The new wave of 4K-capable and otherwise high-resolution cameras, action cams, and smartphones is likely to drive owners to seek high capacity, high performance microSD cards, and both Lexar and Kingston showed new technology at CES 2015 which responds to this (hoped for) new demand.
Lexar showed a range of Professional UHS-II (U3) microSD cards, with a stated read speed of up to 150MB/s (ie, really fast). The launch range comprises a 32GB, 64GB and 128GB model.
Kingston’s new UHS-I (U3) cards have published read and write speeds of up to 90MB/s and 80MB/s respectively, suitable to high-resolution continuous shooting as well as Full HD, 3D and UHD video capture. These will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, are are listed as being shockproof, waterproof, X-ray-proof and resistant to extreme temperature. (But are they washing-machine proof?)
External SSD emerging
On another front, Samsung introduced a new external solid state drive (SSD), the T1 Portable, a sleek-looking unit with Micro USB 3.0 connectivity and up to 1TB storage. T
This is an external version of the solid state technology used in the Samsung SSD 850 Evo notebok computer. (External) SSD has been a long time coming and will, given the price is competitive, be a potentially more reliable (no moving parts) alternative to hard disk drives spinning around at thousands of RPMs. The T1 Portable is shock-resistant and can withstand extreme temperature conditions encountered in harsh environments.
It features 256-bit AES encryption so that the entire drive can be password protected. Measuring only 71 x 9.2 x 53.2mm – way smaller than a portable HDD – this drive will fit easily into most small accessory pockets, and weighs only 30g. Available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB sizes, the T1 portable SSD will be available soon. US pricing is US$180, US$300 and US$600. (This seems a little on the high side, give internal SSDs are much less expensive.)
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