Work Proceeding Nicely on SDHC Driver for Palm Handhelds

The third-party project to add support for high-capacity memory cards to Palm-brand handhelds is proceeding apace.

According to Dmitry Grinberg of PalmPowerUps, who is developing this software, the driver currently supports the Tungsten T5, TX, and LifeDrive in ReadWrite mode, while the Zire 72 is supported in ReadOnly mode.

At this point, a closed beta is going on, with the public release tentatively scheduled for later this summer. When available, this software will sell for $20.

Grinberg is looking for input on which other Palm OS handhelds to support.  The Tungsten T3 is currently leading the online online poll, but the Tapwave Zodiac is a strong second.

More about SDHC

All of Palm's traditional handhelds debuted during the days when SD cards maxed out at 2 GB (or in some cases 4 GB). Since then, memory card makers introduced the SDHC format, which physically looks and acts much the same, but allows for 32 GB cards.

In order for these devices to be able to use SDHC cards, all that's needed is a software update. Many people have asked for this, but with all its attention on smartphones, Palm isn't working on updates for its older handhelds.