SanDisk has launched gruvi, a removable flash memory card sold with premium music content.
In November, the gruvi music version of a bestselling album will be offered on SanDisk's microSD TransFlash card. Millions of those cards already have been shipped to handset manufacturers for use in mobile phones worldwide. Roughly the size of a fingernail, the gruvi card comes with an adapter that can expand it to the size of a larger SD card, thus enabling it to be played in a variety of SD-compatible devices including laptop computers and PDAs.
The gruvi music card includes an album along with bonus content that is offered exclusively in this unique format. This is the first music release to use SanDisk's new TrustedFlash technology. TrustedFlash enables content providers to lock content to the card but gives consumers the freedom to play the card in a variety of supported devices.
Apart from getting all of the tracks on the new album, consumers also will be able to preview and purchase -- directly from the card -- other music from the band's back catalog, through either a PC or a supported mobile phone.
"We're delighted to partner with SanDisk, the acknowledged leader in mobile memory, in releasing the new album on the gruvi music card," said Syd Schwartz of Virgin Records. "TrustedFlash allows us to digitally offer premium content on flash memory cards in a way that prevents unauthorized distribution. We look forward to expanding our gruvi catalog next year with albums from other well-known artists."
The gruvi music card is easy to use and will come with all of the necessary software to play in supported mobile phones or on a laptop PC. SanDisk collaborated with a team of industry experts to enable the functionality of the card.