SanDisk Corporation, the multinational company that designs and markets flash memory card products, will sign an agreement to purchase the MP3 player company MusicGremlin. The purchase cost has not yet been disclosed.

The New York based MusicGremlin has become known for promoting a portable digital music player and a subscription based online music service. The product released in 2006 had a specialty: the subscription service could be accessed wirelessly directly from the device without the use of an intermediate computer. The music downloaded in such manner could then be shared with other users of the same product. The innovation promoted by this product was at first outstanding, but it did not keep the market’s attention for long.

What was of great interest for SanDisk when signing the agreement with MusicGremlin was the latter’s distribution methods and wireless technologies. Both will help the buyer company keep up with the latest trends in MP3 players and it will probably let Apple behind in the future. For the moment, Apple is the dominant leader of the media players market.

SanDisk has tried before to use this type of technology, which was using Yahoo’s unlimited music subscription service, with its Sansa Connect players. The technology bought from MusicGremlin will have a “key role” in the future Sansa line, as acknowledged by SanDisk’s Senior VP Daniel Schreiber. He further added that a complete fusion would take place between the two companies and consequently, the acquired company will no longer promote products under its own name.

Microsoft has also used this technology on its Zune line.