Nokia adds SD card technology to its devices

To complement flash memory card support in its mobile phone lines, Nokia has applied for membership in the SD Card Association and has signed a licensing agreement for enabling the use of SD memory cards in its devices. Nokia will also continue to support MultiMediaCards (MMC) that are currently widely used in Nokia's mobile devices.

The SD memory cards will be a valuable add-on to Nokia's offering in removable memory cards as they have gained good acceptance in the market of mobile phones, digital still cameras, camcorders, PDAs, printers, PCs, TV sets and other home electronics.

To expand the capabilities of SD memory cards in mobile devices, the SD Card Association has recently formed a Mobile Phone Task Force. By joining the Association Nokia will be able to contribute to the future SD flash card standardization work. "With mobile devices driving the ongoing digital convergence, the demand for memory capacity multiplies to enable extensive storage of digital content in mobile devices. Therefore, we aim to ensure that the needs of the mobile device industry will be met in the development of future SD card standards," noted Timo Poikolainen.

The SD memory card is a removable data storage device about the size of a postage stamp. The SD Card Association is an open industry standards organization established in 2000 by Matsushita Electric, SanDisk and Toshiba, and is supported by a consortium of over 700 companies. The Association aims to set the technical and specification standards for SD memory card applications and related products and promote the wide acceptance of SD memory cards in a variety of applications.