If recent blog posts about the increase in capacity of CompactFlash cards and small-size hard drives make you wonder what's in store for your mobile phones, then I have some good news.
On Monday, SanDisk announced its new microSD high-capacity (microSDHC) card that offers up to 16GB in storage space. While 16GB doesn't sound like a huge deal compared with other media that offer hundreds of gigabytes, this is actually very significant for two reasons. First, microSD cards are by far the smallest in size among consumer storage devices--about the size of your little finger's nail. Second, it's also the most popular media for smartphones and PDAs, and it is becoming more popular thanks to its tiny size.
The introduction of the new size lets cell phone and PDA owners really use their devices for storage-intensive purposes, including music and video playback, high-definition digital camera functions, gaming, and GPS applications. The new card also works with other devices that have a microSDHC reader, such as digital cameras, GPS receivers, or MP3 players.
Together with the new microSDHC, SanDisk also introduced its new 16GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) mobile memory, which is the micro version of Sony's Memory Stick card.
SanDisk's new 16GB microSDHC and M2 cards will be available in October and cost about $100 and $130, respectively. They will also be available in 4GB and 8GB versions. The new microSDHC might not be compatible with all devices that support the legacy microSD cards (that caps at 2GB). Make sure to check your devices' compatibility or update them to newer and supporting firmware before purchasing.