[Pixalo]

Press Release
The “high-speed series” will offer a maximum data transfer rate of 5-megabytes (MB) a second, while the “ultra high-speed series” will push transfer rates to as high as 20MB per second, double the rate of any other Toshiba-brand SD Cards. Both series will be rolled out this autumn; initially in Japan in October, and globally in November.

In May this year, the SD Card Association introduced the SD Speed Class, defining three minimum data transfer rates for next generation SD Cards: Class 2 supports a minimum data transfer rate of 2MB a second; Class 4 supports 4MB a second; and Class 6 6MB a second. Toshiba is first in the industry to announce the launch of Class 6 products.

Both the high-speed series Speed Class 4 SD Cards and ultra high-speed series Speed Class 6 SD Cards will be made available in 512MB, 1GB and 2GB capacities. The SD Speed Class will be clearly stated on the card and its packaging, allowing users to select the card that makers specify for use with their digital products. Applications will include video recording with high performance digital cameras.

Toshiba expects Speed Class to become an integral part of SD card specifications, and to prove popular with users by indicating which Speed Class SD Card is best matched with which product. Classifying standards for transfer rates will also assure that SD Card continues to evolve to meet new market demands, such as high speed capacity storage in support of digital video. As a leader in SD Card technology and production, Toshiba decided to promote these moves by leading the industry in launching Speed Class 4 and 6 SD Cards, and will now gradually transition its SD Card production to the new cards.

The new SD memory card series will be exhibited at the IFA 2006, the world's largest consumer electronics trade fair, which will be held at Berlin, Germany, from September 1 to 6, 2006.


Key Features

* Support for Class 4 of SD Speed Class (high-speed series), Class 6 of SD Speed Class (ultra high-speed series)
* Maximum writing speed of 5MB a second (high-speed series), and 20MB a second (ultra high-speed series). Read and write speeds are calculated at 1MB a second equals 1,000,000B a second. Read and write speeds may vary depending on read and write conditions, such as the Adopts CPRM advanced copyright protection function, the copyright protection technology developed by the 4C Entity, LLC (Toshiba, Matsu****a, Intel and IBM), which is also used in DVD.
* Compatible with current SD-card-enabled devices and SDHC-card-enabled devices. SD Memory Cards with capacities of 2GB and under can be used in both current SD-enabled devices and SDHC (SD High Capacity)-enabled devices. As the SD or SDHC memory card capacity supported by SD or SDHC-enabled device varies by individual product, please refer to product specifications for more details.