This should now offer users higher storage options to the latest mobile phones and digital devices in the smallest footprint available.

“Consumers are demanding more from their mobile phones, expecting them to perform as portable music or game players, digital cameras, email communicators, browsers and navigators. Having enough storage capacity, particularly in the form of memory cards, keeps internal device memory free to deliver all this multi-functionality,” said Scott Chen, Vice President of APAC Region, Kingston. “Our 8GB and 16GB microSDHC cards are so roomy that mobile users can easily move entire digital libraries from a PC to their mobile phones – and beyond,” he added.

microSDHC Features/Benefits

• Compliant with the SD Association Specification, Version 2.00
• Can be used as full-size SDHC or miniSDHC card with appropriate adapter
• Compatible with microSDHC-enabled devices/readers only
• File Format: FAT 32
• Lifetime warranty

microSDHC Specifications

• Capacity: File Format
• Dimensions: 0.43? x 0.59? x 0.039? ( 11mm x 15mm x 1mm)
• High-Speed Class Rating: Class 4: 4MB/sec. minimum sustained data transfer rate

The new Kingston microSDHC 8GB and 16GB cards are priced at Rs. 1,699 and Rs. 4,499 respectively. Although the microSDHC format is identical in physical size to the original microSD card, microSDHC is compatible with microSDHC host devices only and not backward compatible with standard microSD-enabled devices or readers.

Initially showcased at CES 09, the SanDisk Ultra Backup USB has capacities up to 64 GB. Designed to protect a computer users’ photos, music, videos, personal and business documents, and other types of digital files, with the touch of a button without the need for any software installation, the drive protects onboard digital content with a dual layer of security, including password-protected access control and ultra-secure AES hardware-based encryption.

“Consumers are taking more pictures, listening to more music, taking and watching more videos and collecting more personal data. As their library of personal data grows, so does the risk of losing this precious digital content. Hence the need to back up this important and priceless data becomes ever more important. We’re delivering incredibly simple and hassle-free backup solution to protect people’s most valuable digital content. With our wide array of capacities and price points, consumers can even choose to store particular file types like digital music or photos on different USB flash drives”, said Eric Bone, Director, Retail Product Marketing, launching the ‘new family’ of USBs in India.

The flash drive family will continue to have U3 Smart technology, developed by SanDisk, which allows applications to run from a SanDisk USB flash drive without having to be installed on a computer. PC-users can download a variety of both free and paid software, games and content by visiting www.u3.com, or by accessing the SanDisk USB Program Wizard in the U3 Launchpad. Among other bonus applications available for download is the Veoh Web Player for SanDisk, which enables users to watch, download and share Internet video content.

The new SanDisk USB flash drives will be available in April 2009 with SanDisk’s distributors in India – HCL, Micro Ingram and Rashi Peripherals.

The SanDisk Ultra Backup drive includes a five-year limited warranty. Pricing hasn’t been revealed yet.

The 1.8-inch SSD is available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities. The new 2.5-inch StoreJet 25F portable hard disk is available in 500GB storage capacity. Transcend hasn’t announced the price for either of the drives.

Transcend’s 1.8-inch portable SSD18M has a casing with a glossy finish and offers a USB and eSATA connectivity interface.

eSATA interface offers a maximum read speed of 90MB/s and a write speed of 50MB/s. The SSD is portable and is available in capacities of up to 128GB.

The company also announced 2.5-inch StoreJet 25F portable hard disk drive, which offers data transfer speeds of up to 480MB/sec over the USB 2.0 interface. A slew of data management tools are packed in StoreJet 25F that makes it compatible with the Windows, Mac, and Linux platform.

Portable HDDs and SSDs having increased storage capacities and are coming into the mainstream market, which can turn out to be an interesting scenario.