The stuff of Science Fiction

[slitchfield]

OK, this has started to get silly. Despite a degree in physics, I can't get my head around how this is possible. Samsung have now announced an 8GB microSD card. Given the minute size of microSD, the technology has started to get seriously jaw-dropping. Not that we couldn't all think of ways to use 8GB, of course. Comments and suggestions welcome!

Read on in the full article.

[luarvique]

Just what exactly is so unusual here? As small as MicroSD is, there is more than enough space there to put a couple of packageless chips. It is obviously nice to see Samsung increasing flash density, but nothing revolutionary there.

[natanlevine]

Well even though this was inevitable it still blows me away too. I remember being shocked at hearing of the first 1gb mmc card. This is obviously another nail in the coffin of the mp3 player. The question is though, when will we see phones that can actually use these super memory cards? If i understand correctly nokia is still stuck on the 2gb limit. Also does this mean a 16gb card is around the corner? Cause i don't think i'm ready to grasp that yet.

heh, in 98 I was stunned by 4mb flash card for nokia 9110... after that new memory size cannot even surprize me

[xerxes]

According to MobyMemory the N95 and E90 can use SDHC cards, at least up to 4GB.

http://www.mobymemory.com/proddetail...d=SDSDQ%2D4096

I don't know if they have tested it, but they are usually a pretty reliable company.

I too am slightly confused by the 2GB limit. MMC cards are effectively hard disks and they are usually FAT formatted. I'm not sure what the FAT limits are but I thought they were much bigger than 2GB. Of course one day we will hit the limit and need to format our cards with FAT32!

[ajck]

I've said this before, but I think it's just plain bonkers, and a real shame that the N95 can't access more than 2GB (or can anyone verify the above comments?). Don't try and tell me Nokia of all people didn't know full well 4 and 8 GB cards were just around the corner. A 2GB limit in these circumstances is lame, and for my money far worse than a low RAM limit, or limited battery life.

Yes, the N95 is indeed the first Nokia Phone to support the new SDHC standard. Here's a shot of a N95 with a Sandisk 4GB microSDHC inserted:
h**p://img339.imageshack.us/img339/3113/n95ys0.jpg

[krisse]

The irony is that as more services become web-based, we may actually need less and less storage space on-board the phone.

Phone games could easily become web-based thanks to flash, as could applications thanks to various java implementations, which leaves media like music and video. But if you had a fast and reliable enough connection, these too could be stored entirely in an online account, just like webmail services store all your email.

The advantage of not storing on board is you're not tied to one phone or PC, you could get all your apps and data on any browser-equipped device.

I thought that max capacity limit of SD is 2GB only (mini or micro SD also).. For capacity > 2GB only SDHCs can be used...

But SAMSUNG introduced 8GB microSD card (and not 8GB microSD-HC card).. I have seen the pictures on their web-site that it is microSD and not microSDHC... So NOKIA E61i, E65, 5700, 6120, N76, 6300 users can use these 8BG cards, even though their handset doesnt supports SDHC cards...

The capacity of the SD protocol is 4GB, because it uses a 32-bit byte address to access the data. If it is 8GB, it is SDHC.

And I would assume the reason that Nokia didn't advertise the N95 as capable of supporting more than 2GB is because there were no 4GB or larger cards for them to actually test with. You can't expect them to advertise 16GB compatibility without having tested it. They would have to have really dumb lawyers to do that.

[celios]

SanDisk also seem to think the N95 can at least use the 4Gb cards:

http://www.sandisk.com/Compatibility...Nokia-N95.aspx

[celios]

Originally Posted by krisse

The irony is that as more services become web-based, we may actually need less and less storage space on-board the phone.

Phone games could easily become web-based thanks to flash, as could applications thanks to various java implementations, which leaves media like music and video. But if you had a fast and reliable enough connection, these too could be stored entirely in an online account, just like webmail services store all your email.

The advantage of not storing on board is you're not tied to one phone or PC, you could get all your apps and data on any browser-equipped device.

With current data prices, it will be a long time before we can afford to store 8Gb of music, photos, videos and maps online!