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MEMORY CARDS
COMPLETE GUIDE
Ever wondered what are these tiny
chips? Confused by the names? We are
here to help you.
This article is about the various
memory components available in the
market for mobile phones.
Memory Stick
MS Memory Stick is a removable flash
memory card format, launched by Sony in
October 1998, and is also used in
general to describe the whole family of
Memory Sticks. This family includes the
Memory Stick Pro, a revision that allows
greater maximum storage capacity and
faster file transfer speeds, and Memory
Stick Duo, a small-form-factor version
of the Memory Stick.
50.0 × 21.5 × 2.8 mm
Memory Stick Duo
MS Duo
31.0 × 20.0 × 1.6 mm
The Memory Stick Duo, which is
slightly smaller than the competing
Secure Digital format, was developed in
response to Sony's need for a smaller
flash memory card for pocket-sized
digital cameras and cell phones, as well
as Sony's PSP. Memory Stick Duos are
available in all the same variants as
their larger cousins (normal ones
limited to 128 MB, larger Pro Sticks,
with and without High Speed mode, with
and without MagicGate support), and a
simple adapter (often sold along with
the Memory Stick Duo) allows a Duo to be
used in any device that can accept their
larger cousins.
Memory Stick Micro M2
15.0 × 12.5 × 1.2 mm
In a joint venture with SanDisk, Sony
announced a new Memory Stick format on
30 September 2005. The new Memory Stick
M2 ("micro") measures 15 × 12.5 × 1.2 mm
and could theoretically have 32GB in the
future. Maximum transfer speed is
160MB/s. It will come with an adaptor,
much like the Duo Sticks, to ensure
compatibility with current Pro devices.
Multi Media Card
MMC
32 × 24 × 1.5 mm
The MMC card or MultiMediaCard was
introduced in 1997 by SanDisk
Corporation and Siemens AG. At that
point the MMC card was the smallest
memory card, about the size of a postage
stamp, in the market based on flash
memory technology. The MMC card is very
similar to the Secure Digital Memory
Card, actually the SD Memory Card is
based on the MMC card. They have almost
the same form factor the only
differences are that the SD Memory Cards
are slightly thicker and they have a
write protection switch.
Since the MMC card had slow transfer
speed, 2.5 MB/sec, in comparison to
other memory cards, mostly compared to
SD Memory Card, a new high performance
version of the MMC card was introduced
in 2005 by the name MMCplus. The MMCplus
has today the highest, up to 52 MB/sec,
theoretical data transfer speed in the
whole memory card industry.
The MultiMediaCard Association
announced that by the end of 2005 the
secureMMC application will be available
only for the MMCplus and MMCmobile
memory cards. The secureMMC is a
copyright protection application that
features DRM, Digital Rights Management,
and VPN, Virtual Private Network,
capabilities.
Reduced Size Multi Media Card
RS-MMC
16 × 24 × 1.5 mm
MMCmobile (RS-MMC)
RS-MMC, Reduced Size MultiMediaCard,
was introduced in 2003 by the
MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) as the
second form factor memory card in the
MultiMediaCard family. The RS-MMC is a
smaller version of the standard MMC
card, approximately half in size, and
was specifically designed to be used by
mobile phones and other small portable
devices.
Dual Voltage Reduced Size
Multi Media Card
DV RS-MMC
16 × 24 × 1.5 mm
In 2005 the Dual Voltage (DV) RS-MMC
was introduced. It is basically the same
card like the standard RS-MMC but
operates with dual voltage, 1.8V and
3.3V, leading to lower power consumption
which contributes to longer lasting
battery life for the host devices. The
DV RS-MMC and the RS-MMC are completely
compatible with each other but since
some mobile phones, mostly from Nokia,
only operate with 1.8V cards the regular
RS-MMC will not work. We recommend to
always buy the Dual Voltage RS-MMC for
being sure your memory card will
function with the electronic device.
MMCmicro Card
MMCmicro
12 × 14 × 1.1 mm
The MMCmicro, formerly known as
S-CARD introduced by Samsung, was
adopted and introduced in 2005 by the
MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) as the
third form factor memory card in the
MultiMediaCard family. MMCmicro is the
smallest, about the size of a
fingernail, memory card in the
MultiMediaCard family and among the
smallest in the world. It was
specifically designed for being used in
mobile phones and other small portable
devices.
The MMCmicro memory card is available
with an adaptor, MMCplus. This makes it
not only compatible to all MMC and
MMCplus slots but also to all SD Memory
Card slots. It is important to keep in
mind that music stored on
MultiMediaCards my not be able to play
back when inserted into a SD Memory Card
slot due to the copyright protection
features supported by the SD slots.
Since the MMCmicro is the latest
memory card to be developed and
introduced to the market it is not that
compatible to many mobile phones and
electronic devices yet. Still it is
expected to be one of the memory card
formats that will dominate in the mobile
phone industry among the frontrunner
microSD and the under development Memory
Stick Micro.
Secure Digital Card
SD
32 × 24 × 2.1 mm
The SD Memory Card or Secure Digital
was introduced in 2001 by SanDisk
Corporation, Matsushita (Panasonic) and
Toshiba. The SD Memory Card was based on
the MultiMediaCard, MMC, memory card
standard and has almost the same form
factor, the size of a postage stamp, the
only differences are that the SD memory
card is slightly thicker and has a write
protection switch. Since MMC cards are
thinner than SD Memory Cards they can be
used in all SD Memory Card slots but not
vice versa.
The SD Memory Card is today the most
common used memory card. It can be found
in most digital cameras, PDAs and in
many other electronic devices. The SD
Memory Card slots can be used for more
than flash memory cards. The SDIO,
Secure Digital In & Out, is the general
name for the many expansion modules that
can be found in the SD Memory Card’s
form factor. SDIO modules can be
inserted in the slot and be used for
other functions like Bluetooth adapters,
GPS receivers, digital cameras, TV
tuners, etc
miniSD Card
miniSD
21.5 × 20 × 1.4 mm
The miniSD was introduced in 2003 by
SanDisk Corporation in cooperation with
Matsushita (Panasonic) and Toshiba.
Later in that year the miniSD format was
adapted by the SD Card Association as
the second form factor memory card in
the Secure Digital family. MiniSD is a
smaller version of the SD memory Card
format, about 60% smaller in volume, and
offers the same benefits as the SD
Memory Card expect of the writing
protection switch.
MiniSD was designed specifically to
be used in small portable electronic
devices like digital cameras and mobile
phones. But since all miniSD memory
cards always come with a SD Memory Card
adaptor, they are compatible to all SD
Memory Card slots and thereby provide
compatibility with the rapidly growing
number of SD Memory Card compatible
devices in the market.
MiniSD was the second, after SD
Memory Card, memory card to be adapted
by the SD Card Association, which today
consists of three members. In 2005 the
microSD was introduced as the third, and
smallest, member of the Secure Digital
family.
microSD Card also known as
Transflash
µSD
11 × 15 × 1 mm
rashFlash, formerly known as T-Flash,
was introduced by SanDisk Corporation in
2004 as the world’s smallest memory
card, approximately the size of a
fingernail. TransFlash was specifically
designed for being used in mobile
phones. Motorola was the first mobile
phone manufacturer to adapt the
TransFlash memory card standard.
In the 3rd quarter of 2005 TransFlash
was adapted by the SD Card Association
as the third form factor memory card in
the Secure Digital family, after SD
Memory Card and miniSD. After the
adoption, TransFlash changed name to
microSD. The microSD has exactly the
same dimensions and specifications as
the TransFlash and therefore both memory
cards are completely compatible to each
other.
Today the microSD is the most common
used memory card in mobile phones and
the SD Card Association’s objective is
to make microSD a de facto memory card
standard for all mobile phones. All
TransFlash and microSD cards always come
with a SD Memory Card adaptor, which
makes them compatible to all SD Memory
Card slots. The microSD is about 10% in
size compared to SD Memory Card and
about 30% compared to miniSD.
xD-Picture Card
xD
20 × 25 × 1.7 mm
The xD-Picture Card was introduced in
2002 by Fuji Film and Olympus as a
replacement to the older SmartMedia
Card. It is produced exclusively by
Toshiba and can be found branded only
under the name of Fuji Film and Olympus.
The xD-Picture Card format was
developed to be used in digital cameras
and is more or less only used in Fuji
Film and Olympus digital cameras. Like
SmartMedia Card, the xD-Picture Card
does not incorporate a controller chip
which allows it to have a small form
factor but at the same time making it
dependable to the host device’s
controller chip.
Varun Krishnan is a mobile phone/web
enthusiast. He is a web developer and
SEO consultant. He's currently heading
http://www.FoneArena.com.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Varun_Krishnan
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