From the press release:
SanDisk has introduced the SanDisk Ultra II SD PLUS, an innovative SD flash memory card with built-in USB connectivity. The new card, which works seamlessly in any SD card slot, also can be used as a high-speed USB 2.0 flash drive. The announcement was made at the annual Photo Marketing Association (PMA) Show at the Orange County Convention Center where SanDisk is demonstrating products in Booth 2408.
The new dual-functionality device has been added to the SanDisk Ultra II product line, a family of high-performance flash memory cards with write speeds of 9 megabytes (MB) per second and read speeds of 10MB/sec.
Tanya Chuang, SanDisk retail product marketing manager, said, “The new Ultra II SD PLUS, which can be used in a wide variety of SD-based products — including digital cameras, PDAs, camcorders and camera phones — means greater convenience and cost savings for consumers. Now, to transfer data, images, audio or video between computers, digital cameras and other electronic devices, you don’t need a card reader, cables or card adapters. Just flip the card to engage the USB connector and simply plug the Ultra II SD PLUS into any USB port. And the card also features an LED that blinks when data transfer is taking place to indicate that the card is being used as a USB flash drive.”
She added, “Our advanced mechanical design eliminates the need for a removable cap, which can be lost, and gives consumers a dual functionality card that is fully SD compliant. We believe that the Ultra II SD PLUS will be a much more popular product than any similar device on the market because it is an SD card and SD has become the dominant standard for flash memory cards.”
The Ultra II SD PLUS, which SanDisk expects will start shipping to stores in April, initially will be available in two capacities — 512MB and one gigabyte (GB). The 512MB card will have a suggested retail price of $109.99 and the 1GB version will carry a suggested price of $149.99.
The Ultra II SD PLUS is targeted primarily at the professional digital camera and prosumer market where 4 mega-pixel or higher resolution digital cameras are requiring significantly faster flash memory film cards. The Ultra II product line, which also includes CompactFlash(R) and Memory Stick PRO card formats, allows photographers to quickly capture high-resolution images and take advantage of the advanced features available today in high mega-pixel digital cameras.
