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Samsung Unveils World's First UFS Storage Cards, Could Replace MicroSD (pcworld.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Samsung has unveiled the world's first UFS card that could one day replace microSD cards in devices. The UFS card is based on the Universal Flash Storage 1.0 Card Extension standard and will be available in capacities from 32GB to 256GB. With a UFS card, users will be able to read 5GB of data, or a full resolution movie file, in 10 seconds, Samsung claims. For comparison, a UHS-1 microSD card would take 50 seconds to do the same. UFS cards will be able to fit into a wide range of devices like smartphones, tablets, cameras, and drones, but the devices will need a specific UFS card slot, which could take some time. Samsung claims the 256GB UFS card has a sequential read speed of 530MBps. The random read speed is 20 times faster than a microSD card. The sequential write speed is about 170MBps, which Samsung estimates is two times faster than microSD cards. The random write speed is 350 times faster than microSD, Samsung claims. The Universal Flash Storage 1.0 Card Extension standard is intended to replace the eMMC standard, which is used in low-cost laptops and Chromebooks. Samsung didn't disclose pricing or availability for the UFS storage cards. It's worth noting that Toshiba does also make UFS storage cards, but they have yet to release any based on the UFS 1.0 Card Extension standard.
What possible incentive is there for them to make it backwards compatible. They want to sell and obsolete as many devices as fast possible, one way to do that is with constantly changing and evolving the standards ensuring enough improvements to make a replacement desirable. Future proofing means lost sales. I don't agree with this strategy but it makes good business sense. Hell they don't even provide OS upgrades for most smartphones.
Given removable storage and finite data volumes on mobile plans, cloud storage is a niche requirement.
"I odn't always do that, but compared to (say) USB storage which I use a lot between devices, SD cards mostly stay put. So, obsolecence of the format won't really change much in practice."
"In practice" for you because you don't use devices where removable storage is valuable. No photographer works that way. Where do you think such exceptional speeds might be useful?
SD cards do not mostly "stay put" except to people who don't understand their intended usage.
Except for those vendors who try to release a more geeky friendly device. With removable parts rarely seem to make any sucess. Unlike the Desktop PC of old were you paid an average of $2,000 for a system, that you will want to upgrade over time. We are now spending $300 - $600 for a cheaper device that we normally keep for just as long.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
It seems that UFS at least gets rid of that useless DRM in SD cards.
SD means "secure digital" with "secure" meaning DRM. And not only it is an unwanted feature for most users but it also wastes a significant amount of space (10% according to Wikipedia).