FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the further expansion of its Secure Digital (SD) Ultimate Card product line with the release of a new ultra-performing 2-GB capacity card.

With super-fast 120X transfer rates, Kingston SD Ultimate cards offer significant performance benefits over current Standard and Elite Pro lines of SD cards. The greater storage capacity of the 2-GB SD Ultimate card meets the rigorous demands of professional digital photographers.

"Kingston's SD Ultimate line is designed to provide pro users and serious digital enthusiasts a performance edge in optimizing their high-end digital equipment -- whether it's a digital camera, MP3 player or PDA," said Mike Kuppinger, digital media manager, Kingston. "Our new 2-GB SD Ultimate cards build on that advantage by offering greater capacity to manage larger files," added Kuppinger.

Similar to CD-ROM drives, many devices are currently sold with an 'X' speed rating to give users a performance indicator of how fast a card can transfer (read and/or write) images. Kingston X-speed ratings are based on 'write' speed, and X-speed performance is a function of MegaBytes per second (MB/sec) of write speed. Higher X-speed ratings signify faster cards.

Kingston's SD Ultimate cards were first products to ship in its new Ultimate family of digital media. CompactFlash Ultimate cards will be next to join the Ultimate line. The new 2-GB SD Ultimate card, part #: SD/2GB-U will have an MSRP of $219.00.

Kingston SD Ultimate Features and Specifications:
Capacities* -- 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB
Dimensions -- .94" x 1.25" x .08" (24mm X 32mm X 2.1 mm)
Speed Rating** -- 21 MB/sec. read rate; 120X / 18 MB/sec. write rate
Operating Temperature -- 32 degrees F to 140 degrees F (0 degrees C to 60 degrees C)
Storage Temperature -- -4 degrees F to 185 degrees F (-20 degrees C -- 85 degrees C)
Standardized -- complies with SD Association specification standards
Small -- about the size of a postage stamp
Secure -- built-in write-protect switch prevents accidental data loss
Simple -- as easy as plug-and-play
Reliable -- lifetime warranty
Economical -- low power consumption is easy on device's batteries

About Kingston Technology Company, Inc.
Founded in 1987, Kingston Technology Company, Inc. is the world's largest independent manufacturer of memory and digital media products. Kingston operates manufacturing facilities in Malaysia, Taiwan, China and Fountain Valley, Calif. Kingston's back-end processing facility supports memory test and logistics. Kingston supports all memory processing functions from receipt of wafer to completed module. Kingston serves a network of distributors, OEMs, and retail customers in more than 3,000 locations worldwide. For more information on Kingston, call (800) 337-8410, or go to kingston.com.

Kingston and the Kingston logo are registered trademarks of Kingston Technology Corporation. All rights reserved. All other marks may be the property of their respective titleholders.

* Some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage. For more information, please consult Kingston's Digital Media Guide at Kingston.com/Digital_Media_Guide.

** Speed may vary based on host hardware, software and usage. For more information about X speed, visit Kingston.com/digitalmedia/x