14 May 2006
SanDisk has responded to the growing demand from power users of the popular Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) by introducing a 4-gigabyte SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo Game card that can store up to 64 hours of MP3 music tracks, 20 or more hours of movies/videos/film trailers, 12 hours of game saves, or 4,000 digital still images.
The 4GB card, which is expected to ship this month, carries a suggested retail price (SRP) of $219.99. Other capacities in the Memory Stick PRO Duo Gaming Card line include 256 megabytes (MB)* at $34.99, 512MB at $44.99, 1GB at $59.99 and 2GB at $109.99 (SRPs).
"The PSP has clearly become more than just a gaming device," said Wes Brewer, SanDisk's vice president of consumer products marketing.
"Since there is no internal memory for the PSP, a Memory Stick PRO Duo flash card is the only way to store large amounts of entertainment and other files. Now that the PSP has been in the marketplace for over a year, many new services have sprung up to offer downloadable content such as movies, so the users are rapidly demanding higher capacity cards."
The PSP uses a proprietary storage medium called Universal Media Disc (UMD) for movies and games, but UMD discs are neither recordable nor writable. SanDisk co-developed the Memory Stick PRO format with Sony. Last year, SanDisk introduced the new gaming line of Memory Stick PRO Duo cards in semi-transparent neon colors. The new 4GB card is red.