Olympus today announced the release of a One Gigabyte xD-Picture Card and a new Portable USB Reader/Writer for xD media.

"With its small size and powerful memory card platform, the xD-Picture Card enables Olympus to develop feature-rich digital cameras that are consistently rated among the best in their class. The One Gigabyte xD-Picture Card is a tremendous benefit for photographers who wish to capture a greater number of images, at higher resolution settings." said Chip Pryor, memory products business manager, Olympus Imaging America Inc. "Beyond photography, the functionality of all xD cards is increased when used with the MAUSB-300 Reader/Writer, as it can plug directly into a computer’s USB port to drag and drop files of any kind to or from the card."

Using multi-level cell (MLC) technology, the Olympus One Gigabyte xD-Picture Card inaugurates the first of the Type-M series of xD media designed to reach up to 8 gigabytes in storage capacity. MLC technology doubles the amount of information that can be stored in a single memory cell, increasing storage capacity and cost effectiveness.

The Olympus 1 Gigabyte xD-Picture Card will be available in April 2005. The MAUSB-300 Portable xD-Picture Card USB Reader/Writer will be available in March, 2005. MAUSB-300 Portable xD-Picture Card USB

1 Gigabyte xD-Picture Card Estimated Street Price: To be announced.