Intel shows Miniature Card technology

Electronic News, Nov 25, 1996 by Andrew MacLellan

Las Vegas--Intel demonstrated its Miniature Card storage technology working in a Universal Serial Bus (USB)-enabled keyboard and stand-alone caddy here at Comdex, a pair of innovations which the company says will give its non-volatile storage device the edge over competitors' products by simplifying PC connectivity.

The keyboard, which is under development by Cherry Electrical Products, integrates a Miniature Card slot on the control panel face, allowing the card to be quickly transferred from a peripheral to the desktop or notebook PC. A separate reader/writer is also in design by SCM Microsystems which will introduce a USB- and parallel port-based device for legacy desktop systems.

"As more and more devices are being designed to expand the boundaries of today's PC, interconnectivity is becoming a key issue," said Cherry's marketing manager Brian K. Taylor. "One of the benefits of the emerging USB technology addresses this need by accepting up to 127 devices at once, while not sacrificing performance."

The new capability will enable the end-user, for example, to take a photograph using a digital still camera, transfer the image to the PC on the Miniature Card and display it on screen or print it out. It also relieves desktop system designers from the burden of installing a PCMCIA slot on the hard drive.

According to Curt Nichols, flash memory marketing manager for Intel's Memory Components division, the ability of the Miniature Card--and similar devices from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Sharp, and Fujitsu--to easily interface with the PC platform will be one of the determining factors in the card's widespread adoption. Intel is currently locked in a battle of form factors with SanDisk, which is promoting its hardware-based CompactFlash device, and Toshiba, which has the Solid-State Floppy Disk Card (SSFDC) storage card.

"Intel has a different mission than CompactFlash," said Mr. Nichols. "CompactFlash is trying to sell memory modules, while Intel is not just selling memory modules but trying to improve the whole PC experience."

About a year behind CompactFlash in the market, Intel said it currently has 15 design wins and will reduce prices to about $50 for a 2MB card by February.

In addition to previously announced design wins, including one to integrate its card in the Konica Q-EZ digital camera (EN July 8), Intel last week announced it is shipping in a handheld computer introduced here by Philips Mobile Computing group, a division of Philips Electronics North America. In addition to complying with the new windows CE specification, the Velo1 eliminates a PC Card port in favor of two Miniature Card slots, enabling the device to scale upward as storage card capacities increase from 2- and 4MB to 32-and 64MB. The card also supports the Velo Voice Memo, an integrated voice recorder built into the Velo1 handheld device.