Sony Expands Portable Media Lineup

By Staff On Sep 1 2003 - 6:00am

Sony Electronics, which is expanding its line of portable media solutions to offer consumers an even wider range of data storage and transfer capabilities, is introducing three new additions to its Micro Vault products lineup.

The Micro Vault "Mini" is about 60 percent of the size of the original Micro Vault, but features the same functionality as the original line-up, including hi-speed USB 2.0 and the software suite. The Mini line is available in 64MB, 128MB and 256MB capacities and includes a matching docking station. Suggested retails range from $69 to $139.

The Micro Vault line offers a small, sleek form, ultra-portability and the ease associated with storing, sharing and transporting data with Memory Stick read/write capabilities. This provides digital camcorder and camera users with enhanced storage functionality and additional means for transferring images to PCs.

The new product, which integrates 128MB of Micro Vault portable storage with Memory stick media, lets users transfer images from their Memory Stick media onto the Micro Vault device, or transfer images to USB-based desktops and notebooks. Suggested retail is $119.

Sony also is introducing a Micro Vault device with a fingerprint identification system. Here, there is no need to type in Web site passwords. Users' fingerprints are their password. The product stores and automatically enters Web site IDs and passwords with the touch of a finger and a screen saver lock protects unauthorized computer access. Suggested retail for the Micro Vault with Fingerprint ID is $129.

"Popularity of the USB storage media category has more than doubled each quarter for the past year," said Michael Lucas, consumer and convergent media director, adding that it's moving beyond early adopters.