Memory Sticks include a wide range of actual formats, including three different form factors.
Memory Stick Introduced in July 1998, the original Memory Stick is approximately the size and thickness of a stick of chewing gum. It was available in capacities from 4 MB to 128 MB (1 MB = one million bytes). It was available both with and without
MagicGate support. The MagicGate-capable memory sticks were white, while the standard version was purple. The original Memory Stick is no longer manufactured.
Memory Stick Select 256 MB Memory Stick Select with memory switch In response to the storage limitations of the original Memory Stick, Sony introduced the
Memory Stick Select at
CES 2003 on January 9. The Memory Stick Select contained two separate 128 MB partitions which the user could switch between using a physical switch on the card. This solution was fairly unpopular, but it did give users of older Memory Stick devices more capacity. Its physical size remained the same as the original Memory Stick.
Memory Stick PRO The
Memory Stick PRO, introduced on January 9, 2003, as a joint effort between Sony and
SanDisk, would be the longer-lasting solution to the space problem. Most devices that use the original Memory Sticks support the original and PRO sticks since both formats have identical form factors. Some readers that were not compatible could be upgraded to Memory Stick PRO support via a
firmware update. Memory Stick PROs have a marginally higher transfer speed and a maximum
theoretical capacity of 32 GB, although GB-sized capacities of more than 2GB are only available in the PRO Duo form factor.
High Speed Memory Stick PROs are available, and newer devices support this high-speed mode, allowing for faster file transfers. All Memory Stick PROs larger than 1 GB support this high-speed mode, and High Speed Memory Stick PROs are backwards-compatible with devices that do not support the high-speed mode. High-capacity Memory Sticks such as the 4 GB versions are expensive compared to other types of flash memory like SD cards and CompactFlash. , 512 MB Memory Stick PRO can be bought.
Memory Stick Duo Introduced in July 2002, the
Memory Stick Duo was developed in response to Sony's need for a smaller flash memory card for pocket-sized digital cameras, cell phones and the
PlayStation Portable (the latter of which supported the Memory Stick PRO Duo variant). It is slightly smaller than the competing
Secure Digital (SD) format and roughly two thirds the length of the standard Memory Stick form factor, but costs more. Memory Stick Duos are available with the same features as the larger standard Memory Stick, obtainable with and without high speed mode, and with and without MagicGate support. The Memory Stick PRO Duo has replaced the Memory Stick Duo due to its 128 MB size limitation, but has kept the same form factor as the Duo. A simple adapter allows Memory Stick Duo to be used in devices designed to accept the original Memory Stick form factor.
Memory Stick PRO Duo The
Memory Stick PRO Duo (MSPD) quickly replaced the Memory Stick Duo due to the 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. Sony has released different versions of Memory Stick PRO Duo. A Memory Stick PRO Duo with MagicGate was released as a 512 MB stick. Additionally, a 16 GB version in March 2008 and another a 32 GB version on August 21, 2009. In 2009, Sony and SanDisk also announced the joint development of an expanded Memory Stick PRO format tentatively named "Memory Stick PRO Format for Extended High Capacity". Sony has since finalized the format and released its specification under the new name,
Memory Stick XC (see below). There exist adapters for those who want to use microSD cards, on devices which only support Memory Stick PRO Duo cards, that allows usage of the storage on a microSD for files on the device in question.
Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo 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. The maximum interface clock frequency was also increased from 40 MHz to 60 MHz. With these enhancements, a theoretical transfer rate of 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s) is achieved, which is three times faster than the Memory Stick PRO format.
Memory Stick Micro (M2) In a joint venture with
SanDisk, Sony released a new Memory Stick format on February 6, 2006. The
Memory Stick Micro (
M2) measures 15 × 12.5 × 1.2 mm (roughly one-quarter the size of the Duo) with 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB capacities available. The format has a theoretical limit of 32 GB and maximum transfer speed of 160 Mbit/s. However, as with the
PRO Duo format, it has been expanded through the
XC series as
Memory Stick XC Micro and
Memory Stick XC-HG Micro, both with the
theoretical maximum capacity of 2 TB. Sony announced on June 1, 2009, that M2 support in
Sony Ericsson phones would be dropped in favor of
microSD. The
Sony DSC-RX0 Mark II made a revived usage of M2 slots.
Memory Stick XC On January 7, 2009,
SanDisk and Sony announced the Memory Stick XC format (tentatively named "Memory Stick Format Series for Extended High Capacity" at the time). The Memory Stick XC has a maximum
theoretical 2 TB capacity, 64 times larger than that of the Memory Stick PRO Duo which is limited to 32 GB. XC series has the same form factors as PRO series, and supports MagicGate content protection technology as well as Access Control function as PRO series does. In line with the rest of the industry, the XC series uses the newer
exFAT file system due to size and formatting limitations of FAT/FAT16/FAT32 filesystems used in the PRO series. A maximum transfer speed of 480 Mbit/s (60 Mbyte/s) is achieved through 8-bit parallel data transfer. No Memory Stick XC cards were released to the market, likely due to the dominance of
SD cards. Its equivalent is named
SDXC and eventually became more successful than any other exFAT-based memory card format.
Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX Sony announced the release of the Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX on May 17, 2011, which was considered the fastest card ever made by the manufacturer. It measures 20 × 31 × 1.6 mm, with 8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB versions available. The format also offers a maximum transfer speed of 50 MB/s. == Mark 2 certification ==