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SanDisk announces video download service for Sansa TakeTV

Sansa TakeTV
This weekend, Buy.com leaked the details on a new digital video player from SanDisk. We were a bit baffled by the concept. The Sansa TakeTV plugs into your PC as a flash drive, letting you copy movies. You then place the flash drive in a dock next to your TV and watch downloaded movies. Was this essentially a tool for watching your pirated copies of Hollywood films?

Turns out the answer is a big no. Well kind of. What Buy.com didn't tell us is that SanDisk is also launching a video download service called Fanfare. You can download videos directly from Fanfare and transfer them to your TakeTV for watching. Or you can watch other DivX, XViD, and MPEG4 movies.

Here's the skinny on TakeTV and Fanfare:

Sansa TakeTV
  • USB 2.0 flash drive works with Windows, Mac, and LInux
  • Connects to TV via composite/S-Video jacks
  • Includes a remote control
  • Supports DivX, XViD, and MPEG4 video
  • NTSC/PAL support
  • 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio support
  • Video resolutions up to 720x576 at 7Mbps
  • 4GB model for $99 and 8GB model for $149
Fanfare
  • Content partners include CBS, Jaman, Showtime, Smithsonian Networks, the Weather Channel, and TV Guide
  • More than 85 titles available today, including CSI, Survivor, Dexter, and Sleeper Cell
  • Content owners can offer up paid or ad-supported downloads
  • You'll be able to play videos on other SanDisk Sansa portable media players
  • You'll need Sansa software to play back the videos -- it includes a proprietary DRM scheme
  • Only available in the US
Fanfare launches in beta today, with a wider release scheduled for early next year.

Sansa TakeTV 8GB video player lets you watch PC video on your TV

Sansa TakeTV
Got a ton of videos sitting on your PC that you wish you could watch on your TV? Sure, you could buy a pricey media center extender, connect it to the home network and stick it next to your TV. Or you could just put a few videos on SanDisk's new 8GB Flash memory stick, carry it over to your TV, plug it into a cradle and press play.

While the SanDisk Sansa TakeTV video player might not be the most elegant solution for watching your downloaded/home movies on the big screen, it does look pretty simple. The USB 2.0 flash drive lets you drag and drop DivX, XViD, and MPEG4 videos from any PC running Windows XP and Vista.

You can play back videos at 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios on NTSC or PAL systems. And the Sansa TakeTV supports video resolutions up to 720 x 576 at 7Mbps. No word on pricing yet, but since all of our information to date is coming from a leak by the folks at Buy.com, we expect it won't be too long before the shop puts a price tag on the TakeTV.

[via Engadget]

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