SanDisk, the company that pioneered flash memory storage cards, unveiled a new range of memory chip cards on Tuesday, incorporating an anti-piracy software chip to lure the entertainment market to a new storage medium.
The new TrustedFlash cards will function as normal mass storage cards — SD cards with capacity of up to several gigabytes of data — but the movies, music or games on the card would be protected with digital rights management (DRM) software.
SanDisk, based in Sunnyvale, California, hopes to convince entertainment companies to sell their content preloaded on the cards, or make it available for secure Internet downloads straight onto the cards.
The cards can also contain media and game playing software, which make it possible to play content on devices that were not originally designed for those services, though devices must be compatible with the TrustedFlash cards.
The new type of storage media is designed to support electronic commerce and enable mobile phones to perform secure financial transactions. SanDisk's new cards come at a time when the entertainment industry is moving online, and is increasingly protecting its content with special software that prevents copying to plain flash memory cards or other unsecure storage mediums.
SanDisk's own DRM system on the TrustedFlash cards will have to compete with that of Apple, Microsoft, Sony and the Open Mobile Alliance.
SanDisk said it is unique in that it offers the advantage of portability, so consumers will be able to take their legally purchased music, movies and games with them and play them on any compatible device.
South Korean electronics giant Samsung and the music arm of Internet services firm Yahoo said they would support TrustedFlash.
