We've not seen much in the way of third-party accessories though - but that looks set to change soon. Taiwanese company Power Quotient International Co. Ltd. attended the CES show in Las Vegas, and showed a tiny USB 2.0 xD-Picture Card reader. No specifications or pricing were immediately available, but we were told that the reader should begin shipping around the PMA time-frame. (That's slightly later than usual this year, as PMA 2003 is in early March instead of the usual February).

The reader has a short cable built in which can be tucked into the end of the unit, and versions supporting SmartMedia or CompactFlash are also available, as well as a three-in-one Memory Stick / Secure Digital / MultiMediaCard reader. All of these look extremely similar with dimensions of 85 x 56 x 11.5mm, a weight of about 40 grams; they also offer support for USB Mass Storage Class.

PQI also showed its USB 2.0 Multi Slot Card Reader / Writer, which supports Compact Flash / Microdrive / SmartMedia / MultiMediaCard / Secure Digital / Memory Stick cards. This is a slightly larger unit, and again the USB cable is built in and tucks away conveniently into the back of the device. Dimensions are 96 x 63 x 13mm, and the overall weight is 55 grams. As with the smaller xD unit, Windows systems are supported with drivers or USB Mass Storage Class depending on the operating system.