lockwoodx
11-14-2010, 03:18 PM
http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/8716/windows7phoneseriesscre.jpg
article (http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/12/atandt-tells-samsung-focus-customers-not-to-buy-microsd-cards-yet/)
Update: The Focus is in the microSD hurt locker on at least two fronts here. First, the platform is definitely finicky in terms of card specification -- Microsoft's support docs explicitly say the requirements are more stringent than just the SD class:
"Determining whether an SD card is Windows Phone 7 compliant is not a simple matter of judging its speed class. Several other factors, such as the number of random read/write operations per second, play a role in determining how well an SD card performs with Windows Phone 7 devices."
But what appears to have fried our card is the fact that any card inserted into a Windows Phone 7 device "will no longer be readable or writable on any other devices such as computers, cameras, printers, and so on" according to documentation on Samsung's site -- including, amazingly, the ability to format the card. That's hardcore, and it also explains why these guys are so skittish about external storage in general and why so few WP7 devices support it at this point.
Update 2: We've just been slid some more details on the specs Microsoft is looking for to certify cards -- turns out it has a lot to do with random access speed, not total throughput, as the company's support docs imply. It's the latter value that's identified by a card's class (the big number that's often stamped on the card), so that's why Microsoft can't just say "any card Class 6 or higher is fine" or something to that effect. What's upsetting is that we're hearing the cards that work best can't be bought by consumers -- they're only sold in bulk, which probably explains why the cards installed in the Focus are fine and nothing else is (at least, according to AT&T) at the moment.
Omnomnomnom
article (http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/12/atandt-tells-samsung-focus-customers-not-to-buy-microsd-cards-yet/)
Update: The Focus is in the microSD hurt locker on at least two fronts here. First, the platform is definitely finicky in terms of card specification -- Microsoft's support docs explicitly say the requirements are more stringent than just the SD class:
"Determining whether an SD card is Windows Phone 7 compliant is not a simple matter of judging its speed class. Several other factors, such as the number of random read/write operations per second, play a role in determining how well an SD card performs with Windows Phone 7 devices."
But what appears to have fried our card is the fact that any card inserted into a Windows Phone 7 device "will no longer be readable or writable on any other devices such as computers, cameras, printers, and so on" according to documentation on Samsung's site -- including, amazingly, the ability to format the card. That's hardcore, and it also explains why these guys are so skittish about external storage in general and why so few WP7 devices support it at this point.
Update 2: We've just been slid some more details on the specs Microsoft is looking for to certify cards -- turns out it has a lot to do with random access speed, not total throughput, as the company's support docs imply. It's the latter value that's identified by a card's class (the big number that's often stamped on the card), so that's why Microsoft can't just say "any card Class 6 or higher is fine" or something to that effect. What's upsetting is that we're hearing the cards that work best can't be bought by consumers -- they're only sold in bulk, which probably explains why the cards installed in the Focus are fine and nothing else is (at least, according to AT&T) at the moment.
Omnomnomnom