Toshiba's new SD Memory Card Series to Launch in Global Market

28 June, 2006


Toshiba's new SD Memory Card Series to Launch in Global Market
 
Toshiba's new SD Memory Card Series to Launch in Global Market

TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation today announced new SD Memory Cards that will extend both the ultra-small and the ultra high-capacity segments of its comprehensive product line-up. The company will launch new microSD Memory Cards in July and August, and follow up in September with the introduction of SDHC Memory Cards. All the new memory cards will be available in the global market.

Toshiba is a technology and market leader in applying NAND flash memory to compact memory card solutions that add to the functionality and performance of portable digital equipment, and that provide highly flexible bridge media for transferring data between products as diverse as digital cameras, PCs, TVs and personal video viewers. SD cards are the most widely used multi-platform memory cards. The different versions meet diverse needs, and continue to bring increasingly large capacities to increasingly small cards. Toshiba provides the global market with a full line-up of SD cards that offer the latest advances in memory capacities and the evolving SD standard.

The microSD Memory Card is the world's smallest memory card, just a quarter of the size of the miniSD card. It nonetheless provides the high capacities needed to support the must-have high-resolution cameras and digital music players that are increasingly integrated into mobile phones, while also supporting continued product miniaturization. The microSD Memory Card fully complies with the SD Memory Card standard, and can be slipped into an adapter for use in products with slots for standard SD cards. Toshiba will meet growing demand for memory cards in this small format with 256 MB, 512MB and 1GB capacity microSD Memory Cards.

The SDHC Memory Card brings SD card to new level of performance in terms of capacity. SDHC meets the new SD Memory Card Ver2.00 for cards with a capacity of over 2GB, and will boost memory capacity to 32GB in the near future. It also complies with Class 4 of SD Speed Class*1, a newly defined standard for data processing speed, and it supports maximum write speed of 6MB per second. As a result, SDHC Memory Cards are optimized for high capacity and for such application as digital video and continuous shooting mode for high-end digital still cameras. Toshiba will bring a 4GB SDHC Memory Card to the world market.

*1: Based on the SD card Association Standard, SD Speed Class indicates minimum data transferring speed for reading and writing, which Class 4 applies to the minimum speed of 4MB per second.

Outline of New Products

1. microSD Memory Card
1. microSD Memory Card

2. SDHC Memory Card
2. SDHC Memory Card
Note: The product name above is only for the Japanese market.

Key Features

1. microSD Memory Card
(1) The world's smallest memory card in ultra-small size of 11mm x 15mm.
(2) Applies for high-resolution digital cameras, music players for mobile phones.
(3) Adopts CPRM*2 advanced copyright protection function

2. SDHC Memory Card

(1) The large storage capacity for 4GB for movies and high resolution images.
(2) Support for Class 4 of SD Speed Class.
(3) Adopts CPRM*2 advanced copyright protection function

Note:
SDHC cannot be used for the devices that does not support memory card standard of Ver2.00 due to the file format.

*2: The copyright protection technology developed by 4C Entity, LLC (Toshiba, Matsushita, Intel and IBM), which is also used on DVD

Specifications

1. microSD Memory Card
Name of Product: micro SD Memory Card
Compatible Interface: SD Memory Card standard compatible
Power Supply Voltage: 2.7 - 3.6V
Compatible Standard: SD Memory Card standard compatible
Exterior Dimensions: 11.0mm(W)x15.0mm(L)x1.0mm(T)
Weight Approx.: 0.4g

2. SDHC Memory Card

Name of Product: SDHC Memory Card
Compatible Interface: SD Memory Card standard compatible
Power Supply Voltage: 2.7 - 3.6V
Compatible Standard: SD Memory Card standard compatible
File Format: FAT 32*3
Exterior Dimensions: 24.0mm(W)x32.0mm(L)x2.1mm(T) *4
Weight Approx.: 2.0g

*3: The file format of current SD card is FAT 16 or FAT 12.
*4: The same size as of the current SD card.

About the SD Memory Card Business

Toshiba is now the world's second largest supplier*5 of memory card, and its cumulative sales in this product area now total approximately 200-million*6 units. In 1999, Toshiba joined forces with Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. Ltd. and SanDisk® Corporation to promote standardization of the SD Card, and so created today's most widely used memory card. The new microSD and SDHC products will further strengthen the Company's line-up of SD cards and promote expanded sales, and also help to meet still-growing demand for smaller digital mobile products. All Toshiba NAND Flash memory chips for use in memory cards are manufactured in Japan.

*5: Currently as of June 28, 2006.
*6:

Based on 2004 shipment including OEM, Source: Techno System Research Co, Ltd.


Information in the press releases, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the press announcement,but is subject to change without prior notice.