Sony announces Memory Stick Micro (M2) for mobile phones
Posted by Chris Leckness on 02/6/06 in Smart Phones
Well, Sony is at it again. According to a press release on the Sony-Europe website, Sony will soon be launching a new type of flash memory called Memory Stick Micro ("M2" for short). It will be targeted at the mobile phone platform to compete with the likes of microSD flash memory that has been available for awhile now. So now once again, even though there are already perfectly capable memory formfactors out there, Sony decides to go the proprietary route and create the M2. This means that if I go buy future Sony phones, I will likely have to toss aside my current microSD card and go buy a Sony M2 card instead. Sure it creates more profit for Sony, but it hurts the consumer by making it more difficult to switch to a Sony device without "repurchasing" accessories that you’ve already invested in.
Here is what Sony has to say concerning the availability and prices of the M2:
"Sony plans to ship the 256MB and 512MB versions of the ‘M2’ media from March, and the 1GB model from May 2006. The estimated enduser price of the ‘M2’ media will be similar to the price of the current ‘Memory Stick PRO Duo’ media. Availability and prices will vary from country to country." -Sony Europe
While I personally don’t like the idea of proprietary memory, most consumers have given in to Sony in the past on this… so why stop now. I’m sure this will be a hit just like all of the past MemoryStick branded products that Sony has released. And with the release of the Sony Ericsson M600i today, I’m sure most consumers who purchase the phone will go ahead and buy an M2 card as soon as they become available.
Source: Sony Europe
Written by Chris Leckness · Filed Under Smart Phones
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Fantastic… just what we need. Another Memory card format. Still gives me a reason to go and get a new 28748 in 1 card reader
Yippee, yet another proprietary Sony format. This is why I don’t own a sony phone; incompatible memory format. I own SD and CF-format memory cards, both of which I can read/write in my PDA, both of which come much cheaper per MB. Oh, and microSD was available first, is smaller (at this size, does it really matter?) and will undoubtedly be less expensive when Sony finally gets around to distributing it in the US, probably a year after you can get it in Japan.
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