USB memory sticks are more common than President Bush bashing. (exit polling had it as a close call though) Today, yet another USB memory stick launched - the Buffalo SHD-U32GS TurboUSB USB memory stick. Now before you start ho-humming or poo-poohing this as just another USB memory stuck, hear me out. The Buffalo SHD-U32GS TurboUSB features a whopping 32GB of storage and they claim this is the fastest USB memory stick on the market by a clear 20% margin, allowing you to quickly transfer your precious photos, mp3 files, and other large files very quickly.

20% performance over competing memory sticks makes me a bit skeptical, but maybe because this improvement came from Buffalo and not a bigger name like Sandisk or IBM. But assuming the claims are true, with the time you save, you can go back to your regularly scheduled program of Bush-bashing, Hillary Clinton hating, etc. etc. Or just take a break from the political bashing and spends some time playing with your kids this holiday season - or at least playing with whatever holiday gadgetry you get for Christmas.

[Via Akihabara News]

Delkin Devices just launched the "world's fastest" 16GB UDMA CompactFlash PRO card. Delkin's Compact Flash PRO line boasts screaming fast read/write speeds-up to 305x (45MB/sec sustained transfer speed capability). You'll need UDMA enabled cameras such as the Canon 1Ds Mark III, Nikon D300 and Nikon D3X to take full advantage of the high transfer speeds, but non-UDMA devices will work as well. The time it takes transferring my photos on my Canon G5 is one of my pet-peeves, but this speed boost should make transferring multi-gigabyte photos and videos to a PC lickity split! Course I'll need to upgrade my digital camera. Hmm, another item for my Christmas wish list?

[via Digital Media Thoughts]

SanDisk announced 6GB and 8GB microSD High Capacity (microSDHC) flash memory cards one-upping their previous maximum capacity of 4 gigabytes announced in February.

SanDisk's Jeff Kost bragged, "any mobile phone with a compatible microSDHC slot will have just as much storage as the largest-capacity iPhone." The ironic thing is Rich Tehrani recently bought a 4GB microSDHC card for his Windows Mobile 5 phone (Verizon XV6700) and it only supports 2GB maximum, so he had to return it. So unfortunately, most existing phones won't support the new higher 6GB and 8GB capacities either. So buyers beware! Check your device's specs before you buy a microSDHC memory card.

But certainly newer phone models can take advantage of the extra storage. Of course other devices will also be able to take advantage of microSDHC such as mp3 music players, hand-held computers, and digital cameras. An 8GB microSDHC card can store more than 2,000 digital songs, or more than 5,000 high-resolution pictures, or up to 5 hours of high-quality MPEG 4 video.

Retail release of the cards and availability to phone manufacturers and network operators are planned for later in 2007. Pricing has not yet been determined.

Note: SDHC is the designation for any SD or SD-based card that is larger than 2GB and adheres to the new SD 2.00 specification required for cards and hosts to support 4GB to 32GB capacities.

SanDisk today introduced a 4 gigabyte (GB) microSD High Capacity (SDHC) card, which is now was the largest capacity of the world's smallest removable flash memory card format. A 4GB microSDHC card can store more than 1,000 digital songs or more than 2,000 high-resolution pictures or up to 8 hours of MPEG 4 video. Can't wait to review one of these - I be in need of some serious storage. SanDisk made the announcement at 3GSM World Congress 2007, where it is demonstrating it's latest products. Amazon has the 4GB memory for less than $16 . (note the 8GB model is out - keep reading) "Content is driving the demand for higher capacity flash memory cards in mobile phones," said Jeff Kost, vice president and general manager of the Mobile Consumer Solutions division at SanDisk. "The new 4GB SanDisk microSDHC card will allow handset manufacturers and mobile network operators to plan rich media services for their customers who increasingly see their phone as their camera, video player, gaming system and music player."

SanDisk is now sampling the new 4GB microSDHC card to OEMs such as major phone manufacturers and mobile network operators (MNOs). Engineering samples are now available for evaluation, as mobile phone makers will need to upgrade the firmware in their handsets so that memory slots can support the new card.

SDHC is the new designation for any SD or SD-based card that is larger than 2GB and adheres to the new SD 2.00 specification that is required for cards and hosts to support 4GB to 32GB capacities. The specification was developed by the SD Association, an industry standards board, which also defined three speed classes for speed and performance capabilities. These cards adhere to the SD Speed Class 2 Rating specification which defines a minimum sustained transfer speed for SDHC cards.

Retail release of the card is planned for later in 2007. OEM pricing has not been determined yet.

In line with the announcement of the 4GB microSDHC card, SanDisk is offering various capacities of microSD cards in a Mobile Memory Kit. Each package contains both miniSD and SD adapters, so that consumers can select the appropriate card for their use without being influenced by card size. With SanDisk adapters, microSD and microSDHC cards can be "stepped up" to fit into a variety of other electronics devices that have miniSDHC and SDHC slots.

Apart from handsets, microSDHC cards also can be used in some digital audio players, such as SanDisk's Sansa c200 and e200 series MP3 players.

For additional information on the SDHC format, check these out:
• What is SDHC: http://www.sandisk.com/sdhc/SDHC.pdf
• SDHC product information: http://www.sandisk.com/sdhc

If you're looking to buy a SanDisk 4GB microSDHC card, Amazon has it here for around $15.99

The SanDisk 8GB microSDHC model is also out and at a great bargain price.
Amazon is selling it for less than $33.