| Chris Shim, sales manager at SanDisk Korea, the local subsidiary of the U.S.-based flash memory provider, speaks during a press conference held at its headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, Thursday. The company released the Connect Wireless Stick, which allows users to connect up to eight mobile devices for content sharing. / Courtesy of SanDisk Korea |
By Lee Min-hyung
SanDisk, a U.S.-based flash memory provider, has released an upgraded version of its wireless USB stick here and more than halved the price from the previous model.
"The price for the previous model was relatively high as we had to incubate various technologies for the first-generation WiFi-based USB stick," Chris Shim, sales manager at SanDisk Korea, the local subsidiary of the data storage giant, said at a press conference at its headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, Thursday.
The previous Connect Wireless Flash Drive, launched in April of last year, was priced at 89,000 won ($74.9) for a 16-GB model. But the new connect series, called the Connect Wireless Stick, sells for 39,000 won for the same storage capacity.
"Demands for the wireless storage devices are surging across the globe as an infinite number of online contents are created every day. That's why we decided to cut the price and appeal with a more reasonable price," he said.
The wireless USB stick allows users to connect up to eight mobile devices to save and access movies, photos and other content without PCs or an Internet connection, the company said. The device also enables up to three devices to stream videos or other content simultaneously.
It added the only thing users have to do is to download the Connect Wireless application from the Android or iOS markets.
The sales chief said "wireless world" will be the key theme of the next-generation information and technology (IT) industry.
"The wireless stick was developed not just for customers, but for other devices," he said. "More than 2.4 million digital images are created every minute. All the devices will require smart storage systems in the near future."
Some 33 billion devices will be used within the framework of the Internet of Things (IoT) by 2020, according to U.S.-based market researcher Strategy Analytics.
"The growing demand for data storage might cause a huge problem in the IT industry. We are seeking to solve the problem with our mobile memory sticks."
Users can get up to approximately 4.5 hours of video playback when the device is fully charged, according to the company.
The Connect Wireless Stick comes with a capacity of 16, 32, 64 and 128 GB with a two-year warranty.
The company adopted the USB 2.0 port for the model, citing its wider usage on a global scale than the 3.0 port.