SanDisk Offers microSD, SDHC Media

SanDisk might be a force in the portable media player market and now looking to get into the solid-state drive arena, but lets remember that the company was first and foremost a maker of memory and storage products, and they aren’t (yet) leaving those origins behind. At CeBIT, the company announced two new portable storage offerings: new SDHC cards with capacities up to 8 GB, and SanDisk Mobile Premiere, 1 and 2 GB microSD cards specifically aimed at the mobile phone market.

The SanDisk Mobile Premiere 1 and 2 GB microSD memory cards are intended for users of mobile phones and other portable devices who want to take their music and media with them on the day. The cards offer high performance (read and write speeds of 10 and 9 MB/sec, respectively) and are based on the TrustedFlash platform, which enables users to play back premium content purchased online or downloaded directly to mobile devices. The 1 and 2 GB editions will be available “this spring” (here in the northern hemisphere, that starts next week!) at suggested prices of $53 and $82, respectively, and come with an adapter which enables the cards to be used in standard SD slots, such as you might find on PC-based card readers, digital cameras, and the like.

SanDisk also rolled out an 8 GB SD High-Capacity (SDHC) card, joining the company’s existing 4 GB offering. The SDHC card will com bundled with a Micromate SDHC-compatible reader so users will be able to connect the card to their computers to transfer data via USB 2.0. The Micromate reader also works with standard SD cards; however, standard SD card readers can’t handle the SDHC format.

“More than 30 digital still cameras and digital camcorders from Canon, Casio, Nikon, Panasonic, Pentax and Sanyo are already SDHC-compatible,” said Wes Brewer, SanDisk’s VP for consumer products marketing, in a release. “We expect that SDHC will soon spread to digital music players, mobile phones and other personal electronics, making the 8GB SDHC card a versatile tool for moving around lots of photos, music and video.”

The 8 GB SDHCcard with the Micromate USB 2.0 reader will reach retailers in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in April, with availability in Asian coming later in the second quarter of 2007. In the U.S., the bundle’s suggested price will be $189.99.