TVSquad

SanDisk has quietly killed off its TakeTV video device and the accompanying Fanfare video download service. The company, best known for making flash memory sticks and portable media players, announced the TakeTV last fall as an off-beat answer to the Apple TV and other media extender devices.

The idea went something like this: Instead of sticking another box next to your TV, why not just copy your movies to a portable USB stick which you can then plug into any TV? Apparently the idea never caught on, because NewTeeVee reports that SanDisk shut down the Fanfare video portal on May 15th. And as far as I can tell, it took a few weeks before anyone really noticed.

If you're one of the two or three people who shelled out a few bucks for a TakeTV, the device will still work just fine. But you'll have to load it up with videos downloaded or recorded from other sources.

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.