Toshiba sent out a press release this morning, announcing the launch of its new family of 1.8 and 2.5-inch solid state drives (SSDs) based on 43 nanometer (nm) Multi-Level Cell NAND flash memory. Available in capacities up to 512GB, these new drives utilize an advanced MLC controller which allows them to reach read and write speeds of 240MB/s and 200MB/s, respectively.

Toshiba Corp. (Toshiba) and Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)*, its subsidiary in the Americas, today announced the expansion of their line up of NAND-flash-based solid state drives (SSD) with the industry's first 2.5-inch 512-gigabyte (GB)(1) SSD and a broad family of fast read/write SSDs based on 43 nanometer (nm) Multi-Level Cell NAND. The new drives provide a high level of performance and endurance for use in notebook computers, gaming and home entertainment systems, and will be showcased at International CES 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 8 - 11, 2009.

In addition to the 2.5-inch, 512GB drive, the 43nm NAND SSD family also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules. Samples of the new drives will be available in the first quarter (January to March) of 2009, with mass production in the second (April to June) quarter.

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Sony sent out a press release today, announcing a  new series of its MicroVault Click USB flash drives pre-loaded with movies and music. Starting in December, the company will be offering a 2GB Click drive pre-loaded with the “Thriller: 25^th Anniversary Edition” album as well as the movies “The Da Vinci Code” and “Men in Black" on a 4GB drive.

Sony is bringing some of the top music and movie titles in entertainment history to consumers in an easy-to-use, portable electronic format. The company is introducing a new series of its MicroVault® Click USB flash drives pre-loaded with a choice of either “Thriller: 25th Anniversary Edition” – the best-selling album of all time – or the blockbuster movies “The Da Vinci Code” and “Men in Black.”

“We’re excited to provide consumers with a new way to enjoy some of today’s most popular titles, using our MicroVault Click USB flash drives,” said Shane Higby, director of marketing for Sony Electronics’ consumer media group. “By pre-loading content in this way, we are expanding the applications for flash drives, while offering a unique value that only Sony can deliver.”

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CDRLabs has put together a brief review of Kingston's new DataTraveler 150 USB flash drive.  Available in 32GB and 64GB capacities, the DT150 gives users the ability to transport and share entire libraries of music, photos, documents and video on a device no bigger than a pocketknife.

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Canadians will soon be paying more for their blank CDs. The Copyright Board Of Canada recently issued a decision that will increase the private copying levy on all blank CDs from 21¢ to 29¢ for the years 2008 and 2009.

The Copyright Board of Canada issued today a decision on private copying levies for the years 2008 and 2009. The decision maintains the rate for audiocassettes at 24¢, and increases the rate for all CDs to 29¢. Since 2001, the certified rate for CDs had been 21¢.

“Two main factors led the Board to raise the CD levy rate to 29¢”, said Claude Majeau, Secretary General of the Board. “First, the mechanical royalties that record labels pay to record a song onto a prerecorded CD have increased. Second, because consumers now use compression technology when they record music, the average number of music tracks copied onto a CD went from 15 to more than 18.” 

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