SanDisk Puts nano in Crosshairs With New Media Player

SanDisk against Monday announced a current, pencil-thin video MP3 musician that appear apparent to budge head-to-head next to Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) just this minute upgrade iPod nano.

The new Sansa View combine MP3 playback technique with full-motion video help , a massive peak, drawn out freestyle go and ascend. Perhaps even more commendable, the machinery also boast an unrestricted 8 GB microSD/microSDHC card inwardly favour of annul capabilities of in the air to 24 GB.

Due in October, the Sansa View will lug a suggested retail asking price of US$199.99 for a 16 GB flash-based player or $149.99 for a 8 GB edition.

"The Sansa View be a new video MP3 player that combines all of the deep characteristics of an MP3 player with the video capabilities of a handy prevailing conditions player, and pack it into a pocketable device," said Eric Bone, vice president of marketing for SanDisk's Sansa audio/video goods column. "What's more, we're once again showing that category-leading technology can standing be exceptionally affordable." The video player allocation of the device make it assured for consumers to interchange video natively using widely at your disposal software. Most undemanding format be support via inbuilt H.264, WMV and MPEG4 player functionality or via the Sansa Media Converter, a software download that smartly transcodes numerous video files, plus DivX, SanDisk said. Video playback is at 30 frame per second.

The 8 GB device can grab 2,000 songs and 4,000 JPEG photo, and period ascertain 12 2-hour pictures, while the 16 GB version, not surprisingly, double those amounts. Its rechargeable, lithium polymer battery offer 35 hours of audio playback and 7 hours of video.

SanDisk's microSD/microSDHC cards, meanwhile -- also newly announced, in capacity of able to 8 GB -- not merely build up storage, but also allow user to smoothly dislocate their exultant to a cell touchtone phone or other communicative device, the Milpitas, Calif.-based ensemble said.

The device supports tons music download and subscription services, including Rhapsody To Go, Napster and eMusic.

SanDisk originally announced the Sansa View in January, but "decided to re-scope the product before you along a player with new features and functionality that longest be appropriate to popular punter interests," the company said.

"This look very by a long course approaching the elderly nano with a bigger screen and lots more capacity," Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst with Enderle Group, tell TechNewsWorld.

Apple's iPod line, which be revamp concluding week with new hose and upgrade to extant ones, is "very complicated," Enderle said, and risk perplexing exchange.

Apple's new iPod nano, price starting at $149, add video playback, an enhanced user interface, and a larger, two-inch trumpet blast to the best-selling music device.

Not one and all like it larger, nevertheless. "It looks dumpy," Enderle said. "It's almost like SanDisk is position a better nano, and at a much better price spike with that massive amount of storage," he added. "The Sansa View is marginal, it's sexy, and it roll icy what I deduce is probably the tiniest sexy product Apple exceptional ever bring to souk." The removable additional storage, in particular, is "the champion feature" on this device and the differentiator SanDisk hope will approved the Sansa View excepting the nano, Harry Wang, research analyst with Parks Associates , told TechNewsWorld.

"SanDisk is playing its card of female a switch donor of NAND flush memory, which allows it to hold price demean than Apple can," Wang noted.

Since a capacity of 16 GB could be gallop down for more than a few consumers who have large multimedia libraries, the second memory preference could be a actual plus for those look to reinforce storage in a plastic way, Wang explain. "This will ferment a real perception of effectiveness."

Tighter Purse Strings Could Choke Consumer Electronics Firms

The high-tech industry's near-term robustness depends by the part of how scantily you design that iPod or flat-panel small screen.

After catering to corporation contained by its hasty days, the industry lay siege to grown next to event reliant on consumers. Even during pecuniary slowdowns when business tighten their belt, Americans kept buying bigger TVs, sleeker cell phone and faster computer.

But analysts secret ballot that with family losing their job, conjugal price tumbling and retirement hoard deflate, consumers won't carry on to devote blithely on high-tech gear. For those who occupy out, bargain will thwart ever.

"Consumers be distinctly alarmed and are going to tighten wakeful," said Michael Spence, ex dean of Stanford University's graduate amity academy and a 2001 Nobel laureate in economics. "If it go on in espouse of substantially longer, the tech sector will suffer." Stocks of tech company with weighty client display, such in establish of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) , have be belt even harder than the broader bazaar.

Tech companies with a greater measure of corporate regulars, such as Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) , also have been studied, but quite a lot of not as badly.

The computer industry rose to prominence selling mainframes, databases and other wares to dogma agencies and principal corporations. Although enterprise compute lavish a abandoned business, oodles companies shift their grimace of promotion to consumers as electronics become see as more of a necessity than a gratuitous.

In the bygone two years, Brad and Jennifer Schafer of Newport Beach, Calif., have purchase three flat-panel TVs, a digital camera, two eyewitness sport console, three TiVos, a GPS apparatus, a cell addressee and a computer.

"If we want it, we consistently gain it," said Jennifer Schafer, a stay-at-home mother of two, as she and her husband, an accountant, shopped just this minute at a Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) .

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