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Spectec has introduced the first microSD card to integrate a Wi-Fi receiver. With many of today's cell phones and smartphones shipping with expansion slots for the pinky nail-sized memory card format, it was only a matter of time before a company somehow crammed wireless LAN technology into the tiniest expansion card format of all.

A little history: Memory expansion cards for handhelds have shrunk considerably over the last several years. What once appeared small, CompactFlash, now looks giant compared to today's standard for smallness, the microSD card. Vendors long ago brought Wi-Fi to CF peripherals, and have since enabled many of those without the technology to integrate it into their handhelds through the format's successors, Secure Digital (SD) and miniSD.

The Spectec Wi-Fi microSD card is of the 802.11b/g variety, allowing it transfer data at up to 54 Mbps. Its total package measures a mere 0.92 x 0.43 x 0.03 inches (23.3 x 11 x 0.7 millimeters). Support for the SDIO Now! 1.0 standard delivers Secure Digital In Out support to Windows Mobile Pocket PCs, smartphones and embedded devices.

Although most Windows devices integrate Wi-Fi nowadays, some still don't. So owners of these smartphone are the obvious market for this peripheral. It would makes sense for the company to release drivers for other platforms, such as Symbian, when the card is released, however.

And how about a BlackBerry-compatible version for RIM's Pearl even? Among many of the new BlackBerry's firsts is expansion card support, the microSD card variety.

There's no word on exactly when Spectec will deliver the Wi-Fi microSD card, or how much the company will charge when it does.