• Five Years of SD Express: A Milestone of Innovation

    Since its inception, the SD memory card has been the unassuming hero of our digital lives. Largely unseen but quintessential, it has stored our precious memories, saved our vital data, and provided an indispensable level of flexibility and security. These removable cards have become emblematic of our advancing technological capabilities, largely du… もっと読む »

  • The State of microSD and Trends to Watch in 2024

    The world of memory and storage technology is constantly evolving, and new advancements are being made each year. One such innovation is SD Express, which offers a broader range of benefits and advantages that are propelling storage technology forward. SD Express is a next-generation bus feature available for full-sized and microSD memory cards tha… もっと読む »

  • New SD Express Specifications Introduce New Speed Classes and Next-Level Performance Features

    The SD Express specification represents a quantum leap in possibilities for the integration and use of removable storage in high-performance electronic devices and products. By having performance levels, such as transfer speeds up to 4GB/sec thanks to the use of PCIe® and NVMe® architectures, the SD Association (SDA) is ensuring that full-size SD a… もっと読む »

  • SD 9 Specification Bolsters Right-to-Repair Movement and Battle with E-waste

    As the transition towards a more digitally connected world continues unabated and international communities embrace the promise of an information society, entire new economies and systems are being born. This evolution offers unprecedented opportunities for humanity, but at the same time, the consequence of the exponential use of electronic devices… もっと読む »

  • SD and microSD Memory Cards for Industrial Applications

    Removable storage has been an important element in the adoption and evolution of a vast array of consumer technology. Over the years, SD memory cards have also become an indispensable part of an even larger industrial ecosystem. Industrial versions of SD and microSD memory cards are different than those used for consumer applications, as they are s… もっと読む »

  • microSD Memory Cards and Their Importance with Smartphones

    Smartphones are becoming more and more advanced with the release of every update. For many people, smartphones are the center point of the workday and the source for entertainment options on personal time for most users. According to Statista, in 2023 there will be more than 6.8 billion smartphones in use around the world. That equates to, on avera… もっと読む »

  • SD Express Takes Drones to New Heights

    With an increased awareness of consumer drones, high-resolution images and video capturing, the world has witnessed a widespread adoption of drones— from major motion picture studios to family farms and everything in between. These devices are used in education, entertainment, security and surveillance, firefighting, sporting events and much, much … もっと読む »

  • Anatomy of an SD Memory Card: What Matters Most for Photography and Videography

    The digital photography market was valued at $44.7 Billion in 2021 and according to recent research, it is projected to reach $58.41 Billion by 2030. The truth is the world of video and digital photography that we know and love today would never have been able to get to where it is without one key technology: SD memory cards.  In this art… もっと読む »

  • The SD 9 Specification: Memory Cards Can Now Be Tightly Bound to Specific Hosts

    As consumers keep asking for devices with more storage capacity, faster performance and increased longevity, manufacturers have to continually adapt to meet the ever-changing demands. The ongoing evolution of SD and microSD memory cards illustrates this point well. For two decades, the SD Association (SDA) has developed progressive standards and te… もっと読む »

  • SD Express Memory Cards: When Ultra-High-Performance Matters

    When the SD Association (SDA) first announced SD Express in June 2018, it set the bar high and opened a world of possibilities for manufacturers to integrate supercharged removable storage into their designs. SD Express is capable of delivering SSD performance levels of up to 4GB/sec. This makes it perfect for use in high-performance electronic dev… もっと読む »

  • SD Specification 9 Enables Manufacturers to Securely Replace Embedded Memory with SD Memory Cards in Devices

    The recently released SD Specification Version 9 (SD 9) delivers on the SD Association’s promise of continuous innovation by delivering new device boot support and advanced security features. The features are applicable for both microSD and full-size SD memory cards across all capacity types, from SD to the forthcoming SDUC memory ca… もっと読む »

  • SD Memory Cards Move Medical Innovation Forward

    Healthcare is a very data-driven industry. Healthcare organizations depend on reliable, efficient access to patient records in order to make diagnoses and provide high-quality care. SD and microSD memory cards are employed in a number of medical uses for hospitals and medical devices. According to World Economic Forum, hospitals produce 50 pet… もっと読む »

  • SD Memory Cards Secure Store Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Offline

    According to CoinDesk, 2021 was the cryptocurrency industry’s biggest year ever. This banner year was credited to not only because token prices went up, which was highlighted by some seeing gains in thousands of percentage points, but also — and more importantly — crypto growth this past year came in the form of major adoption and integration, such… もっと読む »

  • SD Memory Cards Play to Win for Video Game Industry

    Video games are a serious business and gaming is becoming woven into the lifestyles of societies everywhere. This ranges from a crossword puzzle on a mobile phone to an entirely immersive world – or even merciless sports video game tournaments where competitors fight for multi-million-dollar purses. Techjury recently published some demographics abo… もっと読む »

  • The State of the microSD Memory Cards and Trends to Watch in 2022

    Twenty-one years ago, the team working on the invention of the SD memory card envisioned the future. And the reality was beyond their wildest dreams. This was in the age of floppy disk storage – more than five billion were sold per year worldwide around that time. The first iPod was being released and smartphones didn’t exist. But the team knew tha… もっと読む »

  • Flash Storage in the Photography Industry

    We are living in an era of “pic or it didn’t happen,” where people find great joy, if not obsession, in documenting their lives through photography. Everyone with a smart phone has a camera ready at any moment of any day. When you add other devices such as drones, tablets and digital cameras, we are capable of taking an unbelievable number of photo… もっと読む »

  • From Entertainment to Engineering, Virtual Reality is Turning Heads

    Virtual Reality (VR) technology allows a person to be immersed in a three-dimensional virtual, yet safe, environment. That virtual world may simulate a real-world situation or provide an experience completely out of this world. Participants experience the virtual world by using VR devices, such as headsets, glasses, gloves, and even full bodys… もっと読む »

  • Benefits of Dashboard Cameras Becoming more Widespread

    Dashboard cameras, or dash cams, are beginning to be seen around the world in increasing numbers and for numerous applications. In the public sector, they have become nearly ubiquitous in police vehicles, busses, ambulances and so on. Commercially, they are found in taxis, delivery vans, corporate fleets, over-the-road semi-trucks and driving instr… もっと読む »

  • Memory Cards Boost Drone Usefulness

    Whether they are called Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or even Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS), drones are zooming across the sky more than ever before—and it’s only the beginning. The consumer market heavily uses drones for application such as aerial photography, surveillance, leisure, filmmaking and other … もっと読む »

  • Advances in Flash Memory and the Art of the Possible

    Flash memory cards are a vital component of any device they are a part of, and advances in flash memory capability contribute significantly to the development of device features. The continuing evolution of SD and microSD memory cards illustrates this point well. Better flash memory means better device performance Digital cameras are one of the mos… もっと読む »

  • The State of microSD: microSD Memory Card Trends in 2020

    The year 2020 has been like no other. The headlines, market changes and trends of this year have tested society in unprecedented ways and made most people around the world rethink not only priorities, but also what’s possible. In the midst of these challenges, the SD Association (SDA) marked its 20th anniversary. For two decades, the association an… もっと読む »

  • Maximizing the Value of Removable Storage

    It’s been 20 years since the SD Association (SDA) came on to the scene. Since then, the world’s technology has evolved feeding our insatiable thirst for better, faster, more efficient, more useful devices with massive storage capabilities either for personal or professional use. Throughout it all, the SDA has anticipated trends, as witnessed by the… もっと読む »

  • The More You Know: The Evolution of SD Ratings for New Applications

    Each year brings us newer and more exciting technology to add to our connected lives. Cameras are becoming smaller with better resolutions, phones are starting to flip again with flexible screens and the amount of content we store is growing ever larger. All these devices we use require some sort of storage to retain that information. You can think… もっと読む »

  • SD Association Delivers Gigabyte Speed Leap with New SD Express 8.0

    Millions of people across the world retreated into their homes this year as public health officials advised social distancing measures to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. With many outside attractions and activities shut down and closed off to the general public, people turned to their devices to stay connected and entertained in an… もっと読む »

  • The SD Memory Card Formatter
    How this handy tool solves your memory card formatting needs

    For many of us, SD memory cards are an easy way to keep our important files and precious memories stored safely. But if you use an SD memory card for a long time, files may begin to fragment. This can result in the performance of the SD memory card beginning to deteriorate. That’s when we use simple reformatting methods to wipe cards clean in an ef… もっと読む »

  • After Two Decades of Success, the SD Association Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary and Looks Ahead to A Promising Future

    Twenty years ago, Bill Gates steps down as CEO of Microsoft, Sony releases the PlayStation 2 Gaming Console in Japan, the final Peanuts comic strip is published and the first crew to live on the International Space Station (ISS) arrives in space. Today, some of the most important events of that time seem like distant memories, but some things from … もっと読む »

  • Lost Data and SD Memory Cards: A Primer

    While small and compact, SD memory cards are extraordinarily complex devices that are at the heart of our digital world. They are used in many different devices and applications including wireless communications, digital imaging and networking. Amazing technology, given their small footprint and the massive amount of storage SD memory cards can now… もっと読む »

  • Keeping It Real: How SD-3C Fights Counterfeit SD Memory Cards

    Most people in the world are decent, upstanding citizens who obey the rules – but not everyone is. That’s why we have institutions and organizations, both public and private, that ensure rule-benders aren’t getting away with misappropriation or illicit activity. In the technology sector, one of those organizations is SD-3C LLC (“SD-3C”). What is SD… もっと読む »

  • The State of the microSD Memory Card: 8 Trends to Watch in 2019

    It’s always helpful to reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re going – as well as take a good look at the environment around you, to see what might influence future developments – and that logic also applies to technologies, especially in the SD memory card ecosystem. The microSD memory card reached new heights in 2018 and early 2019, with ma… もっと読む »

  • Why microSD Express Memory Cards Rule: The Many Advantages of the PCIe and NVMe Standards

    In the nearly two decades since the SD Association (SDA) introduced its first memory cards, SD and microSD memory cards have cycled through numerous evolutions and industry trends. Now, the microSD Express memory card takes a giant step forward by giving the microSD form factor PCIe® and NVMe™ capabilities alongside the legacy SD interface. This mo… もっと読む »

  • The Triple Threat of Innovations Supporting SD Express

    PCIe® and NVMe™ solid state drives (SSDs) are the predominant solution in today’s client systems, used for storage in several applications. As PCIe/NVMe brings lower software stack overhead and reduces latency, it has become the most used interface in SSDs for desktops, laptops, all-in ones and two-in-ones. It is the preferred choice for servers, e… もっと読む »

  • A New Industrial Revolution: IIoT and SD Memory Cards

    We’re on the brink of a revolution – a new industrial revolution. Across the world, businesses are digitally transforming the way they operate, and the backbone of this transformation is the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). IIoT comprises internet-connected, software-managed machinery and devices and the advanced analytics platforms that proce… もっと読む »

  • Living on the Edge: A Data Storage Revolution

    The future is here, and it requires removable storage – lots of it. Trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial IoT (IIoT), connected cars and automation are creating overwhelming volumes of data that need to be collected, stored and analyzed. Fast transmission, access and retrieval of the torrents of data from the cloud are straining n… もっと読む »

  • Growing Demand, Growing Capacity: An introduction to the new SD Ultra Capacity function

    In June 2018, the SD Association (SDA) released SD 7.0, introducing two major new functions: SD Express and SD Ultra Capacity (SDUC), which boosts the limits of traditional SD memory cards’ capacity to meet the needs of users everywhere, both consumer and industrial, by extending the potential maximum SD memory card capacity up to 128TB. Bigger isn… もっと読む »

  • Change for the Better: Introducing SD Express

    It’s not uncommon for consumer and business behaviors to influence major changes in an industry. Consider the constant demand for more storage. Billions of connected devices are expected to generate 155 yottabytes of data by 2021. Only 0.0013 percent (about two zettabytes) of that is expected to be captured, and only 4.2 percent is going to be tran… もっと読む »

  • Controllers: The Unsung Heroes in Achieving A2

    The brain is arguably the most important organ in the human body, managing and directing the function of all other systems, and turning the body’s collection of cells into a symphony of living matter. While our neocortex and limbic brain get all the glory – controlling the elements that make us human, such as logic and creativity, emotion and memor… もっと読む »

  • Now Trending: SD Memory Cards

    When historians of the future look back on the top tech trends of 2017, certain technologies will likely stand out: blockchain, facial recognition, Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles and machine learning. However, those historians would be remiss to forget the ever-reliable microSD memory card. Specified and standardized by the SD Associ… もっと読む »

  • SSDs, USB Drives, SD Memory Cards: Know the Difference

    Gone are the days when consumers and businesses had to use unwieldy floppy disks, cassette tapes and CDs for music, videos and files. Portable storage options are more efficient these days, giving users the flexibility to choose between such options as USB flash drives, SD memory cards and microSD cards, and solid-state drives (SSDs) for their data… もっと読む »

  • Delivering Advanced Mobile Application Performance with A1

    We live in a new, mobile-centric world where more people every day use smartphones and tablets to manage their lives. The content being captured with today’s mobile devices is significantly more advanced and sophisticated than previous digital data, generating much larger file sizes, and thus requiring devices with higher performance and larger sto… もっと読む »

  • What to Know Before Storing Data on a SD Memory Card

    User experience, and the constant need for more efficient and cost-effective products, continue to drive innovation of new technology and the evolution of SD standards. For that reason, the SD Association is committed to defining and adopting new standards through its Technical, Compliance and Marketing Committees, representing the interest of more… もっと読む »

  • The State of the microSD Memory Card in 2017

    As long as data caps, wireless network gaps and security concerns continue to exist, there will always be challenges retrieving content over open networks. The ability to store content locally and access it via smartphone will be necessary as long as the creation and consumption of data continues to grow at its rapid pace – and microSD memory cards… もっと読む »

  • Applications in Action: Introducing the Newest Application Performance Class

    Market needs are always evolving, and for the optimal user experience, manufacturers and consumers alike must stay in touch with updates to SD memory card standards. Most of today’s Android and Windows smartphones and mobile computing devices allow application data to be saved on removable cards. Additionally, when Google released Android Marshmall… もっと読む »

  • Understanding the Difference Between Consumer and Industrial SD Memory Cards

    SD memory cards as a technology have a proven track record as the most successful removable storage form factor of all time. They are a simple, trusted and low-cost solution. They are also supported by a very large percentage of the consumer electronics industry, and SD slots can be found on many everyday devices, including smartphones, tablets, DV… もっと読む »

  • Think Big: The Rise of 4K and 8K Content

    There’s been a lot of buzz lately in the consumer electronics market around one particular letter of the alphabet: K – as in 4K and 8K. 4K refers to a display device or content that has a horizontal resolution of roughly 4,000 pixels and vertical resolution of 2,000 pixels, whereas 8K is about 8,000 pixels horizontally and more than 4,000 pixels ve… もっと読む »

  • The Card Versus The Cloud

    Card or cloud? That is the question that consumers and businesses will be asking themselves more and more frequently when they think about storing and sharing video, photos and other files – whether to upload the files to the cloud or save them on a local storage device like a microSD™ memory card, SD™ card, high-capacity USB drive or even a solid-… もっと読む »

  • Removable Storage Flies High in Aerial Imaging

    Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are one of the most popular and quickly growing segments of the camera market, providing new possibilities for professionals and enthusiasts alike. Along with the explosive growth of this market comes an ever-growing demand for high-performance, high-capacity removable microSD storage to meet i… もっと読む »

  • The State of the microSD Memory Card in 2016

    When one thinks back to 2005, the year of the microSD memory card’s debut, it feels like far more than 11 years has gone by. YouTube was just a tiny startup company, and scientists were years away from cloning human stem cells. The iPhone was merely a twinkle in Apple’s eye, and the world’s population was a modest 6.5 billion people – modest compar… もっと読む »

  • Why Older SD Memory Cards Are Still Relevant

    The SD memory card was born in the year 2000, when Bill Clinton was completing his second term as president of the United States. Sixteen years in human time may sound short, but in electronic technology time, it is an eternity. Today, more than a billion SD memory cards are being manufactured and sold around the world every year; they have truly b… もっと読む »

  • 知識を広げる：最適なSDカードスピードクラスの選択

    「知は力なり」と言われます。靴を買うときは自分の足のサイズを知っておく必要があり、新しい家具を組み立てるときは説明書を読む必要があるでしょう。また、誰かにお子さんの面倒をみてもらうときは、必ず信頼できる気配りの行き届いた成人を選ばなければなりません。 それと同じように、SDメモリーカードを購入するときにも、各スピードクラスがどのような意味を持ち、それぞれのクラスに最適な用途は何かを知っておく必要があります。カードを最大限に活用するためにも、目的の用途やデバイスに適したSDメモリーカードを選ぶことは非常に重要です。せっかく購入したカードの性能を引き出せなかった、あるいは目的に見合う動作をしてくれなかったということのないようにしましょう。これは、SDアソシエーションが新たにビデオスピードクラスを… もっと読む »

  • 3D NANDによるギガバイト規模のスケーリングの継続と、アプリケーション改善の仕組み

    2D NANDにおける微細化が限界に達しつつあることから、NAND業界は数年前より3Dに取り組んできました。この取り組みによって所定のシリコン面積当たりのビット密度とギガバイト容量が増加したことで、フラッシュメモリー産業はムーアの法則を維持できると期待されています（図1参照）。3D NANDは高密度なだけでなく、2Dよりも優れたパフォーマンス、信頼性、省電力をもたらすことが期待されます。さらにこれらの機能の向上によって、3D NANDは既存アプリケーションを改善し、新たなアプリケーションを可能にします。この記事では2D NANDと3D NANDの相違を検証し、3Dが適切とされるさまざまな事例やアプリケーションについて説明します。（重要なことですが、2D NANDも独自の属性を持つ成熟したテク… もっと読む »

  • 新たな市場開拓へ：SDメモリカードの新しいアプリケーション

    機器製品において最も有効な部品が概して、決してユーザーの目に触れない製品であることがあります。そのような製品を使用せずに装置を組み立てると適切に動作しない場合があり、SDメモリカードもそのような製品であると言えます。SDメモリカードはフォームファクタが小さい拡張可能なメモリ技術製品として支持を集めており、現在では多くの産業向けのアプリケーションに使用されています。 SDアソシエーションは、拡張可能なSDメモリカードの規格を制定することでこの技術の進歩に貢献し、互換性を持つメモリカードやデバイスを製造するメーカーは、この規格に準拠しています。スマートフォン、自動車、コンピュータ、カメラ、テレビ、小型ナビゲーション機器など、さまざまな製品カテゴリーのメーカーがSD規格を採用しています。SDアソシ… もっと読む »

  • 小型で強力なmicroSD™メモリカード登場から10周年を記念

    microSDメモリカードは著しい進歩を遂げてきました。最初のmicroSDメモリカードは10年前に携帯電話のメモリを増設する新しい方法として市場に登場しました。現在では、市場における約75％のスマートフォンのモデルがmicroSDメモリカードスロットを搭載していると、ストラテジー・アナリティクスが報告しています。また同社は、microSDメモリカードが発表されてからの累積販売量は数十億枚を数えていること及び、今年の年間販売量は10億枚を超えるだろうと推計しています。 最近発表されたmicroSDメモリカードのストレージ容量は200ギガバイト と、最初のバージョンと比較すると約6,000倍になり、大幅に増加しています。さらに現在のmicroSDメモリカードのデータレートでは、デバイス間で直接… もっと読む »

  • SDメモリカードが信頼ある車載アプリケーション用ストレージとして快走しているその理由

    現在世界中で、各種センサーや演算処理能力機能を搭載したり、インターネットに接続してクラウドを利用したりする、スマートカ―と呼ばれる自動車が主流になりつつあります。こうした技術により可能になったアプリケーションはたくさんありますが、中でもあるアプリケーションが人気となっています。それは運転記録を残せる車載カメラ、ドライブレコーダーです。これは主に事故発生時に保険会社への証拠提出のために使用されています。 このように事故の証拠映像保存目的でドライブレコーダーを稼動させているときに事故がおき、しかし録画を再生してみたらデータが破損していて、使用不可能だったケースを想像してみてください。残念ながら、これは日常的に車両が受ける厳しい温度、衝撃、振動により実際起こり得る事象なのです。車載という厳しい環境… もっと読む »

  • モバイルデバイスの販売促進に貢献するmicroSDメモリーカード

    2005年に登場したmicroSDメモリーカードは、モバイルデバイスメーカーの製造コストを削減し、幅広い価格帯で最新型の携帯電話を提供することで売上増加に寄与し、販売戦略を支援してまいりました。microSDメモリーカードはSDアソシエーション（SDA）の仕様、規格に基づくことで、ユーザーは、使いやすさをそのままに、機能と容量を拡張し続けることで、ホスト機器の新しい革新的な設計を促進しています。 また、この求めやすい製品価格と機能拡張の両立という、技術的に難しい課題を成し遂げたこの小さなメモリーカードは、ユーザーと様々な業種のメーカーに大きな価値を提供しています。 ユーザーニーズへの対応 microSDメモリーカードでは現在1GBから200GBまでの容量タイプがあり、ユーザーは必要に応じたス… もっと読む »

  • 産業用モノのインターネット（IoT）向け超小型ストレージ

    モノのインターネット(IoT)が世界を席巻しています。マッキンゼー・グローバル・インスティテュートの報告書 では、IoTのグローバル経済に与える影響は2025年までに6兆2,000億ドルに達すると推測されています。同レポートはまた、接続デバイス市場規模が2020年までに200億個または300億個までに増加するとも予測しています。 IoTデバイスの使用は過去数年で急激に増加し、今では日常生活の一部となっています。IoTシステムは、ユーザー、マシン・ツー・マシン、産業用マシン・ツー・マシンといった3つのカテゴリーに大別できます。産業用としては、医療センター、セキュリティおよび監視用途、鉄道、航空、環境管理、防災および小売りなどでよく利用されています。 産業用IoTアプリケーションが、こういったさ… もっと読む »

  • CP(コンピュテーショナル・フォトグラフィー)がストレージの役割を進化させる

    CP(コンピュテーショナル・フォトグラフィー)は、スマートフォンやPCメーカー、そして当然SDメモリーカードメーカーを含む、写真に携わるほぼすべての種類の企業に、何らかの影響を与える可能性があります。またCPはソフトウェアベースであるため、大容量ファイルのストレージのみならず、ソフトウェアを実行する処理能力にも影響します。 顧客が一般ユーザーかプロの写真家かという事は、関係はありません。CPは市場のあらゆるセグメントに根本的な変更を促し、そして近い将来、写真を撮影するすべての人に影響を与えるでしょう。 写真の未来に対応するため、CPについて知っておくべきことを以下にご紹介いたします。 CPの可能性 写真の分野において、CPはデジタル写真以来の最も劇的な変化となります。CPでは従来のデジタル写… もっと読む »