Tuesday, July 30, 2002
Olympus, Fuji announce new digital camera memory media
Posted by Jason Dunn in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 11:00 AM
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0207/30.media.php
We've talked about the xD format before, and now it has become a reality. I kept hoping that Olympus and Fuji would switch to pure CF or SD instead of sticking with SmartMedia or their combo units, but it looks like they're gung-ho about the new xD format. If they can reach 8 gigs by 2003 I'll be stunned, but I suppose anything is possible. Did I mention I hate it when consumers get caught in the middle of memory standard wars? I'm staring at my "all in one" memory card reader and thinking "Ok, so when do I start shopping for a new one..."
And for those who think I'm irrational about disliking new memory standards, I was recently the purchasing agent for a digital camera to be given to the youth pastor at my church (he's leaving for a church plant in Chicago) and what camera did I buy? A Sony and a 64 mb memory stick. Since he has no other devices to speak of, the quality of the camera and price point were more important than device interoperability. But on to the xD news...
"Olympus and Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd, of Japan today announced they've jointly developed the xD-Picture (as in "eXtreme digital") Card. The card is a new type of memory media with a compact design about the size of a postage stamp and has an image storage capacity of up to 8GB. The card offers compatibility with different digital camera brands and prices that are comparable to current SmartMedia cards. The xD-Picture Card will be produced on consignment by Toshiba Corp. in Japan and introduced in the Americas this fall along with digital cameras from Olympus and Fujifilm that support the media. With a Compact Flash adapter the xD-Picture Card can be used with any Compact Flash compatible device. A USB Reader/Writer provides computer connectivity, as does a PCMCIA PC Card adapter for laptops...
...Four types of cards will be available initially: 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, and 128MB. Due in December are 256MB cards, with 512MB, 1GB and 8GB versions planned for 2003." Source: Alex Kac
We've talked about the xD format before, and now it has become a reality. I kept hoping that Olympus and Fuji would switch to pure CF or SD instead of sticking with SmartMedia or their combo units, but it looks like they're gung-ho about the new xD format. If they can reach 8 gigs by 2003 I'll be stunned, but I suppose anything is possible. Did I mention I hate it when consumers get caught in the middle of memory standard wars? I'm staring at my "all in one" memory card reader and thinking "Ok, so when do I start shopping for a new one..."
And for those who think I'm irrational about disliking new memory standards, I was recently the purchasing agent for a digital camera to be given to the youth pastor at my church (he's leaving for a church plant in Chicago) and what camera did I buy? A Sony and a 64 mb memory stick. Since he has no other devices to speak of, the quality of the camera and price point were more important than device interoperability. But on to the xD news...
"Olympus and Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd, of Japan today announced they've jointly developed the xD-Picture (as in "eXtreme digital") Card. The card is a new type of memory media with a compact design about the size of a postage stamp and has an image storage capacity of up to 8GB. The card offers compatibility with different digital camera brands and prices that are comparable to current SmartMedia cards. The xD-Picture Card will be produced on consignment by Toshiba Corp. in Japan and introduced in the Americas this fall along with digital cameras from Olympus and Fujifilm that support the media. With a Compact Flash adapter the xD-Picture Card can be used with any Compact Flash compatible device. A USB Reader/Writer provides computer connectivity, as does a PCMCIA PC Card adapter for laptops...
...Four types of cards will be available initially: 16MB, 32MB, 64MB, and 128MB. Due in December are 256MB cards, with 512MB, 1GB and 8GB versions planned for 2003." Source: Alex Kac
