Memory Cards Complete Guide
By: Varun Krishnan

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 smallformfactor 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 Sonys need for a smaller flash memory card for pocketsized digital cameras and cell phones as well as Sonys 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

RSMMC

16 24 1.5 mm

MMCmobile (RSMMC)

RSMMC Reduced Size MultiMediaCard was introduced in 2003 by the MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) as the second form factor memory card in the MultiMediaCard family. The RSMMC 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 RSMMC

16 24 1.5 mm

In 2005 the Dual Voltage (DV) RSMMC was introduced. It is basically the same card like the standard RSMMC 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 RSMMC and the RSMMC are completely compatible with each other but since some mobile phones mostly from Nokia only operate with 1.8V cards the regular RSMMC will not work. We recommend to always buy the Dual Voltage RSMMC 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 SCARD 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 Cards 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 sma