SanDisk launches hot-swappable storage card
SanDisk launches hot-swappable storage card
Sep 29, 2005: In what has been described by the company as a significant breakthrough in mobile entertainment, SanDisk has introduced TrustedFlash, a new technology that will enable consumers to buy premium music, movies and games on flash memory cards for use interchangeably in mobile phones, laptop computers, PDAs and other portable devices.
Music producers and movie studios will be able to release premium content on TrustedFlash products because it provides the security and digital rights management solutions that are required by these providers, while consumers will be able to download premium content from online digital music services through their mobile phone or PC.
TrustedFlash will enable users to use their purchased content in a variety of supported devices, in contrast to today’s closed, proprietary systems that bind content to a particular host device, such as a specific cell phone or MP3 player. TrustedFlash technology empowers the card itself to be the manager of digital rights, thus giving consumers the freedom to transfer the card – and its content – to other supported devices without compromising its content protection system.
“The TrustedFlash technology is the foundation of our third generation cards,” said Eli Harari, SanDisk CEO. “It provides independence from the host, offering consumers true freedom to enjoy the content they own on their cards in numerous host players. TrustedFlash cards will unlock a world of premium content to consumers using mobile phones, music players, game players and video players, while providing strong security to content providers such as record, movie and game companies. SanDisk has developed TrustedFlash over the past two years, working closely with industry leaders in entertainment, mobile handsets and cryptosecurity,” he said.
TrustedFlash addresses the security concerns of content providers as well as SanDisk OEM customers such as mobile network operators (MNOs) and mobile phone manufacturers. Among the companies that have adopted the TrustedFlash platform are EMI Music, Samsung Mobile Communications, Yahoo! Music and NDS.
“TrustedFlash cards are highly secure, thanks to an on-board processor, a high-performance cryptographic engine and tamper-resistant technology that are designed to provide much higher level security than has previously existed on memory cards and on most consumer electronics devices,” said Yoram Cedar, SanDisk’s senior vice president of engineering and the emerging markets business unit. “Cards built on the TrustedFlash platform will provide full digital rights management capabilities, supporting industry security standards such as both symmetric and asymmetric algorithms.”
In a second phase planned for 2006, it is expected that TrustedFlash will also support mobile commerce applications and enable handsets to perform secure online financial transactions such as credit card payments, mass-transit access and one-time password authentication.
SanDisk also announced that Samsung's Mobile Communication Division will be its lead partner in providing mobile phones that support the new SanDisk TrustedFlash cards.
Cedar added: “Samsung Mobile Communication Division manufactures some of the most exciting handset models in the market today, with music and video playback, games, over-the-air downloads and other cutting-edge services. SanDisk is pleased that Samsung Mobile Communication Division has adopted TrustedFlash to help consumers get the premium content they crave, and we look forward to working with Samsung on many exciting mobile entertainment projects.”
Additional launch partners for SanDisk’s TrustedFlash platform include Yahoo! Music, NDS and PocketTunes.
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