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M-Flash, Yet Another Flash Memory Format
Verteiron writes "Despite all the (mostly incompatible) flash memory/card formats out there already, a consortium made up of several Taiwan-based manufacturers are preparing to unveil a new one at the upcoming CeBIT. The memory itself, called M-Flash, will form the backbone of the new M-Card format. According to C-One, a member of the M-Card group and the maker of Pretec brand flash devices, the M-Flash memory architecture is cheap to manufacture and allows for devices 2/3 the size of existing MMC products. The M-Card format uses the USB 2.0 I/O specification, but C-One claims it will transfer data at twice the speed of USB 2.0 while using about a third the power required by current devices. To encourage adoption of the new card format, it has been designed to be compatible with the existing SD/MMC format at reduced speeds. C-One also plans to make the currently proprietary format an open standard. Palm Blvd. and the EE Times (free reg. required) have articles with a few more details."
In related news, Motorola sued several Taiwan-based manufacturers for using the prefix "M-". Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, was heard to say, "What do we care? We use 'i', not 'M-'."
2/3 the size of existing formats? Do we need this? We're already in danger of accidentally inhaling these things or losing them between the ridges of our fingerprints. Jeez, I must have a terabyte lodged in various spots, slowly sloughing off with the dust.
... is that there's so many of them. Ack.
Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is bowling. There are rules.
"I don't know how other people feel about this, but for me, the Secure Digital format is pretty close to being as small as I want to get. I don't want to have to use tweezers to get my memory into and out of devices."
Yes, but the average taiwanese guy is about 2/3 the size of your average american, so there you are.
- "They misunderestimated me."