Feed aggregator

• A modest beginning with massive growth over 25 years
• Over 12 billion SD and microSD cards have been sold across consumer and industrial devices
• SD Express cards now reach speeds of 4GB/s, up from just 12.5MB/s in 2000

When the first SD memory card hit the market in 2000, it offered a modest 8MB of storage. At the time, this was a practical solution for the relatively small demands of digital cameras and early portable media devices.

Twenty-five years later, SD and microSD cards have evolved into high-performance storage mediums, with capacities reaching up to 8TB following the launch of the SanDisk Extreme Pro in 2024.

According to the SD Association (SDA), a consortium of nearly 800 technology companies, this represents a capacity increase of over one million times.

microSD’s role

MicroSD, which marks its 20th anniversary in 2025, has been particularly credited with shaping mobile device capabilities.

“Selfies, mobile phone photography, enjoying music and videos on a mobile phone all became possible because of innovation driven by the SDA,” the association noted.

Today, the best microSD cards and SD cards remain widely used in smartphones, cameras, drones, gaming consoles, and IoT devices.

Even with the rise of USB-C flash drives and cloud syncing services, SD technology continues to hold its place.

“SD memory cards continue delivering portability and convenience, letting people upgrade the storage in their devices at any time thanks to the dedication and vision of our nearly 800 SDA members,” said Yosi Pinto, Chairman of the SDA.

The SDA reports that more than 12 billion SD and microSD cards have been sold globally. While volumes increase, performance is also improving.

In 2000, card speeds were around 12.5MB per second. Modern cards using the SD Express standard can reach nearly 4GB per second, a speed improvement of more than 300 times.

With these gains, SD technology is approaching SSD-level performance, a development especially important as gaming, VR, and AI workloads drive demand for faster, high-capacity storage.

That said, internal storage is becoming more affordable, and reliance on the cloud continues to grow. This raises the question of whether external cards will remain essential or shift into niche roles. However, the SDA remains confident.

“We expect SD memory cards to remain a critical, cost-effective storage option across a variety of applications and devices in the future, since 394 zettabytes of data is expected to be created by 2028,” said Hiroyuki Sakamoto, President of the SDA.

You might also like

• These are the largest SSDs and hard drives on the market
• Here are the best cloud storage services around
• How startups can achieve outsized results by leveraging multi-agent systems

With every new Hulu schedule comes a list of movies and shows that will be subsequently removed from the platform, and like always, Hulu's June 2025 calendar is a rather short list.

This month only 15 movies are set to leave one of the best streaming services, meaning that a lot of the best Hulu movies are staying put for now. However despite this small total, that doesn't mean there aren't any titles worth missing – and there are a few international titles bearing the brunt.

One of those movies is Joachim Trier's romance drama The Worst Person in the World (2021) which, in addition to Best International Feature, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 2022 Oscars.

On top of this, Northern Irish thriller Here Before (2021) will also be leaving the platform, but you have until June 10 to catch it before it goes.

Everything leaving Netflix in June 2025

Leaving on June 1

Christmas with the Campbells (movie)

Leaving on June 2

The Amazing Maurice (movie)

Leaving on June 4

Intrigo: Dear Agnes (movie)

Leaving on June 8

Indemnity (movie)

Leaving on June 10

Here Before (movie)
Warhunt (movie)

Leaving on June 11

Intrigo: Samaria (movie)

Leaving on June 13

The Worst Person in the World (movie)

Leaving on June 17

Ted K (movie)
The Ledge (movie)

Leaving on June 22

The Burning Sea (movie)

Leaving on June 24

Big Gold Brick (movie)
Gasoline Alley (movie)

Leaving on June 25

The Desperate Hour (movie)

Leaving on June 30

Transfusion (movie)

You might also like

• The Bear season 4 and Alien: Earth release dates have been revealed, and it's worth keeping your Hulu subscription for
• Predator: Killer of Killers is a new animated movie coming to Hulu that'll tell the story fans of the franchise have been waiting for
• 7 essential movies to stream to prepare you for Universal's new Epic Universe theme park and its lore

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Saturday, May 24 (game #1216).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1217) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1217) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1217) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1217) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1217) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• O

• A

• P

• G

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1217) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1217, are…

• OCEAN
• AMBER
• PIPER
• GLEAN

A tricky round with a silver lining. It’s so satisfying when an incorrect guess in one column helps you get a correct word in another, which is what happened to me today after FIBER led to AMBER.

The disappearing number of letters I had left led me to PIPER. Thankfully there was no other option.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1217) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1217, are…

• CIRCA
• CURRY
• CREAK
• CURVE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1216, Saturday, 24 May: HUSKY, HEIST, FOGGY, POLAR
• Quordle #1215, Friday, 23 May: SHIRE, GIANT, AWAIT, CAPER
• Quordle #1214, Thursday, 22 May: LOSE, GLOVE, STINT, EXCEL
• Quordle #1213, Wednesday, 21 May: NOVEL, CHOSE, DIRTY, DONUT
• Quordle #1212, Tuesday, 20 May: DECOY, SHAKE, MAPLE, PURER
• Quordle #1211, Monday, 19 May: LINK, HANDY, DITCH, WAIVE
• Quordle #1210, Sunday, 18 May: QUACK, ROACH, PURGE, DOWNY
• Quordle #1209, Saturday, 17 May: STRIP, RANGE, UNITE, GEESE
• Quordle #1208, Friday, 16 May: SHEEP, SNUCK, DRIFT, BREAK
• Quordle #1207, Thursday, 15 May: PAINT, CROUP, PEDAL, FLUKE
• Quordle #1206, Wednesday, 14 May: FAVOR, METER, PICKY, MAKER
• Quordle #1205, Tuesday, 13 May: SCENT, AGAPE, POLAR, YEARN
• Quordle #1204, Monday, 12 May: ROYAL, ARGUE, BUNCH, READY
• Quordle #1203, Sunday, 11 May: QUASH, MUNCH, ALTER, UNDUE
• Quordle #1202, Saturday, 10 May: RELIC, BADGE, CHAMP, SATIN
• Quordle #1201, Friday, 9 May: MINUS, CRIME, NOSEY, SLAIN
• Quordle #1200, Thursday, 8 May: ELUDE, GREET, POPPY, ELITE
• Quordle #1199, Wednesday, 7 May: QUOTH, TRUNK, BESET, NAIVE
• Quordle #1198, Tuesday, 6 May: UNITE, SOGGY, FILET, PORCH
• Quordle #1197, Monday, 5 May: WREAK, COWER, STEAD, QUEUE

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, May 24 (game #713).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #714) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DOUBLE
• HELIX
• SNAIL
• KING
• CONCH
• QUEEN
• TWIN
• ROOK
• ELECTRONIC
• JUNK
• ACE
• RINGER
• JACK
• LOBE
• CLONE
• CHAIN

NYT Connections today (game #714) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Poker
• GREEN: Lookalike
• BLUE: Places for studs and rings
• PURPLE: Add a word that sounds like “fail”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #714) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: PLAYING CARDS 
• GREEN: DOPPELGÄNGER 
• BLUE: EAR PIERCING SITES
• PURPLE: __ MAIL 

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #714) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #714, are…

• YELLOW: PLAYING CARDS ACE, JACK, KING, QUEEN
• GREEN: DOPPELGÄNGER CLONE, DOUBLE, RINGER, TWIN
• BLUE: EAR PIERCING SITES CONCH, HELIX, LOBE, ROOK
• PURPLE: __ MAIL CHAIN, ELECTRONIC, JUNK, SNAIL

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 mistake

EAR PIERCING SITES is something I know absolutely nothing about, so it was a good job that SNAIL triggered a quartet of __MAIL words.

Before my final pair of groups I’d made a mistake in thinking that there was a group containing curled things, so I had SNAIL, HELIX and CONCH and added LOBE as I was thinking about the shape of ears.

Fortunately I abandoned this blind alley and went for the far more obvious PLAYING CARDS and DOPPELGÄNGER.

According to German folklore, all humans have a spirit double which is invisible but identical to them. It’s an odd thought. Somewhere in the world there is someone who looks exactly like us playing Connections.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, May 24, game #713)

• YELLOW: BABY GEAR BIB, BOTTLE, MONITOR, STROLLER
• GREEN: KINDS OF PANTS MINUS "S" CAPRI, JEAN, JOGGER, SLACK
• BLUE: NEW YORK SPORTS TEAM MEMBERS JET, MET, NET, RANGER
• PURPLE: BLACK WOMEN AUTHORS BUTLER, GAY, HOOKS, WALKER

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Cerro San Cristobal in the heart of Chile's capital offers stunning views of wildflowers, pine forests and the soaring Andes.

(Image credit: Brian Mann)

Can the Gunners stop the Blaugrana from winning for a third straight year?

I'm a professional photographer and these are crucial for any kind of photography.

Diagnosing your network issues has never been easier.

Character actor George Wendt was known to a generation as Norm, the beleaguered, lovable everyman on the sit-com "Cheers." He died this week at the age of 76.

(Image credit: WALLY FONG/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Hundreds of public safety grants cut, worth $500 million, funded initiatives like drug treatment and gun violence prevention programs.

(Image credit: Alex Brandon)

Trump's misleading video of a 'burial site' for white South African farmers reopened 'new wounds,' victim's son tells NPR.

(Image credit: Bloomberg)

Other companies better watch out: The LG G5 Series OLED just set a new standard for premium TVs.

• Acer’s portable monitors blend portability and touchscreen tech
• Acer’s VisionCare targets comfort, but 100Hz refresh rate benefits are questionable
• MacBook Pro users may find these monitors lacking native macOS optimization

Acer’s new line of portable monitors introduces some unexpected features, especially in models like the PD163QT and PD243Y E.

While portable displays typically focus on minimalism and basic connectivity, these Full HD (1920x1080) panels go a step further with wide viewing angles, aiming for more versatile use in multitasking.

These monitors can fold up to 315°, a feature designed to improve collaboration and presentations. The PD163QT also adds touch functionality, a rare feature in this category.

Dual-display setup with single-screen monitors

Although marketed as supporting dual-screen setups, each monitor contains only one display panel. The reference to “two Full HD displays” pertains to using the PD163QT and PD243Y E together, rather than a single device offering two screens.

The PD243Y E features a 100Hz refresh rate and flicker-free technology, though the practical benefits over a standard 60Hz screen for typical office tasks are unclear. At best, it may slightly reduce eye strain during prolonged use.

Acer also includes its VisionCare technology for eye comfort, signaling an expectation of extended usage.

For Apple users, none of these models appears to be optimized for macOS. While they function as general-purpose external screens, they may not be the best monitors for MacBook Pro users who prioritize native aspect ratios and accurate color reproduction.

The PM191Q E is another portable model featuring an ultra-thin profile and adjustable kickstand. It supports Full HD resolution and a refresh rate up to 100Hz.

All of these monitors are portable, flexible, and VESA wall-mountable, but none exceed 1080p resolution, a common limitation in this segment.

In parallel, Acer has launched its ProCreator Series, aimed at creative professionals. The series includes 4K and 6K monitors that support Delta E<1 color accuracy and a wide color gamut.

These high-end models also include touch functionality, split-screen tools, and integrated webcams. Models like the PE320QXT and PE270XT offer specifications suited to the premium business monitor category.

The new lineup is priced between $180 and $1,999, with prices varying by model and region.

You might also like

• Here are the best vertical monitors around today
• We've also listed the best laptops for working from home
• You can now auto-change compromised passwords with Chrome's Credential Manager

Carlo Ancelotti takes charge of Los Blancos for the final time.

The Blades take on the Black Cats in a match dubbed "the richest game in soccer."

Hiking season is here -- grab the bug spray and check out my top essential gear picks and why I swear by them.

I examined over 150 plans from dozens of providers to find the country's average broadband cost, including the cheapest and most expensive starting plans.

There's way more to the streamer than Severance and Ted Lasso.

Since GoPro purchased the Australian smart motorcycle helmet company Forcite last year, the two-wheeled world has been waiting to see what the action camera giant can do if it applied its technology to rider safety equipment.

Now, GoPro has announced that it will work with Italian helmet manufacturer AGV on its debut line of action camera-enabled lids, which are tipped to feature its built -in sensor and lens technology that will allow riders to capture POV footage without the need to mount an additional camera and other accessories.

Forcite’s original goal was to provide a built-in dash cam experience for motorcycle riders, using a basic sensor from Sony, but is understood that GoPro’s influence will likely see the introduction of more advanced sensor, lens and processor tech that could allow for cinematic, high-definition footage to be captured and edited using the US company’s user-friendly software.

Currently, riders wishing to capture POV footage either have to rely on handlebar or chest mounts, as well as accessories that clip to the chin of a motorcycle helmet or mount to the very top of it. But there have been questions raised about the potential impact on helmet safety in the unfortunate even of an accident.

Designing a built-in solution would allow both GoPro and AGV to start from the ground up and create an aerodynamic, motorcycle-specific system that doesn’t compromise on safety, but can also deliver fantastic quality footage, alongside accident-detecting dash-cam functionality.

AGV is a solid partner for GoPro, as it has been, manufacturing helmets for racing, the road and beyond since 1947. In fact, its Giacomo Agostini livery is one of the most recognizable in the motorcycle racing world and it kept MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi’s head safe throughout his career.

Currently, its range-topping Pista GP carbon fibre lids can cost in the region of $1,924/ £1,370 / AU$$2,200, although it does offer much more affordable options in its more wallet-friendly K1 S range.

There is no hint at what the GoPro tie-up helmet could eventually cost, but we would expect it to be expensive given the technology involved.

Analysis: Technology moves faster than helmets

(Image credit: Forcite/GoPro)

Thanks to the advent of social media, many riders are increasingly looking for ways to document their two-wheeled escapades – or merely to record footage that could come in very handy should an insurance claim eventually arise.

GoPro and AGV’s partnership is undeniably exciting for those that want technology seamlessly integrated with a high quality helmet, but whatever way you cut it, it is going to be expensive.

What’s more, camera technology moves at such a rate that the GoPro sensors, lenses and processing chips integrated into the upcoming lid could well be second-rate or obsolete after a couple of years.

When riders invest a large sum of money in a new helmet, they typically expect that piece of safety equipment to last a number of years, if not decades, so long as it isn’t dropped or damaged.

It would be a crying shame if GoPro’s solution isn’t upgradeable, as it could end up being a bulky, heavy helmet that is only capable of capturing second rate footage. Or worse, is eventually not supported by GoPro at all.

That said, AGV is a good partner for GoPro as it makes some of the nicest motorbike helmets around, and a built-in camera is still a better solution that helmet-mounted cams, which can be dangerous – so I'm looking forward to see what the partnership delivers.

You might also like

• Best GoPro camera 2025: the finest models you can buy at all price points
• I’ve driven the new Ford Capri – and it proves that nailing the retro-inspired EV brief isn’t easy
• Apple CarPlay Ultra finally rolls out – here are 4 things you need to know about its Aston Martin debut

Astraspis being attacked by the sea-scorpion Megalograptus in dark, shallow waters. Both animals likely had tooth-like scales on their bodies that would have allowed them to sense things in the waters around them.'/>

The sometimes uncomfortable sensations we feel in our teeth may be an evolutionary holdover from the scaly exteriors of ancient armored fish.

(Image credit: Brian Engh)