8Gb music player increases pressure on Apple.
Sandisk has launched a flash memory based portable music player that offers twice the storage capacity of comparable Apple iPod models.
The 8Gb Sansa e280 is expected to retail at US$249.99. Users will be able to expand the device's storage capacity by another 2Gb through an external microSD expansion slot.
The player support Microsoft's Windows Media digital rights management technology, allowing it to play music purchased from online music stores including Rhapsody and Napster. It won't play music purchased from Apple's iTunes music story.
The device also features a build in FM radio tuner and offers an integrated microphone.
Trailing behind Apple's iPod, Sandisk is the second largest seller of flash memory based music players in North America, according to data from IDC.
Sandisk is the world's largest manufacturer of flash memory that is used in consumer devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones and portable music players.
Apple currently sells a 4Gb flash based iPod Nano for US$249. Larger hard disk based iPod models start at 30Gb and sell for US$299.
Apple last updated its iPod line of music players last September, when the company unveiled the flash memory based iPod Nano.
The draught of new iPod models has caused a slowdown in the overall portable music player market, noted Susan Kevorkian, a senior analyst for consumer entertainment with IDC.