SanDisk today introduced a 4-gigabyte (GB) SD High Capacity (SDHC) card.

The new cards, which support capacities of 4GB and higher, are rated Class 2 for speed and performance and can store more than 2,000 high-resolution pictures, more than 1,000 digital songs or up to 8 hours of MPEG 4 video.

The 4GB SDHC card will be bundled with the MicroMate USB 2.0 reader at no extra charge. These new readers work with both SDHC and SD cards. SDHC cards require an SDHC-compatible reader.

SDHC is the new designation for SD cards larger than 2GB that adhere to the SD 2.00 specification, a completely new design that is required for cards and hosts to support 4GB to 32GB capacities. The specification was developed by the SD Association, an industry standards board, which also defined three speed classes for speed and performance capabilities. These cards adhere to the SD Speed Class Rating specification which defines a minimum sustained transfer speed for SDHC cards.

Though standard SD and SDHC cards look identical in size and shape, only SDHC-compatible products will be able to accept the new SDHC cards. SanDisk differentiates its new cards with the new SDHC logo on the card and retail package.

The SanDisk 4GB SDHC 4GB will be available this month for $199.99 (EUR159.99).