14 DAY TRIAL // SanDisk Corporation introduced a 2-gigabyte microSD card - the largest capacity of the world's smallest removable flash memory card - to meet demand for a new generation of MP3 music phones, including the forthcoming Verizon Wireless Chocolate by LG mobile phone.
Using the SanDisk microSD card, the Verizon Wireless phone can store up to 1,000 digital songs downloaded from the company's V CAST music service. The card, which is sold with an adapter that enables it to fit into a standard-size SD slot of other devices, will debut in the U.S. exclusively at 1,900 Verizon Wireless stores for the next 60 days. Internationally, it will be sold by a variety of mobile retailers.
"Offering our customers removable SanDisk flash memory cards provides a great deal of flexibility in allowing people to manage their downloaded music, both on their personal computer and on their mobile phone," said Patrick Bucci, Verizon Wireless director of accessory products. "Apart from playing music, the Verizon Wireless Chocolate by LG mobile phone also can capture digital still and video images with its 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder." Featuring a color screen, slider-style design and backlit red navigation, the phone is available today on the Verizon Wireless website (www.verizonwireless.com) and will be in Verizon Wireless stores on Aug. 7. The SanDisk 2GB microSD card will be sold by Verizon Wireless for $99.99.
The market for musically-based mobile phones is stepping along at a lively pace. Strategy Analytics, a global research company, estimates that more than one-fourth of all handsets sold in 2006 will play music, and by the end of next year that number is projected to be more than half of all units shipped. Also, for 2006, an estimated 270 million mobile phones - about 29 percent of all new shipments - will have memory card slots, according to Chris Ambrosio, director of Wireless Device Strategies Service for the Boston-based research firm.