First it was “made for iPod”, now it’s “made for sansa” – with SanDisk’s announcement that seven companies including Griffin Technology and Altec Lansing will be offering a range of Sansa MP3 player licensed accessories under a new program.

The new accessories will include speaker docks, travel cases, headphones, armbands, FM auto transmitters, chargers and cables made by the likes of Altec Lansing, DLO (Digital Lifestyle Outfitters), Griffin Technology, HandStands, Macally Peripherals, Maximo Products and Speck Products.

SanDisk’s Eric Bone said “We are pleased to welcome the first partners in our Sansa accessory program. With each new addition to the line of licensed Sansa accessories, we are creating a more complete ecosystem for enhancing the user experience among the growing base of Sansa owners.”

The company has also expanded its own range of Sansa accessories with the addition of the Sansa Base Station and the V-Mate video flash memory card recorder.

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The former is a docking station / stereo system for the SanDisk e200 and the new c200 series of MP3 players. SanDisk says it allows users to dock a player, connect to and play audio content through an external entertainment system instead of a headphone, operate the player with a remote control, automatically charge the internal batteries of the c200 and e200 players, and transfer data between the player and a PC.

The Sansa Base Station comes with a power adapter, USB 2.0 cable, RCA audio cable, remote control with battery and mechanical adapters for each of the three Sansa models. 

The V-Mate video memory card recorder allows you to record video to flash cards from TV, cable and satellite set-top boxes, DVD or VCR players to play back on mobile phones, PDAs, handheld game consoles, and video/music players, says SanDisk.

“Today’s increasingly mobile consumer wants to be able to watch their favorite shows and videos, whenever and wherever they want,” said SanDisk’s Wes Brewer. “The V-Mate is an easy-to-use, affordable way for millions of people to use their mobile phones or other mobile devices to watch video content that resides primarily in the living room when they are away from home.”

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The V-Mate connects to the analogue audio/video output of a set-top box, DVD player, PVR or VCR. It has multiple programming slots for entering channel, date and start/stop times to schedule recordings. At initial set-up users select their playback device (such as a mobile phone or handheld game) to ensure the recordings are playback compatible.

According to SanDisk, the unit includes an infrared emitter which will automatically turn on the TV tuner box (cable/satellite/terrestrial receiver or VCR) and select the right channel when programmed to record. IT also includes a mini-USB connection.

The Sansa licensed accessories as well as the new SanDisk accessories are expected to be available in Australia in Q4/2006 with pricing details to follow. 

For additional information, please visit http://www.sandisk.com/sdhc/