Sony Europe will introduced the Memory Stick Micro (M2) products for mobiles with storage capacities of 256MB, 512MB and 1GB later this year.

The "M2" media is approximately one-quarter the volume of "Memory Stick PRO Duo" media, yet only about 1.2mm thick. M2 media is designed as an externally removable media with a controlled eject function to prevent users losing the media. Following the trend of mobile phones which operate at 1.8 volts, the M2 has been designed as dual-voltage media. In addition to 1.8 volt support, the media offers 3.3 volt operation which is required for existing "Memory Stick PRO" compatible products.

Launched today, the Sony Ericsson M600i is the first mobile phone compatible with the M2. Users of the new, compact and stylish UMTS messaging phone can store various types of content to the M2 media, such as contacts and email attachments as well as multimedia files including music, pictures, video clips and documents. As the M2 is an external storage media, it allows users to exchange this content between the mobile phone and a PC with a Memory Stick PRO slot, using an M2 adaptor.

Sony plans to ship the 256MB and 512MB versions of the M2 media from March, and the 1GB model from May 2006. The estimated enduser price of the M2 media will be similar to the price of the current Memory Stick PRO Duo media.