Sure they might be losing some money right now but at least the folks at SanDisk can still design some funky looking products. Case in point, their latest ImageMate memory card readers – the ImageMate All-In-One and the ImageMate Multi-Card readers. SanDisk takes what is otherwise a rather boring product category and decided to make it somewhat distinctive. The new ImageMate readers are tall, sleek, and stylish.. and oh yeah, they also support a wide variety of memory card formats.

In addition, the new ImageMate readers feature a simple transfer button which when pressed launches either an application like Photoshop or a website such as Flickr.

Here’s what you need to know about each reader, For the SanDisk ImageMate All-In-One:

• Supports SD, SDHC, miniSDHC, microSDHC, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro Duo, xD and CompactFlash, etc
• Each card slot features a blue LED light which indicates data transfer activity
• Multiple cards can be inserted simultaneously for card to card transfers
• Transfer speeds up to 34 megabytes per second (MB/s) when using a SanDisk Extreme IV 45MB/s CompactFlash card

And for the SanDisk ImageMate Multi-Card:

• Supports xD, Memory Stick, SD, SDHC, and MMC
• Transfer speeds up to 30MB/s read and 27 MB/s writewhen using a SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC card (YMMV for other vendors)

The All-In-One has a suggested retail price of $29.99 while the Multi-Card reader has suggested price of $19.99.

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SanDisk used CES 2009 as the place to launch their new Sansa slotRadio player and companion line of slotRadio music cards. Priced at $99.99, the slot Radio portable music player comes bundled with a slotRadio mix card loaded with 1,000 titles handpicked from the Billboard charts.  Simply insert the card into the player, and start enjoying the titles – either a title at a time or through the built-in “handcrafted” playlists which are designed to match your style, mood, or activity.  The playlists include “Alternative”, “Contemporary”, “Country”, “R&B/Hip Hop”, “Rock”, “Workout”, and “Chillout”.

The player itself measures 1.9 x 1.9 x 0.59 inches and weighs a mere 1.3 oz. Features include a 1.5 inch OLED display perfect for viewing artist and song information, a built-in FM radio, a battery life of 13 hours, and a die-cast aluminum design with built-in belt clip. In many ways, slotRadio is a far better piece of hardware than the iPod shuffle from a specifications perspective(which lacks an FM radio, display, and support for expansion cards).

SanDisk priced the slotRadio player at $99.99 which comes with 1,000 bundled songs. You can purchase additional 1,000 song genre-specific and themed slotRadio cards for $39.99  The new slotRadio player will be coming out early this year and slotRadio cards can be played with any other slotRadio player and is also compatible with Sansa Fuze MP3 players. Here are more pictures for your viewing pleasure.

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Technorati Tags: SanDisk, slotRadio, slotRadio player, CES 2009, digital audio player

SanDisk showed off their upcoming third generation solid state drive (SSD) – the G3 SSD family – at CES 2009. These drives feature new algorithms such as ExtremeFFS, new technologies such as All Bit Line MLC NAND flash, and a new SanDisk controller. More importantly, the G3 SSD family will be available at extremely competitive prices with the 60GB model coming out at $149.

For those of you curious what the heck ExtremeFFS is. It’s a new flash management system developed by SanDisk that tries to maximize random write performance. Here’s a snippet from the FAQ:

“The algorithm operation is page-based, which means there is no fixed coupling between physical and logical location. When a sector of data is written, the SSD puts it where it is most convenient and efficient. ExtremeFFS incorporates a fully non-blocking architecture in which all of the NAND channels can behave independently, with some reading while others are writing and garbage collecting. Another key element of ExtremeFFS is usage-based content localization, which allows the advanced flash management system to “learn” user patterns and over time localize data to maximize the product’s performance and endurance. The result is an improvement in random write performance – by up to 100 times – as well as in overall endurance.”

SanDisk also introduces a new metric called “virtual Revolutions Per Minute (vRPM)” which tries to compare the performance of a solid state drive (which has no moving parts) against a traditional hard drive (which does rotate) using a traditional benchmark – RPM. SanDisk claims the G3 SSDs can achieve up to 40,000 vRPM.

The new SanDisk G3 SSDs will be available in the middle of this year in 2.5 inch and 1.8 inch form factors. As mentioned earlier, the 60GB model will be available for $149, the $120GB for $249, and the 240GB for $499.

Technorati Tags: SanDisk, Solid State Drive, G3 SSD, CES 2009

Looking to make the portable music player fun, customizable, and inexpensive, SanDisk today, introduced their all new slotMusic player. Consumers can purchase a standard slotMusic player for $19.99 or an artist-branded slotMusic player for $34.99 which comes bundled with a 1GB slotMusic card. And what’s a slotMusic card you ask? It’s basically a microSD card filled with DRM-free MP3 music. Nearly 40 artists across four major labels are available on slotMusic cards. These cards can also be used on any device that supports the microSD format.

The slotMusic card is also the central focus behind the slotMusic player. SanDisk is attempting to say that with the slotMusic player, you won’t need a computer anymore. Simply buy a slotMusic card and place it inside the player. Of course this idea isn’t new at all. It’s basically modeled after the tape cassette/cd player business of yesteryear. Hmm.. wasn’t the whole point of the digital music player to get AWAY from that business?

In any case, the features of the slotMusic player are as follows:

• Customizable through the use of interchangeable shells
• microSDHC support
• Replaceable AAA battery for up to 15 hours of playback
• Headphone jack
• Supports MP3, OGG, FLAC, WMA without DRM
• Measures 2.84″ x 1.45″ x .60″ and weighs 1.7 oz

SanDisk has also designed a line of accessories to support the new slotMusic player which already comes with a customizable black shell, earphones, and battery.

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SanDisk announced their latest Extreme III CompactFlash card today – the 32 GB Extreme III which the company states is ideal for digital cameras such as the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR. The new high capacity card has a write speed of 30 MB/s and has been tested operate in temperature environments ranging from minus 13F to 185F. How much for this card? You’ll have to pony up $299.

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Technorati Tags: SanDisk 32GB Extreme III CF, CompactFlash

Samsung made an unsolicited $5.85 billion dollar offer to purchase SanDisk Corporation – a maker of flash memory cards and digital music players. The offer which amounts to $26 dollars a share, was made to SanDisk in August and was just revealed to investors Tuesday afternoon. The offer was more than 90 percent over the closing price of SanDisk (which closed at $15.04 a share).

SanDisk’s founder and chief executive, Eli Harari, rejected Samsung’s offer citing that the offer “significantly” undervalued the company.

So why would Samsung want SanDisk? In a word.. (or rather two words), “intellectual property”. Samsung apparently pays SanDisk about $440 million dollars a year for patent licenses. With SanDisk’s stock price suffering, it only made sense for Samsung to try and purchase SanDisk outright.

You can read more about this over at the New York Times.

Technorati Tags: Samsung, SanDisk

Here’s yet another USB flash drive for your consideration – it’s from the folks at SanDisk and it’s called the SanDisk Cruzer Pattern USB flash drive. The Cruzer Pattern includes a clip that makes it easy to attach the drive to nearly anything – a pocket, a bag, or even a backpack strap. Features of the Cruzer Pattern include U3 smart technology which allows you to run applications directly from the drive and as well as providing password protection, your choice in gray or black colors, and availability of two capacities – 1GB or 2GB. The Cruzer Pattern USB flash seems like the perfect fit for kids going back to school this fall and the price seems just right too. The 1GB model has an MSRP of $9.99 while the 2GB model has an MSRP of $14.99.

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Looking to vertically segment the flash memory market, SanDisk has announced a new line of flash memory devices designed for the mobile phone market called the SanDisk Mobile Ultra. Designed to “wake up your phone”. the new line consists of the SanDisk Mobile Ultra microSD, microSDHC, and Memory Stick Micro (M2) memory cards and come in capacities ranging from 2GB, 4GB to 8GB. The new cards all feature fast transfer speeds and come with the MobileMate MicroReader which plugs directly into a USB 2.0 port.

Prices for the new products are as follows:

• The SanDisk Mobile Ultra microSD 2GB has an MSRP of $34.99
• The SanDisk Mobile Ultra microSDHC 4GB has an MSRP of $59.99, the 8GB has an MSRP of $119.99
• The SanDisk Mobile Ultra Memory Stick Micro M2 2GB has an MSRP of $39.99, the 4GB has an MSRP of $69.99 and the 8GB has an MSRP of $129.99.

The new SanDisk Mobile Ultra lineup will be available in June.

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Micro SD Memory Cards at Low Price Memory – Mobile phone Ultra Micro-SD memory cards.

Technorati Tags: SanDisk Mobile Ultra microSD, microSDHC, Memory Stick Micro (M2)

Let’s face it – USB flash drives are a god-send to humanity. What other device can store so much data, take a beating, and take up nearly no room in your pocket? Need to transport a few hundred megs of data? Throw onto your drive. Need to bring a few MP3s and a MPEG4 video with you? Copy it onto a flash drive. Awesome tool right? One little problem though. What happens when you forget to bring that flash drive with you? Yeah.. a real bummer and nearly all of us have run into that problem at one point or another. SanDisk Corporation has a partial solution to the problem in the form of the new Cruzer Titanium Plus USB flash drive. The Titanium Plus offers automatic online backup of every file copied to the drive. Yup.. copy a file to the drive and that very same file will be automatically backed up online to a personal password protected online account. If your computer isn’t connected to the Internet, then the backup will automatically take place the next time there is an Internet connection.

Thus, the next time you copy a file to your Cruzer Titanium Plus, you’ll know that the file will also be available via an online accessible secure account. Forget the Titanium Plus? No problem – simply log into the online account and download the file(s) to your computer. Of course this all works ONLY if you have an Internet connection somewhere.

Other features of the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus include:

• 4GB of space
• Rugged crush-resistant metal case
• Optional security with password protection and AES hardware data encryption
• Two years of free lost and found service from BoomerangIt
• Six months of free online backup service

The Cruzer Titanium Plus will be available starting in March for an MSRP of $59.99. The online backup service will cost $29.99 per year after the six months of free service expires.

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SanDisk announced last week the availability of 8GB microSDHC and M2 flash memory cards to retailers world wide.With 8 GB of storage capacity, these new flash memory cards are capable of storing up to 2000 digital songs, or 5000+ high resolution images, or 5 hours of high quality MPEG-4 video.The new 8GB microSDHC card has an MSRP of $139.99 while the 8GB M2 card has an MSRP of $149.99.

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Technorati Tags: SanDisk, microSDHC, M2