SanDisk Debuts New Portable Media Players

SanDisk's Digital Audio Player uses embedded flash memory instead of a rotating hard drive and plays for up to 15 continuous hours on a single AAA battery.

The new Digital Audio Players combine crystal-clear sound with a sleek design and sport a three-button/one-joystick design and easy-to-navigate user interface. They feature MP3, Windows Media(R) file and Windows Media-based DRM file playback, FM radio and voice recording and can double as a USB data storage device. Because the players have the ability to play Windows Media-based DRM files, they can be used with any of the popular music purchase sites, such as Musicmatch(R) music store.

“The new Digital Audio Player line offers all of the key features you need in a portable music player at a highly affordable price,” said Eric Bone, director of retail product marketing at SanDisk. “It uses reliable flash memory which offers greater durability and ruggedness, smaller size, no noise of a rotating drive, and the ability to play hundreds of songs on a single AAA battery. In addition, it is designed to work seamlessly with a wide range of music sites that offer popular music formats such as MP3 and Windows Media as well as Windows Media-based DRM files from music subscription sites. This will make an ideal gift for the holidays.”

Ida Rose Sylvester, senior semiconductor analyst at IDC, said, “Leaders in flash memory cards and USB flash drives are leveraging their expertise into flash-based compressed audio players, and control over memory sourcing could be the critical competitive difference in the market. SanDisk has ownership in a NAND flash fab, and can leverage that to their advantage.”

The SanDisk Digital Audio Player is available in 256MB (red), 512MB (blue) and 1GB (silver) capacities. Additional features include:

— Hi-Speed USB 2.0 for fast music transfer speeds

— Up to 1GB internal storage

— Support for MP3, Windows Media file and Windows Media-based DRM music files

— Up to 15 hours of continuous use with a single AAA battery

— Digital FM radio with 20-presets

— Integrated voice recorder with built-in microphone

— Four-line Indiglo Backlit LCD that display song titles and artist names

— Compact design and shape

                  Playback        # of         Playback        # of     Model         time(a)       songs(b)       time(a)       songs(b)  ------------ --------------- ------------ --------------- ------------  Red, 256MB     4 hours MP3       60        8 hours, WMA       120  ------------ --------------- ------------ --------------- ------------  Blue, 512MB   8 hours, MP3       120       16 hours, WMA      240  ------------ --------------- ------------ --------------- ------------  Silver, 1 GB  16 hours, MP3      240       32 hours, WMA      480  ------------ --------------- ------------ --------------- ------------  

The SanDisk Digital Audio Player is available now with suggested retail prices of $99.99, $149.99 and $199.99 for the respective 256MB, 512MB and 1GB capacities. They are sold at many of the 80,000 stores worldwide where SanDisk sells its products.