11-25-2002, 08:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Reduced Size MultiMediaCards (RS-MMCTM)
So am I the only one who thought that MultiMediaCards were small enough already? Apparently the people behing MMC didn't think so - they've released a new form of MMC that's 40% smaller than before. They have the same 7-pin connector as before, so they're compatible with current devices...although I have to admit I'm confused how this will work since the cards are now 18mm tall instead of 32mm tall, which begs the question of how we'll get them in and out of our Pocket PCs. An adaptor of some sort?
Volume (in cm3 ) evice type
5.14: CompactFlash
3.01: Sony Memory Stick
1.27: Smart Media
1.08: MultiMediaCard (Standard)
0.85: xD-Picture Card
0.60: MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC)
"A reduced-size standard for the MultiMediaCard� was approved at the MultiMediaCard Association�s recent membership meeting in Boston, according to Andy Prophet, Executive Director of the trade organization.
The new Reduced Size MultiMediaCards (RS-MMCTM) will store data for mobile phones in a form factor that is approximately one-half the size of the standard MultiMediaCard. The new cards will be manufactured and marketed by various members of the MMCA with density ranges of 16/32/64 Mbytes available immediately, expanding to 128 and 256 Mbytes later in 2003. Both standard and RS-MMCs have seven pins and can be used in existing host platform. However, the MMCA believes the new RS-MMCs will find most acceptance in next-generation smart mobile phones. The RS-MMC proposal was cosponsored by Hitachi Ltd. and EEMS Italia SpA, Europe's leading provider of back-end manufacturing services for semiconductor memory.
Dimensions of the reduced size cards are 24x18x1.4 mm3, reduced from 24x32x1.4 mm� in existing cards. The reduced size cards are supported by cell phone makers that understand the advantage for their next generation products where space and power are at a premium. In addition, compliance issues have been taken into consideration so that, for example, a card from a cell phone can be inserted in a digital camera."
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11-25-2002, 08:09 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,466
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There is such a thing as TOO small. At these sizes, storage cards are becoming dangerously easy to lose. Take one out of your pocket, and it's gone with the wind.  ops:
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11-25-2002, 08:15 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 390
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Hey maybe now Dual SD slots are practical to build in PDA? this could be something.
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11-25-2002, 08:16 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 268
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NEVER 2 small, IMHO. Unless, that is, it gets to the point of requiring handling by tweezers. That would be a pain and a half :P I would definitely prefer capacity over physical size though, any day...
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11-25-2002, 08:33 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 108
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by mookie123
Hey maybe now Dual SD slots are practical to build in PDA? this could be something.
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You mean dual RS-MMC slots? 
If the first ones can go up to 64MB vs the current SD's 512MB, then I'd rather have one SD-slot that have 8 times the capacity of 2 RS-MMC slots for storage. 
However, this might fit a niche for ultra small devices, like a wristwatch PDA, a ring communicator, a pen phone (like the PC-ePhone's), etc. Afterall, I think MMC is losing out to SD in MMC's size range.
For full-size PDAs though, I think SD is tiny enough.
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11-25-2002, 08:35 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,329
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I could see a legit reason for building such memory directly into the Pocket PC as sort of a wanna be hard drive. But as a stand alone device something like that really would be too small. Imagine trying to hold such a thing in your fingers. It would be unwieldy and way to easy to lose. As Foo said there is such a thing as too small.
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11-25-2002, 08:41 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 248
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Built-in
Unless it means they will start putting them into the devices themselves, I would rather see bigger, cheaper versions of the current standard.
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11-25-2002, 08:53 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 143
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I think that the xD and the RS-MMCTM (whatever) are just WAY to tiny fo any real use in a PDA. SD is on the border of being TOO small, but becasue it comes in high capacity (and it's the only memory my handheld takes) i'm OK with it. Also, the word "RS-MMCTM" is also too big, especially for an acronym. Can you imagine going into an electronics store and asking someone for an "Are Ess Em Em See Tee Em" card? This is almost as bad as the Memory stick duo, in terms of size. MMCs also tend to hold very little for it's area. It's 589 MB/cm3 (max) for CF but only about 119MB/cm3 for MMC.
All in all, we need to keep CF & SD, but kill MMC, MS, MS-DUO, xD, and RS-MMCTM. Two memory formats for PDAs and cameras is all we need (or want, for that matter)
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11-25-2002, 10:00 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 153
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Merlion
For full-size PDAs though, I think SD is tiny enough.
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Does anybody else see the irony in this statement? Since when are PDA's "full-size"?
-Jim
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11-25-2002, 10:13 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 725
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by jmulder
Does anybody else see the irony in this statement? Since when are PDA's "full-size"? |
Actually, after having the "how big is this compared to this..." discussion a few thousand times I'm beginning to think a few standard PDA form factors might not be a bad idea :wink:
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