Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has started sampling its 256-gigabyte (GB) SD Express microSD card with sequential read speed of up to 800 megabytes per second (MB/s) and has commenced mass production of its 1-terabyte (TB) UHS-1 microSD card. With the introduction of its next-generation microSD card line-up, Samsung aims to provide differentiated memory solutions required for tomorrow's mobile computing and on-device AI applications.

"With our two new microSD cards, Samsung has provided effective solutions to address the growing demands of mobile computing and on-device AI," said Hangu Sohn, Vice President of the Memory Brand Product Biz Team at Samsung Electronics. "Despite their tiny size, these memory cards deliver powerful SSD-like performance and capacity to help users get more out of demanding modern and future applications."

SD Association (SDA) today announced the latest evolution of SD Express memory cards doubling microSD Express memory card speed up to 2 GB/s, plus four new SD Express Speed Classes to ensure guaranteed minimum sequential performance levels in the new SD 9.1 specification including support of Multi-stream access and related Power and Thermal Management assuring the guaranteed performance. SD 9.1 helps consumers identify the right card for their device while giving manufacturers new tools to assure minimum level of performance of SD Express memory cards and have means to guide consumers what type of cards will assure specific application operations.

The latest generation of microSD Express uses the PCIe interface delivering a 1,969 megabytes per second (MB/s), nearly 2 gigabytes per second (GB/s) speeds by using the PCIe Gen 4 x1 lane as defined in the latest update to the microSD Addendum version 8 specification. microSD Express was introduced with 985 MB/s speed maximum data transfer rate and the NVMe upper layer protocol in the SD 7.1 specification. The increase in speed gives product designers more storage options and SSD level performance for a variety of size constrained devices requiring easily repairable or upgradeable storage.

ASUS today announced Vivobook Pro 15 OLED (K6502) and Vivobook Pro 16 OLED (K6602), a pair of 15.6-inch and 16-inch laptops designed to make creativity easy and fun for anyone. Harnessing the performance of the latest 12th Generation Intel Core H-Series processors, with an efficient triple-vented cooling system and up to a studio-grade NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, these powerful laptops can handle any content creation, gaming or entertainment tasks with ease.

Vivobook Pro 15 OLED and Pro 16 OLED are equipped with color-accurate PANTONE Validated OLED displays—with up to a world-leading 3.2K 120 Hz 600-nit OLED version on Vivobook Pro 16 OLED—that deliver a superb high-quality visual experience with a cinema-grade 100% DCI-P3 color gamut. The new MUX switch allows users to enjoy maximum low-latency graphics performance when gaming, and entertainment is enhanced by immersive, multi-dimensional Dolby Atmos audio via the Harman Kardon-certified speaker system.

SD Association (SDA) today announced three advanced security features in the new SD 9 specification: Boot support, Trusted Computing Group (TCG) Storage and Replay Protected Memory Block (RPMB) authenticated memory. SD 9 gives device manufacturers the ability to use an SD memory card for all memory and storage needs, simplifying future device upgrades or repairs and enhancing security capabilities for applications when the cards are tightly bound to specific hosts. SD 9 defines Fast Boot and Secure Boot capabilities giving cards the ability to serve as a device's boot code memory while offering a simple fast boot code uploading process along with secured methods of providing future boot code updates. SD 9 adds TCG secured storage by adding self-encrypted drive functionality. The specification defines RPMB as a secured hidden memory accessible only through a secured authentication process, while also providing a secured boot code update process, plus write-protect and replay protection security mechanisms.

Devices ideally suited for the new capabilities defined by SD 9 include Chromebook computers, tablets, drones, surveillance cameras, dash cameras, gaming consoles, virtual reality (VR) headsets/glasses, small IoT modules and wearable medical devices, to name a few. SD 9 also helps product manufacturers meet new right to repair regulations and simplifies upgrade and repair processes for devices installed in locations without internet connectivity. "SD memory cards are a compelling choice for both storage and memory because they will boot devices, are capable of delivering SSD performance levels and simplify device repairs or upgrades," said Hiroyuki Sakamoto, SDA president. "The SD 9 specification gives product manufacturers a compelling array of choices when defining memory and storage needs of devices." The optional features defined in SD 9 are available to both microSD and full-sized SD memory card form factors. The features are applicable across all capacity types, from SD to the forthcoming SDUC memory cards. Importantly, these features will be supported by SD Express, capable of delivering SSD performance levels up to 4 GB/sec. The SDA has prepared a whitepaper providing more details about the compelling new features defined by SD 9 for SD memory cards.

ADATA Technology, a manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, mobile accessories, gaming products, electric power trains, and industrial solutions today announced that its Premier Extreme SDXC SD7.0 Express Card, equipped with an SMI SM2708AB controller, is the world's first branded SD Express Card to pass SD Association's SD Express Verification Program (SVP). This verification status affirms that the SD Express Card meets SDA's rigorous interface standards for performance and reliability. The Premier Extreme SDXC Express Card will allow users to take full advantage of the latest SD Express-enabled laptops from all the major PC brands.

"Due to their compact form factors, SD cards have been and continue to be a mainstay of creators, creative professionals, and general users despite their lesser capabilities when compared to other storage devices," said Ibsen Chen, Director of Product Marketing at ADATA. "However, with the SVP verified ADATA Premier Extreme SDXC SD7.0 Express Card, we are giving users an SD Card that meets the standards of a modern world where high-quality content and fast data transfer rates are the norms."

Phison Electronics Corp., a global leader in NAND flash controller integrated circuits and storage solutions, today announced that its SD Express storage solution is the first product to pass the SD Association's SD Express/UHS-II Verification Program (SVP). This verification indicates that these products meet interface standards, providing confidence to both consumers and businesses that it will operate and perform properly.

According to the SD Association, "PCIe and UHS-II are both high differential interfaces and meeting their specifications demanding requirements is extremely important to assure proper operation and interoperability." The Association officially launched the SVP program at the end of 2021, becoming the notary unit that leads the compatibility verification between the host system and the SD memory card manufacturer to positively assist in the development of the product ecosystem. As the world's leading supplier of SD card controllers and solutions, Phison Electronics has pledged to support the SD Association's SVP program and to work with Phison's global brand customers in launching the latest SD Express storage solutions that meet the SVP verification requirements.

ADATA Technology, a manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, mobile accessories, gaming products, electric power trains, and industrial solutions today announces the new ADATA Premier Extreme SDXC SD Express Card. Thanks to the latest SD 7.0 specification, which supports PCIe and NVMe, the Premier Extreme SDXC SD 7.0 Express Card delivers performance on par with SSDs, but in the ultra-portable form factor of an SD Card.

With support for PCIe Gen 3 x1 and NVMe, the Premier Extreme SDXC SD Express Card delivers read and write performance of up to 800/700 MB/s, which is roughly 1.5 times faster than SATA SSDs. When compared to UHS-II SD and UHS-I SD cards, it's about 2.7 and 8 times faster, respectively. This memory card is backward compatible with the UHS-I devices with read and write speed of up to 100 MB/s and conforms to the V30 Video Speed Class.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, today announced that its flagship SM2708 SD Express controller solution now supports the latest SD 8.0 specification and backward compatibility to SD 7.1 specification. With PCIe Gen 3 x2 interface and NVMe 1.3, the SM2708 SD Express controller solution is targeted at the advancement of applications with demanding performance levels across a variety of industries enabled by Ultra-High Performance SD Express cards. The SM2708 turnkey solution supports the latest 3D NAND and features Silicon Motion's proprietary NANDXtend ECC technology, internal data path protection, and programmable firmware to maximize reliability and endurance.

"Many of the latest high-end cameras & mobile phones are capable of recording video in 8K and require a faster transfer rate," said Nelson Duann, Silicon Motion's Senior Vice President of Marketing and R&D. "With the SM2708 controller now supporting the SD 8.0 specification which nearly triples throughput, applications such as 8K video capture, RAW photography, multi-channel IOT devices, multi-processing automotive storage and other applications requiring ultra-high data speeds are possible."

ADATA Technology, a manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, mobile accessories, gaming products, electric power trains, and industrial solutions, plans to release next-generation SD Express cards by Q2 of 2021.

With the rise of social media influencers, user-generated content, and the deployment of 5G networks worldwide, content creators and others seek high-capacity, high-performance, and portable memory products to meet their needs. To this end, the SD Association (SDA) released SD7.0, which introduced two major new functions, which include the incorporation of the PCIe and NVMe interfaces into SD memory cards for a significant upgrade in read/write speeds. These new SD cards will be known as SD Express cards. ADATA will be launching a new SD Express memory card by Q2 of 2021.

The SD Association announced today the SD 8.0 Specification for SD Express memory cards receives even faster transfer speeds by using the popular PCI Express (PCIe ) 4.0 specification delivering a maximum of nearly 4 gigabytes per second (GB/s) data transfer rate. These full sized cards continue to use the NVMe Express (NVMe ) upper layer protocol enabling advanced memory access mechanism. As always SD Express memory cards using SD 8.0 specification maintain backward compatibility.

"SD Express' use of even faster PCIe and NVMe architectures to deliver faster transfer speeds creates more opportunities for devices to use SD memory cards," said Mats Larsson, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource. "This combination of trusted and well-known technologies makes it easier for future product designs to leverage the benefits of removable storage in new ways."

The SD Association announced today microSD Express, offering the popular PCI Express and NVMe interfaces alongside the legacy microSD interface for backwards compatibility. Like SD Express, microSD Express uses the PCIe interface delivering a 985 megabytes per second (MB/s) maximum data transfer rate and the NVMe upper layer protocol enables advanced memory access mechanism, enabling a new world of opportunities for mobile devices.

microSD Express cards defined in the SD 7.1 specification will be offered in a variety of capacities such as microSDHC Express, microSDXC Express and microSDUC Express. "microSD Express gives the mobile industry a compelling new choice to equip mobile devices with removable SSDs," said Hiroyuki Sakamoto, SDA president. "SD 7.1 prepares consumers and mobile device manufacturers to meet ever increasing storage demands for years to come."

The SD Association announced today SD Express which adds the popular PCI Express and NVMe interfaces to the legacy SD interface. The PCIe interface delivering a 985 megabytes per second (MB/s) maximum data transfer rate and the NVMe upper layer protocol enables advanced memory access mechanism, enabling a new world of opportunities for the popular SD memory card. In addition, the maximum storage capacity in SD memory cards grows from 2 TB with SDXC to 128 TB with the new SD Ultra Capacity (SDUC) card. These innovations maintain the SDA's commitment to backward compatibility and are part of the new SD 7.0 specification.

"SD Express' use of popular PCIe and NVMe interfaces to deliver faster transfer speeds is a savvy choice since both protocols are widely used in the industry today and creates a compelling choice for devices of all types," said Mats Larsson, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource. "The SD Association has a robust ecosystem with a strong history of integrating SD innovations and has earned the trust of consumers around the world."