Taiwan to introduce new memory card, the ''µcard''

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and some other Taiwanese IT firms will soon start mass production of a new type of memory card named "µcard". The µcard will be introduced at the Taipei International Electronics Show from October 8-12.

These new cards are expected to be the chance for Taiwanese IT firms to reduce their technology reliance upon oversea firms. Module makers in Taiwan and China at the moment license technologies from overseas rivals.

The µcard will be able to transfer 120MB of data per second, which is about 10x faster than SD memory cards. The cards also have USB 2.0 compatibility, low power, fast I/O and a compatible interface with existing memory cards.

The cards are aimed for PCs, handsets, digital cameras, digital video recorders and MP3 players.

Specifications for the μcards are being set by members of the Open Mobile Internet Alliance (OMIA), an initiative established by the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA) and the Taipei Computer Association (TCA).

Sources said the specification will be discussed at this year’s Jing-tai (transliterated from Chinese) Technology Forum, an annual forum hosted by IT firms in Taiwan and China, on September 10-11. More firms from Taiwan, China and other countries may end up participating in defining the card’s specification next year.

Mass production of the µcard is slated for early 2005.

Memory cards specifications
Type	Size (WxLxH: mm)	Maximum capacity	Bandwidth (MB/second)	Low power	I/O	Players
CompactFlash	42.8x36.4x3	128GB	16.6		Y	CFA
Mini SD	20x21.5x1.4	4GB	12.5	Y	Y	SDA, Toshiba, Sandisk, Panasonic
MMC	24x32x1.4	4GB	2.5	Y		MMCA, Nokia, Samsung, Renesas
Reduced size MMC	24x18x1.4	4GB	2.5	Y
High speed MMC	24x32x1.4	4GB	52	Y	Y
Memory Stick	21.5x50x2.8	256MB	2.5	Y		Sony
Memory Stick Pro	21.5x50x2.9	2TB	20	Y
Memory Stick Duo	21.5x31x2.8	2TB	20	Y
SM	45x37x0.76	128MB	1.2	Y		Samsung, Toshiba
XD	20x25x1.7	8GB	5	Y		Fujitsu, Olympus
T-Flash	15x11x1.0	4GB	2.5	Y		Sandisk
μcard	24x32x1.4	2TB	120	Y	Y	OMIA
RS μcard	24x18x1.4	2TB	120	Y	Y

Source: DigiTimes