Cell Phone Memory Details

It is practically impossible to be talking about camera cellphones and not mentioning Memory. Most of us tend to take innumerable images and store then in mobiles for future references. We actually feel the heat when the cell phone memory gets full forcing us to delete some images or transfer them to some other devices. Though it is practically impossible to store as many images in your camera phone as you could do using your PC, it is still possible to at-least store all the important images that you might need.

Deciding how much memory you need depends partly on logic. High resolution images require more space which directly means you should opt for higher memory in comparison to low resolution images. In addition, if plan on stuffing your mobile with mp3 and video files you should look for additional memory slots.

Camera phones in general have between 20 MB to 50 MB of inbuilt memory, which would allow you to store 100 odd pictures depending on their image quality, image resolution and the compression ratio. But in addition to the in-built cell phone memory most camera mobiles today tend to have expandable memories using detachable memory cards.

So aim for an internal memory of at least 20 MB and always look for mobiles with memory slots. If the manufacturer has included a memory card, even better.

Removable/Detachable Memory Cards
Removable memory cards are a must when it comes to Camera Mobiles. A removable memory card will help you easily transfer images from your mobile to your PCs or printing machines, and at the same time will come to your rescue when your existing internal memory gets full. You will come across two primary types of mobile memory cards the first one being SD or secure digital memory and the other being MMC or Multimedia card memory.

Generally all mobiles having a memory card slot will be able to take both these types of cards. This means, if your mobile-phone has a MMC card slot, it might even take a SD Card and Vise versa. The major difference between these two types of memory cards is the cost factor. SD cards are slightly costlier than MMC cards. But if you don't bother about the price SD cards can be much reliable, help in faster data transfer and are copyright protected. In addition to these cards there are some companies that develop proprietary cards. This means if you buy a mobile from s uch a manufacturer, you will have to buy only the proprietary card, which will obviously be priced above average.

The most popular types of memory cards for mobile phones have been discussed below:

Reduced Size Multimedia Card (RS-MMC)
The RS-MMC or Reduced Size Multimedia Card is a small and removable flash memory card that can be used for storage of content, images, video and music. This card is compatible with mobiles having MMC card slots and can be used with adaptors which are generally included with the card. The RS-MMC card is available in various storage sizes ranging from 128MB to 512 MB.

Mini Secure Digital Card (miniSD Card)
The Mini SD card is a powerful and compact memory card that is available in storage capacities ranging from 64 MB to 1 GB. The card assumes much popularity than the standard SD card mainly because of its compact size which makes it over 60% smaller. The miniSD card is a product of SanDisk and can be used to store images, digital video, MP3 files and other data in cell phones.

TransFlash Memory Card
The Scandisk TransFlash Memory card is an ultra small, semi-removable flash memory card which is based on the miniSD card and TriFlash designs. Many of the latest mobile phones from Motorola use this card which also allows transfer of content between TransFlash enabled phones. Due to the extremely small size of the card, frequent removing and handling of the card is not advisable. The card is available in storage capacities ranging from 64 or 128MB and can be used alongside an SD card.

USB Mobile Readers
Mobile Readers are very small and can be used to store images and content on mobile phones. The best part about these cards is that they are compatible with most card slots including SD/miniSD/MultiMediaCard/RS-MMC/TransFlash and Memory Stick/Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick PRO/ Memory Stick PRO Duo. The flash memory cards can be plugged directly into the readers. No card adapters are required. Carry it with you so you always have access to your important data.

Memory Stick Duo
Memory Stick Duo is an excellent memory card that comes with MagicGate technology for copyright protected content. The card is compact and is compatible with all memory slots using the included adaptor and is available in various storage capacities ranging from 64MB to 128MB. Mostly used in Sony Ericsson mobiles.

Memory Stick Duo Pro
SanDisk's Memory Stick PRO Duo is almost half the size of a standard Memory Stick PRO card and offers high speed data transfer, built-in MagicGate, and comes with high storage capacities. The Memory Stick Duo Pro is available with 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB storage capacities. Mostly used in Sony Ericsson mobiles.

It really doesn't matter which memory slot your phone has unless it has a memory slot which is quite important when it comes to camera mobiles. Just make sure that the associated memory card is easily available, has decent storage capacities and is cheap.