SanDisk and Toshiba's developments in NAND flash memory get even smaller-- producing a 64Gb X2-based monolithic chip with 19nm technology.

The 19nm 64Gb X2 device will see sampling this quarter, before high-volume production following Q2 2011. At that time Sandisk will also start producing X3 products with the 19nm technology.

The process is the company's most advanced yet, and should allow for smaller high capacity removable and embedded storage devices for use in all sorts of mobile devices, Continue reading...

Buffalo Technology announces the availability of its latest portable storage solutions-- the MiniStation and Drivestation.

The MiniStation is lightweight and comes in a glossy piano-black finish. Being USB-powered, it provides instant storage space for users on the go-- and is comes in either 500GB or 1.0TB versions.

Meanwhile the DriveStation is available in USB 2.0 (with either 1TB or 2TB storage) or USB 3.0 versions (with 1TB, 2TB or 3TB storage space), and comes already pre-formatted for immediate Continue reading...

DRAMeXchange reports the combined smartphone and tablet markets' demands for NAND flash memory will account for more than 50% of the world's total flash memory output for 2011-- keeping the memory industry robustly happy.

Smartphones will account for 43% of 2011 memory consumption, while tablets will make another 10% (an increase from 2010's 5%).

The analyst also says the tablet industry will continue its current growth-- even if Apple will remain market leader. Current predictions suggest tablet Continue reading...

Some drive manufacturers believe mini-SATA (mSATA) will become the industry standard for mobile computing. Intel and Samsung, amongst others, are launching mSata products, such as Intel's 310 series.

Introduced at Intel's Developer Forum, mSATA is the smallest SATA connector, designed for the flexible form-factor offered by mini-SSDs (whereas SSDs are normally designed to fit the traditional 2.5" HDD form factor). Thus, mSATA SSDs allow vendors and OEMs to design and develop drives in a variety Continue reading...

DRAMeXchange says PC OEMs' restocking at Q1 2011 (and early Q2 2011) will result in a DRAM price rebound of 20-25%.

The price rebound will partly be the result of Sandy Bridge processors' launching, higher penetration of 64bit operating systems and low memory prices creating a new model content level of 4GB or above.

Manufacturer contract prices are at a low-- the average price for 2GB DDR3 is at $17, while the low price is $16.

Due to the continual decline in prices, module houses and retail Continue reading...

The SD Association announces its UHS-II bus-interface specification-- with HD recording speeds of up to 312MB/s.

The new protocol will make part of SD 4.00 specification, available later this quarter for SDXC and SDHC products.

A second row of pins on UHS-II cards carries the new high-speed interface signals. The interface does not effect current SD card form factors-- products will be available in standard full-size and micro formats.

This also means devices supporting the UHS bus interface Continue reading...

Kingston plans to develop a full range of USB 3.0 flash drive products this year, following its CES showings.

The company should release its fastest USB 3.0 device yet, the DataTraveler HyperX 3.0. It is part of Kingston's HyperXperience line of high-performance flash products.

The line will also include SSDs, USBs and cards complementing HyperX enthusiast memory modules.

A second generation of the DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 (the companys's first USB 3.0 flash drive using a SATA bridge chip) will Continue reading...

Hitachi unveils its latest Travelstar model, the Z5K500. The HDD carries either 500GB, 320GB or 250GB in a one-disk, 5400RPM, 7mm z-height model.

The drives are designed as a replacement for the standard 2.5" 9.5mm drives in external drives, laptops and blade servers.

The company says its Z5K500 drive family has the best cost per GB and GG/mm3 when compared to SSDs and 2.5" and 1.8" 9.5mm HDDs.

The drives feature 1.8W read/write power and 0.55W low power idle, as well as 8MB cache and SATA 3Gb/sec Continue reading...