A New Global Memory Card Standard

Here is some really interesting and exciting news. It seems that a group of less well known hardware manufacturers have gotten together and released something we almost never see from the "big guys" in the memory industry. A new memory card standard (no it's not that they created a new standard... everyone is always changing the 'standard' to something equally proprietary and definitely more expensive than what ever the last standard was) that is smaller, faster, and larger than virtually any other standard out there, and it's compatible with... drum roll please ... MMC (the precursor to SD) and USB (that's the big news... they're compatible!) You can plug them straight in to a USB port, or put them in an adapter and use them in any MMC (virtually all SD slots support MMC) slot.
For a change we are going to get a new memory card standard will work with our existing equipment, and is bigger (starting at 8GB, they are expected to hold up to 2,048GB - yes GB!), better (MMC and USB compatibility built in) and faster (480Mbit/sec)!

I want one of these in oh... 512GB should be large enough for a while anyway... for use in my TX!

Here is part of a Computer World article about the miCard. I encourage you to follow this link and read the full article.

Taiwan's miCard Chosen as Global Memory Card Standard
01 June 2007 (IDG News Service) -- A Taiwanese research institute has produced a new global memory card standard, called the miCard (Multiple Interface Card), designed to work in smaller consumer gadgets such as digital cameras, mobile phones and any device with a USB plug, which are common on PCs.
The purpose of the card is to make transferring pictures, songs and other data between gadgets and PCs easier. The card won the stamp of approval from the MultiMedia Card Association yesterday and is expected to be available globally starting in the third quarter.
Users [that's US - Canuck-PDA] will not only benefit from the versatility of the card, but also its speed. The miCard will transfer data at 480Mbit/sec, and throughput will improve over time. The first miCards will be able to store 8GB of data, but the maximum capacity is expected to top out around 2,048GB. The compatibility with both USB and MMC slots means most users won't need separate card readers anymore. MMC cards fit most consumer electronics, while USB connections are built into a wide range of IT hardware, including laptops, desktops, printers and home entertainment gear.

Kudos go to SlashDot where I found a comment entitled "A New Global Memory Card Standard" which got me interested enough to pursue the rest of this story.