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Copyright (c) 2003, The Imaging Resource. All rights reserved. SmartDisk's FlashTrax: Photos and Specs
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(Tuesday, March 18, 2003 - 02:43 EST)

During PMA, we told you about SmartDisk's FlashTrax, a new solution for offloading and storing your digital images when away from your computer.

The choice of name is rather perplexing, since SmartDisk had another product that was also called the FlashTrax three years ago - that product being an adapter of sorts that would read MP3 files off a MultiMediaCard, and allow them to be played in a standard audio cassette player. That potential confusion aside, though, the FlashTrax looks to be a pretty interesting device. The actual source is a Korean manufacturer, Innoplus Co. Ltd., and the product itself is a rebadged Phototainer 300P. Note that the specifications in this item, with the exception of hard disk capacity, are those provided by Innoplus - and it is possible that SmartDisk could have had alterations made to the design for their own requirements.

As well as being able to free up your flash cards, the FlashTrax has a range of other capabilities. A built-in 112,320 pixel 3.5" LCD display for viewing your images provides similar resolution to most high-end digital camera LCD displays, but on a noticeably larger screen (most camera displays are only around 2"). There's also a video out connection compatible with both NTSC and PAL. When viewing images, you can zoom in and pan around the image, and you can also set the FlashTrax in slideshow mode to see all your images. The device also functions as an MP3 player, with random, sequential and directory play modes, and as an external USB 2.0-compliant external hard disk drive for your Windows or MacOS computer. Sound is catered for with a stereo headphone connection, and a built-in speaker.

The FlashTrax natively supports images in JPEG format as well as MotionJPEG videos, and can read CompactFlash Type-I and Type-II cards including Microdrives. Adapters are available to support SmartMedia, Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard and Secure Digital cards. Power comes from a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery or an AC adapter. The device is based on Innoplus' JPD 101 JPEG / MPEG chip, which can decode JPEG images at 8 megapixels / second, rotate images at 6 megapixels / second, and MotionJPEG video in real-time at 640 x 480 pixels, 30 frames per second.

The SmartDisk FlashTrax handheld portable device will cost $499.99 when it goes on sale in April. Full specifications follow:

SmartDisk FlashTrax
Copyright (c) 2003, The Imaging Resource. All rights reserved. Click for a bigger picture!
Hardware
CPU ARM720 RISC core
Memory 16MB SDRAM, 4MB Flash
HDD 30GB 2.5" Notebook HDD (9.5mm thick)
LCD 3.5" color TFT LCD with backlight (112,320 dots)
Video Output NTSC, PAL composite (75 ohm, 1Vp-p)
Audio Output
Stereo Earphone Output (75 mW per channel)
Internal Speaker (500mW)
PC interface USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 compatible)
Memory Card Socket
CompactFlash Type-II socket
CompactFlash Types I, II, IBM Microdrive support
SmartMedia, Memory Stick, SD card, MMC card support using optional adapter
One touch backup
Software
OS Linux
Photo Viewer
Photo file list / Multi-photo view
Slide show
Fast Zoom, Pan, Scroll
Music Player
Music file list view
Music play screen
Random, Sequential and Directory Play
USB Interface
Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP support
Mac OS 8.2.x support
Power
Battery Rechargeable Li-Ion
Charging Time About 4 hours using AC adapter
External Power
AC adapter
Input: AC 100V - 250V
Output: 5V, 3A
JPEG / MPEG Chip
JPEG Decoding
Max. 3072 x 2048, YUV 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0, Y-only
0.75 sec / 6 megapixel
Motion JPEG
720 (704) x 480, 640 x 480, 352 x 240, 320 x 240
640 x 480 x 30 / sec
Scaling, Rotation
1:4 (exten) ~ 8:1 (reduc), 2048 level, rotation
1.0 sec / 6 megapixel
Video Output
NTSC CCIR656, PAL CCIR656
720 x 480 x 30 / sec
Host to SDRAM 32b / 16b / 8b read / write, little / big endian
Graphic Accel. Horizontal line, vertical line, fill rectangle
Audio In / Out
16 / 18 / 20 / 24b / sample, 32K / 44.1K / 48K sample / sec. I2S, left-justified, right-justified format
256 x 24b Fifo
External Memory Single 128MB SDRAM
Power Control Module-based clock on / off, SDRAM self-refresh
Dimensions and Weight
Dimensions 143mm x 92mm x 32mm (H x W x D)
Weight 340g
More Photos
Copyright (c) 2003, The Imaging Resource. All rights reserved. Click for a bigger picture!
Copyright (c) 2003, The Imaging Resource. All rights reserved. Click for a bigger picture!
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