Unlimited mobile memory? Pretty much. SanDisk introduces world’s highest capacity microSD card

At this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, SanDisk Corporation announced a technological breakthrough: the world’s first 128-gigabyte microSD card. 

Officially referred to as the 128GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I memory card, the technology is the world’s largest-capacity microSD card. With it in their mobile devices, consumers will now be able to store 16 hours of HD video, 7,500 songs, 3,200 photos, and more than 125 apps on a single, removable card that measures less than the size of a fingernail. 

“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.”

As Robinson mentions, SanDisk’s Ultra microSDXC card will be fast; specifically, it will deliver twice the speed of ordinary microSD memory cards.

“The new SanDisk Ultra microSDXC card again demonstrates how SanDisk continues to expand the possibilities of storage so that consumers can benefit from our latest technology advancements,” said Susan Park, director, retail product marketing, SanDisk. “With 128GB of removable storage, consumers will enjoy the freedom to capture and save whatever they want on a smartphone or tablet, without worrying about running out of storage space.”

Designed for devices equipped with an Android operating system, SanDisk’s new microSDXC card provides consumers with the highest storage capacity available in a removable form factor. In terms of accessing all this space, a new version of the SanDisk Memory Zone app has been launched on Google Play (in beta), which lets users easily view, access, and back up all of their files from their phone’s memory into one convenient place. Worth noting about the app is a new feature called “OptiMem,” which allows Android users to enhance their phone’s internal memory by easily transferring old photos and videos to the microSD card. OptiMem will continuously monitor the user’s device memory levels, and inform them whenever the internal memory falls below a pre-defined threshold.

For the technologists, there’s still one question about the new microSD card—how was SanDisk able to achieve this technological breakthrough? Well, as compared to the micoSD card the company launched in 2004 with 128MB of memory, the company has increased the technology’s storage capacity by 1,000 times in less than a decade via an innovative proprietary technique that allows for 16 memory die to be vertically stacked, with each die shaved to be thinner than a strand of human hair.

“The technology used to design the 128GB Ultra microSDXC card is well in line with what mobile users expect, and demonstrates SanDisk’s commitment to mobility,” said Christopher Chute, research director, Worldwide Digital Imaging, IDC. “Being able to fit this much capacity into a microSD card smaller than a fingernail is a game changer, and expands the possibilities of what people can do with their mobile devices. The 128GB Ultra microSDXC card frees users from constant concerns around storage limitations.”

For those interested in getting the card, the 128GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC card is available exclusively at BestBuy.com and Amazon.com (in the U.S.)

Story via sandisk.com