Toshiba in Japan, has announced a 32GB SDHC memory card. This world first for such a large capacity will debut in January 2008.

SDHC stands for Secure Digital High Capacity and is the larger capacity versions of the SD card, in turn based on the MMC format.

This boost in storage capacity will mostly benefit photographers. SDHC cards are used in Canon compacts, the Casio Exilim range and Panasonic Lumix cameras. Nikon and Pentax DSLRs also use the format.

Although this is great news for capacity hungry consumers, existing devices may not be able to work with the new cards with some only offering support up to 4GB.

Speeds come in at around 6MB/sec and it will cost 80,000 Yen on launch, which converted is about £350. No word on a timescales for international launch, or hints of actual pricing elsewhere.

Also announced was an equally impressive 8GB microSDHC memory card, but with SD such a widely used format, this is the product that it likely to get all the attention.

The 8GB microSDHC memory card will be around £85, and a 16GB SDHC memory card due for a launch in Japan in October will set Japanese consumers back the equivalent of around £175.

>> Via - Impress
>> And - Gizmodo