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About the microSD Card

MicroSD Cards

Ultra Small Size

Like the miniSD card, the microSD card was specifically designed for the fast growing mobility market. Approximately the size of a fingernail, the microSD card is about one fourth the size of a standard SD card and even smaller than a miniSD card.

High Capacity Storage

Like SD and miniSD cards, microSD cards are ideal for storing media-rich files such as music, videos, and high-resolution images. microSDHC cards offer even more storage (Above 2GB) for everything needed in the mobile world while keeping the same physical specifications as standard microSD cards.

Specifications

  SD/SDHC miniSD/miniSDHC Card microSD/microSDCHC Card
size SD Card SD Card SD Card
Area 768 mm2 (100) 430 mm2 (56) 165 mm2 (21)
Card Volume 1,613 mm2 (100) 602 mm2 (37) 165 mm2 (10)
Thickness 2.1 mm 1.4 mm 1.0 mm
Weight Approx. 2g Approx. 1g Approx. 0.5g
Number of pins 9 pins 11 pins 8 pins
Operating Voltage 2.7V - 3.6V 2.7V - 3.6V 2.7V - 3.6V
Write-protect Switch YES NO NO
Copyright protection CPRM CPRM CPRM
Compatibility - Yes (with adapter) Yes (with adapter)

Wide Market Adoption

The microSD card's ultra small size and widely supported standard SD interface has made it the leading memory card standard adopted by mobile handset vendors.

Source: iSuppli, "Data Flash Market Tracker", Q1 2008


Although mainly used with mobile handsets the microSD card is also supported natively in a variety of handheld GPS devices, portable audio players, video game consoles and expandable USB flash memory drives.

Compatibility and Interoperability

One of the major advantages of microSD cards are that they are backward compatible with many electronic devices that are SD enabled. By using an appropriate adapter the microSD card can easily and quickly be inserted into any device that supports either a standard SD or miniSD card.

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