CES 2009: SanDisk announces higher speed 16GB microSDHC cards and slotRadio player with OLED display
The new Mobile Ultra cards have double the active current 100mA vs 200mA for read/write compared to the standard microSDHC cards. I hope to do some real world testing soon to see what this means as far as actual transfer speeds go. If you are watching a lot of stored video content then I imagine you may see differences in the new cards. If you transfer a lot of large files I think this is where you will see the biggest differences. The cards are also bundled with a MobileMate Micro Reader that plugs directly into a USB 2.0 port on your computer for quick transfer. The 16GB microSDHC card has a MSRP of US$119.99 and the Memory Stick Micro has a MSRP of US$129.99.
I have to admit that I am a bit overwhelmed and confused by all the branding SanDisk has with their lineup of memory cards with names like Standard, Ultra, Ultra II, Extreme III, Extreme IV, etc. I think I figured out that the high capacity microSD cards for mobile phones, etc. have either a standard capacity or Ultra capacity and those for imaging have names like Standard, Ultra II, Extreme III, and Extreme IV. I did some digging and found a nice brochure (PDF file) that has a table for the different mobile cards.
Last Fall, SanDisk announced the slotMusic player that also used microSD cards to store and play music through the basic player. The new slotRadio player also used microSD cards to store and play music, but has been upgraded with a 1.5 inch OLED display in a cast-aluminum player body and FM radio integration. For US$99.99 you get the slotRadio player and a microSD card loaded with 1,000 songs from the Billboard charts. Additional 1,000 song cards (specific to genres and themes) will be sold for US$39.99. I'm not sure if you can take the songs off these cards and play them on other devices (are they unlocked MP3 files?), but $40 for 1,000 songs seems like a pretty dang good deal. I primarily browse and play music by genre so something like this may work for me. I just have to keep from losing such small cards.
To be honest this type of device seems perfect for working out with and I hope to try one out and write up my thoughts here when they become available in early 2009. Check out the SanDisk slotRadio image gallery for hands-on pics of this new player.