SanDisk comes up with a handy expansion tool for iDevice owners, offers 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB variations

Nov 14, 2014 00:45 GMT  ·  By

Storage vendor SanDisk has announced a new iDevice accessory that connects via a Lightning cable and instantly launches a special app that can play back almost any type of content you have stored on it.

The drive doubles as a storage expansion kit, allowing you to easily dump the contents of the iPhone or iPad onto it and free up memory.

The specs

“iXpand Flash Drive is the easiest way to transfer photos and videos between your iPhone, iPad, PCs and Mac computers. Quickly free up memory on your iPhone or iPad, and instantly expand storage by up to 64GB,” says SanDisk.

The company offers three separate storage options, one holding 16GB of storage, another offering 32GB of space, and the high-end model with 64GB of memory. Pricing runs accordingly, and the most expensive one goes for $120, or just over €90.

The drive is equipped with Lightning and USB 2.0 connectors (one connector used at a time), has a built-in Lightning connector, supports devices running iOS 7.1 and higher, and can work with Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Mac OS X v10.5+ without any drivers.

Supported video formats include WMV, .AVI, .MKV, .MP4, .MOV, and the product is equipped with its own 3.7V Li-ion Battery (pre-charged, ready to use) so that it doesn’t drain the iDevice’s power.

It measures 64.17mm by 36.78mm by 11.80mm (you can guess for yourself which goes where) and you get a two-year warranty that covers the usual stuff.

SanDisk iXpand Sync app

Thanks to the free SanDisk iXpand Sync app, the dongle automatically copies photos and videos from the camera roll when connected, but at the same time it can be instructed to automatically launch the app and play popular video formats (the ones listed a few paragraphs above), as well as music.

SanDisk explains: “It launches when the iXpand Flash Drive is plugged into an iPhone or iPad and can be configured to automatically sync photos and videos from the camera roll to the drive.”

“In addition, users can store their favorite movies on the iXpand Flash Drive and instantly play them directly from the drive on their iPhone or iPad. Most popular movie formats3 non-native and PC-friendly ones, like AVI & WMV, are supported — saving time, effort and complexity of converting video formats,” the company adds.

The product isn’t available yet, but it will be soon. When it’s released, you’ll be able to acquire your own through the SanDisk online store or from Best Buy.

SanDisk iXpand photos (7 Images)

SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive closeup
SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive with USB plug exposedConnecting the SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive to an iPhone 6
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