So say you’re at the airport. You want to rent, I dunno, some movie that wasn’t good enough to see in the cinemas. You just format a spare SD card filled with holiday photos you’d forgotten to back up (it doesn’t appear they give you a card, but I could be mistaken), pop it in the machine, select a movie, pay $US4 or so and then have the film loaded on your card, a la ticking time bomb, with DRM.

And what can’t you do with an SD card? I mean, it plays in my iPhone…wait…I mean my Blackberry…wait…

MiniSD and MicroSD — those are the cards that most of our mobile devices will take (if they take any at all)! In case no-one told you, Blockbuster, we can’t play this shit back on our digital cameras.

(Granted, netbook owners and some laptop owners will be able to utilise the standard.)

Ah Blockbuster, you’ve arrived just in time to ignore the growing popularity of iTunes/Zune Marketplace syncing, 3G streaming and in-flight Wi-Fi all while offering your service on a medium less convenient than DVD. But don’t worry, I’m not angry. You’re just hurting yourself. [Fast Company]

There’s not much of a space for a product like this now, since mobile phones account for most of the devices with MicroSD, and they generally have some kind of data connection anyway. But it’s easy to imagine a (near) future where traditional SD cards are considered bulky, and a wireless MicroSD card would make sense. [Tech-on]

For those that don’t need 64GB of storage, the CR-7100 will hold one 16GB microSD, while the
CR-7000 holds one 32GB SD. The 7200 will be available for $US30 and the 7100 and 7000 for $US25, all in July. [Photofast via Akihabara]

These cards are designed for HD video and are marketed with the new MacBook Pros in mind, since Apple’s new laptops finally (finally!) have SD card slots. 30MB/s is easily fast enough to comfortably boot an OS from the card slot, which we already know is possible. Plus, with all the new DSLRs capable of taking HD video, more space and faster speeds might be of considerable use to photographers and videographers. The cards will be available this August for an undisclosed price. Press release follows. [SanDisk]

SANDISK UNVEILS WORLD’S FASTEST 32GB SDHC CARD

30MB/s Read & Write Speeds and 32GB Storage Capacity Help
Photography and Video Enthusiasts Do More With Their DSLRs

32GB CardPMA, Sydney, June 25, 2009 – SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), the global leader in flash memory cards, today introduced the fastest 32-gigabyte (GB)1 SDHC™ card on the market. The 32GB SanDisk Extreme® SDHC™ card at up to 30 megabytes per second (MB/s)2 read and write speeds combines industry-leading performance with massive storage capacity, helping digital photography enthusiasts utilise the advanced features of today’s DSLR cameras.

“The market for entry to mid-level DSLR cameras is growing, and SDHC is becoming the de-facto card format for these devices,” said Susan Park, director, retail product marketing, SanDisk. “Our card’s 32GB of storage and up to 30MB/s read & write speeds enable DSLR users to shoot without worrying about storage or speed limitations. SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards provide consumers with a more enjoyable user experience, letting them focus on what is really important – the images that they are capturing.”

Lightning-Fast Write Speed Captures Images Quickly
A memory card’s write speed plays a crucial role in the overall system of the camera when taking pictures in rapid succession. If a card cannot process data quickly enough then the burst mode shooting may pause unexpectedly as the card catches up to the camera. Burst mode bottlenecks can lead to missing “the” shot, especially at sporting or other fast-motion events. The SanDisk Extreme SDHC card offers maximum data-transfer rates, giving consumers a memory card fast enough to unlock the full capabilities of their DSLRs.

The 32GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC card adheres to the SD Association’s new Class 10 specification, which exceeds requirement for today’s high definition (AVCHD) video recording. The card offers a sustained write speed fast enough to ensure high-definition video recording and capacity capable of storing 160 minutes of full HD 1920×1080 pixels at 24Mb/s data transfer rate.

Big Files Require Big Storage
Recently-released DSLR camera models like the Nikon D90 and D5000 offer consumers the ability to record HD videos, producing large files that can fill lesser-capacity cards quickly. Today’s high-megapixel DSLRs also can generate massive still images like those produced in the RAW format used by professional photographers who want to take advantage of the enhanced picture quality and flexibility that RAW allows during post production.

RAW images demand up to ten times as much storage space as regular JPEG images, and when taken in rapid succession during burst mode can quickly fill smaller storage cards. The 32GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC card can store up to 2500 RAW3 images, providing photographers with piece of mind and confidence that they will not run out of space for their images.

Renowned for their world-class durability, SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards guarantee operation at extended temperatures ranging from minus 13 F (minus 25 C) to 185 F (85 C). SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards are fully compatible with any camera, card reader or other device that supports SDHC cards.

When placed in SanDisk’s new ImageMate® Multi-Card USB 2.0 reader/writer, the SanDisk Extreme SDHC card transfers images and video to a computer at rates of up to 30MB/s. The card’s fast data transfer rates enable photographers operating under tight deadlines to maximize critical workflow and enter post production as quickly as possible.

Class 10 Performance Sets a New Standard
An SD™ card’s speed Class is based on its minimum data-transfer rate, and is used to ensure high-quality video recording standards. The SD Association added Class 10 as part of the SD 3.0 specification released earlier this year. The SanDisk Extreme SDHC card’s performance exceeds the requirements of even the highest-quality AVCHD video recording device, and is currently the fastest Class 10 card in the world.

Availability:
The SanDisk Extreme SDHC 32GB cards will be shipping worldwide to major retailers in August. Also in August, the current 4, 8 and 16GB capacity SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards will be upgraded from Class 6 to Class 104.

About SanDisk:
SanDisk Corporation is the global leader in flash memory cards – from research, manufacturing and product design to consumer branding and retail distribution. SanDisk’s product portfolio includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders; digital audio/video players; USB flash drives for consumers and the enterprise; embedded memory for mobile devices; and solid state drives for computers. SanDisk (www.sandisk.com/corporate) is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 company with more than half its sales outside of the United States.

Apple did two things simultaneously that are usually contradictory; they lowered the price of their entire MacBook Pro line while at the same time bumping up the specs. The 15-inch version now starts at $US1699 and caps out at $US2299, down from $US1999 and $US2499. What’s even nicer is that the 13-inch MacBook—which previously didn’t have a backlit keyboard or a Firewire slot or a “nicer” screen—got absorbed into the MacBook Pro family and is now virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the Pro line.

Two other things changed on the build that make the Pros more appealing to regular consumers. The replaceable battery has been swapped for the same type of lithium-polymer internal battery previously found in the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which boosts battery life at the expense of not being able to be changed out in the field. This, for the large majority of people, is a good thing. The batteries last 1000 charge cycles, which at 200/cycles a year, would last you five years. Even if you go through one charge cycle every day, you’ll still make it about three years before you need to take Apple up on the $US129 replacement. (The $US129 includes shipping, labour and disposal of the old battery.)

In our test, the 13-inch MacBook Pro got 3:31 of battery compared to the 3:46 of the 15-inch MacBook Pro. We used the same metrics as the previous MacBook Pro test—medium brightness, Wi-Fi on, keyboard backlight on low, H.264 movie—and got about an hour more on each machine. That’s a pretty incredible jump just from a change (non-user replaceable battery) that most people won’t notice.

The other interesting swap is the removal of the ExpressCard slot in favour of an SD card slot. According to Apple, there was only a “single digit” amount of customers that used the ExpressCard, whereas tons of people have digital cameras or other devices that use SD. Again, for the vast majority of mainstream customers, this decision was a smart one. And if you really do need ExpressCard, you can still find it on the 17-inch MacBook Pro—which doesn’t have an SD card slot.

Then we have the improved LED-backlit display, which has a 60% greater colour gamut than previous version. What this means to you is that even the 13-inch MacBook Pro will have a quality display even though it’s a few hundred dollars cheaper than the 15-inch. The previous 13-inch MacBook, as you saw in our review, had a screen that was obviously inferior to the Pros, and distorted very noticeably as you stepped away or viewed the screen at an angle. Not anymore. From our tests, the 13 and 15 MacBook Pros looked just about identical, and both had superior colour performance compared to older machines we had around.

An even nicer picture is painted by the benchmarks. This is the first time the 15-inch has gone up over 3GHz (the CTO version), and the entire line has the ability to handle 8GB of RAM. We didn’t test this 8GB configuration, but we’re pretty eager to see how much faster it makes us in our daily work.

Both sets of scores are on par with the changes in specs on the new machines. Since the CPUs have been bumped up, the scores have risen to match. It also makes sense that the 2.53GHz 15-inch just about ties the 2.53GHz 13-inch from this year. The only weird drop is in the Integer section of Geekbench, where both machines this year have dropped. A change in Geekbench? A change in 10.5.7? We’re not sure. But these are some good numbers nonetheless.

Although the removable latch has been exchanged for a screwed in panel, you can still get to the hard drive and RAM by removing ten screws and gently lifting off the back. The entire process should take you less than 10 minutes.

The 13-inch MacBook also has one fewer audio port, instead opting for a single audio port that supports digital in and out. If you need simultaneous in and out and don’t want to go up to a 15-inch MacBook Pro, you can use a $US29 USB audio adaptor instead.

So is there anything bad to say about the new MacBook Pro line? No, not really. It’s cheaper, faster, has more consumer-friendly features and now even has a 13-inch option for people who need slightly more portability. Those people who were waiting for the second-iteration version of a new hardware design (a pretty smart rule to follow with Apple products in general) before upgrading can safely do so now—and get a better deal in the process. [MacBook Pros]

It’s cheaper, faster and has a nicer screen

SD card slot more useful than ExpressCard for vast majority of customers

MacBook Pro line now has a 13-inch option

Built-in battery means increased battery size, and that means about an hour longer battery life

According to a fresh Knowledge Base article, a properly formatted SD card can be used to boot OS X from the internal slot. As (vaguely) described, this could be a valuable backup and restoration tool, or a convenient way to maintain a semi-portable install of your OS. In proper giveth/taketh fashion, Apple states in the same posting that, despite being the clear, inevitable replacement for the SDHC standard, SDXC card’s won’t be supported, meaning storage will effectively be capped at 32GB.

If Apple really wanted to make this useful, they’d extend Boot Camp to support external storage devices; a feat which is currently only manageable through complex and unwieldy hacks. On this, the article is tellingly silent. [Ars—SDXC tip from Richard L.]

USB flash media readers aren’t exactly ripe for innovation, so it’s rare that they surprise us in a way that doesn’t inspire laughter. But 69ing two readers into one compact, featureless lump? That’s kinda genius.

Designed by the same folks who brought us those wiseass USB “Keys”, the LaCie Data/Share is proudly simple, which is the source of both its strengths and its weaknesses. Along with plain card-reading capabilities, it offers a great way to store an extra SD or MicroSD card on the go, consolidating case and reader into one unit and eliminating dust and fragility concerns for both. That said, it could stand to do a little more; SD cards are well and good, and I know LaCie is aiming to keep things small, but nowadays it’s taken for granted that SD readers can handle at least a handful of other flash media as well.

The Data/Share isn’t yet listed on LaCie’s website, but it’s expected to ship at around $US15. [Electric Pig]

Thanks Thomas! And thanks to Rob, who also sent in an example ridiculous packaging today:

What I would not do is broadcast the exact same SD content on the HD channel, even if it was the Australian Open. But that’s exactly what Channel 7 are doing, starting today. Why? Because they hate you.Well, that and the fact that they don’t actually make any money off their HD channel with advertising, nor does it improve their ratings.

Considering how hard the FTA channels are pushing the upcoming FreeView service and its 15 channels (including the three HD channels), this is just another reason I’ll be sticking with Foxtel.

[TV Tonight]

The CrossOver by OCZ is a simple but clever design for a flash dongle. Coming in 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB sizes, the aluminum-constructed CrossOver works fine as a standard USB drive, but it’s also expandable with a built-in microSD/SDHC card reader should you need the extra storage (or just want a convenient way to load your microSD with music and stuff).

No info on the CrossOver’s price or availability. [OCZ via TechFresh]