SD Association Introduces New App Performance Class With SD Specification 5.1

SD cards have evolved considerably with the evolving needs of the customers in last few years. However, it does become difficult sometimes for customers to find out whether a memory card meets their needs in terms of performance requirements. In order to make this particular aspect of SD cards less painful for its customers, SD Association has announced a new performance class that indicates a set of minimum specifications that an SD card possesses.

The association's SD Specification 5.1 establishes the new "Application Performance Class" that ensures that the card meets technical requirements to run and store applications on SD cards while still providing storage for pictures, videos, music etc. In order to make the cards that meet Application Performance Class more identifiable, the association has come up with a new symbol that will depict their compliance.

The memory cards that will display A1 symbol for App Performance Class 1 will meet or exceed performance requirements including Random Read Input-Output access Per Second (IOPS) 1500, Write IOPS of 500, and Sustained Sequential performance of 10MB per second. As of now there are two versions of App Performance symbol and SDA will introduce higher App Performance levels as market need evolve as per its press release.

"With its consumer-friendly symbol, App Performance Class eliminates buyers' frustration with identifying app-running compatibility on their Android devices and microSD memory cards," SDA President Brian Kumagai was quoted as saying in company's release.

"Matching the App Performance Class symbol with your mobile device requirements simplifies the process and continues the SD tradition of matching your memory card to your device," Kumagai said.