As digital cameras became smaller, memory devices had to follow suite. With modern cameras the size of a credit card, SanDisk Corporation and Siemens Technologies developed the tiny MultiMediaCard. This is now being marketed by the MultiMediaCard Association
MMC cards come in capacities of up to 2Gb and measure 32x24x1.4mm, which is about 1/5 the size of a CF-card. The latest addition is the reduced size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC), which offers faster data access and is only 1/2 the size of a standard MMC. It is still not the worldâs smallest storage device though, as Samsung Electronics have developed a MMC-Micro, which is only 1/3 the size of a RS-MMC. A 128Mb MMC-Micro can store a maximum of 60 5-megapixel images or 50min. of video.
MMC cards are used for mobile phones, MP-3 players, laptop computers, digital (video) cameras and GPS Units. It uses ROM technology for read-only applications and Flash technology for read/write applications such as digicams.
Since it uses a DOS/Windows file structure, it is compatible with desktop computers.
PC connectivity can be through USB ports or PC card adapters. MMCs minute size and power efficiency offer the ability to design very small consumer devices, which only require a single AA or AAA battery to power them.