Pretec unveils world's first 32GB SDXC card

A few days ago, flash memory maker Pretec announced the world's first 666x speed CompactFlash card at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) tradeshow taking place now in Las Vegas. But the showstopper has to be the unveiling of the world's first 32GB SDXC card, which is the next iteration of the SD card format.

The 32GB SDXC (where XC stands for eXtended Capacity) media has a current write speed of 50MB/s, which is much faster than the speediest SDHC card now. Pretec also said there are plans to bump up the speed of the SDXC card format to 300MB/s in the future.

The maximum capacity of an SDXC card is 2TB, whereas an SDHC card is capped at 32GB. However, there is a catch. The SDXC cards are not backward-compatible with older SD/SDHC-compliant devices. This is because the new media uses the exFAT file system as opposed to FAT32, which is utilized in current SD/SDHC format media.
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New camera backpack options arrive

LAS VEGAS--Sure, they don't have 11-point autofocus systems or image stabilization, but a lot of money is spent on camera packs as well as cameras, and Tamrac, M-Rock, and Think Tank Photo introduced some new ones here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show.

Tamrac
First up are Tamrac's Aero Speed 75 and 85 backpacks. These feature a lower compartment with a side-access zipper so cameras can be removed without taking the pack off.

Unlike related predecessors, the new models come with waterproof zippers for that compartment, and the lower section also has been reworked to permit larger 70-200mm telephoto lenses to fit, said product specialist Derek Gross.

The Aero Speed 75 costs US$109.95, and the 85, which adds a compartment that can accommodate a laptop with a 17-inch screen, costs US$149.95.
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Man builds holographic world for his true love

Talk about a labor of love. Emmy-nominated VFX filmmaker Bruce Branit took two years post-processing this short film which was reportedly shot in one day, so it bears watching just for his troubles. But more so, this is one pretty nifty production with Second Life overtones, revolving around a man who builds a world using holographic tools for the woman he loves. Branit, who won Internet fame for an earlier 3-minute clip called 405, possibly the first short film to be widely distributed on the Net and become a media sensation, should be well worth 9.15 minutes of your time in augmented reality. Look out for the touching twist at the end.
Via Likecool.com

Lexar to boost CompactFlash speed, capacity this year

LAS VEGAS--Lexar plans to introduce faster, higher-capacity CompactFlash cards using a new generation of the flash memory technology, a company executive said Wednesday.

Lexar's current top-end 300X-rated CompactFlash cards use a standard called UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) to transfer data at 45MB/second, and their capacity tops out at 16GB. But using a new generation of the standard, UDMA 6, Lexar will release cards that have significantly faster transfer speeds and larger capacity, Jeff Cable, director of marketing, said in an interview here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show here.

Cable wouldn't be pinned down on precise details, but he said the new cards' capacity "probably" would be 32GB, and their transfer speeds likely would "pretty close to" UDMA 6's threshold of 100MB/sec, which is more than double that of today's UDMA.
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Geotagging Unleashed for Nikon dSLRs

Aside from having a cool name, German company Foolography has an interesting geotagging solution that takes advantage of the GPS connector on Nikon cameras. Its Unleashed is a tiny Bluetooth receiver that works with any Bluetooth-compatible GPS receiver to directly insert the location coordinates into the EXIF header of the digital camera files.

Nikon has its own solution, the GP-1, but it's a bit bulkier and ties you into its GPS device. Though the Unleashed will be more expensive--250 euros, or about US$315 using today's exchange rate--it offers the flexibility of using any quality of GPS device you want or can afford. The company also plans to support remote shutter release via the Bluetooth receiver and an optional remote release connector.
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