Developed by Sony, the Memory Stick is a digital data storage technology with up to 10 times the storage capacity of a 3.5 diskette. Sony is promoting the Memory Stick as a new way to share and transfer pictures, sound, and other data between different compact electronic devices such as digital cameras and camcorder. About the size of a flat AA battery, Memory Sticks are available in 4mb, 8mb, 16mb, 32mb and 64mb sizes. They are smaller in size than comparable data storage devices, including smart media and compact flash memory.
In mid-2000, the Sony Vaio was the only laptop available with a Memory Stick slot, but any laptop with a PC card slot can use memory sticks with an adapter kit. Like its floppy disk predecessor, the Memory Stick has a lock mechanism to prevent the erasure of data. It has a 10-pin connector.
In promoting the Memory Stick as a common portable storage medium, Sony has licensed the technology to companies such as Adobe, Pioneer, Casio, and Sharp. Sony recently unveiled the Memory Stick Walkman and the Memory Stick Digital Voice Recorder.