Shutterbug Staff

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) has announced Cruzer Titanium Plus, a USB
flash drive that offers automatic online backup for every file copied to the
drive. With a capacity of four gigabytes (GB), it is the first flash memory
product from SanDisk to offer online backup. Users get the best of both worlds,
with access online and offline: Data is always available when Cruzer Titanium
Plus is plugged into any computer. Users also get quick access to their backed-up
files through any computer connected to the Internet, should they forget to
bring the drive with them, or if the drive is lost or stolen.

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SanDisk Corporation has introduced the 12- and 16-gigabyte (GB) SanDisk Extreme
III CompactFlash cards to its Extreme III performance line, making these the
highest capacity cards in the world. The new high-performance, large-capacity
cards are ideal for professional photographers who shoot RAW or high-resolution
JPG files and need the performance, reliability and capacity to capture these
large files.



The new cards will have minimum write and read speeds of 20 megabytes per second
(MB/sec.) and will ship to photo retailers by the end of the year. While the
speed of the card is important for in-camera performance, card-to-computer transfer
rates are becoming an increasingly important workflow consideration. The time
it takes to transfer images to a computer can be a bigger bottleneck now that
card capacities have expanded into the multi-gigabyte range. The SanDisk Extreme
USB 2.0 reader is designed to transfer images as quickly as possible.



SanDisk Extreme III cards use SanDisk-developed ESP (Enhanced Super-Parallel
Processing) technology that combines advanced NAND flash memory chips and controller
designs, 32-bit RISC processing and leading edge algorithms for an architecture
that streamlines every aspect of read and write data transfer operations. In
addition, SanDisk works closely with major camera manufacturers to ensure speed
and compatibility. The ESP architecture effectively removes the card as the
bottleneck in data storage applications.



SanDisk Extreme III cards have the industry's widest guaranteed operating
temperature range from a minus 13F (minus 25C) to a 185F (plus 85C). The cards
also include RescuePRO software that allows photographers to easily recover
accidentally deleted images, lost digital images or data.



Pricing and Availability

SanDisk Extreme III cards are available in CompactFlash, Memory Stick PRO Duo
and SD card formats. Suggested retail prices for the two new capacities are:




Capacities US$

SanDisk Extreme III 12GB $779.99

16GB $1,049.99

SanDisk Extreme USB 2.0 Reader $24.99



SanDisk Extreme III cards carry a 10-year limited warranty in Europe, the Middle
East and Africa but will have a lifetime limited warranty in the rest of the
world. Photographers who purchase the cards also will have access to a dedicated
toll-free number for technical support questions. The RescuePRO image recovery
software on the cards is compatible with both Windows and Mac and requires no
driver download or special card reader.



www.sandisk.com

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SanDisk Corporation will sponsor the Red Sea International Underwater Photo competition
in Eliat, Israel on April 24 -- 29. The contest is already attracting photographers
from all over the world, representing Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Israel,
Italy, Hungary, Poland, Philippines, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, and the
USA.



The participating underwater photographers will have three days to shoot their
photographs before the submission deadline. In order to get the best shots, divers
usually dive to about 100 feet. The photographers are restricted to only 25 minutes
of shooting time per dive due to water pressure and air supply constraints. There
is no room for error. Fast read and write speeds with their digital film cards
as well as reliable, high capacity storage are needed because while submerged,
changing or replacing flash film cards is impossible and every shot taken is critical.




"The competition is the ideal platform to highlight the superior capabilities
of SanDisk Extreme™ III cards," said Tanya Chuang, SanDisk senior
retail product marketing manager. "SanDisk's professional photography
line is designed specifically for the market's need for high-speed flash
memory storage for the high-performance digital single lens reflex (SLR) cameras
that will be used in the competition. SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash cards,
which range in capacity between 1 and 8 gigabytes (GB), are among the world's
fastest cards, with minimum write and read speeds of 20 megabytes per second (MB/sec.)
. "
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The 8GB SanDisk Ultra II CompactFlash card satisfies the need of those using
high-megapixel digital SLRs, those producing large files with every shot. Ultra
II cards offer a minimum sustained write speed of 9MB/sec and a read speed of
10MB/sec. SanDisk also produces their Extreme III CompactFlash lineup, which
has about double the read/write speed, but because the Extreme III uses a different
type of NAND flash memory the maximum capacity of that lineup is 4GB. In tests
with a variety of digital SLRs the Ultra II performed flawlessly, and it sure
was handy having that amount of memory on trips where lots of images were made
during the day's shoot. For Raw images with an 8MP camera we could get
almost 600 images on a card. Retail price for the 8GB card is $999.99, about
what a 1GB CompactFlash card cost three years ago.

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