TDK Japan sent out a press release this morning,
announcing its HS1 series of 1.8" µSATA Solid State Drives (SSD). These new drives are available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities and
feature a SATA interface capable of 100 MB/s burst read and 50 MB/s burst write speeds.
TDK Corporation announced today that it has completed development of the
GBDriver HS1 solid state drive (SSD) controller for SSDs used in laptop PCs and industrial system hardware that employs PC platforms and
completed commercialization and began shipments of the HS1 series of SSDs equipped with this controller.
Currently, SSDs that use
NAND flash memory are employed in industrial system hardware and laptop PCs, but in addition to high prices, there are limits to NAND
flash memory reliability and technology, and many users including PC manufacturers are hesitant to use NAND flash memory for applications
that require the highest levels of reliability. Against this background, TDK focused on providing security and reliability adequate for
memory systems and developed the original NAND flash memory control system. The result was development of a controller that can provide
high-speed, high-reliability storage functions and the commercialization and start of shipments of the HS1 series of SSD equipped with
that controller.
TDK plans to produce 10,000 units a month, with sample prices ranging from $900 for the 16GB drive to
$2000 for the 64GB version. Full details can be found here.
