Memory Stick Duo Coming in July (Updated)

Posted By: Ed Monday, June 3, 2002 7:55:33 PM

Sony has announced that the long-awaited Memory Stick Duo will be released in Japan in July. Duos are about a third the size of regular Memory Sticks. The first ones will be 16 MB with larger capacities coming later. There is no word yet on price or when they will be available in other countries.

The smaller slots required for the smaller cards could allow Sony to further reduce the size of its handhelds. However, Sony primarily designed the Duo to be used in devices even smaller than handhelds, like MP3 players. There will be an adapter that allows current handhelds to use the new format cards.

Update: The Duo Memory Stick format isn't a replacement for regular Memory Sticks; Sony will continue to make both through at least 2005. In addition, it projects that regular Memory Sticks will outsell Duo ones for the foreseeable future.

Later this year or early next year, Sony hopes to have Memory Stick Duos up to 128 MB. It hopes to have 1 GB regular Memory Sticks by that same time. In 2004, Sony believes it will have 2 GB Memory Sticks and 1 GB Duos. The year after, it hopes to release 4 GB Memory Sticks.

A Duo card is 1.2 by .80 by .06 inches. It weighs .07 ounces. A regular Memory Stick is 2.0 by .85 by .11 inches and weighs .14 ounces.

Sony will also make Magic Gate versions of the Duo sticks. These will include extra security features which allow users to store ATRAC3 files on them.

Sony is also working on the Memory Stick-ROM, which is a read only version. These will cost less than regular Memory Sticks and be used to distribute digital content, like music.

The company has had a fair amount of success with the Memory Stick format. According to NPD Intellect, Memory Sticks accounted for 22% of memory card sales last year in the U.S. However, this is well behind CompactFlash, with 42% and SmartMedia with 31%. On the other hand, it is well ahead of SD, which had only 1.8%.

Thanks to xumdeo and all the others for the tips. Thanks to popko for his help with this article. -Ed

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I wish they would release a memory stick first...

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 8:38:34 PM #
Well, it's good they are introducing a new product. But when will they release a 256MB or 512MB memory stick?
RE: I wish they would release a memory stick first...
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 8:53:08 PM #
I'm sure they are waiting until they can sell them for a resonable cost. At this point, a 256MB one would cost about $180 and the 512MB at least $360. At those prices, they'd sell about 5 of them.
RE: I wish they would release a memory stick first...
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 7:14:36 AM #
About 5 of them? Thats exactly what IBM thought about computers... I wish they dropped memory sticks and stick to compact flash, but thats aint gonna happen :(
RE: I wish they would release a memory stick first...
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 9:06:18 AM #
No way, pro photographers need storage for their 6-8 mega-pixel RAW images. 6MP CCD's are comign to consumers soon, so Sony would be smart to get them selling now to secure lower prices in the future.

So.........

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 8:41:44 PM #
what does this mean for my new $600 sony digital camera and my new $500 clie??? is sony obsoleting its current crop of products which use memory sticks? will there be a universal attachment for all of sony's 'old' products? ugh...sony's innovations are startin to get a little frusterating...
RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 8:47:17 PM #
Nope. Sony is not obsoleting the original Memory Stick. There will be an adapter for the Duo that will fit on the old memory stick slots.

So, if every Memory stick manufacturer on Earth stops producing the old Memory Stick in favour of the Duo, you can still use all the existing machines that have the old memory stick slots. Relax friends.

The Duo is a good thing -- I have seen pictures on a device that has 1 Memory Stick slot & 1 duo slot -- the duo slot for storage, the memory stick slot for camera/GPS/Bluetooth.

RE: So.........
nXt @ 6/3/2002 8:47:56 PM #
Read.. there's an adapter to use the new DUO in existing memory stick products.

It looks pretty cool with the adapter too.

nXt's Clie Club
Place To Be For Sony Clie Discussion
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nxtclieclub

RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 8:49:19 PM #
i read, the article only mentioned that the adapter is for the handheld...im worried about my camera...
RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 8:51:33 PM #
It's pretty simple really - an adapter clicks on the end of the MS Duo to make it the same size and dimensions of the regular MS. Hence it'll work in any existing MS device.
RE: So.........
Ed @ 6/3/2002 8:51:36 PM #
The adpater will make a Memory Stick Duo act like a regular Memory Stick for all devices. I only phrased it that way because this is a handheld site.

---
News Editor
RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 9:00:40 PM #
cool....that makes alot of sense ed...

how much smaller will the memory stick duo make handhelds anyway??? I hope they arent gonna be ridiculously priced like the original memory stick was when they were first released...

RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 10:32:04 PM #
Is it just me or is anyone else sick and tired of Sony constantly releasing new products, and then abandoning their existing base? You only have to look at cameras, camcorders or even pda's to know that once discontinued finding anything of relevance is left to those whom are dedicated or own the product. Sony should get other producers in addition to Acer to include the basic memory stick, (and while we're at it make the capacity higher so we give compact flash and SD a kick) rather than develop one technology after another and leave a wake of Beta Tapes in the history of technology.
RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 10:53:40 PM #
The DUO has been in the making for a year or so, and now is being released. Nothing new here.

And anyways so what, they keep upgrading and making their products better... why would you want to buy an old [insert product] anyways?

RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 11:42:38 PM #
To the 10:32 I.M. Anonymous poster,
You're right. Sony should stop improving its products and just release the same crapola for years on end. Hey, it worked for American car makers for decades until the Japanese car mfrs showed up. Ah, but of course Sony is a _Japanese_ mfr itself. Guess they'll just keep on innovatin' and I'll keep on buyin'. Hope your happy with your Emerson.

To everyone else,
Will the Duo be any quicker? Will the adapter cause any slowing of read/write from the already unimpressive speed of the full size MemStick? (I couldn't find enough info on the Memory Stick PR site and the Babelfish link isn't working, if the answer is there.)

RE: So.........
mashoutposse @ 6/4/2002 1:06:39 AM #
Sony WILL keep producing regular Memory Sticks. Here are their projections of the sales of both MS and MS DUO over the next couple of years:

FY2002:

-16 million regular Memory Sticks sold (36 million sold lifetime)
-1.9 million Memory Stick DUOs sold


FY2003:

-24 million regular Memory Sticks sold (60 million sold lifetime)
-7.2 million Memory Stick DUOs sold (9.1 million sold lifetime)


FY2004:

-60 million regular Memory Sticks sold (120 million sold lifetime)
-30 million Memory Stick DUOs sold (39.1 million sold lifetime)


Doesn't look to me like they're going to phase out the regular sticks. Again, the DUOs are strictly for cellphones (at the moment, anyway).

Here is a graph of this sales forecast, straight from the Sony conference:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/2002/0603/ms16.jpg

RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 6:12:00 AM #
i see, everybody is happy to have an adapter, but wait!... what about all the memory sticks i already bought - they ll definetely not work with the new devices, right? or did i miss a detail?
RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 10:52:04 AM #
>> Is it just me or is anyone else sick and tired of Sony constantly releasing new products, and then abandoning their existing base? <<

Is it just me or is anyone else sick and tired of this baseless form of bitching whenever Sony introduces a new product?

Dude, you need to get a grip instead of a gripe.

RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 11:14:10 AM #
I can't beleive the stupid 'Sony is making the memory stick obsolete!' comments. Like the article said "Sony will continue to make both through at least 2005" - and its pretty obvious if its still selling, and meeting the above mentioned forecasts, they'll continue selling it beyond that. Now SD is another matter - only 1.8% of the mem card market!
RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 6:31:18 PM #
wait a minute, its for cell phones? First of all no cell phone takes a memory card that I know. Second sony doesnt make any cellphone.
RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 6:55:22 PM #
There are Siemens phones out on the market that take MMC/SD cards.

As for Sony creating phones, take a look at http://www.sonyericsson.com

:)

RE: So.........
mashoutposse @ 6/4/2002 9:09:40 PM #
DoCoMo 3G cellphones in Japan will sport MS DUO slots. The DUO is a Japan-only product at the moment.

RE: So.........
fitzer @ 6/5/2002 5:25:48 AM #
Sony do make cell phones, I have a Sony Z7 on my desk as I write, one of their phones has an mp3 player built in and, I believe, uses MS.

Ian

RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/8/2002 12:42:07 AM #
Lots of comments about being frustrated with Sony always producing new formats, what some call innovation.
Look around, its not just Sony who is trying to do this. Any of the electronics manufacturers are trying to come up with what is going to be the next best thing.
Why? It has little to do with trying to innovate, and more to do with things like: Market Share, Profits, Revenue, MONEY!!

If these companies did not come up with something new, they would cease to exist. If there was nothing new, none of the Sony maniacs would have anything new to buy and Sony would not make money. At the end of the day, these products are just commondities. Most people in developed nations already own things like a TV, VCR, Camera, etc, so unless companies like Sony create new formats (so called innovate), there would be no reason to buy anything new.

So regardless of how much complaining or moaning anyone does, these companies will continue to produce new looking products and new formats. How else can they stay in business.

RE: So.........
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/4/2002 10:46:32 AM #
The sony ericsson p800 cellphone will use a memory stick duo. This is in response to the person that said no cellphones use memory sticks.

And Sony dont make cellphones ? What rock you been living under.

broken link.

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 8:47:00 PM #
hey ed--the link in the article seems to be broken...
RE: broken link.
Ed @ 6/3/2002 8:50:02 PM #
Works fine for me. You might try this:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O32023DF

Here it is in the original Japanese:
www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press/200206/02-0603/

---
News Editor

RE: broken link.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 9:41:55 PM #
Ed, I believe babelfish doesn't accept direct referrals of the sort you're attempting to provide(with the article-to-be-translated already encoded in the url).

They check the referrer property of the http request to make sure that referrer is babelfish.altavista.com. This makes sure that people using babelfish visit the main babelfish page and is a standard mathod of eliminating deep linking. It most likely still works for you because the translation is cached in your browser.

RE: broken link.
big_raji @ 6/3/2002 11:46:57 PM #
Go to http://babelfish.altavista.com

then manually put in this address:

http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press/200206/02-0603/

---
What's Wrong With This Picture?
http://raj.phangureh.com/picture.html

Obsolence.

I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 10:06:56 PM #
The adapter will prevent current devices from becoming unusable with the new MS Duo,

but current Memory sticks will become obsolete. I mean the people that have already spend their money on Memory Sticks won't be able to use them with newer Sony devices(cammeras, handhedls, etc.).

This sucks.

RE: Obsolence.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 10:21:04 PM #
It's called "PROGRESS", idiot.
RE: Obsolence.
msmasitti @ 6/3/2002 10:27:10 PM #
Well, then why don't you stick with your good old Apple IIe, and your 486 as well? Sacrifices such as this need to be made, otherwise technology won't get very far. Some common examples include going from ISA to PCI slots, Serial to USB (and/or Firewire), and most likely VGA to DVI.

------------------------
Mario
CLIE Moderator
http://www.geocities.com/msmasitti
RE: Obsolence.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/3/2002 11:08:22 PM #
" It's called "PROGRESS", idiot."

Stupid moronic comments like those make PIC forums unfriendly and barbarian like. I think the guy posting these things is the University of Puerto Rico Linux Troll.

Ed please remove those uncivilized comments.

Not Obsolet
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 12:25:56 AM #
Based on the info from their website, the old format MS is not obsolete because it has bigger size and can be more easily expended to hold more data in the future. 1G MS is duo out in two years!

The max MS is 128M now, and max MSD is only 64M.

I think the MSD to MS is like SD to CF in some way.

RE: Obsolence.
mashoutposse @ 6/4/2002 12:52:47 AM #
The new DUO is to be used in DoCoMo cellphones in Japan. They will not replace the standard Memory Stick in any other device for the forseeable future.

The DUO is the smallest memory card on the market -- only 85% the size of an SD card. This makes removeable memory feasible for small mobile phones.

RE: Obsolence.
alchemist @ 6/4/2002 12:57:07 AM #
I disagree; there is an article in PIC (www.PalmInfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=2131) which says:

"The company plans to introduce a 256MB card by this year's holiday buying season, and a 512MB card in early 2002.

Additionally, the company is targeting a 1GB card by the end of 2002, a 2GB card in 2003, and a 4GB card in 2004, which can hold an entire DVD-quality movie. "

So, in no way can SD be compared to MS Duo, neither can it be thought as inferior to CF...

_________
alchemist

RE: Obsolence.
mashoutposse @ 6/4/2002 1:16:22 AM #
Sony WILL keep producing regular Memory Sticks. Here are their projections of the sales of both MS and MS DUO over the next couple of years:

FY2002:

-16 million regular Memory Sticks sold (36 million sold lifetime)
-1.9 million Memory Stick DUOs sold


FY2003:

-24 million regular Memory Sticks sold (60 million sold lifetime)
-7.2 million Memory Stick DUOs sold (9.1 million sold lifetime)


FY2004:

-60 million regular Memory Sticks sold (120 million sold lifetime)
-30 million Memory Stick DUOs sold (39.1 million sold lifetime)


Doesn't look to me like they're going to phase out the regular sticks. Again, the DUOs are strictly for cellphones (at the moment, anyway).

Here is a graph of this sales forecast, straight from the Sony conference:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/2002/0603/ms16.jpg


RE: Obsolence.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 7:20:19 AM #
That article about Sony's future plans is dated SUMMER _2001_!!!!
RE: Obsolence.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 9:43:03 AM #
>That article about Sony's future plans is dated SUMMER _2001_!!!!

So?

RE: Obsolence.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/4/2002 5:34:27 PM #
"So, in no way can SD be compared to MS Duo, neither can it be thought as inferior to CF..."

Oh, please, you might try posting that again when there are about as many MS *devices* as there are CF ones (even if you constrain it to ones with PalmOS drivers on the HandEra compatibility page at handera.com), and MS capacity and price point both *actually* fall in line with CF ones.

Until then it's folley to hold projections of the future up and say that MS can't be referred to as "inferior" to CF.

In terms of *expansion* one can still do a whole lot more with a 3 year old TrgPro and it's CF slot, than one can with yesterdays Clie. That will certainly not always be the case, but it is today, and no amount of projections change that.

RE: Obsolence.
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/5/2002 4:21:38 AM #
You know I agree this sucks. I spent a fortune on 5.25 inch floppies about 15 years ago, and these days I can't use then in my PC at home, or my Visor, or my laptop. I tried to use one to store MP3 files for my player, and there was no way I could do it... And those punch cards I have... what about them?

Come on manufacturers.... get a grip. Stop making things faster better smaller and cheaper. While we're at it, let's get rid of electricity... my old gas lanterns are useless.... Wonder if the original poster is getting the message yet... It appears that his brain is certainly obsolete and hey prefers sticking his foot in his mouth and flapping his gums.

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