In January, Sony announced that it would release two new versions of its memory cards, called Memory Stick PRO and Memory Stick Select. At the time, the company didn't expect these until April. Yesterday, the company announced that these would actually be released this month and cost less than expected.
Sony will release the first Memory Stick PRO cards in three sizes. A 256 MB one will cost $150, a 512 MB will be $320, and a 1 GB will be $640.
Memory Stick PRO format is significantly faster than current ones. However, it's not compatible with all models of Clie handhelds. While Sony is currently working on a patch to allow the NX series and the NZ90 to use the Memory Stick PRO, they will not work will other CLIE models. It's not known when this patch will be available.
These card will all include Sony MagicGate security technology. Contrary to a frequently held belief, MP3s can be stored on these. MagicGate also allows users to store audio in Sony's ATRAC3 format, which regular Memory Sticks do not.
Memory Stick Select is Sony's answer for handhelds that can't use the PRO format but want more than 128 MB of storage. This offers multiple 128 MB memory units on a single card the size of a current Memory Stick. Users select which unit to read from or write to with a switch located on the back of the card.
A 256 MB Memory Stick with Select Function will be available for $135. One with four 128 MB parts is in development.
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