RainyDayMagazine recently reviewed the new E815 cell phone from Motorola.  The E815 has a built-in digital camera and a memory card slot for a type of removeable memory called Trans-Flash.

SanDisk was the only manufacturer we found that makes this type of Flash memory.  The form factor is VERY small... the size of a small fingernail.

We gathered a collection of Flash memory storage formats (CompactFlash, SD Flash, and TransFlash) used in devices around the RainyDayMagazine office (photo above).  They are all 128MB.  The CompactFlash is used in the digital camera, the SD card in the iPaq PDA, and the TransFlash in the cell phone.

Our question is ...why can't cards all be the size of the TransFlash, with adapters to make them fit different devices?  Oh... then we would be buying the same memory for use in different devices!

After seeing the TransFlash, we were actually quite impressed with the format.  We like the possibility of being able to move large amount of data in this little fingernail-sized media.

We got the TransFlash for the Motorola E815 cell phone.  The cell phone can take high resolution images and videos.  We had been emailing the captured images and videos to ourselves using the phone, but it made more sense to just store them on the TransFlash card and transfer them to the computer.

We should note that the TransFlash card is not really designed for a lot of removal and insert operations because of its delicate size.  We'll let you know how well it holds up after some use.

Trans-flash is yet another flash memory card sized for small devices like cell phones... you don't want to hear what I have to say about this. 

OK... I think it is CRAZY to keep making new card formats.  Why don't they just put out a REALLY small chip and sell us new adaptors instead???

Normally, we wouldn't have cared that another format has hit the streets.  However, the new iTunes phone (ROKR) uses this new format.  Althought the new ROKR has the artificial 100 songs capacity limitation, it doesn't take a genius to see where this is going.

SanDisk has announced they will have 2GB cards by 2006.

In this review, we will show how much the 128MB form factor has changed. 

We will also show how the TransFlash fits into the Motorola E815.

Reviews:

1. FirstLook

2. FirstUse

3. InTheWild

Review Summary:

Initial Impression- Tiny!

Usability- need a pair of tweezers

Durability- Test in progress

Price- $25 (64MB) - $70 (256MB)

NOTE: TransFlash was recently adopted by the SD Card Association (SDA) and renamed "microSD".  Like it wasn't confusing enough before :-)

Related Reviews:

1. Motorola E815 phone