Sonnet Technologies has announced the DiO Pro CompactFlash and SDXC USB 3.0 Media Reader, which enables digital videographers and photographers to transfer files quickly from CompactFlash (CF), SDXC and SDHC memory cards on location, in the studio, or at the office.

With one slot each for CF and SD media, DiO has the ability to transfer data from the fastest professional memory cards at high speeds. This Sonnet reader exploits the 5.0 Gb/second SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface and is also backward-compatible with USB 2.0 (which is good for Mac users as Apple currently doesn’t support USB 3.0). iO is compatible with Mac Pro and MacBook Pro computers using a Sonnet Mac OS X-compatible USB 3.0 adapter.

DiO is UDMA6-enabled and UHS-I-compliant for CF and SD media, respectively. As a result, Sonnet’s high-performance memory card reader transfers data from currently available CF cards at up to 70 MB/second, and it supports at full speed the fastest available SDXC and SDHC memory cards, as well as future cards up to 104 MB/second, says Sonnet CEO Robert Farnsworth. The device also supports concurrent and card-to-card file transfers.

DiO will be available later this month at a suggested retail price of US$49.95. More info can be found at http://www.sonnettech.com/product/dio.html . More information about Sonnet’s Mac OS X-compatible Allegro USB 3.0 PCIe adapter card is available at http://www.sonnettech.com/product/allegrousb3pcie.html .