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| Flash Memory Cards for New Verizon Wireless V CAST Music Service SanDisk Corporation announced that Verizon Wireless Communications Stores will sell SanDisk's newest and highest capacity flash memory cards for mobile phones in anticipation of consumer demand for Verizon Wireless' new V CAST Music service. The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where SanDisk is demonstrating several new products at Booth 30329, Level 3 of the South Hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center. SanDisk is unveiling a microSD card - the world's smallest flash memory card - with a 1 gigabyte capacity. Originally developed by SanDisk and formerly known as TransFlash, the fingernail-sized card will be able to store up to 32 hours of WMA-compressed music - or approximately 480 songs - downloaded from Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music service to compatible phones. The 1GB microSD card, which SanDisk introduced today, will be available in the United States initially through Verizon Wireless. The card comes with an adapter allowing it to be used in a standard SD slot. The previous highest capacity for the SanDisk microSD was 512 megabytes. SanDisk also expanded its mobile line today by introducing a SanDisk 2GB miniSD card (up from 1GB) with the aim of accommodating consumers' increasing demand for accessing photos, music and video on their phone. Using the Microsoft Windows Media platform, V CAST Music runs on Verizon Wireless' broadband network. The library of music is expected to include one million songs by spring from major labels such as Warner, EMI, Universal, Sony/BMG and independent provider, The Orchard. Verizon Wireless customers will be able to download songs over the air and store them on SanDisk flash cards, where they can be played on the phone as well as transferred to a Microsoft Windows-based personal computer. V CAST Music will allow customers to take their own digital music from their PCs and sync it to their handsets, a capability that Verizon said is unique among over-the-air music download services. Verizon Wireless plans to launch V CAST Music on January 16 with several phones, including the Samsung a950 and the LG VX8100. Both are clamshell V CAST-enabled phones with 1.3 megapixel digital cameras. The Samsung a950 has a microSD card slot that features an external thumb dial to select music files; the LG VX8100 has a miniSD card slot. SanDisk introduced its line of mobile cards and MobileMate portable flash card readers in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores in the last quarter of 2005. They are sold in co-branded Verizon Wireless/SanDisk packaging. The new SanDisk 1GB microSD and 2GB miniSD mobile line flash memory cards are expected to be available through those stores in February. Verizon Wireless was the first wireless company to launch a wireless broadband multimedia service when it introduced V CAST in February, 2005. Its award-winning wireless broadband network is the most robust in the United States. The V CAST coverage area, which mirrors the company's wireless broadband network, is currently available to 150 million Americans in 180 major metropolitan markets. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Computing News :: home page |