After announcing its quarter terabyte 1.8-inch mobile hard drives yesterday, Toshiba is now pleased to inform that it has begun sampling 256-gigabyte (GB) SSDs and new small-sized Flash Modules for netbook computers and ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs). Working samples of both SSDs are available now, but mass production is expected in 4Q, 2008. The upcoming 2.5-inch drives use MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash chips that deliver maximum read speed of 120MB/s and maximum write speed of 70MB/s, via a high speed SATA 3.0Gb/s interface. In addition Toshiba will start manufacturing new flash modules fabricated on a 50mm x 30mm platform that offer a maximum read and write speeds of 80MB/s and 50MB/s, respectively. They will also be compatible with the SATA interface and come in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB models. The fast growing market for netbook PCs, UMPCs, mobile and peripheral applications will widely adopt them upon availability. The new drives will be showcased at the CEATEC in Makuhari, Japan, from September 30 to October 4, 2008. No word on pricing yet.