MICROSD

'microSD' is a format for removable flash memory cards. It is derived from SanDisk 'TransFlash' and is used mainly in mobile telephones, but also in handheld GPS devices, portable audio players, video game consoles and expandable USB flash memory drives.
It is currently (2007) the smallest memory card available commercially. At 15mm × 11mm × 0.7mm (about the size of a fingernail), it is about a quarter the size of an SD card. There are adapters which allow a microSD card to be used in devices intended for 'SD' or 'miniSD' cards, however they are not universally compatible.
TransFlash and microSD cards are the same (each can be used in devices made for the other), except that microSD devices can also support NFC (Near Field Communication).^[1]
As of July 2007, microSD cards are available in capacities from 64MB to 4GB (with 6GB and 8GB announced but not yet available from retailers). Cards at and beyond 4GB are available only in the newer SDHC format developed both by KingMax and by SanDisk. These have a storage density of 34 GB/cm³.
On 27th June 2007, Toshiba announced a 4GB microSDHC card and Sandisk announced 6GB and 8GB MicroSD cards for release "later in 2007".^[2]
On 17th May 2007, Samsung announced that they had developed an 8GB (68 GB/cm³) MicroSD card. This exceeds the current capacity and write speed of microSD cards and can be written at 4MB/s or faster. "This is also much faster than the SD Speed Class 2 designation carried by most competing microSD cards currently on the market [1]." As this card was just recently developed, it is not available for commercial or personal purchase yet.

Contents

History

Manufacturer support

Devices

Comparisons

See also

References

External links

History

The microSD format was invented by SanDisk. It was called 'T-Flash', then 'TransFlash' and renamed 'microSD' when adopted by the SD Card Association (SDA). Other flash card formats approved by the SDA include SD and miniSD.
The SDA announced microSD at CTIA Wireless 2005 on 14th March 2005 and approval of the final microSD specification was announced on 13th July that year. At launch, microSD cards were available in capacities of 32MB, 64MB, and 128MB. In July 2006, SanDisk introduced a 2GB microSD card at US$99.
Sandisk released a 4GB microSDHC in July 2007. Conforming to the same standards as regular SDHC cards, currently these cards are supported in Nokia N95 and E90 cellphones, the new Chocolate Phone and SDHC compatible devices with the SDHC adapter. At launch these cards retail for US$99. ^[3]

Manufacturer support

The microSD format is supported mainly by mobile phone manufacturers, of which Motorola adopted it first. Garmin make GPS receivers with maps on microSD cards.

Devices

★ Alcatel: OT-E801

★ BenQ-Siemens: EF61, E71, EF81, EL71, S82, SFG75, S88, CL71

★ BlackBerry: 8100 (Pearl), 8300 (Curve), 8800, 8830 (Gamma Ray)

★ E-TEN: glofiish X500, glofiish X500+, glofiish M700

★ FIC: Neo 1973

★ Garmin hand-held GPS: eTrex Vista Cx, Legend Cx, Venture Cx, GPSMap 60cx, 60csx, 76cx, Map76csx, StreetPilot i2, Street Pilot i3, etc.

★ HTC: Hermes (TyTN) (also badged as: O2 XDA trion, T-Mobile MDA Vario II, Vodafone 1605 VPA Compact III, Vodafone 1210, Orange SPV M3100, Dopod CHT 9000, Dopod 838 Pro, hTc Z, Qtek 9600, i-mate JasJam, Cingular 8525, Swissom XPA v1605, SoftBank X01HT, UTStarcom 6800), Monet (also badged as Virgin Lobster 700TV), HTC P3300 (also known as O2 XDA Orbit, T-Mobile MDA Compact III), HTC StrTrk, Cingular 3100, Cingular 3125, HTC MTeoR, P4350 (Herald)

★ i-mate: Smartflip, JasJam

★ Kyocera: KX55XO, Slider Sonic, Slider Remix

★ LG Electronics: LG TU500, U8360, U8380, U880, VX8300, Chocolate (VX8500), AX8600, KU311, Chocolate (VX8600), VX8700, VX-9900 (enV), LX550 (Fusic), CE500, CU320, CU500, LG Trax (CU575, L600v, Prada Phone KE850

★ Motorola: V360, E398, V635, V710, A780, E815, A840, E770, E815, E895, C975, V975, C980, V980, A1000, A1200, M1000,Maxx Ve E1000, V1000, ROKR, V1050, V1150, SLVR L7, Motorola L7e, E1060, E1120, RAZR (V3i, V3m, V3r, V3t, V3x, V3xx, V6), i870, i880, i885, i580, A1200, KRZR (K1, K1m), RIZR Z3 Z8, L7, Moto Q9h

★ NEC: N908

★ Nokia: 3110c, 3250, 6085, 6233, 6234, 6300, 5200, 5300, 5500, 6110 Navigator, 6120/6121 Classic, 6125, 6131/6126/6133, 6151, 6275i, 6300, 7373, 7390, E50, E61i, E65, E90, N73, N75, N76, N95

★ Pioneer: AVIC-S1 Mobile Navigation System

★ Sagem: My V-76, My X 6-2, my501C, My401c

★ Samsung: SGH-D600, SGH-D807, SGH-D820, SGH-D900, SGH-D900i SGH-E900,SGH-Z230, SGH-Z400, SGH-Z500, SGH-Z700, SGH-ZM60, SGH-i300, SGH-i320, SGH-i320N, SGH-i600, SGH-i607, SGH-P850, SGH-D510, SGH-X700, SGH-E870, SGH-E770, SGH-E900, SGH-S500i, SGH-X800, SGH-zx10, SPH-A920/MM-A920, SPH-A940, SPH-M610, SPH-M500, SCH-A950, SCH-A930, SCH-A990, SCH-U740, SGH-T809, SGH-T609, SGH-T519, SGH-T629, a9, SGH-U600, SGH-U700, SGH-A707(SYNC), SGH-E490,samsung Blast

★ Sandisk: Sansa e200 series, SanDisk Sansa c200 series, SanDisk Sansa Express

★ Sanyo: SCP-8400

★ Sony Ericsson: K850

★ T-Mobile: Dash (Smartphone), Wing (Smartphone), Sidekick 3

★ Vodafone: Vodafone 1210
Navman GPS devices use microSD cards to store extra maps.
All devices which support SD/miniSD can support microSD cards using an appropriate adapter (often sold with a microSD card). SanDisk publishes a list of mobile phones with memory card support [2]
(in PDF format). This gives the type of the memory card slot and lists the support for still-image cameras, video capture and music.
SanDisk's e200 series MP3 players support microSD card expansion, allowing additional storage of up to 2GB.

Comparisons

See also

★ Comparison of memory cards

★ MiniSD Card

★ SD Card

References

1. http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=179
2. http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=3868
3. http://www.cbcnz.com/product_info.php/products_id/110075

External links

★ Memory Card Speeds

★ SanDisk microSD Product Page

★ Micro-SD Card Information

★ GoldenMars microSD Product Page

★ SimpleTech microSD Product Page

★ Kingmax Digital microSD Product Page

★ SD Card Association

★ PhysOrg article about SanDisk's 512 MB microSD card release

★ microSD pictures and descriptions