Sony announces Memory Stick Pro

by News Editor

Published on Jan 12, 2003 12:00 AM
Add to My Yahoo!




Sony Europe announced late last week that the new Memory Sticks, dubbed "Memory Stick Pro", will use the same form factor but with increased capacity size and transfer speed. The Memory Stick PRO format was developed jointly by Sony and SanDisk Corporation and the first line up of Memory Stick PRO media will have capacities of 256MB, 512MB and 1GB.

A 1GB Memory Stick PRO card enables users to enjoy a staggering six hours of MPEG4 (384Kbps) moving images or 24 minutes of DVD quality MPEG2 video. This equates to around sixteen audio CDs, assuming 64MB per CD, or 360 JPEG images in 5.0 Megapixel quality, more than ten rolls of 24/36 film.

Memory Stick PRO has an improved transfer speed of up to 160 Mbps and a new minimum write speed of 15Mbps when used with optimised, compatible devices. Significantly, the write speed improves the reliability of recording devices, making them capable of preventing data loss in the event of sudden power failure or accidental removal of the card before the data has been transferred or recorded.

Memory Stick PRO provides new levels of security to protect commercial and personal content. The new format also includes the MagicGate(tm) copyright protection technology, which provides secure transfer and playback of commercial and copyrighted content, such as digital music and in the future, video and games. In addition, a new protection function is capable of securing all media on the card and prevents third party access if it is stolen or lost. This technology, tentatively named 'Access Control function,' makes use of an embedded intelligent controller unit.

While Memory Stick PRO media-enabled devices are expected to ship in Spring 2003, certain devices currently in the market will be able to accept the new format cards either directly or through a downloadable software patch. Devices that can accept the new format cards directly are:

  • Cyber-shot DSC-F717, -F77 and -FX77 digital camera
  • DPP-EX5 and -EX7 digital photo printers
  • MSAC-US20 USB Memory Stick adapter (also MagicGate(tm) compatible)
  • MSAC-US70 USB optical mouse and Memory Stick adapter (also MagicGate(tm) compatible)
  • MSAC-PC3 PC Card Memory Stick adapter
  • MSAC-US7 USB optical mouse and Memory Stick adapter
  • MSAC-US2 USB Memory Stick adapter
  • Digital camcorders DCR-TRV355, -TRV22, -TRV33, -TRV60 and -TRV80
Devices that can be upgraded to accept the new Memory Stick PRO media after being updated via a software patch are:
  • Sony CLIE PEG-NX70V handheld (detailed information will be available on http://www.clie-link.com/)
  • A number of VAIO PC's can become compatible via an update service although high-speed data transfer and MagicGate function of Memory Stick PRO are not supported (detailed information will be available on http://www.vaio-link.com/).
The Memory Stick Pro cards will be available throughout Europe after April 2003; no mention was made of availability in North America.