CeBIT Panasonic will this Summer ship a 4GB SD card which will meet the SD High Capacity (SDHC) specification - also known as the SD 2.0 standard - which paves the way for cards capable of holding up to 32GB of information. You can already get 4GB SD cards based on the 1.1 spec, of course, but for the new version it's a start.

SD 2.0 also bring to the memory card standard mandated minimum sustained data transfer rates of 2, 4 and 6MBps - thhough they may go much higher than that, of course. Devices will be labelled Class 2, 4 or 6, depending on which minimum transfer rate they provide. Alas, Panasonic didn't disclose which Class its 4GB card will be - we understand it's a Class 2 (2MBps) product.

SD 2.0 incorporates the FAT32 file-system, so SDHC cards will not be compatible with SD slots that don't support the second-generation specification.

The Panasonic 4GB SDHC will ship around the world, the company said, in the Summer. ®