SanDisk Introduces the ImageMate CompactFlash Card Reader/Writer for Desktop Computers.NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 1998-- New Low-Cost Device Gives Consumers Quick And Easy-To-Use Way To Download To receive a file transmitted over a network. In any communications session, "download" means receive, and "upload" means send. The download/upload often implies a big/little scenario, in which data is being downloaded from the "big" server into the "little" user's computer. Images From Digital Cameras To Desktop PCs SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :SNDK) today introduced the ImageMate(tm), an easy-to-use, low cost, CompactFlash card reader that allows consumers to easily and quickly download images from a digital camera to a desktop PC using removable CompactFlash(tm) (CF(tm)) memory cards. The ImageMate, with a suggested retail price of $99, will be demonstrated Feb. 12-15 at the annual Photo Marketing Association trade show in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded (SanDisk booth F-170). It will be available in retail outlets retail outlet n → punto de venta retail outlet n → point m de vente retail outlet retail n → starting in February and March. CF memory cards have quickly become the new film standard for digital cameras. Approximately 25 new digital cameras with a built-in slot exclusively for CompactFlash film cards have been introduced during the last year. They include cameras from Canon, Casio, Epson, Kodak, Konica, Mitsubishi, NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98). NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. , Panasonic, Polaroid, Vivitar, Yashica and other leading camera manufacturers. The ImageMate, an external device that attaches to the PC parallel port, allows consumers to download images up to 20 times faster than by employing the serial port (on the camera) connection method frequently used today. For example, downloading a 10MB CF card filled with images through the serial port takes more than 10 minutes while downloading the images with the ImageMate takes less than one minute. A 10MB CF card typically stores between 10 and 200 images depending on resolution and compression settings. Camera vendors typically include a serial port cable with new digital cameras when they are sold. Desktop computers typically do not have built-in slots for PC cards or CompactFlash cards. The ImageMate also provides a quick and easy way to move data and audio captured on a CompactFlash card from handheld computers A computing device that can be easily held in one hand while the other hand is used to operate it. The Palm devices are a popular example. See Palm, smartphone and palmtop. and audio recorders to a PC. Doug Fine, vice president of digital imaging and retail at SanDisk, said, "Unlike many other card readers on the market, the ImageMate is easy to set up and easy to use. Simply connect it to the printer port of your PC, run the install program provided on floppy disk floppy disk or diskette Magnetic storage medium used with computers. Floppy disks are made of flexible plastic coated with a magnetic material, and are enclosed in a hard plastic case. They are typically 3.5 in. (9 cm) in diameter. and you're ready to go. Typical installation takes less than five minutes." Fine explained that "the initial target of the ImageMate is the digital camera market where there is a large, pent-up demand for an easier and faster method for moving images from cameras to desktop PCs. Besides the many CF-based digital cameras that have been launched thus far, we are aware of more than 25 other digital cameras with CompactFlash slots that will be introduced in the coming months. The ImageMate is aggressively priced and will be widely distributed Adj. 1. widely distributed - growing or occurring in many parts of the world; "a cosmopolitan herb"; "cosmopolitan in distribution" cosmopolitan bionomics, environmental science, ecology - the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms around the world." The ImageMate is about the size of a computer mouse. It appears on a Windows desktop like any other drive when a CF card is inserted, allowing files to be copied or manipulated as easily as floppy disks. The unit has a printer pass-through connector allowing the ImageMate and a printer to share the same parallel port. A small, flexible cable connects the drive to the printer port. The ImageMate doesn't require an AC power adapter An external power supply for laptop computers and just about every portable or semi-portable electronic device on the market. Also called an "AC adapter," it contains a rectifier to convert AC current to DC and a transformer to convert voltage from 120 down to 9, 12, 15 or whatever is as it draws its power directly from the computer. Ed Cuellar, a SanDisk product manager, explained that "using the ImageMate solves a major bottleneck A lessening of throughput. It often refers to networks that are overloaded, which is caused by the inability of the hardware and transmission lines to support the traffic. It can also refer to a mismatch inside the computer where slower-speed peripheral buses and devices prevent the CPU for digital imaging as it greatly simplifies the task of downloading digital images into the PC or the internet. ImageMate is a crucial part of the infrastructure that must be in place for the digital camera market to succeed. This will be the first CompactFlash Drive widely available to consumers around the world and will help encourage many of them to buy digital cameras." The ImageMate will be sold under the SanDisk brand name and will also be made available to selected OEMs who want to distribute the product under their label. The device will be marketed in the many retail outlets that now sell CompactFlash cards. SanDisk CF cards are available today in capacities ranging between 2 and 48MB. SanDisk Corporation, the world's largest supplier of flash data storage products, designs, manufactures and markets industry-standard, solid-state data, image and audio storage products using patented, high density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk has strategic alliances with Seagate Technology (company) Seagate Technology - A major manufacturer of hard disk drives, founded in 1979 as "Shugart Technology" by Alan F. Shugart and Finis Conner. That name is on the original patents for the 5.25" hard disk drive. , Matsushita Electronic Corp., NEC Corp. and LG Semicon. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. -0- The matters discussed in this news release contain forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties as described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. , filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company assumes no obligation to update the information in this release. SanDisk's web site/home page address: http://www.sandisk.com ImageMate, CompactFlash and CF are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation. CONTACT: SanDisk Corp. Nelson Chan, 408/542-0456 Bob Goligoski, 408/542-0463 |
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