World’s Largest SD Card Doubles Capacity to 4TB - 1

World’s Largest SD Card Doubles Capacity to 4TB

  • Written by Deep Shikha Content Writer
  • Fact-Checked by

Western Digital (WD) unveiled its latest innovation at the NAB Show last week in Las Vegas — the SanDisk Extreme PRO SDUC UHS-I, a 4TB SD card set to revolutionize storage solutions.

In an announcement , WD said it will release new SD cards under its SanDisk brand, adhering to the SD Association’s Secure Digital Ultra Capacity (SDUC) standard.

Set to launch in 2025, the card is built for demanding media tasks, such as high-resolution and fast-frame-rate video, used in cameras and laptops.

For professionals, this means the ability to store and manage larger datasets on a single card — crucial for tasks like recording and editing 8K video or handling extensive raw photo libraries without frequent swaps or data transfers.

Along with the 4TB card, WD also introduced the 2TB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I and Extreme Pro microSDXC UHS-I memory cards to accommodate the increasing need for producing and storing more detailed content.

The attendees of the event got a full preview of these powerful cards from WD.

AnandTech reports that the card features an Ultra High Speed-I (UHS-I) interface, which can transfer data up to 104MB/s in UHS104 mode. It also offers a minimum sequential write speed of 30MB/s, sufficient for recording 8K video.

ArsTechnica suggested that while the 4TB SD card can accommodate storage-intensive video formats like 8K, it will not be fast enough to support raw, uncompressed 8K video recording with its current specifications.

Other media card formats for creative professionals include XQD, which has a maximum capacity of 2TB, and CFexpress, valued for its high speed. The newest version, CFexpress 4.0, announced last year, supports faster data speeds but still caps at 2TB.

According to The Verge , the SD Association introduced the Secure Digital Ultra Capacity (SDUC) card specifications in 2018, which envisioned SD cards holding up to 128 terabytes. Progress has been steady but slow, only reaching the 4TB mark as of now.

The Verge also notes that Western Digital has yet to disclose the specific NAND technology used in the new card, indicating that achieving the maximum projected capacity of 128TB could still be far off.

Western Digital has not revealed the pricing for its upcoming 4TB SD card. However, The Verge suggests that based on the current price of the 1TB versions, which sell for around $140, the 4TB model could be priced at over $600.

Final Fantasy 14’s Blacklist Feature Set for a Long-Awaited Overhaul - 2

Final Fantasy 14’s Blacklist Feature Set for a Long-Awaited Overhaul

  • Written by Shipra Sanganeria Cybersecurity & Tech Writer
  • Fact-Checked by

Final Fantasy 14 (FFXIV) is set for a big overhaul, with the addition of new features and functionalities in the Dawntrail expansion. In a 14-hour live stream , director and producer Naoki Yoshida discussed not only the graphical updates but also the overdue upgrade to FFXIV’s blacklist feature.

The blocklist/blacklist feature of Final Fantasy has always been considered one of its weakest points. Although it helps restrict messages and hide certain activities from blocklist-added players, it does little against actual stalkers and harassers who may exploit the game for such purposes.

However, with the new updates, Final Fantasy makers hope to address fans’ complaints against the limited functionality of the blacklist feature. The new features will include:

  • Mute List — players can blacklist separately a maximum of 200 characters in this list. The blocked character models will be visible, but their messages will be hidden.
  • Term Filter — this function will filter out messages containing words and terms censored by a player.
  • Estate Expulsion Feature — players can remove unwanted players from their properties for up to 10 days. Players having a personal or free company estate can assign up to four other members or housemates to expel any unwanted guests.
  • Improved Lodestone Privacy Settings — this will give players greater control over their privacy settings. Players can hide and limit the visibility of their Lodestone characters.

The announcements were met with positive approval by fans , but one significant issue remained unattended. The recent blacklist announcement did not clarify whether blocking a player would result in the removal of one’s name from the friend list of that player.

Moreover, players would continue to be partied together with blacklisted players in Duties, and their character model would be visible with the names displayed as “Unknown”. The only respite here is that players can choose whether to see what’s been said by the blacklisted players.

Nevertheless, with the addition of new functionalities, Yoshida hopes the feature will become more robust, safeguarding the interests of all players in the game.

“We have so many players now that use this game as sort of a second world,” Yoshida said, according to a translated statement in the Final Fantasy XIV Discord server. “I think it is time we implement features to protect everyone’s experience.”

While the changes are a welcome addition to the blacklist feature, it remains to be seen how FFXIV’s players will take advantage of this upgrade. Dawntrail expansion is set to be released on July 2, 2024 , with early access expected June 28.