Family of memory stick
2008-08-14

                                                                      Family of memory stick

Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format and it launched by SONY in October 1998. The original memory stick was available in sizes up to 128 MB, and now the largest capacity Memory Stick currently available is 16 GB which was unveiled at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.. The Memory Stick digital data storage is designed to become a standard storage and transfer media. Typically, Memory Sticks are used as storage media for a portable device, in a form that can easily be removed for access by a personal computer. It is very small, just like a stick of chewing gum. Due to its compact design, it is best suited for use in small digital electronics products. So, now, a lot of digital products use the memory sticks in it. For example, Sony digital compact cameras use Memory Sticks to store image files. With a Memory Stick-capable reader, a user can copy the pictures taken with the Sony digital camera onto his or her computer. Sony uses and has used Memory Sticks in digital cameras, digital music players, PSPs, mobile phones and in other devices. And the memory stick allows users to transfer information, such as data, graphics or digital images from one electronic device to another quickly and easily. This allows digital images to be saved on Memory Stick digital data storage and downloaded into a laptop, desktop computer or any brand of PC with a PC card slot. Now, the whole family of Memory Sticks include four members, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick DUO, Memory Stick MICRO (M2), Memory Stick PRO DUO and Memory Stick PRO-HG. Memory Stick PRO The memory stick PRO is a revision that allows greater maximum storage capacity and faster file transfer speeds. As a joint effort between SONY and SanDisk, in 2003, the memory stick PRO was introduced, and it would be the longer-lasting solution to the space problem. Memory Stick PROs have a marginally higher transfer speed and a maximum theoretical capacity of 32 GB, although it appears capacities higher than 4GB are only available in to Duo and Pro Duo form factors. Now, most manufacturers designed their devices can use both the original and PRO sticks.

Memory Stick DUO The Memory Stick Duo was developed in response to Sony's need for a smaller flash memory card for pocket-sized digital cameras and cell phones. It is slightly smaller than the competing Secure Digital (SD) format and roughly two thirds the length of the standard Memory Stick form factor. Memory Stick Duos are available with the same features as the larger standard Memory Stick, available with and without High Speed mode, and with and without MagicGate support.

Memory Stick MICRO (M2) Memory Stick Micro (M2) measures 15 × 12.5 × 1.2 mm-roughly one-quarter the size of the Duo, around the size of a fingernail-with 128MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, and 8GB capacities, with a theoretical limit of 32 GB. Maximum transfer speed of Memory Stick Micro is 160 Mbit/s. It comes with an adapter, much like the Duo Sticks, to ensure physical compatibility with current PRO devices. However, not all devices with a PRO slot are compatible with the M2/Adapter combination, as the larger capacities can pose problems for the software of older devices. One example are some Sony Clie PDAs USA version, which can not use M2 cards larger than 2 GB. Memory stick pro duo The Memory Stick PRO Duo quickly replaced the Memory Stick Duo due to its size limitation of 128 MB and slow transfer speed. Memory Stick PRO Duos are available in all the same variants as the larger Memory Stick PRO, with and without High Speed mode, and with and without MagicGate support. In March 2008, Sony released a 16 GB version of the Memory Stick PRO Duo.

Memory Stick PRO-HG On December 11, 2006, Sony, together with SanDisk, announced the Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo. While only serial and 4-bit parallel interfaces are supported in the Memory Stick PRO format, an 8-bit parallel interface was added to the Memory Stick PRO-HG format. Also, the maximum interface clock frequency was increased from 40MHz to 60MHz. With these enhancements, a theoretical transfer rate of 480Mbps (60MB/s) is achieved, which is three times faster than the Memory Stick PRO format.