Types of memory cards

Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format, launched by Sony in October 1998 and is also used in general to describe the whole family of Memory Sticks. The Memory Stick is defined in the minds of many by its proprietary nature, as the majority of portable devices that use it are Sony and Sony Ericsson devices.

CompactFlash - these are the most famous cards on the market. Their dimensions are 43 x 36 x 5 mm and they have the data capacity of 8 up to 4096 MB and more. The data may be stored up to 100 years on those cards. They are most ofen applied in digital cameras.

SmartMedia - they are thicker (37 x 45 x 0.76 mm), but the capacity is also lower - from 4 up to 128 MB. These cards are produced in two versions of power supply - 3 or 5 V and they are less universal than the CompactFlash cards.

The MultiMediaCard (MMC) is a flash memory memory card standard. Unveiled in 1997 by Siemens AG and SanDisk, it is based on Toshiba's NAND-based flash memory, and is therefore much smaller than earlier systems based on Intel NOR-based memory such as CompactFlash. MMC is about the size of a postage stamp: 24 mm x 32 mm x 1.5 mm. MMC originally used a 1-bit serial interface, but newer versions of the specification allow transfers of 4 or sometimes even 8 bits at a time.

Secure Digital (SD) is a flash memory (non-volatile) memory card format used in portable devices, including digital cameras, handheld computers, PDAs and GPS units. SD cards generally measure 32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1mm, but can be as thin as 1.4 mm, just like MMC cards (see below).