Mophie-Style Case Brings Integrated microSD card reader to iPhone

One of the biggest complaints that users have with the iPhone is that you have to choose how much memory you feel your device needs from the moment of purchase as there is no way to add additional storage through removable media such as SD cards. However, that may change thanks to a third-party start-up, which is looking to bring a microSD card reader to a hard case that attaches to the iPhone dubbed the iExpander. Similar to the concept of a Mophie Juicepack Air, the case will offer the iPhone protection and connects to the bottom of the iPhone’s Dock Connector. The case, like Mophie’s case, will also add a spare battery to ehlp you last longer on a single charge while on the road. It will also feature an LED flash that’s stronger than the one that’s built into your Apple smartphone

iExpander write now is turning to Kickstarter to get its project funded and the case can take microSD cards up to 64 GB capacity, meaning that the reader will be an SDXC card reader as the micro SDHC card format goes up to just 32 GB of storage.

Right now, though, it appears that iExpander is designed for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Hopefully, in the future, if there is demand, iExpander will be made for the iPhone 5 and the new Lightning connector as well. Right now, the iPhone 5’s highest capacity is 64 GB.

Reportedly, you’ll be able to access all your music, files, and documents that are stored on the card, but it remains to be seen if this will be an integrative experience where the iPhone will automatically recognize your music stored on your card and bring them into the Music player app, or if a separate file management app is required to manage, access, and organize files on the smartphone.

When the iPhone debuted, Apple opposed the idea of a dedicated file manager, citing design reasons that favored simplicity. At the time, the move was controversial given that Palm OS, Symbian, and Windows Mobile at the time all supported a file manager either natively or via a third-party.