Battle over standards may spoil gee-whiz fun.

Imagine sliding what looks like a stick of gum into your computer to download music off the Internet, then inserting it into a portable gizmo to play songs while jogging. Later, you use the tiny device to store photos from your digital camera, and drop it off at the store to develop. Not so fast. A new generation of "removable storage media" promises to open an era of convenience for consumers, offering harmonious communication among electronics products. But a heated battle over technical standards by manufacturers could push that day further into the future. Sony, IBM, SanDisk and others have introduced competing high-capacity storage devices aimed at use with digital cameras, computers, music players and other electronics. The new devices, though, add to an already confusing array of storage methods, including floppy disks, CD-ROMs and DVDs. Those that work with one machine may not work with another, potentially confusing electronics consumers.