SANDISK intros world's first Button Backup USB flash drive

NEW DELHI, INDIA: SanDisk Corporation today launched an innovative new family of SanDisk USB flash drives in India, including the world’s first backup USB flash drive with simple backup software activation at the touch of a button.

The SanDisk Ultra  Backup USB is the first offering of the company’s new SanDisk Ultra USB product line. With capacities up to 64 gigabytes1 (GB), the SanDisk Ultra Backup USB flash drive is designed to protect computer users’ photos, music, videos, personal and business documents, and other types of digital files, with the simple touch of a button without the need for any software installation. The drive protects onboard digital content with a dual layer of security, including password-protected access control and ultra-secure AES hardware-based encryption.

The new SanDisk USB product family includes three different product lines:

• The SanDisk Ultra Backup USB flash drive offers the added protection and peace of mind that consumers expect from the minds behind flash memory.
• The popular SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drive which provides simple, reliable and portable storage, plus access to a variety of U3 applications.
• The SanDisk Extreme Contour provides increased security protection and higher performance levels, enclosed in a sleek, elegant industrial design.

SanDisk Ultra Backup USB Flash Drive: Back up critical files with the simple touch of a button With no cables required, or any complicated software to install, the new SanDisk Ultra Backup USB flash drive is a complete backup solution that provides an incredibly easy way to protect digital files. It uses patent-pending backup technology with capacities up to 64GB, large enough to back up average consumer requirements, as well as critical small business files and documents. In addition to one’s digital personal life, these products protect critical work files with a dual layer of both password protection and AES hardware encryption. This ensures content stays private and secure (via data scrambling at the flash controller level) when the drives are either physically removed for portability, or stored away for safe keeping.

The explosion in global sales of laptops and mobile devices has exponentially increased the vulnerability of digital files. Computer users can quickly lose precious photos, music, videos and professional work files due to drops, spills, theft, viruses and other incidents. PC Magazine (www.pcmag.com) conducted a research study on annualized notebook failure rates published in July 2008 which found that more than 24 percent of business notebooks need repair each year due to failures.

“Consumers are taking more pictures, listening to more music, taking and watching more videos and collecting more personal data. As their library of personal data grows, so does the risk of losing this precious digital content. Hence the need to back up this important and priceless data becomes ever more important. We’re delivering incredibly simple and hassle-free backup solution to protect people’s most valuable digital content. With our wide array of capacities and price points, consumers can even choose to store particular file types like digital music or photos on different USB flash drives”, said Eric Bone, Director, Retail Product Marketing, launching the ‘new family’ of USBs in India.

The SanDisk Cruzer has been redesigned with a contemporary look as part of the new SanDisk USB family of flash drives. These portable, reliable drives are designed to share consumers’ digital world with ease, with up to 32GB of storage for simple sharing of photos, videos and other files.

The entire new SanDisk USB family introduces an iconic new design language developed by global innovation firm frog design. Signature design elements include juxtaposed L shapes that create a dynamic, yet balanced, composition, a bright red USB connector and a simple cap-less design, which exposes the USB connector for use via a dynamic sliding mechanism. When plugged in to a host device, a glowing, amber-colored LED light alerts users that the drives are ready for reading or writing data.

The new SanDisk USB family will continue to have U3 Smart technology, developed by SanDisk, which allows applications to run from a SanDisk USB flash drive without having to be installed on a computer.4 PC-users can download a variety of both free and paid software, games and content by visiting www.u3.com, or by accessing the SanDisk USB Program Wizard in the U3 Launchpad. Among other bonus applications available for download is the Veoh Web Player for SanDisk, which enables users to watch, download and share Internet video content.

The various product lines of SanDisk USB flash drives will continue to include the sleek and high-performance SanDisk Extreme Contour as its high-end storage solution for maximum security and speed. This showpiece of innovative design sports super-fast data transfer speeds at 25MB/second read and 18MB/second write. It also includes superior security with 256-bit AES USB hardware encryption and password-protected access control.

Pricing and Availability

The new SanDisk USB flash drives will become available in April 2009 with SanDisk’s distributors in India - HCL, Micro Ingram and Rashi Peripherals.

The SanDisk Cruzer drive includes a two-year limited warranty, the SanDisk Ultra Backup drive includes a five-year limited warranty, and the SanDisk Extreme Contour includes a lifetime limited warranty.