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Yet another case of the few ruining it for the many.  Due to “at least 40” reports of laptop batteries overheating and causing fires as well as potential property damage, Sony is recalling 35,000 Lithium Ion batteries in the US and another 65,000 in other countries.  In a stroke of genius, none of these batteries were actually put in Sony laptops.  Instead, most of them (32,000) are in HP Pavilion dv model and Compaq laptops, and to a lesser extent Toshiba Satellite and Tecra laptops (3,000) and only 150 Dell Latitude and Inspiron laptops.  The batteries were made way back in October 2004 to June 2005.

More after the break.

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Widely used in devices like the iPhone, mini notebooks, digital cameras, Flash-based SSD hard disk drives and more, flash memory chips usually have a lifetime of about ten years. This is even being optimistic. When you are using applications that need a lot of repeat writing and rewriting however, this can cause the cells to wear out even faster, and you can find your flash device useless in only a couple of years. So, a flash memory chip that is purported to work for up to a century? Literally unheard of. But that is just what Japanese scientists say they have developed. Scientists from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and the University of Tokyo also claim that the new chips work at a lower voltage than conventional chips.

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In days past, photographers had to rely on their memory to answer the question “where did I take this shot?“. Not so any more. Geotagging is fast becoming popular in the days of digital photography. By definition, Geotagging is the process of adding a form of geospatial geographical identification metadata to your images. It can also be added to other media like websites or RSS feeds. This metadata almost always consists of latitude and longitude coordinates; although it can sometimes also include things like altitude, bearing, or even location names depending on how specific you want to get.

Geotagging can also be useful if you are looking for location-specific information. For example, you are trying to find images taken near Red Rock Canyon. You simply enter the latitude and longitude coordinates into a Geotagging-enabled image search engine. There you go! These same search engines can also be used to locate location-based news, websites and more.

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Sections: Communications, Accessories, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Software / Applications, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Imaging, Accessories, Digital Cameras, Web, Downloads, Websites, Google

SanDisk has upped the notch in memory card storage with the release of its new high-capacity microSD, microSDHC and Memory Stick Micro (M2) which all belong in their new Mobile Ultra card series. These flash mobile memory cards boast of 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities as well as offering fast loading speeds and accelerated transfer rates.

SanDisk said that their new Mobile Ultra flash memory card series will fit well with budding mobile phone photographers and videographers, thanks to their high-storage capacity and the ability to easily transfer photos and videos to PC’s. SanDisk has packed their Mobile Ultra memory cards with a MobileMate Micro Reader that users can plug into the USB port of their machines which allows for those fast data transfers. This also goes for users who habitually transfer their digital media into social media or video-sharing sites.

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Panasonic has announced the “worlds first” Class 6 32GB SDHC memory card, the RP-SDV32GU1K and while it may not be the first 32GB SDHC memory card it is the first at a Class 6 speed. At Class 6 you will see a 20 MBs transfer rate and with the large storage available you can record up to 12 hours of high-def video or store about 12,320 10-megapixel images. The new 32GB card from Panasonic will be available in April and retail for $699.
Read [CNN Money] Via [Engadget]

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Transcend has just announced a new 32GB CompactFlash card. The new larger card is part of their 133x CompactFlash line and operates in IDE PIO mode 6 and also Ultra DMA mode 4. It has the ability to read at up to 45MB per second and write at speeds up to 16MB per second. Excellent news with this model is that Transcend includes a lifetime warranty, pricing and availability information have not yet been announced.

Via [SlashGear]

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