In March or April of 2009 SanDisk will launch a new music player. It’s a tiny device slightly larger than an iPod Nano that will sell for $99 and come with a microSD slot card preloaded with 1,000 songs in seven genres.
Consumers will be able to buy additional slot cards for $39.99 with 1,000 songs in a particular genre. These cards will have DRM and will only work in the one ounce slotRadio device. But look at the price point – 1,000 songs for $40 – or 4 cents a song. Compare that to Apple’s 99 cents a song, and you realize that this could really shake up the market.
SlotRadio’s advantage is in its simplicity: Open the package and turn the device on. You can skip songs, or change genres – like changing the radio station – and raise or lower the volume. That’s all. You don’t have to rip CDs, download a player and get an MP3 player to link to a PC. It’s for technophobes interested in having hassle-free music on the go.
One last thing to mention – at CES the SD Card Association announced the technology roadmap that will allow for up to 2 terabytes of data to be put on an SD card. Imagine in three to five years time you’re able to carry with you all the music you have ever loved and listened to during your whole life on your cellphone – along with all the photos you’ve ever taken and a ton of movies to watch while you travel.
