Before 2010, Sony products used the company's proprietary memory stick instead of SD memory cards.
In 1998, Sony began manufacturing memory sticks for its digital media-capable devices, such as cameras and MP3 players. Unlike other companies' camcorders, cameras and digital music players that could use standardized, industrywide SD memory cards, Sony's devices used only a proprietary memory stick. Although these memory sticks stored digital content in the same manner as SD cards, these sticks could only work on Sony devices. In January 2010, though, Sony began releasing devices with both SD and memory-stick capability.
PlayStation Portable
Gamers can use Sony memory sticks for a number of functions in Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP). These memory sticks allow users to transfer videos, music, games and images from their personal computers (PC) to the PSP. Users can also download updates for the PSP station and PSP games from Sony's website to their memory stick and then use the stick to transfer the updates to the PSP. Some PSP models can also shoot video and photo images and store these file types on the memory stick.
Sony VAIO Computers
Sony produces its VAIO line of proprietary desktop and laptop computers. For these devices, users can treat the memory stick in the same manner that they would treat flash memory cards or a USB portable memory device. Users can transfer files of all types (such as Word documents, photos and music) to the memory stick and then load these files from the Sony memory stick onto another computer. The Sony memory sticks also enable users to backup files for storage and safekeeping in case of a computer crash.
Sony Cameras
Digital cameras and some of the camcorders that Sony released prior to 2010 use the Sony memory stick to store recorded images, video and audio. Sony released these video sticks in a number of megabyte storage sizes, ranging from the original capacity of 128 MB to the current models that hold up to 32 GB of files. Sony camcorders that shoot video to the memory stick can record a variable amount of footage depending on the digital video resolution. (For example, high-definition 780p or 1080i video requires more space than standard digital video). Cameras will shoot images with a file size that depends upon the camera's megapixel resolution. Sony offers its Cybershot camera in a variety of megapixel resolution models, all of which use its proprietary memory sticks to store images.
Sony Digital Music Players
Sony's MP3-capable digital music players, such as the MP3 Walkman, rely on Sony's memory sticks to store music and audio files. Users can use the memory sticks to share music between devices, play the same music on multiple Sony MP3 capable devices, and transfer music from a computer to an MP3-capable player.
Tags: memory stick, memory sticks, Sony memory, memory cards, memory sticks, proprietary memory
