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Flash Memory

12 February 2009

Patriot Memory, a global provider of premium memory module and flash memory solutions, announced today the release of their 16GB microSDHC flash memory card.

"Today's mobile devices have become an important tool in people's everyday lives," says Meng Jay, Flash Product Manager for Patriot Memory. "Mobile phones can connect to the internet, record video and play games; in essence it's a mini computer making storage space all the more important."

Smaller than the size of a US dime, Patriot's 16GB microSDHC flash memory card can store over 6,000 photos or 300 hours of music. The 16GB microSDHC flash memory card is rated, Class 2, which based on (SDA's) Secure Digital Association's standards, classifies it as 2MB/s guaranteed minimum sustained write speeds.

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Flash Memory

12 February 2009

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in high performance memory products, announced today that it has launched A-DATA XPG 3.5” SSD Enclosure to expand its portfolio of SSD solutions. This device is an ingenious hard drive converter, turning up to two 2.5” SATA SSDs into a 3.5” SATA drive.

With this converter, installing a 2.5” drive into a regular PC will be easier than ever, allowing more convenience to recover data from notebooks onto a desktop computer and vise versa. It’s very valuable and functional for users who expect SSD speed on their home or office desktop; a perfect product with the speed of SATA II for any average or advanced computer user. Also, the hard drive converter features a safety lock mechanism that allow users to lock up the storage drives, making them unattainable to keep the drives fully secured and safe when they are in operation.

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Flash Memory

11 February 2009

SanDisk announced this week that it and Toshiba have co-developed multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory using 32-nanometer (nm) process technology. Using this technology, SanDisk will be able to produce a 32GB 3-bits-per-cell (X3)  memory chip, small enough to fit in a fingernail-sized microSD card. Production of 32Gb X3 memory chips is expected to begin in the second half of 2009.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) and Toshiba Corporation today announced the co-development of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory using 32-nanometer (nm) process technology to produce a 32-gigabit (Gb) 3-bits-per-cell (X3) memory chip. The breakthrough introduction is expected to quickly bring to market advanced technologies that will enable greater capacities and reduce manufacturing costs for products ranging from memory cards to Solid State Drives (SSD).

“The development of our third-generation 3-bits-per-cell technology on 32nm within one and a half years after the introduction of the first generation of 3-bits-per-cell on 56nm shows the incredibly fast pace necessary to be a world-class producer in today’s industry,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, co-founder and president, SanDisk. “This allows us to offer higher capacities at compelling form factors while reducing manufacturing costs – all helping to expand our various product lines. This new development highlights SanDisk’s deep level of technical expertise and innovation that ultimately benefits consumers.”

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Flash Memory

10 February 2009

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., today announced it is increasing the capacity of its CompactFlash® Elite Pro™ Flash memory cards to 32GB. Shipping immediately, the new cards offer larger capacity and fast data transfer rates to allow amateur and professional photographers to maximize the performance of their high-end digital cameras.

"The Kingston® 32GB CF Elite Pro card is designed to keep pace with and not limit the productivity of the most advanced digital camera equipment on the market," said Wendy Lecot, Flash business development manager, Kingston Digital. "Combining the large storage capacity along with fast read and write speeds makes this card ideal for continuous capture and download of images."

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Optical Storage

10 February 2009

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announces its new external DVD writer, the SE-S084B series. The new tray-type DVD writer is a slim portable device, available in seven color choices. Samsung’s new external DVD writer is designed to meet market demand for external DVDs to complement mini-notebook and netbook PCs, a fast growing sector in the PC industry.

The SE-S084B series adopts a single interconnect cable for both data transmission and power supply. The DVD writer is connected through a USB port without the need for a separate power cable. This tray-type slim DVD writer weighs less than a pound (0.4kg) making it an attractive easy to carry portable device.

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Other

09 February 2009

AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE Black Edition CPU @ Benchmark Reviews
AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition and X4 810 Processors @ HotHardware.com
AMD Phenom II X4 810 AM3/AM2+ Processor @ Benchmark Reviews
ASUS Eee 1002HA Netbook @ TweakTown
Callpod Chargepod Multi-Port Charger @ Futurelooks
Cooler Master ATCS 840 Full Tower Classic Case @ ThinkComputers.org and Tweaknews
Cooler Master Storm Sniper Case @ Metku.net
Lian Li PC-C36 Muse HTPC Case @ Bigbruin.com
Liteon iHES206 Internal 6x Blu-ray Disc Reader and DVD/CD Writer @ TestFreaks
mophie Juice Pack for iPhone 3G @ BCCHardware
Patriot Viper PC3-12800 6GB Memory Kit @ HardwareLogic
Seagate FreeAgent Go 320GB Portable Drive For Mac @ Futurelooks
Sunbeamtech Mini-ITX Acrylic Case @ Rbmods

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Optical Storage

09 February 2009

Lite-On sent out a press release this morning, announcing its new line of 24x DVD writers. The company plans to ship the iHAS324 (SATA) and iHAP424 (PATA) in March. Both drives will feature Lite-On's SmartErase technology and, in the case of the iHAP424, support for LightScribe. Lite-On will also be shipping a third drive in mid-May. Along with SmartErase and LightScribe, the iHAS624 will feature Lite-On's new LabelTag technology. For those not familiar with LabelTag, the technology allows you to write text and graphics on the recordable side of a disc.

Lite-On, a global leader of optical storage solutions, today announces a new line of internal DVD writers that deliver a maximum write speed of 24X on select DVD media, the fastest in the market. Select drives will also include Lite-On’s own LabelTag and SmartErase technologies – unique labeling and data erasing features for DVDs and CDs.

Compared to similar devices in the market today, Lite-On’s new internal writers offer the fastest DVD recording available with its DVD writing speeds of 24X. All drives will include new Lite-On technologies designed for true power users who are concerned with more than just writing speeds. Lite-On’s SmartErase technology will be included in all drive versions, and the iHAS624, available in Mid-May, will also feature LabelTag – a new solution in disc labeling.

“PLDS is proud to manufacture the fastest 24X writers in the market, especially with included technologies such as LabelTag,” said Christine Hsing, Marketing Manager at PLDS. “LabelTag provides a cost-effective and flexible method for professional disc labeling, a great solution for today’s busy professional and people on-the-go.”

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Optical Storage

09 February 2009

NEC Electronics announced today that it has developed a new System-on-a-Chip (SoC) for DVD writers. The SCOMBO 8 integrates DVD drive control logic, synchronous DRAM, and flash memory all in a compact 14mm square flat package. It is also the first DVD controller to support 24x DVD recording and uses 50% less power than NEC's previous products when writing at 8x.

NEC Electronics Corporation today announced that it has developed a System-on-a-Chip (SoC) product integrating all the functionalities needed for DVD writing and reading on a single chip. The new product named SCOMBO® 8 is a SoC for supporting DVD Drives equipped in PCs and home write/read appliances and has following features: (1) Integrates DVD drive control logic, synchronous DRAM, and flash memory all in a compact 14mm square flat package; (2) Delivers industry's fastest 24x DVD writing; (3) Lowers power consumption during DVD writing at 8x speed to 0.8W, reducing by 50 percent compared to the previous products.

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Home Entertainment

06 February 2009

The Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News  recently reported (via DigiTimes) that Lite-On has been developing Blu-ray Disc players and plans to begin production in the third quarter of 2009. Instead of selling them under their own brand, Lite-On will initially focus on production for ODM clients and may supply BD player loaders instead of finished products.

Lite-On IT, the largest Taiwan-based maker of half-height optical disc drives (ODDs), has been developing Blu-ray Disc (BD) players and plans to kick off volume production in the third quarter of 2009, according to the Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News (EDN).

Lite-On adopts BD pick-up heads supplied by Hitachi and chipsets by MediaTek, aiming to minimize the production cost of BD players to reach a retail price of US$150, EDN pointed out.