SanDisk Corp. has introduced its SanDisk Cruzer into the European market. The device is on exhibit at the annual CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany.
The Cruzer is described as the world’s first portable, pocketsize storage device with removable and upgradeable flash memory cards. Three inches long, one and three-fourth inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick, it can be slipped into a pocket or purse. The Cruzer will accommodate both SD cards and MultiMediaCards, two compact size storage cards.
“Currently, there’s no easy way to carry or transfer large files such as a presentation, music file or a few high-resolution digital photos,” said Gerrit Van Hofwegen, SanDisk’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) director of sales. “With SanDisk Cruzer, we expect to fill this void in the personal storage market today that neither floppy disks nor Zip drives can address.”
Wes Brewer, SanDisk’s director of business development, said that Cruzer fills a void in the portable storage market that neither floppy disks nor memory cards can address. Floppy disks can’t be used in many electronic products because they’re too large and lack adequate capacity, he said. With memory cards, there are several different incompatible card formats and this prevents many of the cards from being used in various electronic systems, he added.
The Cruzer is available in four capacities: 32MB, 64MB, 128MB and 256MB. They sport Mass Storage Class (MSC) compliance, which allows for plug and play operation with Mac OS 9.X and Mac OS X. Prices range from US$59.95 to $199.95.