CD manufacturer Memorex has announced its intention to enter the Flash memory card market, following the success of its USB Flash drives.

The company launched a line of Flash memory cards this week under the TravelCard brand, which is based on an Imation-developed dual-interface card featuring SD and USB connectivity.

TravelCard also offers the most popular formats and capacities of Flash memory for use with digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players and mobile phones.

The first offering allows consumers to use the dual-interface TravelCard in a camera then plug it directly into a computer's USB port, eliminating the need for a Flash card reader.

The device is available in 1GB and 2GB capacities and features a retractable USB connector.

The worldwide Flash card market is expected to reach more than 450 million units by 2008, according to figures from Gartner Dataquest. SD, Micro SD and MultiMediaCard Micro are expected to be among the leading formats.