Memory Cards

The memory card and its uses

A common element in most portable gadgets today, even devices with built-in memory have slots to extend the space available by inserting a memory card. Smartphones, digital cameras, PDAs, laptops, tablets, Mp3 players, synthesizers, video game consoles and other devices also use these little slivers to add on more space. Frequently called SD cards as well they are available in various sizes in reference to the storage space they add on.

There is an even smaller version of these memory cards called microSD which is used in most smartphones as they are always trying to make hardware space usage more efficient with portable and handheld devices. Some of these microSD cards also come with an adapter sheath that allows you to use them in regular SD card slots. So you could take it out of your phone put it into the adapter sheath and insert it into your laptop to access the information. An SD card can also be used to launch a bootable program or project. One could also be used to keep sensitive data as the only copy; in a safe place.

Storage space & how they work

Over time the available storage space and writing speeds of these cards has increased exponentially, with newer prototype versions that have 2TB of space available in something that small! This was worked on due to new hi-res formats like 4K video that requires a lot more space compared to what we were used to, not yet in mass production but these memory cards will only get bigger and faster in the near future. 

Based on the Solid State technology that has no moving parts and uses electronic-circuits to store and retrieve information, making it more durable and quick to perform its tasks. This is especially important to run devices like digital cameras at their best speed, when one is shooting pictures in succession the camera doesn't jam up while writing the information to the memory card so a higher writing speed works better for such devices.

Well known manufacturers

Although numerous brands produce memory cards the better knows ones include SanDisk, Kingston, Samsung, ADATA, Transcend, Lexar and Toshiba. The prices vary based on what amount of storage space you purchase and also what the transfer speeds of the card are.