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Samsung brings speedy UHS-I class SD and microSD memory cards in new 64GB sizes to IFA 2012
We've seen UHS-I class SD and microSD cards capable of incredible speeds before, and Samsung unveiled a few 16GB microSD modules of its own earlier this year, but now it's showing off 64GB sized versions at IFA 2012. The top of the line Pro editions intended for high speed LTE-connected phones and tablets are capable of read/write speeds at 80MB/40MB per second (SD) and 70MB/20MB per second (microSD). If you're not with us in Germany, you should be able to get your hands on them in mid-October.
Samsung rolls out Ultra High Speed microSD cards destined for LTE phones and tablets
While so far the Ultra High Speed Class 1 memory card designation has been reserved for SDXC and SDHC cards, Samsung just announced new microSD cards that support the faster interface as well. Currently being produced in 16GB sizes, they have maximum sequential read speeds of up to 80 MB/s, four times that of the high speed cards it introduced last year. There's no word on the write speeds but Samsung is already busy calling its next shot, planning to offer cards with even more storage in the future. Of course, you'll need compatible devices to make these new cards worth it, we wonder what kind of Advanced LTE smartphones with 3D gaming and HD video capabilities might be in store from Samsung soon...
Amazon adds Kindle Fire-specific details to Developer Portal, A's your FAQ
The Kindle Fire may not be hitting the market until November, but Amazon has already updated its Developer Portal FAQ page with an entire section devoted to its forthcoming Android tablet. On the new page, you'll find largely standard information on things like the application process and how to set up an Android SDK emulator, though there are a few more salient tidbits, as well. For instance, Amazon says it will review every app in its Appstore for Fire compatibility, as part of an automated process. Rejected apps, Amazon informs us, will include those that rely on a gyroscope, camera, WAN module, Bluetooth, microphone, GPS, or micro SD. Apps are also forbidden from using Google's Mobile Services (and in-app billing), which, if included, will have to be "gracefully" removed. In terms of actual content, Amazon has outlawed all apps that change the tablet's UI in any way (including theme- or wallpaper-based tools), as well as any that demand root access (it remains to be seen how the company will treat the root-dependent apps already in its store). Interested devs can find more information at the source link, below.
Kingston's Class 10 microSD family gets bigger, stays tiny
Kingston is putting an extra boost the smallest of its tiny memory cards. The popular provider of flash storage is upping its 4GB and 8GB microSDHC cards from Class 4 specifications (up to a 4 MB/s transfer rate) to a whopping Class 10 spec and all of its 10 MB/s goodness. The newly announced models join a 16GB version that has been available for several months. By completing the family tree of Class 10 cards, Kingston is offering faster all-round performance for file transfers on smartphones, quicker write times for microSD-wielding cameras and basically a few seconds of your life back -- at lower prices than before, though you'll still be paying a premium compared to slower cards. Our microSDHC-accepting devices are itching to hop aboard this speedier train of data storage, and luckily we won't have to wait long. The two memory cards start shipping at the end of March and are being offered with an available Mobility Kit, which includes an SD adapter and a USB card reader. But, if you want a full-fat 32GB model, you'll have to wait for Q2 of 2011 like the rest of us. Pricing starts at $22 for a 4GB model up to $138 for the 16GB model -- check after the break for full breakdown of prices and more in the PR.
Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series hands-on preview (video)
If you're an avid Engadget reader, you're familiar with a dream of ours -- we have always wanted a netbook / tablet hybrid (netverible as we like to call 'em) that actually works really well. We don't want to get our hopes up too much, but the Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series could be it. While we got a chance to see the 10.1-inch tablet with its slide out keyboard just a few days ago, we caught some one-on-one time with the device behind closed doors here at the show and came out having a lot of hope in the product. The unit we saw, and the one being shown on the show floor here at CES, is still pre-production, but even so the sliding mechanism worked pretty smoothly. That's not to say it doesn't still feel delicate, but it actually auto-slides open once you start to push up the screen. As you'll see in the video, it's a rather exhilarating process, although, we were slightly worried that the back of the screen was going to shave off a keyboard key or two. Speaking of the keyboard, those smooth, shiny chiclet keys feel pretty good, though as you'd expect the layout is a little bit cramped. When held in tablet mode the 2.18-pound device is a little heavy for one-handed use, but it's nowhere near as thick or bulky as the Dell Inspiron Duo. However, to maintain those trim dimensions, Samsung has had to cut out a full sized USB port, and instead, the device will use its mini-HDMI port -- it will come with a mini-HDMI-to-USB 2.0 adapter. It also has a MicroSD slot and 3G-card insert, and both front- and back-facing cameras. We didn't get to spend too much with Samsung's Touch Launcher, but it's one of the nicer looking Windows 7 layers we've seen in our day, and it can be launched by just touching that bright blue strip on the screen bezel. Of course, we're slightly worried that it will be sluggish, but Samsung is using Intel's forthcoming 1.5GHz Oak Trail processor, which we've heard will speed up Win 7 and improve battery life. As for the 340-nit, 1366 x 768-resolution screen itself, it was nice and bright on maximum setting, and the viewing angles seemed to be fairly decent. Unfortunately, it's also fairly glossy, so we'll have to see how it holds up outdoors. It also supports up to 16 points of contact -- we're not sure how useful that is on a ten-inch screen, but it's a nice bragging point. Samsung maintains the Sliding PC 7 Series should be hitting for $699 in May -- don't let us down Sammy, we've got dreams. %Gallery-113203%%Gallery-113045% Sam Sheffer and Sean Hollister contributed to this report. Updated: The price is said to be $699, not $599. We've heard different things on the release time frame so we're sticking to May at the moment.
SD Association triples SDHC and SDXC speeds with UHS-II standard, adds secure eBook specification
Don't ever knock the SD Association for lagging behind. A scant seven months after the aforesaid entity revealed the UHS-I specifications, in flies the predicted successor at CES. UHS-II is a newfangled bus-interface system that promises high-def recording speeds of up to 312 megabytes per second, enabling pro shooters and videographers to actually consider an SDHC or SDXC-based camera rather than relying solely on CompactFlash or SSD. The protocol will be an integral part of the SD 4.00 specification that's going out to members later in the quarter, and naturally, it'll only be useful to SDXC and SDHC cards. We're looking at a 3x increase in transfer rates, and these same upticks will be gracing UHS-II microSDXC and microSDHC cards, too. Best of all, UHS-II cards will be fully backwards compatible with older devices and readers, as the speed increase simply relies on a new row of pins on a familiar form factor. In related news, a new eBook SD application has been announced, though the details surrounding it are murky at best. So far as we can tell, eBook SD cards will have their content pretty well contained, giving publishers the ability to rest easy while still getting content out to the myriad products that can understand SD. Peek the full release after the break. %Gallery-112383%
3-in-1 iPad camera connection kit is triple the goodness in one package
Here at TUAW, most of the bloggers are huge fans of devices featuring multiple levels of functionality jammed into one little box (this probably has something to do with a lifelong fascination with Swiss Army Knives.) That's why there were smiles all around when M.I.C.Gadget, a blog that follows stories about gizmos that are, uh, Made In China, had a story about a new 3-in-1 iPad camera connection kit. As you know, the Apple equivalent sells for US$29 and is made up of two separate dongles. Two dongles = twice as much opportunity to lose one of them. This little 3-in-1 kit features the USB port and SD card reader that make up the Apple connection kit, but there's one more thing -- a micro-SD card reader as well. Boom! But wait, there's more! The connection kit comes in black or white, which will be a nightmare for people who have problems making decisions. Want to buy one? They're available for US$29.90 from the M.I.C. Gadget Store, but act now to avoid bitter disappointment. There are only 25 of the kits left in stock as of this morning... [via Gizmodo]
Mo-DV bringing major motion pictures to microSD cards
Hard to say why this here fad is just now catching on -- after all, select studios warmed to the idea of putting their content onto portable flash storage years ago. That said, we've seen both Flix on Stix and this here contraption surface within the same month, but honestly, we're having a hard time believing that it's a niche waiting to explode. Mo-DV has just announced a new Universal Player for microSD cards, enabling Symbian, Android, Windows Mobile and your everyday Windows PC to play back DRM'd movies stored on a microscopic slab of memory. As for Android users, they'll need version 2.1 or newer, and while few details are given, the company has confessed that more platform support is coming (good luck, Windows Phone 7). No one's talking pricing or release information just yet, but potentially more frightening is this: has anyone ever considered just how inconvenient it is to keep a handful of microSD cards around, let alone swap them in and out of your smartphone?
Dell: bigger Venue Pro launch coming, keep hands off microSD
Didn't get a Venue Pro when Microsoft threw a few on its store shelves? Why, that'd be enough to make us mad, too -- Ballmer mad, in fact. Fear not, though: as Dell tells it, the company has production ramped up for a "timely" launch on T-Mobile's network. When? Won't say. Holiday season, at least? No release windows is given. And one more thing, too... Dell read our piece on the Windows Phone 7 microSD and wants you all to know that, no, you shouldn't mess with the Venue Pro's card, either. There's no eject mechanism, and that's supposed to be a not-so-subtle hint to stay back. Consider yourself warned, again.
Windows Phone 7's microSD mess: the full story (and how Nokia can help you out of it)
There are many reasons to be excited about Windows Phone 7, but a bleak spot has been Microsoft's message -- or lack thereof -- on user-expandable storage, and the situation finally came to a head last week when AT&T told Samsung Focus owners to hold off on buying microSD cards altogether until Microsoft had a chance to certify some for use with the platform. How did it get to this point? Why wasn't it communicated to users that this was such a problem before the phones ever went on sale? And if it really is such a problem, why did Samsung dare to make the microSD slot user-accessible in the Focus the first place? All good questions -- and in talking with a number of sources the past few days, we've pieced together some of the answers. Read on.
Samsung Focus having microSD issues, AT&T not installing cards in-store (updated)
The Samsung Focus's microSD slot has always been an odd little blip on the spec sheet, since it's only kinda-sorta supported by Windows Phone 7, and now it looks like it's causing more trouble than it's worth: Paul Thurrott says AT&T's telling employees not to install anything in the slot because of reliability issues, and that Microsoft is working on the problem. Now, we've had mixed experiences using the microSD slot ourselves, and we've been told by numerous sources that AT&T and Samsung added the feature without too much encouragement from Microsoft, which told us at MIX that expansion wouldn't be supported by WP7 at all. We've also been told by reliable sources that the problem is primarily to do with microSD speed and reliability -- apparently only the fastest cards will work well, and current microSD class ratings aren't accurate or meaningful enough to be useful. We'd bet Microsoft and Samsung get together and put out a line of Focus-specific cards before this is all over -- but wouldn't it have been easier to just build in 32GB of storage from the start? Update: Tipster Jon points out that Microsoft's own WP7 support docs specifically call out SD class ratings as not being accurate determinants of whether or not a card will work -- and further say that only OEMs or carriers should swap out cards. Here are the relevant passages: The SD card slot in your phone is intended to be used only by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) that built your phone and your Mobile Operator (MO). These partners can add an SD card to this slot to expand the amount of storage on your phone. [...] Determining whether an SD card is Windows Phone 7 compliant is not a simple matter of judging its speed class. Several other factors, such as the number of random read/write operations per second, play a role in determining how well an SD card performs with Windows Phone 7 devices. Sounds complicated -- and it also sounds like Microsoft needs to call Samsung or SanDisk and kick out a line of WP7-certified cards, like, now.
Protip: Microsoft Kin not compatible with microSD
Dear SanDisk, The Kin does not have a microSD slot. We checked. Love, Engadget.
SanDisk ships 32GB microSDHC card for $200
Our 16GB microSDHC card has been treating us well since shipping early last year, but obviously no capacity is capacious enough. SanDisk has just announced that a Class 2, 32GB version of its microSDHC card is now shipping (remember that "something big" thing?), bringing gobs and gobs (and gobs) of storage space to whatever phones still support it. SanDisk claims that this is the first of its kind, but you can bet that other memory outfits won't be far behind in matching it. It should be hitting e-tailers momentarily for $199.99 (and around £200 if you're in the UK, we're told), which is almost certainly more than the (subsidized) price of the phone you'll be sliding it into.
Sony Ericsson ditching Memory Stick Micro cards in favor of MicroSD
Sony Ericsson already tipped its hand by including nothing but plain old microSD in its recently announced Satio, Yari and Aino phones (not to mention the K850 even further back), but it looks like TrustedReviews has now gotten the official word straight from the source: SE is dropping Sony's own Memory Stick Micro format (or M2) in favor of the decidedly more standard microSD. While it's not clear if that'll be a clean break from here on out or not, Sony Ericsson Global Marketing Director Fortuné Alexander did say that the company is "moving in that direction," and at least a few more still unannounced handsets have apparently already made the switch. Next thing you know Sony will be dumping UMD. Oh wait.
USB extension cable arrives with inline card reader
You know, sometimes it's just the simple things in life that really bring a smile to one's face. Take this cable, for instance. At first glance, it's really nothing more than a USB extension cable (USB A Male-to-mini USB) with an odd protrusion in the middle. Sort of like a snake that's only halfway done digesting its latest meal. Gross analogies aside, that bulge is actually an SD card reader that's also capable of handling SDHC, miniSD and microSD formats. The whole cord measures 2.43 feet long and costs just $11.99 -- can you say "geek stocking stuffer?"
Micro SD Card Projector blows up portable media
Mini-projectors are a dime a dozen these days, but the Micro SD Card Projector is whizzing right around all those serious competitors and aiming instead for the carefree crowd. Essentially, the image quality you'll get from this thing is likely to be lackluster -- after all, the manufacturer doesn't even bother to pass along a contrast ratio, let alone a native resolution. Still, the ability to shove an SD card into the rear and instantly watch your portable media clips on the big(ish) screen is a boon to travel junkies and kids of all ages. Heck, there's even a set of composite inputs if you're looking to give your DVD player (or similar) some work. No word on exactly what file types the unit understands, but those willing to take a chance can expect it to ship later this week for £99.99 ($196). [Via ShinyShiny]
