Toshiba Announces World’s First 64GB SDXC Memory Card [35Mbps Write Speed, 60 Mbps Read Speed]

When it comes to portable storage for things like digital cameras and video recorders few would argue the merits of the SDHC memory card. They are easy to use, pretty much indestructible, and you can fit a gaggle of them in your pocket. Up until now, the SDHC technology has been somewhat limited in its capacity with most manufacturers offering maximum capacities of 16GB or less. Toshiba has just announced that it has taken this memory storage device to another level with the introduction of the world’s first 64GB SDXC memory storage card.

After unveiling the world’s first 16GB micro-SDHC memory card back in October 2008, Toshiba made it clear to the electronics world that they were not content to rest on their laurels. The news today that Toshiba had created the world’s first 64GB SDXC memory card heralded a new day for the portable storage device market. Oh yeah, and this thing also boasts the fastest data transfer rate currently available in an SD memory card. The 64GB SDXC card has a top write speed of 35Mbps and a read speed of 60Mbps. From a practical standpoint, that’s enough to handle a 2.4GB video file in about 70 seconds.

Toshiba will start to ship the first samples to its OEM partners sometime in November. General sales should follow in the spring of 2010. Around that time, the company also plans to launch two new SDHC cards, a 16GB and a 32GB model. Both versions will feature a write speed of 35Mbps and a read speed of 60Mbps.

And since the SDXC technology has a theoretical capacity limit of up to 2TB I wouldn’t expect Toshiba to be far behind with the next jump in capacity. To put this in perspective, the SDHC cards max out at 32GB.