With most smartphones still only coming with between 4GB and 32GB of onboard storage (and often less when you look at the actual storage space available to users), many users have to juggle data and apps to avoid hitting the proverbial capacity wall. Fortunately, microSD cards have pushed those limits further on those devices that offer such a feature. Even then, the maximum was still only 64GB until now. SanDisk announced at Mobile World Congress a new 128GB microSDXC card called the 128GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I (yep, that just flows right off the tongue).
“SanDisk’s high-performance 128GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC memory card will reshape the way users interact with their devices,” said Stuart Robinson, director, Handset Component Technologies, Strategy Analytics. “Until now, consumers had to spread out their content between multiple products because the memory on those devices was not able to hold enough data in one place. This 128GB microSD card is going to be popular as the preferred removable storage option, giving users fast, secure and reliable access to their personal data archives.”
To achieve this new capacity, SanDisk explains that it developed “an innovative proprietary technique that allows for 16 memory die to be vertically stacked, each shaved to be thinner than a strand of hair.”
Designed for Android smartphones and tablets, the new SanDisk 128GB microSDXC card is Class 10-rated. That rating means that the card supports speeds of at least 10Mbps for writing and reading operations and good enough for recording Full HD video.
SanDisk’s Ultra microSDXC cards range in capacity from 8GB up to 128GB with pricing starting at US$29.99 and topping out at US$199.99 for the new 128GB card. In the U.S., the 128GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC card is available exclusively at BestBuy.com and Amazon.com. There is no word yet on availability in Canada.
Before you rush off and buy one of these 128GB microSDXC SanDisk cards, make sure that your device will in fact support it. Not all devices with a microSD slot will support such a card; it is only compatible with microSDHC and microSDXC supporting host devices.
Source : SanDisk