SanDisk unveils the first digital flash DVD player for TVs

Computerworld - SanDisk Corp. today unveiled an industry initiative to create a new USB storage device that allows users to move digital content from their PCs to their TVs for viewing on a large screen.

SanDisk demonstrated the device, USBTV, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and several vendors also announced their support for the device. 

2007 International CES: Jan. 8-11, Las Vegas

USBTV uses a small flash memory-enabled media player that plugs and plays directly onto almost any TV. The idea behind the device is that consumers store personal videos and movies on their PC, where they are pigeonholed into watching it on a 17-in. monitor. With USBTV, that content can be viewed on any size screen in comfort. Currently, the only way to perform that same task is to burn the content onto a DVD.

At a press conference at CES, SanDisk demonstrated a product concept that employs a TV cradle that plugs into the standard A/V sockets and comes with a remote control. A key innovation incorporated into USBTV is a multimedia processor that converts the stored files into various TV video/audio formats for direct playback on any TV, without the need for any changes to the TV.

With industrywide support, SanDisk hopes the USBTV players will be able to plug directly into new TVs through a built-in port.

The first pocket-size players are expected to be available this spring. SanDisk said no wireless setup or networking equipment is required.

"We believe that USBTV represents an exciting new category of flash-based products that will bring digital downloading of video to a broad spectrum of new consumers who prefer viewing on their TV sets rather than on a PC screen,” said SanDisk CEO Eli Harari in a statement.

SanDisk also announced the creation of the USBTV Forum, which will garner industrywide support of USBTV among consumer electronics manufacturers, TV and display manufacturers, content providers and related technology companies.

"USBTV has the potential to become an industry-transforming category as significant as the introduction of the DVD and VHS players, because in the convergence of the Web and home entertainment. USBTV solves in a simple, elegant way the 'last 10 feet' of the content portability problem in the home between the PC and the TV,” Harari said.

Other companies contributing to the USBTV initiative include Akimbo Systems Inc. and Guba LLC, an  online entertainment destination. Movielink LLC is also working closely with the forum on protecting movies and other rights-managed video content.

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