Flash

In the wake of a series of technical announcements from flash memory supplier SanDisk, larger-capacity solid-state drives are on the way.

Flash memory is gaining as a replacement for hard drives in ultra-thin, ultra-small notebooks such as the MacBook Air and Asus Eee PC. Why? Flash uses less power, generates less heat, and has faster access times than hard drives. The Air, for example, offers a 64GB flash-based SSD as an option while the Eee PC is sold standard with flash storage.

There is a big catch, though. High-capacity SSDs are expensive. Prohibitively so. The flash drive in the pricier $… Read more

Note: This service officially launches on Thursday, and the site is password-protected until then. The folks at PDFMeNot gave us early access to share with Webware readers. Use the username "stateless" and password "systems" when prompted (no quotation marks either). Note that both are case sensitive.

One of life's little hassles is opening PDF links in a Web browser. The problem centers on Adobe's Acrobat software, which for all its popularity and genuine usefulness is notoriously slow. Depending on how old the system is, and the speed of the computers Internet connection, the application … Read more

Panasonic announced a new SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) flash card on Tuesday that offers both high speed and lots of space for those willing to pay.

The 32-gigabyte card, called the RP-SDV32GU1K, is due to ship in April for about $700. It's a high-speed "class 6" card that can transfer data at speeds of 20MB per second--the world's first at the 32GB capacity, Panasonic asserts.

SD is the dominant format for flash memory, and with the newer SDHC technology that extends capacity beyond 2GB, it's begun spreading into space-gobbling videocameras. SanDisk, a top flash card brand, announced a 32GB SDHC card costing $350 in January, … Read more

Bug is a dirty word in the software world. After all, it means "mistake" and no one wants to admit they made a mistake. Instead of calling the fix for a mistake by its rightful name, a bug fix, software companies refer to "patches" or "updates". Soft words. Happy words.

The bug itself is called a "hole" or a "vulnerability". Initially, bugs were called "issues" but eventually people caught on. Did you happen to notice that Mitt Romney recently "suspended" his campaign (a soft word), as … Read more

There are invitations to Phoenix, the new app discussed in this post, set aside for Webware readers. Read on to learn how to get yours.

As I reported from Demo 2008, new Flash- and Flex-based Web apps are putting traditional desktop apps to shame. The database Blist, the widget maker Sprout, and the photo manager Joggle are all Web-based apps that give up almost nothing to run inside a browser.

Flash-based applications are inherently cross-platform, because there are Flash runtimes that work in Internet Explorer and Firefox; on Macs, Windows, and Linux. (There are even Flash runtimes for mobile phones … Read more

Creative, one of the first MP3 player manufacturers to cross the 32GB threshold for flash-based MP3 players, has lowered the price of their 32GB Zen from $349 to $299. Could this price drop have anything to do with Apple's recently released 32GB iPod Touch? I wouldn't bet against it. After all, it sounds much more impressive to say that the Zen is a full $200 less than the competition. People like big round numbers, right? The Zen also has the advantage of SDHC memory expansion, offering a potential 48GB of solid state storage.

If you're looking for … Read more

If you own a digital SLR camera or some other device that uses CompactFlash media, now's your chance to stock up on storage: Adorama has a 4GB Kingston CF card for $0 after a $40 mail-in rebate. Shipping runs $5.

Yeah, there's a rebate, but at least we're talking quality media here: Kingston is a top brand, and the company backs the cards with a lifetime warranty. Plus, the rebate itself is through Kingston, not Adorama, so it's probably a safe bet. If you're interested, don't wait: The rebate deal expires Friday (February 8), … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Two's company, three's a crowd, and Canon's Chuck Westfall is a lot less lonely these days.

Canon once was the sole camera company offering a digital SLR whose sensor is the size of a full frame of 35mm film, a technology that can increase the performance advantage and price penalty that SLR cameras already have compared with compact cameras. In November, though, Nikon began selling its full-frame rival, the D3, and last week Sony said it will launch its own full-frame competitor by the end of 2008.

Westfall is a camera tech guru and the technical … Read more