Pretec Intros 32GB SDXC Card, Other Flash Drives
For a moment there, we thought maybe -- just maybe -- SDXC was going to be one of those introduced-and-then-forgotten formats. After sliding out amidst hundreds of other new developments at CES this year, the next-generation SD card has finally found favor with a manufacturing company. At the CeBIT trade show in Germany this past week, Pretec announced the world's first SDXC (eXtended Capacity) card with a size of 32GB.
The card boasts a theoretical maximum read and write speed of up to 50MB/sec initially, with rates as high as 300MB/sec in the future. Pretec clearly states, however, that its SDXC card is not compatible with SDHC devices. The reason? SDXC is based on the exFAT file system, whereas SDHC utilizes the much more common FAT32 file system. You've got to love that lack of backwards compatibility, right? Understandably, Pretec has yet to put a price on this shiny new object of desire, but it should begin shipping out during the second half of this year.
In related news, the company also revealed the highest capacity CompactFlash card in the world and the fastest CompactFlash card in the world. The former is a 100GB CF card that sports a 233x transfer rate, while the latter is a 64GB card that buzzes at 666x. We know, we know -- just try and stifle your snickering. Pretec also makes an interesting conclusion in the midst of this announcement as it says that its 666x CF card "will likely be the last of the high speed CF cards given that 100MB/sec is approaching the theoretical maximum speed of the CompactFlash specification of 133MB/sec." Darn, we were totally banking on picking up a 1,000x version next year.
Last, but certainly not least, Pretec has delivered two new ExpressCard SSDs in 64GB and 128GB sizes. These handy little devices slip right into that ExpressCard slot that you've yet to find a use for and provide lots of on board flash storage that's easily removable and quickly accessible. These cards promise read / write speeds of up to 38MBps / 30MBps and carry a ship date of April 2009.
The card boasts a theoretical maximum read and write speed of up to 50MB/sec initially, with rates as high as 300MB/sec in the future. Pretec clearly states, however, that its SDXC card is not compatible with SDHC devices. The reason? SDXC is based on the exFAT file system, whereas SDHC utilizes the much more common FAT32 file system. You've got to love that lack of backwards compatibility, right? Understandably, Pretec has yet to put a price on this shiny new object of desire, but it should begin shipping out during the second half of this year.
In related news, the company also revealed the highest capacity CompactFlash card in the world and the fastest CompactFlash card in the world. The former is a 100GB CF card that sports a 233x transfer rate, while the latter is a 64GB card that buzzes at 666x. We know, we know -- just try and stifle your snickering. Pretec also makes an interesting conclusion in the midst of this announcement as it says that its 666x CF card "will likely be the last of the high speed CF cards given that 100MB/sec is approaching the theoretical maximum speed of the CompactFlash specification of 133MB/sec." Darn, we were totally banking on picking up a 1,000x version next year.
Last, but certainly not least, Pretec has delivered two new ExpressCard SSDs in 64GB and 128GB sizes. These handy little devices slip right into that ExpressCard slot that you've yet to find a use for and provide lots of on board flash storage that's easily removable and quickly accessible. These cards promise read / write speeds of up to 38MBps / 30MBps and carry a ship date of April 2009.
