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If recent blog posts about the increase in capacity of CompactFlash cards and small-size hard drives make you wonder what's in store for your mobile phones, then I have some good news.

(Credit: ScanDisk)

On Monday, SanDisk announced its new microSD high-capacity (microSDHC) card that offers up to 16GB in storage space. While 16GB doesn't sound like a huge deal compared with other media that offer hundreds of gigabytes, this is actually very significant for two reasons. First, microSD cards are by far the smallest in size among consumer storage devices--about the size of your little finger's nail. Second, it's also the most popular media for smartphones and PDAs, and it is becoming more popular thanks to its tiny size.

The introduction of the new size lets cell phone and PDA owners really use their devices for storage-intensive purposes, including music and video playback, high-definition digital camera functions, gaming, and GPS applications. The new card also works with other devices that have a microSDHC reader, such as digital cameras, GPS receivers, or MP3 players.

Together with the new microSDHC, SanDisk also introduced its new 16GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) mobile memory, which is the micro version of Sony's Memory Stick card.

SanDisk's new 16GB microSDHC and M2 cards will be available in October and cost about $100 and $130, respectively. They will also be available in 4GB and 8GB versions. The new microSDHC might not be compatible with all devices that support the legacy microSD cards (that caps at 2GB). Make sure to check your devices' compatibility or update them to newer and supporting firmware before purchasing.

Will the Eye-Fi Share by any other name still transmit as sweet? Lexar thinks so: it's rebranding Eye-Fi's Share SD-based Wi-Fi card, which facilitates automated Wi-Fi photo uploads from your digital camera, with the hard-to-type name of Shoot-n-Sync. This comes out of a partnership announced by the two companies back in January.

(Credit: Lexar)

Like the Share, the Shoot-n-Sync card will come in a 2GB capacity. It will be available in October for $99.99.

Lexar also announced new 2GB and 4GB Memory Stick Micro memory cards (M2) for your Sony Ericsson phone. The company did not announce pricing for the card, which will be available in the fourth quarter of this year, but expects it to cost the same as competing cards, putting 4GB in the $30 to $60 range and 2GB in $10-plus territory.

M2E Power, a company formed last year to charge electronic gadgets with human motion, has reported back that its system actually works.

Next year it expects to release a charger that can harvest enough motion from walking to replenish cell phones or other small gadgets, like GPS devices.

It says that six hours of cumulative motion can add 30 to 60 minutes of talk time to a cell phone.

M2E Power's charger, powered by human motion.

(Credit: M2E Power)

The idea is to place the charger inside a purse or backpack and let it charge in the background, said Regan Rowe, director of business development at the company. When fully charged, M2E Power's device stores enough to recharge a phone at a speed comparable to an AC outlet.

Inside is a lithium ion battery and a series of coils and magnets. When it moves, an electromagnetic field forms around the coils to generate electricity.

The technology, developed in part at Boise State University, optimizes that field to match the slow frequency of human motion and draw a usable current.

The charger unit can be charged by an AC wall socket as well. M2E Power has had discussions with cell phone manufacturers to build the generator directly into a phone.

"Handset manufacturers are under pressure to deal with electronic waste issues and show they are looking for more sustainable practices," Rowe said. "We've seen a lot of interest in this as the wave of the future."

But because those products take a few years to design and develop, it will likely take at least two years before a self-powered cell phone is commercially available, Rowe said.

The company is also testing how much charge it can draw from the vibration of vehicles, Rowe said. The amount of charge a generator can make varies a great deal with the amount of motion.

"Someone with an old pick-up truck with no shocks will have a glorious time with M2E technology, but someone with a Mercedes will have to spend more time" charging, she said.

Long term, the company is looking at placing self-charging devices in hybrid and electric cars. Putting a self-charging device near windshield wipers or door locks could significantly cut down on a hybrid car's electrical load and extend its driving range, Rowe said.

The company also has military grants to explore the use of self-powering devices such as night goggles.

Clean tech company M2E Power on Friday said it has raised money to commercialize battery technology that converts motion to electrical energy.

The $8 million series A round was led by OVP Venture Partners and included money from @Ventures, Highway 12 Ventures, and existing investors. The investment will be used to expand research and development and build initial products.

The company's mission, in essence, is to apply the long-understood Faraday Principle--that putting a conductor near a magnetic field will produce voltage--to 21st century applications.

Treadmill tests at a biomechanics lab at Boise State University show how motion can produce enough electricity to power a light (on walker's waist).

(Credit: M2E Power)

Its initial target is to create a D-size battery for the military and then create batteries for consumer electronics. Later, it plans to make larger batteries for renewable energy sources like wave power and wind turbines.

Soldiers rely increasingly on D and AA-size batteries to power scopes, radios, and other mobile electronics. Batteries alone can be an additional 10- to 30-pound burden, and discarded batteries leave a trace of a mission's movements.

The company intends to test out its batteries as part of a military research effort and, in parallel, design batteries for consumer devices.

Initially, the company expects to make a battery charger for a cell phone or digital music player that would provide a backup charge to an existing device with a cable, said Regan Rowe, director of business development at M2E Power.

Within a few years, it hopes to have mobile electronic appliances with specially designed motion-to-energy batteries, Rowe said. The batteries are larger than today's but the devices will never need to be plugged in.

In tests, M2E Power has found that two hours of motion--what an average person produces--is enough for one half to one hour of talk time on a cell phone.

How it works
Magnet and coil generators are typically too large for use in mobile electronics. The company's technologists have been able to generate enough electricity to power small devices by manipulating the electromagnetic field that is produced when a coil moves near a magnet, explained Rowe. It has patents in magnetics and coil structures.

Protoypes of batteries that convert kinetic energy--motion--to stored electricity.

(Credit: M2E Power)

Its initial prototypes include a magnet attached to a spring, wire coils, circuitry, and a traditional battery to store electricity.

Because it is self-charging, it allows designers to make batteries with less traditional storage material, which often contain heavy metals, Rowe said. Also, the charging algorithms will be less taxing on batteries, making them last twice as long, she said.

The technology is scalable enough so that it could be used for wave and tidal power, hybrid batteries for cars, and other larger renewable energy applications.

Imagine putting all 2,000 of your favorite MP3 songs into a memory card no larger than your fingernail. A few years ago that would have been a tall order, particularly since the CompactFlash media was the only one with storage capacities above 4GB. But today, with the launch of SanDisk's 8GB microSDHC and M2 (aka Memory Stick Micro) cards, it's no longer an impossible task.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Widely considered as two of the world's smallest flash memory formats available today, microSD and M2 cards are most commonly used in handheld devices such as mobile and smartphones. The availability of card adapters, which convert the microSD or M2 cards into other larger flash memory formats (such as Memory Stick Duo and SD card), has also enabled the tiny cards to be used more widely in other devices as well.

According to SanDisk's press release, the 8GB M2 card is now available in stores for $130.99, while the 8GB microSDHC media is priced slightly more competitively at $118.42. But before you invest in the latest 8GB microSDHC and M2 cards, do note that not all devices will work with them. The microSDHC card, for instance, will work only in devices that support the SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) format. The M2 card, on the other hand, is expected to work with all devices, but we'd advise checking with your device manufacturer to ensure compatibility.

(Source: Crave Asia)

(Credit: Defense Tech)

The jury is still out on whether the EFPs (explosively formed projectiles) wreaking havoc in Iraq are home-brewed or made in Iran. But one thing's certain: The U.S. military is no slouch when it comes to meting out the molten metal.

The M2 Selectable Lightweight Attack Munition (SLAM) has been mass-produced by Alliant Techsystem for the U.S. Army since 1990. Like its jihadi counterpart, the M2 consists of a circular explosive with a shallow cavity fitted within a thin metallic liner at the business end. Upon detonation, the liner morphs into a lethal, molten slug that can pop through a BMP like a hot skewer through Khaled's kabob. You can bet China and Russia have there own versions, though nowhere as slick as the M2.

The SLAM can be triggered by the heat or magnetic signature of a passing vehicle or by a timer--or it can be detonated by an operative sitting across the street sipping his tea. Perfect for special ops, combat engineers or anyone else who needs to sneak up on an enemy vehicle, parked aircraft, ammo/fuel dump in a hit-and-run mode.