By CNET Staff
30/09/2005
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/mobilephones/0,39050603,39271457,00.htm

	The new Memory Stick Micro (click for a larger image)

With the decreasing size and increasing functionality of mobile phones, an external storage slot is already standard in most high-end multimedia phones. Since space is a premium in these phones, many manufacturers have turned to the miniSD, RS-MMC or the super-tiny microSD (aka TransFlash) format which are significantly smaller than the size of their larger siblings. Memory Stick Duo, already a fraction of the size of the older Memory Stick, is finding it a tight fit in the latest Sony Ericsson phones.

Recognizing the need for change, Sony and SanDisk have been working together since the Memory Stick Pro era to increase the penetration of the format into more devices. Dr. Eli Harari, president and chief executive officer of SanDisk Corp, said: "The Memory Stick PRO format co-developed with Sony has become a highly successful product line for us due to its popularity with a wide range of consumer electronic products such as digital cameras and videogame consoles. Sony and SanDisk recognize the rapidly growing market opportunity for memory cards with multimedia mobile phones, and are joining forces to develop the ultra-small Memory Stick Micro format to foster development of extremely compact multimedia mobile phones."

Having undergone a strict regiment of re-engineering, the fourth iteration of Sony's Memory Stick format has gone micro. Only a quarter the size of the Memory Stick Duo, the new Memory Stick Micro will find plenty of room in the next generation of Sony Ericsson mobile phones and smart phones. The new format, so short that the device connectors apparently had to be shifted to the side, is barely thicker than a standard credit card with a depth of only 1.2mm.

Comparing the Memory Stick Micro to the microSD and miniSD (click for the larger image)

Comparing the Memory Stick Micro to the Pro and Duo (click for the larger image)

Note: The size comparison pictures used in this article are rendered based on the dimensions given for each of the media card formats. These are not official images from the vendors.

In terms of size, the closest rival to the Memory Stick Micro is the microSD. From the given dimensions, the microSD (15 x 11 x 1mm) seems to have the upperhand, measuring marginally smaller than its Sony counterpart (15 x 12.5 x 1.2mm). However, according to the specifications, the Memory Stick Micro can theoretically hold up to 32GB of data while the largest capacity reported for the microSD is only 2GB.

Available in the first half of 2006, the Memory Stick Micro is expected to appear in Sony Ericsson high-end mobile devices by the end of next year.

Memory Stick Micro Specifications

Dimensions	15 x 12.5 x 1.2mm
Volume	225 mm3
Connector pin	11-pin
Maximum capacity	32GB (theoretical)
Maximum data transfer rate	160Mbps (theoretical)
Operating voltage	1.7-1.95V and 2.7-3.6V
Interface	Serial I/F and 4-bin parallel I/F
Operating temperature	-25oC to +85oC
Copyright protection technology	MagicGate