SanDisk® Corporation today introduced an 8-gigabyte (GB) SanDisk Ultra® II SD™ High Capacity (SDHC™) card to meet the growing demand for more photo and video storage. The new cards can store over 4,000 high-resolution pictures or up to 15 hours of MPEG 4 video. The announcement was made at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where SanDisk is displaying its photographic products in Booth G191 on Level 1 of the South Hall.

The SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card features write speeds of 9 megabytes (MB) per second and read speeds of 10MB/sec. The cards are targeted at digital photography enthusiasts with 5 megapixel or higher resolution cameras or videographers with camcorders that require significantly faster flash storage cards. The card carries a Class 4 speed rating.

The SanDisk MicroMate™ USB 2.0 reader, which normally retails for $19.99, will be included with the 8GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card at no extra charge. SDHC cards require an SDHC-compatible reader to transfer images from card to computer, and the MicroMate readers work with both SDHC and SD cards.

The 8GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card adheres to the SD 2.00 specification, a new design that is required for cards and cameras to support capacities from 4GB to 32GB. The specification was developed by the SD Association, an industry standards board, which also defined three speed classes for speed and performance capabilities. The speed rating system, adopted by the SD Association, is intended to help consumers select the right card for the desired application. It does not denote the fastest memory card.

Though standard SD and SDHC cards look identical in size and shape, only SDHC-compatible cameras and devices can accept the new SDHC cards. SanDisk differentiates its new cards with the SDHC logo on the card and retail package.

Suggested price of the SanDisk 8GB Ultra II SDHC Bundle with MicroMate SDHC/SD 8GB + MicroMate USB 2.0 Reader is $239.99 (€121 ex VAT). Availability June 2007.

The entire press release can be read here.