Also known as MMC, the MultiMediaCard was first introduced in November 1997 by SanDisk Corporation (www.sandisk.com). It is the world's smallest removable solid-state memory solution for mobile applications such as Audio Players, Cellulars, Digital Video Cameras, MP3 Players, PDAs, Voice Recorders and others. The MMC standard was already adopted by dozens of companies such as Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Siemens, Compaq, Motorola, Nokia, Pioneer, Qualcomm, Palm, FujiFilm and many others.
At the size of a postage stamp, weighting less than 2 grams (0.07 oz.; they are, however, the largest memory cards on the market, mass-wise), MultiMediaCards are available in 64, 128, 256, 512, and 1024 megabytes (as of 2006). The MMC requires between 2.0 and 3.6 volts to function -- meaning they are very efficient from a power standpoint.
MultiMediaCards are secure and can be locked down to prevent the data from being erased. They can also be encrypted to prevent from the information to be copied.
So what do we have so far? A removable, tiny, lightweight, secure storing solutions which is accepted by literally dozens of companies to be implemented into their latest products. This sounds as the perfect solution for distributing digital music. In fact, the Keitaide-Music Consortium in Japan has chosen MMC to distribute music content to users. Imagine buying your favorite album on a stamp sized memory chip which cannot be copied, spooky.
For more information about MultiMediaCard head to the MultiMediaCard Association website at www.mmca.org.