Sony Corp. updated its Memory Stick product line with three new options: a high-speed Pro version, a smaller Duo form factor, and Memory Stick Select, which will allow users to select blocks of data to record to.
Pro cards will be produced at capacities up to 1 gigabyte, which matches the size of the latest SD cards introduced yesterday. The Memory Stick Pro transfers data at up to 160 Mbits/s, with a minimum data rate of 15 Mbits/s.
“Memories, not just information, are stored on these tiny media cards,” said said Mark Viken, senior vice president of the Information Technology Products Division at Sony Electronics, in a statement. “Sony developed Memory Stick Pro format together with SanDisk to ensure that those memories can be captured quickly and abundantly. In much the way that DVD takes up where CD left off, (the) Memory Stick Pro format builds upon the foundation of the popular standard Memory Stick platform.”
The 256-Mbyte, 512-Mbyte, and 1-GByte MemoryStick Pro cards will be priced at about $190, $440, and $880, and will be available in April. SanDisk Corp. also said it would produce the cards, for list prices given as about a dollar less than Sony.
Also announced today, the tiny MagicGate Memory Stick Duo media will make its American debut this spring. One-third the volume and half the weight of standard-size Memory Stick media, the new card was designed for use with smaller digital devices, including cellular phones and wearable portable audio players.
The MagicGate Memory Stick Duo card will be available at retailers nationwide and at www.sonystyle.com in 64-Mbyte and 128-Mbyte capacities for about $70 and $110, respectively. Both will ship with an adapter that is compatible with all devices with a Memory Stick media slot.
Finally, Sony tweaked the Memory Stick design with its new Memory Stick Select, an option that allows users to select individual 128-Mbyte flash blocks within a larger card. Sonys design allows users to designate blocks for office data, personal files or other uses, the company said.
Initially with a total 256-Mbyte (128MBx2) capacity, the new Memory Stick Select memory card will be available at retailers nationwide in April for about $160.
