SanDisk puts your digital life in the Memory Vault

SanDisk has released a product called the Memory Vault that can store data, including photos and important documents, for 100 years.

The Vault comes in two storage variants — either 8GB or 16GB — in a small, compact design. It has a preservation monitor in the form of an LED light, which shows the status of the device, as well as an anti-corrosion coating to help protect it for the stated lifespan of 100 years. As to the actual technology that allows the Vault to maintain 100 years of data persistence, that's SanDisk's proprietary Chronolock system, which is a combination of hardware and software — the rest is, possibly, magic. It will be available for AU$79 for 8GB and AU$99 for 16GB.

Whether or not such devices will encourage photographers to curate and store their images for future generations remains to be seen. Further details on the longevity of the device can be found on SanDisk's website.

The Memory Vault is one of several new products that SanDisk has released, including USB storage solutions and a new, fast SDXC and microSDXC card. The new SDXC card follows on from the 45MBps SDHC card from earlier this year, doubling the read/write speed to 95MBps and 90MBps respectively. Like the earlier SDHC card it is also UHS-I compliant. Prices start from AU$49 for the 8GB variant to AU$399 for the 64GB card. The microSDXC card offers transfers of up to 30MBps and ranges in price from AU$12.99 to AU$212.99 for 4-64GB.

A new, updated version of the all-in-one reader/writer now uses USB 3.0, and looks much the same as the previous version.

Unfortunately, Australia is not yet seeing the release of the SanDisk and EyeFi co-branded cards that were released in Europe last week.