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January 8, 2009: SanDisk and Sony have announced the joint development of two expanded formats that will shape the Memory Stick flash memory landscape for years to come.
Two new Memory Stick formats have been announced: Memory Stick format for Extended High Capacity (Tentative name), which expands the Memory Stick PRO format series to a maximum storage capacity of 2-terabytes (TB), and Memory Stick HG Micro, which enables a maximum data-transfer speed of 60MB/second (MB/s), making it one of the fastest-smallest memory card formats to date. Format licensing is scheduled to start in 2009.
Memory Stick format for Extended High Capacity has been developed in response to demand for high-capacity memory cards capable of storing high-resolution pictures and videos and is targeted at users of high-definition digital still cameras, DSLR cameras and camcorders. It will offer up to 60 times more storage capacity than the Memory Stick PRO format's 32GB capacity limit.
Memory Stick HG Micro will cater for users of handheld devices like mobile phones. This new format adopts an enhanced 8-bit parallel interface and features an increased interface clock frequency of 60 MHz, enabling 60MB/s (480 Mbps in theoretical value) maximum data transfer speed. This is three times faster than the conventional serial 4-bit parallel interface and 40MHz interface clock frequency adopted in current Memory Stick Micro cards.
SanDisk and Sony share a long collaborative history of product development. The introduction of these new formats will open up new possibilities for Memory Stick products and greatly expand its applications of flash memory cards. No information has been released on when the first products will appear on the market.
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