SanDisk Introduces Take TV and Fanfare Video Service - First Thoughts

Michael Gartenberg | October 22, 2007, 12:37 PM

Sandisk launched a new set of products this morning, the Sansa Take TV and Fanfare video service . With the new products Sandisk brings a novel approach how to bridge the PC and TV. We have seen in our research strong consumer desire to bridge the two device and take video content from the PC to the TV. We also know both methods of directly connecting PCs to TVs or streaming via home networks aren't mainstream yet. That's why Sandisk's approach with take TV makes so much sense as a short term tactical solution. Rather than create a network based solution the take TV has two parts, a small docking station that connects to your TV and what looks like a large USB flash drive. Copy video files to the flash drive from your PC, connect to the dock and watch. The cap of the flash drive doubles as a clever IR remote control. The process is simple and in my tests worked well. I had no problem playing divx encoded files or exporting content from a TV tuner connected to my mac.

But while there is a segment of the market that will have no problem finding video content, the mainstream consumer needs access to legal video content. That's where the fanfare service co,es in. Sandisk has created a new video marketplace where consumers van download content from their pcs directly to the take TV. Content is stored there and protected from being copied back to the pc, a serous weakness at the moment. There's a fair amount of content to choose from and the while the hardware is final the service is very much in beta. At the moment the real anchors for content are CBS and Showtime, I would expect additional deals are in the works.

At the moment take TV and fanfare aren't quite ready for the mass market. Right now it is a great tactical solution for the enthusiast that has a library of mp4 or divx content that they want to easily watch on their TVs. If Sandisk can build out their video offering, create a system that allows for that content to be played back on PCs or other video player, then it has the potential to become a real contender in the video space.