Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend), a leading manufacturer of flash memory products, recently introduced its new flash drive-inspired P6 USB card reader. With a gleaming black case accented by a bright color band and smooth rounded edges, the P6 is attractive, compact and portable. Its simple streamlined design includes a convenient built-in USB connector that allows quick, hassle-free data transfer, and its bright LED indicates card insertion and/or data transfer activity. When combined with a Memory Stick Pro-HG card, the high-speed P6 USB card reader offers transfer speeds of up to 30MB/s read and 18MB/s write, allowing instant access to important data.Memory cards are a key component to any digital lifestyle, and are used to store many kinds of files such as music, photos, video clips, and even movies. For this reason, a portable and easy-to-use card reader is essential for transferring data to and from our memory cards in a fast and easy manner. When it comes to card readers, trust the memory experts at Transcend to provide the highest possible quality and speed. Transcend’s new multi-use P6 card reader directly supports the most popular types of memory cards currently available, including Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick Micro (M2), microSD, and microSDHC. Just plug the P6 reader directly into any USB 2.0 port to get the most out of your memory card.

Samsung is attempting to answer the question of how low can you go while doing the solid state limbo. The semiconductor company this week said it has begun sampling low-density, higher-performance solid state drives (SSDs) measuring just 30 percent the size of 2.5-inch SSDs. Samsung also says they're highly cost-efficient to manufacture, which should help the technology continue to penetrate the mainstream market."We've refined our manufacturing techniques and redesigned our low-density SSDs to get what the low-priced PC market is looking for in the way of improved cost, performance, and availability," said Jim Elliot, VP of memory marking.

Available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB flavors, the new multi-level cell SSDs will use the same SATA II controller found on Samsung's recently introduced MLC-based 128GB SSD. The company says the 32GB SSD will read data at 90MB/s and write at 70MB/s, while the 16GB will sport read and write times of 90MB/s and 45MB/s. Bringing up the rear, the 8GB model will also read at 90MB, but write at 25MB/s.

Mass production will start in September 2008. And mass consumption? That question remains to be answered.

We first looked at the Eye-Fi wireless SD flash memory card back in February, and liked its easy uploading and support for photo-sharing sites like Flickr. This week, Eye-Fi announced new partnerships with Nikon's my Picturetown, Adobe's Photoshop Express, and made its cards available at Circuit City. Here are the details.
Nikon and Eye-Fi

While Nikon already supports wi-Fi wireless uploading to my Picturetown from its Coolpix S50c, S51c, and S52c, the built-in support in Eye-Fi Share and Explore cards enables users of any Nikon camera that uses SD media to transfer pictures automatically to my Picturetown.

Nikon has also worked with Eye-Fi in the design of its new D60 DSLR camera. The D60 adjusts its power levels when using an Eye-Fi card for better wireless uploading.Shoot Them and They Will Come (to Your Favorite Sites)

Eye-Fi Share and Explore cards now support Adobe Photoshop Express as well as over 20 other photo sharing sites, including Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, Snapfish, Windows Live, and many others.
Easy to Use, Easier to Find

Eye-Fi Share cards are now available at Circuit City stores and the Circuit City website.
Eye-Fi by the Numbers

In our original February review, we reviewed the Eye-Fi Share card, but Eye-Fi actually make three different lines of 2GB SD cards with Wi-Fi radios:

* The entry-level Eye-Fi Home card ($79.99 MSRP) connects wirelessly to Wi-Fi-equipped home computers or the user's iPhoto account.
* The Eye-Fi Share card ($99.99 MSRP) connects wirelessly to Wi-Fi-equipped home computers or the user's choice of photo sharing websites.
* The Eye-Fi Explore card ($119.99 MSRP) adds geotags to your pictures and supports uploading from over 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots

Easy Photo Transferring and Sharing - What's It Worth to You?

Eye-Fi cards command a hefty price premium over standard 2GB SD cards, but they can save you a lot of time and effort. What say you? If you're already using Eye-Fi cards, tell us how they're doing for you. If you're new to the idea, let us know if you think the features are worth the money.

SanDisk has announced the availability of SanDisk Mobile Ultra, microSD, microSDHC and Memory Stick Micro (M2) flash mobile memory cards. These cards are a part of SanDisk’s “Wake Up Your Phone” series for multimedia. The cards come bundled with a MobileMate Micro Reader that plugs directly into a USB 2.0 port.
“This product launch further proves SanDisk’s ability to anticipate changing user needs and provide the market with the right mobile storage solutions at the right time.” said David Kerr, vice president mobile research, Strategy Analytics.Michael Romero, vice president of Mobile Retail Business, SanDisk, said, “SanDisk’s new Mobile Ultra line will make consumers’ digital lifestyle more manageable by offering them greater ability to quickly transfer photos, maps, music, videos, games and other large file size content wherever they go. These cards are truly the most convenient way for people to store, move and play content using their mobile phones, so we’re excited to introduce this high-performance, premium product to market to meet this need and growing demand.”
The SanDisk Mobile Ultra microSDHC are available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities and are priced at Rs. 1,492 ($34.99), Rs. 2,558 ($59.99) and Rs. 5,117 ($119.99) respectively. The Mobile Ultra Memory Stick Micro M2 are also available in the same capacities and are priced at Rs. 1,705 ($39.99) for the 2GB, Rs. 2,985 ($69.99) for the 4GB and Rs. 5,543 ($129.99) for the 8GB models. The SanDisk Mobile Ultra cards also come with a 10-year limited warranty.

All of us who have been on a plane know about how long you have to wait before you can board because of the annoyingly thorough check-ups you have to pass before you can go on your trip. But from now on you can leave all those controls behind thanks to the new Flyclear card. And it only costs $99.95 a year and the fee for TSA of $28.

To get one, you have to go to a Clear center and present two official identification cards. Then you have to take a photo and give them your biometric information. They suggest that you should have a US passport, but foreign people are welcomed to. So now you can eliminate the stress from your plane trips, not worry about those hidden pierces and miss a lot less planes. The Flyclear has already been put into function but for very few airports like Orlando, San Jose and JFK and the service is not available all day long. But there are plans to expand this technology.

Creative has all but dominated the PC sound card market, in no small part thanks to its prowess with hardware-accelerated 3D audio. The EAX positional audio framework born from the SoundBlaster line became the de facto standard for 3D audio in games, giving Creative a distinct advantage over its rivals. Creative licensed EAX, of course, but it kept competitors at version 2.0, limiting them to 32 concurrent 3D voices and standard-definition sampling rates and resolutions. Meanwhile, Creative extended EAX to version 5.0 with support for 128 simultaneous voices and high-definition resolutions and sampling rates.

Despite its positional audio dominance, Creative has faced increased competition of late, largely from sound cards based on C-Media's Oxygen HD audio chip. Microsoft's decision to drop hardware acceleration for DirectSound 3D audio in Vista has also posed a challenge to the SoundBlaster monopoly by blunting some of EAX's appeal. All the while, motherboard makers have diligently worked to improve the quality of onboard audio solutions, creating a perfect storm that has spawned more PC audio choices than we've ever seen before. Interestingly, two of the most recent additions to the sound card ecosystem use existing audio chips. Asus' new Xonar D2X, for example, is based on a tweaked version of C-Media's Oxygen HD. More interestingly, it comes with a PCI Express interface, finally providing fodder for the scores of empty PCIe x1 slots that dot the enthusiast landscape. On the other side of the fence we have Auzentech's X-Fi Prelude, which is the first third-party card to employ Creative's X-Fi silicon. The Prelude uses a custom board design and upgraded components in an attempt to wring better sound quality from the already impressive X-Fi audio chip.

The Xonar and Prelude both target the high end of the desktop sound card spectrum, so it's only fitting that we face them off against each other in Windows Vista. Read on to see how they fare in a range of gaming, signal quality, and subjective listening tests.