Access SmartMedia Cards with MemPlug

Posted By: PR Wednesday, June 13, 2001 3:03:41 PM

Portable Innovation Technology has finally released in the U.S. its MemPlug SmartMedia Adaptor, a Springboard that provides storage using SmartMedia cards. It includes five self-installing applications and registered gMovie Maker software.

It will be sold throughout the United States in retail stores at a suggested price of $50. It can also be ordered directly from the company via fax.

It's built-in apps are:

PiPrefs -- does quick or full formatting for the SmartMedia card and manages other preferences.
PiMover -- handles file management for the SmartMedia card and can create up to 25 levels of sub-directories to manage files on the SmartMedia card.
PiBackup -- does the backup and restoration of applications and data to and from the SmartMedia card.
PiViewer -- allows direct decoding and viewing of JPEG images from SmartMedia cards in 16-bit color or 16 gray-scale display.
gMovie Player -- allows the playback of 16-bit color video, animation or still images stored on the SmartMedia card.
gMovie Maker -- enables the creation of video, animation or still images

In addition, CspotRun, a free app which allows direct viewing of files in Palm Doc format stored on the SmartMedia card, can be downloaded to the MemPlug from the PIT webstore.

The built-in applications and software drivers are Flash updateable. "PIT has ensured that the latest features of any bundled software are easily available to MemPlug owners," said Patrick Lin, director, Portable Innovation Technology.

The SmartMedia card has an installed base of more than 25 million worldwide. It is one of the lowest cost (dollar per MB) flash memory cards available today. SmartMedia cards are widely used in handheld devices such as digital cameras and MP3 players with capacities up to 128MB.

PIT is also in the process of developing a version of the MemPlug that allows use of CompactFlash memory cards.

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Pretty Pricey

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/13/2001 3:22:08 PM #

$50, plus $100 some odd dollars for a decent Smart Media Card makes this an expensive choice for memory expansion. Why bother?

RE: Pretty Pricey

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/13/2001 3:48:40 PM #

Pricy? Heck no. Whadda mean $100 for a decent card? $100 will fetch a 64MB Smartmedia and then some! You'll have a hard time justifying 64MB of data for your Palm! Think $50 for 32MB ... AND people who have existing cards... like for Digicams/MP3... or old 2/4/8MB cards...

RE: Pretty Pricey

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/13/2001 4:07:24 PM #

THis is actually pretty good price. with 150 you can have between 64 to 128 Mb, depend on where you shop. I say this is a good deal, IFF they make the card fit perfectly into the slot and not have 1/8 of inch outside like an old version of CF adapter,

RE: Pretty Pricey

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/13/2001 10:16:20 PM #

I got a Lexar 32mb Smart Media from WalMart for $29. I just got my MEMPLUG in the mail the other day. There is supposed to be another program PiDirect , that will also allow running appl. from the module.

RE: Pretty Pricey

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/14/2001 1:51:52 AM #

Does anyone know if the cards stick out of the top of the unit? Also, does gMovie support sound, like tealmovie, b/c, if it doesnt, its kind of pointless dont ya think...?

RE: Pretty Pricey

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/14/2001 8:52:44 AM #

I just check mysimon and somebody there is listed 128mb cards for 104.99....THAT'S a STEAL!

RE: Pretty Pricey

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/15/2001 4:38:32 PM #

I bought a SanDisk 64mb SmartMedia Card at Costco Wholesale last weekend for $54.95. Can't wait for my MemPlug to arrive from palmgear.

gmovie

altema @ 6/14/2001 2:19:03 AM #

Gmovie does not support sound like TealMovie. From what I've seen, gmovie has the least problems with color solarization, Fireviewer has the smoothest playback, and TealMovie has the best compression options (plus the sound).

RE: gmovie

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/15/2001 10:15:45 PM #

Actually, gMovie does support sound.
Well the version that comes with the Sony Clie N710C does :) it's version 1.2.1, supports sound through the headphones, sounds good, sounds like 64-96kbit mp3, PictureGear Light has 4 options for sound encoding too, none, low, medium, high.
At any rate, gMovie sucks at video playback.

MemPlug - Got One

Timinator @ 6/14/2001 11:14:19 AM #

I received mine last week. No, it doesn't stick out past the top of the device. I got the card and a 32MB Smart Media card for a total of $100. My only disappointment is that the MemPlug folks are planning on selling the PiDirect product. Without PiDirect, you can't launch any apps from the card (Aside from the other MemPlug apps.) I tried twice to install the GMovie Maker application under NT 4.0 and it refuses to run. Overall, I like the device. I just hope the PiDirect product works as promised when it's released on the 15th. (6/15)

Timinator
www.timinator.com

RE: MemPlug - Got One

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/15/2001 2:44:38 AM #

A restricted version of PiDirect is free for download. The restrictions being <10 programs can be run from the memory card and those programs must reside in a predefined directory.

Nice review

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/15/2001 3:30:03 AM #

There's a nice review of it here:
http://www.hpug.org/article.php?sid=23

No Removable Media support?

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/15/2001 12:02:42 PM #

TRG's upgraded their OS so that it utilizes the media support of the m50x's... Is anybody going to release a patch file that lets you do the same with this expansion card?

And this helps me how?

skypilot @ 6/16/2001 10:48:08 AM #

So far, I have not seen a memory upgrade that affects the IIIxe...

C Spot

J. Meade @ 6/17/2001 11:34:06 PM #

I am getting "spotty" performance with some DOC files. Also, I can't get the screen to rotate 90 degree's. Although with 160 x 160 it was only to test the ergonomics of holding my visor right handed with my thumb on the buttons. I haven't tried re-installing yet.