Lexar Media has just announced two new compact, portable, high-speed CompactFlash readers geared toward serious digital photographers. The next-generation FireWire and new USB 2.0 CompactFlash readers offer data transfer speeds up to 400Mb/s and 480Mb/s, respectively. With these readers, users can expect data transfer from CompactFlash to computer to be approximately 4 to 5 times faster than using USB 1.1.

With a USB 1.1 reader, 100MB of image data would take approximately one and half minutes to download, but with a USB 2.0 or FireWire reader, the same amount of data would take under twenty-five seconds.

Lexar also announced Image Rescue 2.0, an enhanced version of its popular image recovery software. With Image Rescue 2.0, Lexar Media has significantly expanded the number of memory cards from which the software can recover data. Image Rescue 2.0 can now recover “lost” or deleted digital images from any memory card, regardless of format or manufacturer. In addition, Image Rescue 2.0 offers expanded reader support and can be used with all mass storage compliant card readers including FireWire and USB 2.0, which enable considerably faster image recovery time.