With great speed comes great capacity in Panasonic's new SDHC offering

A few days ago, SanDisk announced a 32GB SDHC flash media which boasted not only the highest capacity on the market, but also the fastest speeds -- the Ultra II 32GB SDHC memory card will have a maximum read rate of 15 MB/sec and a write rate of 10 MB/sec.

Today, SanDisk does not have the fastest 32GB SDHC card on the block as Panasonic has announced its own 32GB SDHC flash media within the Class 6 speed bracket. There are 3 classes of speed associated with SDHC cards. Class 2 specifications list transfer rates of at least 2 MB/sec or higher, Class 4 specifies a speed of 4 MB/sec and up, and a Class 6 memory card would have speeds of over 6 MB/sec.

Though SanDisk's recently announced product falls under the Class 6 specifications, Panasonic's RP-SDV32GU1K 32GB SDHC card boasts maximum data transfer rates of up to 20 MB/sec under optimal conditions. It also states, since this 32GB card is manufactured using industrial-grade memory, the RP-SDV32GU1K can withstand a wider range of temperatures; -13 F to 185 F as opposed to 32 F to 158F of typical consumer-grade SDHC media.

Panasonic's RP-SDV32GU1K will be available in April, according to the press release, and will be aimed at shooters of high-definition video and professional photography. Pricing has been set at a whopping $700, twice the amount of SanDisk's 32GB offering.


Source from DailyTech

HTC serves up a Vista UMPC with a side of Windows Mobile

After nearly a year since its initial mention on DailyTech, HTC's vision of the UMPC, the Shift, has finally come to market -- at least in Europe.

The HTC Shift sports many of the same features as other popular UMPCs, including an 800MHz Intel A110 processor, 1GB DDR2 memory, 40GB or 60GB 1.8" HDD, 7" 800x480 touch-screen, and Windows Vista Business -- but adds in a 400MHz Qualcomm ARM-based processor with 64MB of RAM and 128MB ROM capable of running Windows Mobile 6. This gives the Shift the ability to run both operating systems simultaneously, and switch between them at the touch of a button, which HTC has dubbed "SnapVUE."

Rather than behaving as two individual devices sandwiched together in a common chassis, the two operating modes of the Shift are designed to interact and synchronize with each other using ActiveSync -- emails, calendar appointments, and contacts can be accessed through Outlook in "full computer" mode, or through the Windows Mobile operating system when running in SnapVUE mode.

HTC is also championing Microsoft's new UMPC software platform "Origami Experience 2.0" designed to make standard computing applications more "finger-friendly." The new Origami platform includes a web browser, RSS reader, media player, and the "Origami Now" screen, which appears very much like the Today screen of Windows Mobile. Even the conventional problem of entering a password on a touch-screen display has been addressed via the "Picture Password" component.

The Shift's connectivity has thankfully remained unchanged from the initial announcement -- UMTS/HSDPA is available for 3.5G connectivity, the slower but more prevalent GPRS or EDGE data connections can be used, and the expected Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11b/g WiFi is also present.

Cost for the Shift has also been officially announced at €1199 (~US$1750) while importer Dynamism is accepting pre-orders for US$1599.


Source from DailyTech