1gb Memory Stick info

[rlc7254]

Went to the memory stick web site today (www.memorystick.com (http://www.memorystick.com) ) to see if any information was there about the new larger sizes. If you go to the memory stick related products and click on media it shows you all the various manufacturers, etc. Click on details for the Sony Magic Gate sticks, and it takes you to this web page (sorry, but it is all in Japanese):

 

http://www.sony.jp/products/ms/ms_lineup/index.html

 

Here you can see the 1gb, 512mg, and 256mb Pro "Magic Gate" sticks. But what is cool is you also see the new non-Magic Gate (purple) 256mb stick, which is actually 2 128mb sticks in one. It shows pictures of the front and back. On the back, in addtion to the lock button, is an A/B switch to select which memory you are using. Nice to see that they are making a bigger one for those devices that aren't upgradeable.

 

[Unicorn]

That is what Sony called Memory Stick Select.

[contempt]

Which is just like carrying two 128meg memory sticks. Might be handy to some, but a lame idea for Sony's bandage solution for their outdated media.

[-MV-]

it is said release dates for both MS Pro and MS Select will be on march 21st, 2 months from now

[ppnews]

Magicgate only? So does that mean only ATRAC3 can be played back? Or general MP3s are fine?

[rlc7254]

Originally posted by ppnews
Magicgate only? So does that mean only ATRAC3 can be played back? Or general MP3s are fine?

Sony says that the Magic Gate sticks will do everything the non-Magic Gate sticks do, including playing MP3s. They just have the ablity to play copyrighted music. I have used mine to read Ebooks.

 

[mshaf]

Interesting...they will come out on March 21st according to the website.

[robrecht]

Originally posted by contempt
Might be handy to some, but a lame idea for Sony's bandage solution for their outdated media.

Why aren't more Clie owners upset by SONY's deception of it's loyal customers when C|Net broke the story last December regarding the lack of backward compatibility?

Not to mention the long-term misrepresentation that SONY foisted upon buyers of memory stick devices for the past couple of years. They promised faster 2 GB memory sticks without any mention of incompatibility issues.

Recall this very widely disseminated claim:

"As Memory Stick media capacities continue to increase in the next century, Memory Stick's original serial protocol will ensure compatibility among current products and media, and the products and media of the future."

-SONY, Oct 10-12, 2002

[vansouza]

Because life goes on and S%^T happens... once we used DOS and it evolved... what hurts is that Sony evolves so quickly, read financially painfully.

[robrecht]

I'm all in favor of evolution and fast evolution too. I just don't like SONY deceiving their loyal customers.

[robogrunt]

According to the latest info, the new ms' will work fine in our NX Clie's. This was reported by infosync staff at the last electronics trade show....

"Not all devices will support the new format, however. Some products already have support for the Memory Stick Pro built-in, suggesting that Sony has been "priming the market" for some time, while others will require a software upgrade. In particular, Sony's CLIE NX-line and NZ-line of Palm OS handhelds will support the Memory Stick Pro with a software patch. No other members of the CLIE line will support the new Memory Stick".

You can find the article at http://www.infosync.no/show.php?id=2889

[Lizard]

The issue was, they wanted to make the new ms compatible with all devices, but apparently there was some problem with it, so they had to make the ms pro. I'm not defending Sony, I just wanted to put that out there. I heard somewhere that they had been trying to just make bigger MSs and it didn't work.. oh well.. c'est la vie!

[pigburger]

Originally posted by robrecht
I'm all in favor of evolution and fast evolution too. I just don't like SONY deceiving their loyal customers.

Bill Gates was once quoted as saying 256K is the most memory any computer will need. I have a gig in my desktop, I don't hold it against him. No wait, I actually do, maybe that's a bad example....

[robrecht]

For me the issue is not primarily SONY's lack of foresight regarding technological limitations of the old Memory Stick. If it needed to evolve, I'm glad it's evolving.

For me the issue is that SONY deceived their loyal customers into believing that the evolving Memory Sticks with higher capacities and faster transfer rates would be compatible with their many Memory Stick enabled devices that they've been selling for the past 2 years.

I'm glad NX owners will be able to upgrade to Memory Stick Pro, but it is a shame that SONY deceived the rest of their customers who bought cameras, other clies, laptops, etc.