<s>
A	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
is	O
an	O
electronic	O
data	O
storage	O
device	O
used	O
for	O
storing	O
digital	O
information	O
,	O
typically	O
using	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
allow	O
adding	O
memory	O
to	O
such	O
devices	O
using	O
a	O
card	O
in	O
a	O
socket	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
protruding	O
USB	B-Protocol
flash	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
basis	O
for	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
technology	O
is	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
PC	B-Architecture
Cards	I-Architecture
(	O
PCMCIA	B-Architecture
)	O
were	O
the	O
first	O
commercial	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
formats	O
(	O
type	O
I	O
cards	O
)	O
to	O
come	O
out	O
,	O
but	O
are	O
now	O
mainly	O
used	O
in	O
industrial	O
applications	O
and	O
to	O
connect	O
I/O	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
modems	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1992	O
,	O
SanDisk	O
introduced	O
FlashDisk	O
,	O
a	O
PCMCIA	B-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
and	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
memory	B-Device
cards	I-Device
that	O
did	O
not	O
require	O
battery	O
power	O
to	O
retain	O
its	O
contents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
1994	O
,	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
formats	O
smaller	O
than	O
the	O
PC	B-Architecture
Card	I-Architecture
arrived	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
one	O
was	O
CompactFlash	B-Device
and	O
later	O
SmartMedia	B-Operating_System
and	O
Miniature	B-Device
Card	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
desire	O
for	O
smaller	O
cards	O
for	O
cell-phones	O
,	O
PDAs	B-Application
,	O
and	O
compact	O
digital	O
cameras	O
drove	O
a	O
trend	O
that	O
left	O
the	O
previous	O
generation	O
of	O
"	O
compact	O
"	O
cards	O
looking	O
big	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2001	O
,	O
SM	O
alone	O
captured	O
50%	O
of	O
the	O
digital	O
camera	O
market	O
and	O
CF	B-Device
had	O
captured	O
the	O
professional	O
digital	O
camera	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2005	O
however	O
,	O
SD/MMC	O
had	O
nearly	O
taken	O
over	O
SmartMedia	B-Operating_System
's	O
spot	O
,	O
though	O
not	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
level	O
and	O
with	O
stiff	O
competition	O
coming	O
from	O
Memory	O
Stick	O
variants	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
CompactFlash	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
industrial	O
and	O
embedded	O
fields	O
,	O
even	O
the	O
venerable	O
PC	B-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
(	O
PCMCIA	B-Architecture
)	O
memory	B-Device
cards	I-Device
still	O
manage	O
to	O
maintain	O
a	O
niche	O
,	O
while	O
in	O
mobile	O
phones	O
and	O
PDAs	B-Application
,	O
the	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
has	O
become	O
smaller	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
memory	B-Device
cards	I-Device
were	O
expensive	O
,	O
costing	O
US$3	O
per	O
megabyte	O
of	O
capacity	O
in	O
2001	O
;	O
this	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
miniaturized	O
rotating	O
magnetic	B-Device
disk	I-Device
memory	I-Device
devices	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Microdrive	B-Device
,	O
PocketZip	B-Device
and	O
Dataplay	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
three	O
concepts	O
became	O
obsolete	O
once	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
prices	O
became	O
lower	O
and	O
their	O
capacities	O
became	O
higher	O
by	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
2010	O
,	O
new	O
products	O
of	O
Sony	O
(	O
previously	O
only	O
using	O
Memory	O
Stick	O
)	O
and	O
Olympus	O
(	O
previously	O
only	O
using	O
XD-Card	O
)	O
have	O
been	O
offered	O
with	O
an	O
additional	O
SD-Card	B-Device
slot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Effectively	O
the	O
format	O
war	O
has	O
turned	O
in	O
SD-Card	B-Device
'	O
s	O
favor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WiFi	O
SD	B-Device
Cards	I-Device
(	O
SD	B-Device
Card	I-Device
With	O
WiFi	O
Card	O
Built	O
in	O
)	O
Powered	O
by	O
Device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SxS	B-Device
(	O
S-by-S	B-Device
)	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
,	O
a	O
new	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
specification	O
developed	O
by	O
Sandisk	O
and	O
Sony	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SxS	B-Device
complies	O
to	O
the	O
ExpressCard	B-Device
industry	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
older	O
video	B-Application
game	I-Application
consoles	I-Application
used	O
memory	B-Device
cards	I-Device
to	O
hold	O
saved	O
game	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cartridge-based	O
systems	O
primarily	O
used	O
battery-backed	O
volatile	B-General_Concept
RAM	B-Architecture
within	O
each	O
individual	O
cartridge	B-Protocol
to	O
hold	O
saves	O
for	O
that	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cartridges	B-Protocol
without	O
this	O
RAM	B-Architecture
may	O
have	O
used	O
a	O
password	O
system	O
,	O
or	O
would	O
n't	O
save	O
progress	O
at	O
all	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Neo	B-Application
Geo	I-Application
AES	I-Application
,	O
released	O
in	O
1990	O
by	O
SNK	O
,	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
video	B-Application
game	I-Application
console	I-Application
able	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
AES	O
memory	B-Device
cards	I-Device
were	O
also	O
compatible	O
with	O
Neo	B-Application
Geo	I-Application
MVS	I-Application
arcade	O
cabinets	O
,	O
allowing	O
players	O
to	O
migrate	O
saves	O
between	O
home	O
and	O
arcade	O
systems	O
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Memory	B-Device
cards	I-Device
became	O
commonplace	O
when	O
home	O
consoles	O
moved	O
to	O
read-only	O
optical	B-Device
discs	I-Device
for	O
storing	O
the	O
game	O
program	O
,	O
beginning	O
with	O
systems	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
TurboGrafx-CD	O
and	O
Sega-CD	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Until	O
the	O
sixth	B-Application
generation	I-Application
of	I-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
consoles	I-Application
,	O
memory	B-Device
cards	I-Device
were	O
based	O
on	O
proprietary	O
formats	O
;	O
later	O
systems	O
have	O
used	O
established	O
industry	O
formats	O
for	O
memory	B-Device
cards	I-Device
,	O
such	O
as	O
FAT32	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Home	O
consoles	O
now	O
commonly	O
use	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
storage	O
for	O
saved	O
games	O
and	O
allow	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
generic	O
USB	B-Protocol
flash	O
drives	O
or	O
other	O
card	O
formats	O
via	O
a	O
memory	B-Device
card	I-Device
reader	I-Device
to	O
transport	O
game	O
saves	O
and	O
other	O
game	O
information	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
cloud	O
storage	O
saving	O
,	O
though	O
most	O
portable	O
gaming	O
systems	O
still	O
rely	O
on	O
custom	O
memory	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
to	O
store	O
program	O
data	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
their	O
low	O
power	O
consumption	O
,	O
smaller	O
physical	O
size	O
and	O
reduced	O
mechanical	O
complexity	O
.	O
</s>
