Wow, it seems like we were just marveling over the introduction of the world's first 8GB SD card a few moons back. Ah, that's right, we were. Alas, Samsung took it to heart that SD doesn't cut it for your average cellphone (they run a bumpin' mobile business, after all), announcing that it has managed to pack a full eight gigabytes into the microSD form factor for mid-2008 production. That's particularly timely considering that 4GB examples haven't even gotten into widespread circulation yet -- "8GB" just has a nicer ring to it -- not to mention that the new card handily surpasses SDHC guidelines with 16MB/s reads and 6MB/s writes. For the record, a microSD card rocks a little over 20 percent of the surface area of its SD counterpart, so does this mean we can expect 40GB SD cards, like, now? Not quite.

We'll never understand Sony's perpetual obsession with proprietary formats, especially in regard to flash memory, but nonetheless, SanDisk is filling in the void for a large format Memory Stick Micro (M2) card by pumping out its GB1 / MB2 offerings. The MB2 comes in 512MB and 1GB sizes, while the GB1 ups the ante to 2GB of capacity. If you've discovered just how worthless those SD cards are to your new Sony Ericsson handset, we feel your pain, but if you need extra room for your K610, K800, K790, M600/608, V630, W300, W710, W712, Z530, Z550, Z710, or Z712, here's your answer. Additionally, owners of the D750, K750, P910, P990, V800, W700, W800/810, W850, W900, or Z800 will be able to utilize SanDisk's latest courtesy of the included Memory Stick Pro Duo adapter that comes bundled in. The trio of cards are slated to start shipping later this month, and while the big fellow will run you a steep $119.99, the 1GB flavor only demands $54.99, while you can snag 512MB for $44.99.

[Via MobileTechReview]

It's a common adage that over time, consumer electronics get faster, cheaper, smaller (size) and bigger (capacity). In continuing with this tradition, NEC, Samsung and others are poised to introduce the next generation of flash memory by placing eight memory chips (each only 50 micrometers thick) and one controller chip in a vertical stack, with "3D connections" between all of 'em -- creating a tiny-sized but powerful piece of storage. Samsung says that this could lead to a one-terabit flash chip within the coming years, but don't count on fitting an entire season of "Lost" on your cellphone just yet -- company scientists say that these new chips are "in their early stages" and can only hold 32 bits for the time being.

[Via Sci Fi Tech, thanks Mike]

Read - NEC press release
Read - Technology Review