SanDisk proudly announced that its 16GB microSD and M2 memory cards would be available on the market starting this October. It is really good news since today's mobile phones are getting more and more used for other purposes than just talking and messaging.

Until recently, the 8GB memory had to be enough for users to store all the photos, music and movies in their handhelds. From now on, people won’t have to delete the files they use rarely from their mobile phones, because the 16GB memory card will double the space they can use for storage. The only device that delivered 16GB of memory was Apple’s iPhone. Another handheld that provides 16GB of memory is the new N96 phone from Nokia, that also gives users a microSD card slot so that the phone can store up to 24GB of information. It seems that they both might have found a pretty strong opponent, since there are plenty of smartphones that could use the memory boost.

The phone models that will be compatible with the new memory cards are unknown for the moment. Anyway, it's highly possible that the phones supporting up to 8GB will also handle the 16GB card. The only disadvantage might be the fact that they run a bit slower when accessing data on the card. Yet, with this new standard, it is expected that mobile phone producers will deliver models capable of handling with ease the 16GB memory cards.

Another good thing should come with the release of these cards: a lower price on the 8GB ones. The 16GB memory cards are expected to be sold for about 70 euros (100 US dollars) for the microSD, while the 16GB M2 will sell at a price of about 90 euros (130 US dollars).