Reg Kit Watch

Memory cards

The $500 card - we didn't say it was cheap - uses clever chip-stacking technology co-developed with Sharp to essentially squeeze two 512MB Flash memory chips into a standard 2.1mm-thick SD card, allowing it to be used in all existing SD-supporting devices, provided their software can cope with memory cards bigger than 512MB.

Sharp describes the technique as its 3D-SiP (Three-Dimensional System in Package) process.

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Kingston has added 128MB and 512MB models to its Hi-Speed Elite Pro SD card family.

The Hi-Speed brand arises from the card's support for 4-bit data transfers, yielding data throughput rates of up to 10Mbps - five times faster than the base specification of the SD card standard. How many SD-supporting devices operate at the higher speed is another matter. However, each card comes with a five-year warranty and free tech support.

Available immediately, the two cards retail in the UK for £56 for the 128MB (SD/128-S) version and £87 for the 256MB (SD/256-S) card. Both prices exclude VAT.

DVD Writer

TDK has introduced its first internal 8x DVD writer, the DVW-A080412N. Capable of 8x write speeds with DVD-R and DVD+R media - which amounts to creating a 4.7GB DVD in eight minutes - it can write to DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs as 4x speed. CD media are even faster: 32x for CD-R and 16x for CD-RW.

The drive ships with Nero Express 6 burning software and Nero's Vision Express 2 video editing suite, InCD 4, BackITup, Recode 2 and Showtime. Pricing was not disclosed.

Wireless

D-Link has begun shipping the Bluetooth equivalent of the Wi-Fi access point. The DBT-900AP allows up to seven BT-enabled devices position up to 200m away to share a broadband Internet connection, linked into the access point through a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port.

D-Link is pitching the device at mobile phone and PDA users who regularly check their email, synchronise calendars or use network printers, but want to do so at higher speeds and more cheaply than cellular networks can offer.

The DBT-900AP retails for £59 (excluding VAT). ®