8GB card for $154.95 with an $80 mail-in rebate, which means buying two of those would be the better deal at this point. Of course, you can expect the 16GB card to street for less than its list price.

Here's what Lexar's marketing team has to say in its press release:

Designed for professional photographers and photo enthusiasts, this lightning-fast card … Read more

A speed-boosting overhaul of CompactFlash memory technology could start arriving in cameras next year, but it's incompatible with the version used in today's higher-end models

The new version, called CFast, has faster data-transfer speeds that could let photographers take more continuous shots without waiting for the camera to catch up, cut camera makers' costs for built-in buffer memory, and make it swifter to review photos on a camera or copy them to a computer.

"It's going to end up in the high-end cameras. The reason to move to it is purely for speed," said John … Read more

Wireless memory card company Eye-Fi just announced a partnership with Lexar to develop future products. According to an announcement on Tuesday at CES, Eye-Fi will combine its wireless technology with Lexar's flash memory and branding to produce a Lexar wireless SD card.

I spent some time with the original Eye-Fi Card back in November, and was pleased with what I saw. For a first effort at a new consumer device, the Eye-Fi Card worked as advertised and wirelessly uploaded photos to both local computers and online photo sharing sites with minimal fuss. Hopefully this will remain the case as … Read more

Lexar is about to start shipping a new reader to complement its line of 300X Professional UDMA CompactFlash cards. First announced back in February, the reader features two slots: one UDMA-compatible CompactFlash slot and one SDHC-compatible SD card slot. The reader's slick design includes an integrated cover for the card slots. If you press buttons on the sides of the reader, the middle portion pops up and the slots become accessible. When you're done, just push the middle part down and the slots are covered, so you don't have to worry about dirt or dust getting inside … Read more

Lexar this morning announced its first Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) memory card. Part of the company's Professional line, the 4GB card carries a 133x speed rating, which Lexar translates into a minimum sustained write speed of 20MB per second. For those unfamiliar with the new SDHC standard, it was developed to let SD memory cards reach capacities larger than 2GB.

Of course, a new standard also means that SDHC cards aren't compatible with older readers or cameras that aren't SDHC compatible. Because of that fact, Lexar includes a small USB 2.0 SDHC reader with the … Read more

It's not unusual for companies to recycle their marketing pitches for Valentine's Day, desperate to clear inventory that didn't sell over the holiday season. But some are stretching the concept of romantic gifts to ridiculous extremes.

We thought an e-book reader was an odd choice, not to mention the ill-advised "Sonic Bomb" Valentine. But then we heard of Lexar's idea to engrave its $73 "JumpDrive Lightning" with some romantic message.

"Pre-load it with a few of your significant other's favorite love songs. Throw on some photos of the two of … Read more