Toshiba Releases 8GB FlashAir SDHC Card With Embedded Wi-Fi

Eye-Fi ushered in the idea that Wi-Fi could indeed be embedded into a consumer flash memory card, and now Toshiba is introducing a wireless LAN embedded SD card of its own. It's a FlashAir card, which is an SDHC card with a WLAN chip + antenna inside. Also, for a limited time, Olympus will offer the FlashAir for free through a mail-in rebate when purchasing select Olympus Cameras. The FlashAir is fully compliant with SD Association Memory card standards and is offered with 8GB of storage. As you might imagine, data stored on the FlashAir can be read and transferred by using standard WLAN communication. Setting up the connection between the devices is a breeze as the FlashAir does not require any special driver or software installation and the built-in wireless LAN access point does not require the device to be connected to the Internet. The memory card allows its data to be accessed by several different devices at the same time. For instance, users can simultaneously show off their pictures to their friends straight from their smartphone while downloading the photos to their PC.


According to Toshiba, the FlashAir consumes minimal amounts of power as the wireless function is switched on only when necessary to prevent wasteful power consumption of the battery by the automatic-manual operation for wireless LAN functionality. The FlashAir will be available at select retailers and on ToshibaDirect.com in November 2012 for  $79.99.