SanDisk's Sansa View gets bumped to 32GB

(Credit: SanDisk)

It's official: Flash MP3 players are taking over. SanDisk has just announced a new version of the Sansa View...one with 32GB of built-in flash memory. Ah, it makes me nostalgic--remember the days of 30GB hard-drive MP3 players? Oh, right, those still exist. The player isn't far off, either: the expected launch date is in February of this year. SanDisk will also be releasing a 12GB microSD card later in 2008, meaning you could end up with a whopping 44GB capacity all told. In true SanDisk style, the new View is priced to sell at $349. It's still not as good of a value on a dollar per gigabyte basis compared to hard drive memory, but at least it's getting closer. Here's a refresher on the player's specs:

• 2.4-inch color LCD with landscape mode
• Photo and video support
• MicroSD slot capable of accepting SDHC cards
• FM radio and voice recorder
• Separate podcast sorting
• Supports AAC, Audible and WMA subscriptions
• Windows and Mac compatibility
• Tested battery life of 32.3 hours