Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New Sony Palm, With Removable Memory Stick

Posted by Hemos on from the i-think-i-might-need-to-upgrade-my-five dept.

A reader sent to us the story that the fruits of the Palm/Sony alliance have been unveiled. Yes, it's the Palm V - sort of. It's got a jog dial with navigation - but the kicker is the Sony memory stick that's built in. That means for all those times that you fill up the memory with Kyle's Quest...I mean important notes, you can swap the stick out. Not amazing, but cool for a first product.

1 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Sony = Magic Gate = SDMI = Loss of Freedom by Saurentine · · Score: 5
    Before we all rush out to buy this admittedly very cool interpretation of a PalmOS device, keep in mind that the Clie uses a Sony Memory Stick for the expansion. Although Sony Memory Sticks available in both "normal" and "Magic Gate" versions now, I can forsee a future where the "normal" version just isn't available. Sony controls the format completely, and can dictate what the supply will be.

    What a "Magic Gate", you ask? SDMI compliant memory chips for digital content management. That's right, if you use Sony's products you put them in control over your fair use rights. Maybe not today, but certainly within the foreseeable future.

    This is why EVERYONE should be telling EVERYONE they know to use ONLY industry standard, open memory formats such as Compact Flash (CF) and SmartMedia. I wish I knew who contolled these formats, and to what degree they can influence the market, but I don't. But what I do know is that there are many manufacturers of both CF and SmartMedia, so I don't forsee an SDMI takeover on that front.