Sony started the year with a big bang, unleashing a slew of new products - almost too many to count. The highlight of last week's launch was the Memory Stick Pro, a tiny stick of flash memory storage which can take up to 1GB of data. It can get a bit confusing because there are now four types of Sony Memory Sticks with some product compatibility issues. The original Memory Stick (MS) is used in all Sony products with MS slots. Capacities range from 16 to 128MB, the latter priced at HK$600. The Memory Stick Duo, aimed at portable, wearable devices, is about half the size of the Memory Stick and has capacities from 16 to 64MB. There are not many products with MS Duo slots, even from Sony. Its digital audio players and Sony-Ericsson's soon-to-be-launched P800 have slots taking MS Duo cards. You can use Memory Stick Duo cards in MS slots if you buy an MS adapter. The 64 MB MS Duo card costs HK$500. The Memory Stick with Memory Select Function was launched last week and takes capacities up to 256MB on a single card. It looks just like the original MS and can be used in all Sony products with MS slots. The difference is it has a mechanical switch on the back of the media that lets you record on two memory units. So you can store personal information in one unit and business-related information in the second. Priced at HK$1,100, it is slightly cheaper per MB than buying two MS sticks. The Memory Stick Pro is a different kettle of fish. All existing Sony products with MS slots cannot take the MS Pro. While it resembles the original MS, it is not the same deal. It is a new format jointly developed by Sony and flash memory king, SanDisk, that is optimised for video recording with DVD quality. MS Pro launched with three capacities - 256MB, 512MB and 1GB. The MS Pro roadmap indicates that it could go up to 32GB, though no timeline was specified. The Sony Clie PEG-NX70V/H launched late last year and more than 30 current Vaio PCs can accept the Memory Stick Pro media after a software upgrade. The following new products feature MS Pro compatibility: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F717 and F77 digital cameras, Sony digital handycam TRV-350 and TRV335E, Sony DPP-EX5 and EX7 digital photo printers, Sony Clie PEG-NZ90/H, Sony Plasma WEGA KE-42MR1, Sony LCD TV WEGA KLV-30MR1, Sony LCD Projector CINEZA VPL-HS10, Sony MSAC-US7 and US70 USB optical mouse and Memory Stick adapter, Sony MSAC-PC3 PC Card Memory Stick adapter, as well as Sony USB Memory Stick Adapter MSAC-US2 and US20. Memory Stick Pro Specifications Price: 256MB HK$1,500, 512MB HK$3,400, 1GB HK$6,800 Pros: Much faster transfer speed of 20MB/sec, minimum write speed of 15Mbps, enhanced security Cons: Product incompatibility
