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microSD Express unlocks hyper-fast data speeds for mobile devices
The SD Association has unveiled microSD Express, a new format that will bring speeds of up to 985 MB/s to the tiny memory cards used in smartphones and other devices. Like SD Express, it exploits the NVMe 1.3 and PCIe 3.1 interfaces used in PCs to power high-speed SSDs. The tech is incorporated onto the second row of microSD pins, so the cards will work faster in next-gen devices while maintaining backward compatibility with current microSD tech.
Samsung's latest microSD card is beefy enough for your dash cam
Most microSD cards are perfectly fine for your smartphone. Your dash cam or home security camera, however? That's another story -- that non-stop video recording can be brutal on cards that aren't designed for continuous writing. Enter Samsung with its Pro Endurance card. The new microSD range reportedly endures about 25 times longer than other "speed-focused" cards, handling up to 43,800 hours of 1080p video recording on a 128GB model. That's five years of around-the-clock use, folks. There's a chance your camera stops working before the card does.
The first 512GB microSD card arrives in February
It didn't take long for someone to topple 2017's microSD storage record. The UK's Integral Memory has unveiled what it says it the first shipping 512GB microSD card. So long as your device can handle microSDXC (most Android phones and tablets, as well as PCs like the Surface Pro), you too can have half a terabyte in the space of a fingernail. The card's 80MB/s peak transfer speed isn't the fastest you'll find, but it should be enough for apps and recording gobs of 4K video.
It took six months for my Nintendo Switch to run out of space
When Nintendo announced that its next game console was going to come with just 32GB of internal storage, my heart sank. I'd been planning to go all digital for the Nintendo Switch -- making it a portable console that always had my favorite games on tap at a moment's notice. Instead, I found myself pre-ordering the console with a physical copy of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. The compromise didn't last long. Between the tedium of swapping game cards and my fear of losing them, I wound up going all digital anyway. Within six months, my Nintendo Switch ran out of space.
SanDisk crams 400GB into a microSD card
SanDisk just unveiled a 400GB microSD card, which it claims is the world's biggest. Really, it was only a matter of time until something of this stature arrived. Especially, now that we're capturing every aspect of our daily lives in glorious 4K, in 360-degrees, and from drones way up high. All those high-res images are taking up a lot of space on our devices. Therefore, storage providers had to step it up, which brings us to this miniature marvel.
By the numbers: Samsung's Note 8 revealed
It was a big day for Samsung and its recently maligned Note line of phones (becoming an explosive punchline will do that to a brand). The company revealed on Wednesday the Note 8, a 6.3-inch pocket computer sporting an improved stylus, dual rear cameras, 256GB of removable MicroSD storage, and a whole bunch of new tricks and treats for its users. Numbers, because how else would you count the incoming hot takes? Follow all the latest news from Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 event here!
Garmin's watch-app store finally gets Uber and a few other big names
Garmin already offers a bunch of cycling computers and fitness wearables like the Forerunner series and newly updated Fenix line, which can help guide you through your workout with minimal trauma. That said, the smartwatches in particular have yet to find much love beyond their original niche use as fitness-first wearables. The company hopes to change that at this year's CES by announcing the release of a number of third-party apps from big-name players including Uber and Trek. But is that enough to catch the industry-leading Apple Watch and all those Android Wear watches?
Garmin's newest 'Drive' navigation systems focus on road safety
Whether you're on the open road or just trying to make it to work in one piece, getting where you're going is hassle enough -- even when there isn't traffic to be stuck in. Garmin's latest iterations of its Drive GPS navigation systems will soon be receiving a host of features that will deliver live updates and easier-to-follow directions in hopes of changing driver behaviors for the safer.
Samsung unveils water-resistant Galaxy A phones with USB-C
After the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, Samsung can't afford a product misstep this year, and it seems to have gotten off to a good start with the 2017 Galaxy A smartphones. The 5.2-inch A5 and 4.7-inch A3 are packed with new features for folks who don't want to spend $800 on a phone, most notably fast-charging USB-C tech and a water-resistant metal body. As is becoming typical in this segment, both have better front and back cameras with faster autofocus and better low-light capabilities, giving them more appeal for the social media and selfie set.
Barnes & Noble debuts $50 Nook tablet to take on Amazon
The battle for bookworms' hearts and eyes this holiday season is officially underway! Barnes & Noble announced on Wednesday the forthcoming release of its new Nook tablet. The tablet will retail for just $50 -- 30 bucks less than the baseline Amazon Kindle and on par with the Amazon Fire -- when it becomes available on Black Friday, November 25th. It features a 7-inch IPS display, 7 hours of battery life and 8GB of onboard storage, which can be boosted by up to 128GB using a microSD card. Take that, Macbook Pro.
Amazon Video for Android adds support for SD cards
Amazon just pushed a small, but important update to its Android video app: starting today, users can choose where downloaded files are stored. It sounds insignificant, but for heavy users, this is a really big deal -- until now, Amazon Video would only store content on a device's internal storage, severely limiting how much content one could keep on the device. Not anymore. Now, if you have an SD card, you have room for more movies. The feature is rolling out to customers in the US, UK, Germany, Austria and Japan. It's about time.
DJI unveils custom aerial Micro Four Thirds camera
Drone manufacturer DJI has announced its response to news that GoPro is working on a UAV. DJI announced two new cameras for its own flagship drone, the Inspire 1. Dubbed the Zenmuse X5 and X5R, respectively, these cameras are the first aerial cameras to hit the market featuring Micro Four Thirds sensors. Each camera captures 16MP stills and up to 4K/30fps video. Additionally, the X5R is capable of capturing images and video (including lossless 4K CinemaDNG) on either an onboard microSD card or a 512GB SSD mounted just above the gimbal. What's more, each 0.75-pound camera body accommodates four interchangeable lenses (ranging from 12mm to 17mm). The pilot can even adjust the aperture and focus of the lenses from the ground while the Inspire 1 is in flight.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab S2 is slimmer, smaller and squarer
Samsung has revealed its new 8-inch and 9.7-inch Galaxy Tab S2 models, and they're considerably different from last year. As revealed by a leak yesterday, it shrunk both of last year's models and killed the widescreen (16 x 10) aspect ratio, instead giving them an iPad-like 4 x 3 format. The company said that'll help "recreate the viewing experience of browsing through traditional print media," and make it easier to read e-books and web pages. On the other hand, less of the screen is now available for watching movies, particularly since both Galaxy Tab S2 models have also taken a step down in resolution from QuadHD to 2,048 x 1,536.
Hugo Barra on why Xiaomi is against microSD cards in phones
If you were to compare iOS and Android, the latter's storage expansion option via microSD -- up to a whopping 200GB these days -- is often regarded as an advantage, though not all devices come with such offer. For instance, while HTC and LG have made the microSD slot a standard feature on their recent flagship devices, Samsung oddly decided to remove it from its Galaxy S6 series (ironically, the company has just announced new microSD cards). Xiaomi, on the other hand, seems to be on the fence: its flagship line has long ditched the microSD slot after its first-gen device, yet its affordable Redmi line uses said feature as a selling point. It's as if Xiaomi is contradicting itself, but Hugo Barra, the company's Vice President of International, gave us a more definitive answer after launching the Mi 4i in Hong Kong.
SanDisk stuffs 200GB into a microSD card for your phone
If a 128GB microSD card just isn't big enough to put your media collection on your phone, don't worry -- SanDisk is coming to your rescue. It just unveiled a whopping 200GB card (the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card Premium Edition, to be exact) that makes just about anything else seem puny. You won't even have to give up performance, as it should still transfer about 90MB per second, or roughly 1,200 photos every minute. The price could easily be a showstopper, though. SanDisk will ask an eye-watering $400 for the 200GB card when it ships in the second quarter, so it may only make sense if you insist on gobs of room for 4K videos or a gigantic music library. Don't miss out on all the latest news, photos and liveblogs from MWC 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Toshiba's ultra-fast microSD cards will let you shoot like a pro with small cameras
It's easy to find fast storage if you have a big camera, but not so much if you have a very tiny mirrorless cam that uses microSD cards -- more often than not, you're stuck in the slow lane. You won't be held back for much longer if Toshiba has its way, though. The company has just revealed the first-ever microSD cards to meet the speedy UHS-II spec, giving them the same performance as the quickest full-size SD storage -- and up to eight times the write speed of Toshiba's earlier microSD lineup. Data reads, meanwhile, are nearly three times faster.
SanDisk's Extreme microSD cards promise 80MBps, live up to that claim
No one likes waiting for a file transfer to finish, and thankfully SanDisk is doing something about it. The company's new "Extreme" line of microSD cards (16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities) promises to deliver speeds of up to 80 MBps. Benchmarks done by Android Police have the 64GB card hitting 78 MBps when used in a dedicated card reader. Putting the card in a smartphone, however, yields far different results. Most smartphones, save for the Exynos 5 Octa version of the GS4, don't support the newer UHS-1 standard for increased transfer speeds. When tested in a Galaxy Note II, SanDisk's new card "only" achieved 14MBps read speeds and 14.6MBps write speeds -- that's still between 50% and 100% faster than a previous generation 64GB SanDisk microSD card. So now we just need phones to catch up, and for handset makers who are averse to microSD cards altogether to change their tune.
SD Association adds secure NFC support to its smartSD memory cards
Though companies like Visa and Device Fidelity have already come up with a way to make NFC payments via microSD card, the SD Association (the standardization body for SD cards) has introduced a spec that opens up that ability to others. It essentially adds the single wire protocol (SWP) as a Secure Element to enable NFC authorizations like mobile payments and identity verification. Now that any of its members can implement the standard to their microSD cards, perhaps some day we can truly replace our wallets with our phones. We've included the press release and a short video demo after the break if you feel like understanding the tech a little better.
HTC One 802w for China spotted with removable cover, dual SIM slots and microSD slot
Much like how three (or four) of the major US carriers will be getting the HTC One, China's three carriers will also be receiving the same treatment, according to the country's official device approval database. The three flavors are known as 802w, 802t and 802d, each heading to China Unicom (WCDMA), China Mobile (TD-SCDMA) and China Telecom (CDMA), respectively. For the record, the European version we have is 801n, so perhaps the third digit represents the number of SIM slots featured on the device. This is certainly the case for the 802w. Earlier today, a Sina Weibo user posted the above photo of said phone with its back cover -- between the two plastic lines -- removed, thus exposing not only its two SIM card slots but also a microSD slot just below the camera. It's worth noting that the European version of the One doesn't come with a removable back cover, let alone a secondary SIM slot or a microSD slot; but at least it has LTE, right? Since Sina Weibo requires you to login before letting you see the post, we've got the full picture for you after the break.
GameStick reveals final backer-aided design, dock for peripherals
Now that the Android-powered game console on a stick, GameStick, has been fully funded (five times over), another piece of the puzzle is falling into place: its final design. Taking suggestions from the Kickstarter backers that supported the device in the first place, the final design of the controller reflects, "a more ergonomic form with extended grips and a tapered shape to better sit in the hand." The HDMI stick that previous popped out from the bottom of the controller now rests around back -- it's now got a MicroSD slot built in as well, allowing up to 32GB of expandable memory (bringing the maximum of expandable memory up to 104GB -- that's a lot of Android games). A docking station is also in the cards, which enables a whole mess of peripherals via USB, HDMI, and ethernet ports -- it's powered separately, so you can charge your GameStick controller without having to turn on the console. You can also charge your controller on it wirelessly, according to PlayJam. All said, it's got one ethernet port, a full size SD card reader, three USB ports, and three HDMI ports (one out, two in), and comes as part of an option $109 bundle on the Kickstarter page. As for its sale price separately from the GameStick, PlayJam's staying mum for now.
