Things have already gone from bad to worse to downright despairing, and unfortunately for DRAM makers, relief is no where in sight. Just when you thought things may have hit rock bottom, market research firm iSuppli says there's going to be a "huge drop in average selling prices" for 2011.

"After the boom year of 2010, the DRAM market is waking up to 2011 with a hangover," said Mike Howard, senior analyst for DRAM and memory at IHS. "With supply exceeding demand, pricing will decline precipitously for the year, causing revenue to decrease."

A hangover might be putting it nicely. According to iSuppli's figures, worldwide DRAM revenue in 2011 will drop to $35.5 billion, representing an 11.8 percent slide from $40.3 billion in 2010, and will continue to drop through at least 2013.

"While bad news for suppliers, the retreat in the DRAM ASP augurs well for consumers," Howard said. "The price of a 2GB module currently is less than half its level six months ago, a development sure to lead to higher DRAM content in PCs for 2011 and provide consumers with more memory per machine. Furthermore, the new predominant memory configuration in 2011 will be 4GB, to be loaded in half of all desktops PCs, with 2GB systems declining to just 6 percent of the total market by the end of the year."

If there's a bright spot for DRAM makers, it's the mobile market. According to iSuppli, smartphones and tablets in 2011 will combine to outship PCs by more than 50 million units. Both of these sectors will help slow the bleeding.

Is it time to move on from DDR3 already? Probably not, but the shift to DDR4 might be closer than you think. Enter Samsung, who says it just completed development of the industry's first DDR4 DRAM module using a 30nm manufacturing process.

"Samsung has been actively supporting the IT industry with our green memory initiative by coming up with eco-friendly, innovative memory products providing higher performance and power efficiency every year," said Dong Soo Jun, president, memory division, Samsung Electronics. "The new DDR4 DRAM will build even greater confidence in our cutting-edge green memory, particularly when we introduce four-gigabit (Gb) DDR4-based products using next generation process technology for mainstream application."

According to Samsung, the new DDR4 DRAM stick boasts performance of up to 2.133Gbps at 1.2V. Stick these new modules in a notebook and Samsung says you can expect power consumption to go down by 40 percent when compared to a 1.5V DDR3 module.

So here it is, the first ever Class 10 SDXC card in 128GB capacity. Lexar Media announced the new card today as part of its Professional SDXC series, along with a 64GB model with the same 133X speed rating.

"The professional photography industry is at a point where digital photo- and video-capture methods are converging, meaning that professional shooters need a memory solution with the versatility and reliability to safely store both photos and videos," said Pachi Chen-Wong, senior product marketing manager, Lexar Media. "The 64GB and 128GB Lexar Professional 133x SDXC cards combine high-speed performance with large capacities to offer solutions for professionals who shoot large volumes of high-resolution images and HD video."

Lexar says both cards will have no trouble working with any SDXC-enabled devices. They also include the latest version of Lexar's Image Rescue software in case you're a little quick on the draw when it comes to deleting photos and videos.

The cards don't come cheap -- both the 64GB and 128GB models will be available in the first quarter of this year with MSRPs set at $400 and $700, respectively.

Patriot Memory just sent us word that they're releasing a trio of new DDR3 memory kits designed for the upcoming second generation of Intel Core processor. The new memory lines include the Viper Xtreme, Division 2, and G2 series.

Patriot says both the Viper Xtreme and Division 2 lines are appropriate choices for the "extreme enthusiast looking to push the limits of DDR3 memory technology," while the G2 series is best suited for the "serious PC gamer looking for increased system performance for the gaming edge at a cost conscious price."

The two higher end kits are available in speeds up to 2133MHz with "plenty of headroom for adventurous overclocking," Patriot claims. The G2 series comes in a variety of speeds ranging from 1333MHz to 1600MHz.