Gruvi was a short-lived memory card format compatible with
microSD
Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices.
The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...
developed by
Sandisk
SanDisk is a brand for flash memory products, including memory cards and readers, USB flash drives, solid-state drives, and digital audio players, manufactured and marketed by Western Digital. The original company, SanDisk Corporation was acquir ...
in 2006. It used the company's TrustedFlash card technology, which functioned like the conventional
SD card
Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices.
The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...
but it could be extended to on-demand content. The cards were intended for the distribution of music and videos and had a variety of special
Digital rights management
Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...
features including the ability to pre-load content that could be 'unlocked' at a later date. The announced objective was the replacement of CDs, which was highlighted by the involvement of music publisher
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
when the product was launched.
The little cards featured a picture of the artist whose music was pre-loaded. They were compatible with mobile phones, t, and laptop computers.
Only a handful of Gruvi cards were ever released, one of them was the album
A Bigger Bang
''A Bigger Bang'' is the 22nd British and 24th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released through Virgin Records on 6 September 2005. It is their most recent studio album of original compositions to date, though ...
by the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
.
slotMusic
SanDisk repeated their attempt at a flash-media-based music distribution format in 2008, with the introduction of
slotMusic
slotMusic was a brand of microSD memory card developed by SanDisk preloaded with music in MP3 format. They were first available at Wal-Mart and Best Buy stores in October 2008. The current selection of songs comes from Universal Music Group, Son ...
, this time without DRM. The cards were sold with music published by major record labels EMI,
Sony BMG
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
,
Warner
Warner can refer to:
People
* Warner (writer)
* Warner (given name)
* Warner (surname)
Fictional characters
* Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs''
* Aaron Warner, a character in ''Shatter Me s ...
, and
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a ...
.
References
SanDisk ‘Gruvi’ TrustedFlash: Content On Memory CartsSanDisk Receives CES Innovations Design Award for Its Gruvi Rolling Stones Music Card
External links
Gruvi at The Museum of Obsolete Media
Solid-state computer storage media
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