: This article is about Memory Stick, Sony s proprietary memory card format. Memory stick is also occasionally used to refer informally to USB flash memory drives.

Memory Stick is a removable flash memory memory card format, launched by Sony in October 1998, and is also used in general to describe the whole familiy 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.

Typically, a Memory Stick is used as storage media for a portable device, in a form that can easily be removed for access by a Personal computer. For example, Sony digital cameras use Memory Sticks for storing image files. With a Memory Stick reader (typically a small box that connects via USB or some other serial connection), a user could copy the pictures taken with the Sony digital camera off to his or her computer. Sony uses and has used Memory Sticks in digital cameras, mp3 player, Personal digital assistant, cell phones, the PlayStation Portable, and in other devices, and the Sony VAIO line of personal computers has long included Memory Stick slots.

With a Memory Stick reader (typically a small box that connects via USB or some other serial connection), a user could copy the files on a disk to a computer. There are also readers that use PCMCIA, CompactFlash, 3.5 inch floppy drive, and other formats. In terms of compatibility, older Memory Sticks can be used in newer MS drives (Memory Stick Duo with an adapter can be used in newer drives as well). However, Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro Duo are often not supported in older drives. Also, while high-speed Pro or Pro Duo cards will work in Pro drives (Pro Duo needing a adapter), their higher speed may not be available. The original memory stick was avaible in sizes up to 128 MB, and a sub-version, Memory Stick Select allows two banks of 128 MB to be on the same card. Memory Stick Pro has a maximum potential size of 32 GB according to Sony, with sizes up to 4 GB available as of 2005.

The Memory Stick is defined in the minds of many by its proprietary nature, as the grand majority of portable devices that use it are Sony devices, and Sony for long while monopolized its production. (Even now, the only significant third-party licensees that make Memory Sticks are SanDisk and Lexar.) In spite of its proprietary nature (or because of Sony s dogged support for the format), the Memory Stick has outlived almost all other strictly proprietary flash memory formats, and has a longevity comparable only to CompactFlash and Secure Digital.

=Different Memory Stick formats and form factors=

Memory Sticks include a wide range of actual formats, including two different form factors.

The original Memory Sticks were approximately the size and thickness of a stick of chewing gum, and came in sizes from 4 megabyte up to and including 128 megabyte. This size limitation became limiting fairly quickly, so Sony introduced the now-uncommon Memory Stick Select, which was similar in concept (if not in execution) to the way in which 5.25 floppy disks used both sides of a disk. A Memory Stick Select was two (or rarely four) separate 128 MB partitions which the user could switch between using a switch on the card. This solution was fairly unpopular, but did allow for users with older Memory Stick devices to use higher-capacity flash memory. The 256 MB Memory Stick Select is still being manufactured by Lexar.

The Memory Stick Pro would be the longer-lasting solution to this problem, and most devices that use the original Memory Stick form factor support both the original Memory Sticks and the Pro Sticks. Memory Stick Pros have a somewhat higher transfer speed and a maximum theoretical capacity of 32 GB. (As of June 2005 they are available in sizes up to 4 gigabytes.) High Speed Memory Stick Pros are available, and newer devices support this High Speed mode, allowing for faster file transfers. All Memory Stick Pros larger than 1 GB support this High Speed mode, and High Speed Memory Stick Pros are backwards-compatible with devices that don t support the High Speed mode. High capacity memory sticks such as the 2 and 4 gigabyte versions are usually extremely expensive compared to other types of flash memory such as SD Card and Compact Flash.

The MagicGate standard for Memory Sticks is an encryption system to allow music to be downloaded to the card and played back by an authorized device, but not shared. Certain standard Memory Stick and all Pro sticks are MagicGate compatible.

. 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.

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 x 12.5 x 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.

=All Formats Available=

==Original Memory Stick==

*Memory Stick *Memory Stick Select *Memory Stick MagicGate *Memory Stick Select MagicGate

==Memory Stick Pro==

*Memory Stick Pro *Memory Stick Pro High-Speed *Memory Stick Pro MagicGate

==Memory Stick Duo==

*Memory Stick Duo *Memory Stick Duo MagicGate *Memory Stick Duo Adapter

==Memory Stick Pro Duo==

*Memory Stick Pro Duo *Memory Stick Pro Duo High Speed

= Specifications =

Standard transfer speeds:

Pro transfer speeds:

Form Factors:

=External links=