SanDisk

Buzz Out Loud 741: 3Gasm

All the iPhone and App Store news you can shake a stick at. Plus, RIM and Palm say they're thrilled about the new iPhone. Huh. Us, too! But it's a delayed, uh, 3Gasm, since the phone won't be coming out until July 11. In other news, Amazon broke itself, the MPAA wants to break your movie recording, and SanDisk kills the TakeTV and Fanfare less than a year after it was born. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 741

Live blog: Steve Jobs at WWDC 2008 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9960064-37.html

What’s good for … Read more

SanDisk confirms death of TakeTV and Fanfare

SanDisk has killed off the Fanfare video download service and its companion hardware, the TakeTV. A terse note on the Fanfare Web site indicates that the "Fanfare beta has come to a conclusion, and the Fanfare application will be disabled as of 5/15/08." As for the TakeTV hardware, a representative for SanDisk has confirmed to CNET that the TakeTV is no longer being sold. However, she went on to point out that existing users still will be able to use the product's drag-and-drop feature for watching a variety of (non-Fanfare) digital videos on their TV. In other words, unlike those stuck with oversized paperweights when the Akimbo and MovieBeam services shut down, the TakeTV, at least, is still a usable product. … Read more

SanDisk, Intel, TDK launch solid state drives

If there was any doubt about the state of solid-state drives, Computex seems to be putting it to rest.

SanDisk, TDK, and Intel, among others, are announcing new solid-state drives while Asus is launching the Eee PC 1000 with a larger-capacity drive.

Solid-state drives (SSDs) are used increasingly instead of hard disk drives in small computers like the Asus Eee PC and devices like the Apple iPhone because SSDs use less power and are generally more rugged--due to the fact that they have no moving parts.

The Asus Eee PC 1000, for example, will be offered with SSDs up to … Read more

Avoiding the Big One. It's not all that hard

It's fashionable to dismiss trade shows as so 1998, but there's usually always something that makes it worthwhile if you look hard enough. So it was, the coolest thing I saw at the RSA 2008 conference this week was a prototype portable virtualization technology that SanDisk will begin selling in the second half of the year.

The product, developed in conjunction with Check Point, lets you copy a protected version of your apps and then plug into any client machine. When you're done, the "virtualized" version of your desktop disappears after logging out.

My hunch … Read more

'Sansa Fuze' is leaked--again

(Update: SanDisk sent out a press release announcing the Sansa Fuze this morning, discovered by Engadget. It offers a few more details, such as three sizes--2GB ($80) and 8GB ($130), as well as the previously noted 4GB ($100)--and a listing of compatible subscription services. The Fuze is scheduled to ship in April, in the various colors pictured above.)

Someone at Amazon apparently goofed by jumping the gun on SanDisk's latest media player. The "Sansa Fuze," which had already been leaked a week earlier, made a brief appearance on an Amazon listing that now comes up as … Read more

Microsoft confirms Startkey effort

LAS VEGAS--I was intrigued to read that Microsoft was moving ahead with a project that will enable users to carry around all of their Windows information with them on a flash drive.

I pressed Microsoft on the subject and was able to get confirmation of the Startkey project as well as a few details.

"Microsoft is introducing software (code-named Startkey) that will make it easy for users to securely replicate their current Windows PC environment, including applications, music, photos, videos, personal settings and passwords on a flash-based portable storage device," the company said in a statement. "This … Read more

CompactFlash revamp aimed at cameras

A speed-boosting overhaul of CompactFlash memory technology could start arriving in cameras next year, but it's incompatible with the version used in today's higher-end models

The new version, called CFast, has faster data-transfer speeds that could let photographers take more continuous shots without waiting for the camera to catch up, cut camera makers' costs for built-in buffer memory, and make it swifter to review photos on a camera or copy them to a computer.

"It's going to end up in the high-end cameras. The reason to move to it is purely for speed," said John … Read more

Sansa Clip plays Cupid in two colors

Every now and then, Crave thinks it's a good idea to remind people that music players other than the iPod actually exist. Yes, it's true. And we particularly appreciate those that don't get too fancy, just going about their MP3-playing business without too much fuss--like SanDisk.

And it's completely in character that the no-nonsense company isn't hyperventilating over its Valentine's Day marketing with the Sansa Clip. Rather than becoming the center of campaigns around a pink or a red Cupid edition--as were the Nano and Zune--SanDisk's 2GB player will just be offered … Read more

HP's desktop with solid-state drive packs 16GB

If consumers and businesses are going to be convinced to switch to solid-state drives over hard disks, it's going to take something more compelling than 16GB.

On Wednesday, Hewlett-Packard will introduce a new version of its Compaq DC7800 series desktop PC. The product line was initially introduced last September, but now has an option of adding a 16GB solid-state drive (SSD) from SanDisk.

Sure, fewer moving parts when storing data is more reliable and saves power, but when an audience is conditioned to expect 80GB minimum in a desktop, 16GB appears a bit puny. (That's like running your … Read more