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Stuff.tv: Let’s face it, as much as everyone likes nifty MP3 players and PMPs, they cost cash. So praise be then for the latest incarnation of the Sansa Cip from Sandisk.

The new model comes packing the same style as before, but it’s what’s inside that counts. Namely 8GB of storage. That’s room for 2,000 tracks. But the best bit is the price.

And the fun doesn’t end there. As well as an OLED screen, there’s an FM radio, support for every major audio format and some bundled buds. Ok, they’ll be average, but nab some cheap ones and you’re onto a winner.

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Crave: Following the announcement that SanDisk will attempt a renaissance of physical music media in the form of slotMusic MicroSD cards, the company is set to release an ultracheap Sansa MP3 player made specifically for the new album format.

Dubbed the SanDisk Sansa slotMusic Player, the device will sell for $19.99 (15 Euros) and is possibly the simplest MP3 player I’ve laid hands on.

There are virtually no features, no screen, and no internal memory. Simply pop a slotMusic card into the MicroSD slot on the left edge of the unit, plug the included headphones into the standard jack on the right edge, and hit play. Songs play in album order; you can pause playback and skip through tracks using buttons on the bottom of the device, and, of course, there are volume controls (by the headphone jack), but that about sums up the player’s capabilities.

The Sansa slotMusic Player will come in white originally, with different faceplates available going forward.

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Engadget: SanDisk just released a firmware update for the Sansa Fuze.

It’s a pretty minor update, except it adds in support for FLAC and Ogg, which should make fans of jam bands and lossless music encoding extremely happy.

Nothing much else of note here apart from some UI tweaks and big fixes.

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TrustedReviews: Yesterday Flash memory giant SanDisk has announced ‘slotMusic’: a new physical music format where 320kbps encoded, DRM-free music will be sold on 1GB microSD cards. The seemingly antiquated plan also has the backing of all four major record labels (EMI, Sony BMG, Warner Music and Universal) so widespread support is expected but will anyone be convinced?

The theory is simple: most mobile phones are united in their adoption of the microSD format so users will simply be able to pop down to their local store, buy a slotMusic album and insert it into their handsets.

SanDisk’s Sansa Fuze and View MP3 players also carry microSD expansion slots.

Of course the problem with all this is we have seen something virtually identical try and fail before. TrustedFlash was announced back in September 2005 and proposed DRM-protected albums and video content sold on microSD cards.

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PC World: SanDisk has rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from hardware maker Samsung Electronics, saying that it undervalues the maker of flash storage cards.

The two companies had been in takeover talks for about four months, but Samsung went public with its offer Tuesday, apparently after discussions had broken down.

“Our offer insulates your shareholders from the risk of market conditions that have severely deteriorated and are expected to remain challenging,” Samsung Vice Chairman and CEO Yoon-Woo Lee wrote in a letter to SanDisk executives that Samsung released Tuesday.

SanDisk Chairman and CEO Eli Harari responded quickly, saying in a statement his company is willing to discuss a takeover, but that the per share offer “is opportunistically timed at the trough of an industry-wide downturn” and undervalues the flash card maker.

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InternetNews: News outlets and blogs lit up on Friday with reports that Samsung Electronics, the giant Korean firm that produces almost one-third of the world’s supply of flash memory, is considering purchasing SanDisk, a maker of flash memory disk drives.

Samsung did not respond to calls for comment, but a spokesperson told Reuters “”We are looking at various opportunities regarding SanDisk, but nothing has been decided yet.”

SanDisk issued a statement to all press that said “SanDisk periodically has conversations with multiple parties, including Samsung, regarding a variety of potential business opportunities. We evaluate all of these opportunities, but maintain a policy of not commenting on market rumors or speculation.”

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Canvas Magazine: Every other company seems make an ‘iPod killing’ rival but the good ones normally look like crap, the pretty ones are hard to use and trying to buy an MP3 player without an apple on it is confusing. Quietly creeping into the market this month is the Sansa Fuze, one of the first decent iPod Nano alternatives.

Yes it does look suspiciously like a Nano and comes in 2, 4 and 8 GB versions at 60, 80 and 100 quid(ish). But while they look alike, the Fuze’s feature-set is definitely richer than its more glamorous, empty-headed rival. Apart from the usual suspects – 24 hours of battery life, photo and video playback etc – the Fuze adds digital radio tuner and a good quality digital recorder. Combine the two and you get a little bit of convenient magic: it lets you record off the radio. 

The Fuze is made by SanDisk. The sound quality on this fella is about as good as you’re going to get in any similar device. Audiophiles love Sansa players for their clarity. Overall, this is kicks the Nano’s arse but just to really finish it off, the 8GB Fuze is cheaper than Apple’s contender.

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CNNMoney: SanDisk, which sells MP3 players, said Tuesday it purchased MusicGremlin, a privately-held company that develops digital content distribution technologies.

The acquisition falls under SanDisk’s Sansa audio/video business unit.

Robert Khedouri, co-CEO and co-founder of MusicGremlin, will join the Sansa team as vice president of services.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Slashgear: I’ve a shudder-inducing feeling that my own personal purgatory will be a nightmarish bombardment of acronyms and abbreviations.  Seriously, is there any other industry so in love with initials and oddly-constructed names?  Well, the latest to offend my eyes is USBTV, basically a USB memory stick with built-in video encoder and video line-out.

Tech-shy users slap the key into their PC, drag’n’drop a load of content onto it (which get DRM-encrypted as it transfers) and then either slot it into an LCD or Plasma TV which has a compatible USBTV USB port, or use the cradle and a bog-standard video-out cable.

It might sound bland – and compared to wireless media streamers, it is – but it’s obviously caught the attention of LG, Mitsubishi, Philips, Pioneer and Zoran who have all jumped into bed with Sandisk. Expect to see USBTV products later this year, after some trial testing starts at the beginning of February.

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Mobilewhack: SanDisk Corporation unveiled an affordable, cable-less, flash-based MP3 player designed for the value conscious consumer – the Sansa Express. It packs 1GB of storage, and stands out amongst its competition as an affordably priced device with a number of features found on more high-end players.Features of the SanDisk Sansa Express MP3 player include an FM tuner, microSD expansion slot, data storage, recording capabilities, and a direction connection to user’s computer – no USB cable required! You can expand the memory capacity of the player up to 3GB by utilizing a 2GB microSD card. The device is about the size of a pack of gum.

The SanDisk Sansa Express (…) will be available for purchase in March 2007 in the United States and Europe for the very affordable price of $59.99 (about 46 euro).

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Life is a rollercoaster for SanDisk. One day, they’re proudly announcing a full range of accessories for their Sansa MP3 players. The other, they’re facing a lawsuit.

BBC News: German officials seized MP3 players from SanDisk’s booth at the IFA show in Berlin after an Italian patents firm won an injunction against the company. Italian patents company Sisvel alleges that SanDisk refuses to pay licensing fees it needs to playback MP3 files. (…)
According to Giustino de Sanctis, head of Sisvel’s US-based subsidiary Audio MPEG, SanDisk’s refusal to purchase an MP3 licence leaves them out of step with some 600 other manufacturers and software developers. (…)
Sisvel President Roberto Dini told the website DigitalLifestyles.info that SanDisk could gain an unfair edge over competitors and could potentially offer trade customers at the high-profile German show a lower price for its MP3 players.

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Anythingbutipod.com: SanDisk has signed deals with 40 companies to produce accessories for the Sansa line of MP3 players, according to their press release. These companies will join SanDisk’s “Made for Sansa” licensing program much like the “Made for iPod” program.

The third party accessory manufacturers are already showing an impressive line up of goods found on their Made for Sansa landing pages: Macally, Altec Lansing, Griffin, and DLO to name a few. These products include a vast majority of the same types of accessories iPod owners have been enjoying for years, including several different kinds of speaker docks, chargers, FM tuners, cases, cables, headphones with built-in docks, and the list goes on.

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