SanDisk is advancing its line of flash memory media at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany, unveiling two new cards designed to fulfill the storage needs of multimedia mobile phone users.
As mobile phones evolve to include still and video cameras and MP3 audio players, mobile phone users will need greater storage capabilities, says Bob Goligoski, a spokesperson for SanDisk. The new flash cards will provide multimedia mobile phone users with cost-effective storage in a small form factor, he says.
Smaller Size
The company's new Reduced Size-MultiMediaCard, or RS-MMC, is a removable flash memory card that is half the size of a standard Secure Digital card and can be used in any MMC or SD card slot.
The card will come in 32MB, 64MB, and 128MB capacities, the company says.
The small form factor and basic storage capacities of the RS-MMC card will appeal to multimedia cell phone users, says Goligoski. The small RS-MMC also "gives manufacturers more room to work with" to build new features into future phones, he says.
"As manufacturers add new features like cameras and MP3 players to phones, those components take up more [space]. Any component that can shrink in size is a bonus," Goligoski says.
The card will be sold to device makers in volume at prices ranging from $14.50 for the 32MB card to $40 for the 128MB card, the company says. A price wasn't immediately available for the 64MB card, Goligoski says.
"Every mobile phone manufacturer is adding a ... flash card slot to provide storage for multimedia files," says Goligoski.
Memory Sticks
The company also refreshed its line of Memory Stick Pro Duo cards. The cards, which have been available in capacities of 256MB and 512MB, will now also be offered to device makers in capacities ranging from 32MB to 128MB, SanDisk says in a statement.
The new cards will provide a low-cost storage option for mobile phone users who don't want to buy the expensive, high-capacity Memory Stick Pro Duo cards, says Goligoski. They also will help cell phone manufacturers provide customers who buy a multimedia mobile phone with cheap storage options, he says.
The lower capacity cards have improved write speed, which allows for real-time recording of high-resolution images and video. The cards also feature MagicGate security for the transfer of copyright-protected images and video, the company says.
The lower-capacity Memory Stick Pro Duo cards are targeted at newer 3G (third-generation) and 2.5G mobile phone manufacturers whose customers require additional storage capacity for multimedia content, the company says. The volume pricing for the storage cards will range from $14 to $43. The products are available to device makers worldwide immediately.
In a separate announcement, SanDisk announced that another flash memory product, the MiniSD card, would become available through retailers worldwide. Introduced at last year's Cebit, this product provides flash memory storage in capacities ranging from 64MB to 256MB. Previously, the products were available only through retailers in Japan and through device makers who bundled the flash memory cards.
SanDisk also announced that its products, including flash cards, digital photo viewers, and USB drives, would become available in the second quarter through retail channels in eight East European countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
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