We got a good look at the new Colossus SSD from OCZ today. It is a 3.5 inch version, which is available with up to an one TB capacity. It combines two identical SSDs in a RAID 0 array with up to 256MB/s read and write performance and a hefty price tag.

Kingston Technology today announced the release of the SSDNow V Series solid-state drive (SSD) upgrade bundles. Targeted specifically for mass-market consumers and small and medium businesses, these bundles are first to try offering a low-cost solution for upgrading existing desktop and notebook computers with the advantages of solid-state technology. The NAND flash storage components are available in 64 GB and 128 GB capacities, and come with the widespread 2.5-inch form factor. They use SATA 3.0 Gbps interface. Moreover, the read and write speeds the drives achieve sustained go up to 100 MB/sec. read and 80 MB/sec. write. Two bundles are offered, the one being for desktop computers and the other for laptops. Along with the desktop bundle you'll receive a 2.5-inch SSD drive, a CD with Acronis True Image cloning software, 3.5-inch mounting brackets, and SATA data and power cable extenders. With the laptop bundle Kingston will sell you a 2.5-inch solid-state drive, and add a 2.5-inch USB SATA external enclosure in case you want your old HDD to continue working inside the laptop, and use the new SSD as external storage media. Of course, the new SSDs are being showcased at the moment at COMPUTEX 2009. They are backed with a three-year warranty, 24/7 tech support and are now shipping to retail channels.

SanDisk Corporation today announced that it has begun shipping its next-generation flash memory-based solid state drives (SSD) for netbooks, offering high-performance components at a competitive price. SanDisk pSSD P2 and S2 employ a new technology called nCache, which improves netbook performance. The drives will be demonstrated at the SanDisk booth at Computex, Taipei, June 2-6, 2009: Booth # N709 Nangang Hall, 4th floor.
Netbooks are small, low-cost computers that offer consumers a highly portable means of surfing the Internet, accessing email as well as enjoying their favorite music and videos on the go. Market researchers, IDC, project consumer purchases of netbooks to rise from 11.5 million sold in 2008 to 50 million in 2013.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association and the SFF Committee today announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the development of joint standards and publications related to solid state drives, with particular emphasis on the development of registered outlines for SSDs.

Recognizing the pressing need for comprehensive SSD standards, the partnership between JEDEC and SFF is intended to help unify the industry with respect to solid state storage standards. SSDs offer a growth opportunity to the industry, but widely adopted standards addressing a number of critical areas are seen as essential to more mainstream use.

Apparently JMicron is on its way to perfect solid-state technology, as the company is working on a new NAND flash controller for use in solid-state drives that may halve their prices. Named JMF612, this chip will use an ARM9 core in a 289-ball TFBGA package with 32 KB of ROM and 128 KB of RAM at its core, and will support the use of up to 256 MB of DDR or DDR2 DRAM as an external cache. It will work specifically with new 34 nm and 32 nm NAND chips, have Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and will aslo support 128-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) disk encryption. Supported interfaces by the new controller will include SATA 3.0 Gbps and USB 2.0 for data transfers or firmware updates. JMicron will be showing engineering samples of the controller at Computex 2009. Mass production of the new chip is expected to start in July. Once in production, the cheap and fast JMF612 could contribute to a massive 50% drop in prices of solid-state drives, but this could happen as late as the end of the year sources indicate.

Trying to deliver even more options for third party netbook makers, Super Talent today made their fifth significant announcement of the week, by introducing the world's fastest upgrade SSDs for the ASUS Eee PC netbooks. The SATA Mini 2 PCIe SSDs are Super Talent's second generation product focused on enabling better performance for ASUS Eee PC users and feature a SATA-II (3Gbps) interface. They are compatible with all Eee PC models 900, 901, 901A, 901 GO, and S101. The products are available using both MLC and SLC flash memory. The MLC version delivers sequential read speeds up to 150 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 100 MB/s, and is available in 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB capacities at very affordable prices. The SLC version is available in 16 GB and 32 GB capacities and features sequential read speeds up to 170 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 130 MB/s. Super Talent will showcase these products at the 2009 Computex Taipei show, no availability date was announced though.

PhotoFast unveiled yet another 1.8-inch SSD, this time, compliant with more recent standards. The new G-Monster V3 uses a micro-SATA interface, that is available on some netbooks. Apart from its main NAND-flash storage, that comes in capacities of 32, 64, and 128 GB, it also features 64 MB of DDR2 memory to serve as a high speed buffer. The buffer ensures latency reduction on the host controller's side, especially since the drive offers high data transfer rates of 230/180 MBps (read/write). This may yet another product lined up for launch at Computex.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technologies, today announced their Convoy Series Dual 3.5" HDD/SSD enclosures.

Convoy XL is a complete RAID solution with USB and eSATA connectivity. Dual 2.5" drive bays hold either two SSDs and/or HDDs mounted in one standard 3.5" form factor bay. The built-in RAID controller can be configured for performance (RAID 0), redundant for backup (RAID 1) or two drives combined to be one large drive (JBOD). Additionally the one-touch-backup (OTB) feature is a perfect complement of SSD's robust and durability nature.

Super Talent Technology today also adds to the broadest SSD portfolio in the industry by introducing faster and larger capacity upgrade modules for the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook PC. The modules come in two form factors, the standard Half Mini PCIe form factor and Super Talent's innovative Double Wide Half Mini PCIe form factor. Both families of products feature a custom IDE/PATA interface used in the Mini 9 netbook.
"For the first time ever Mini 9 users can upgrade their netbooks with a high performance 128 GB SSD without any case modifications. We installed the hardware in less than 60 seconds and reinstalled the operating system in less than 30 minutes. We started thinking about how we could better solve our customers' problems, when we saw them posting videos online sawing their case apart to put in larger SSDs. So we innovated and invented the Double Wide Half Mini PCIe form factor to make upgrading to a high capacity SSD a whole lot easier."

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, announced it is now shipping new families of PATA/IDE 2.5" SSDs featuring both MLC and SLC Flash and nearly tripling previous performance specifications.
The MasterDrive EX2 is available with capacities from 16 GB to 128 GB, features sequential read speeds up to 80 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 40 MB/s, and uses MLC flash. It also comes with a 2 year factory warranty.
The MasterDrive IX2 is available with capacities from 16 GB to 64 GB, enables sequential read speeds up to 80 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 60 MB/s, and uses SLC flash. It also comes with a 3 year factory warranty.

HP added two more netbooks to its growing lineup, the Mini 1101 and Mini 110. The latter has two variants: Mini 110 XP and Mini 110 Mi. Both these models feature 10.1 inch LED screens. Users can choose between Atom N270 and N280, with as much as 1 GB of memory, 160 GB HDD, and Intel GMA 950 graphics.

The Mini 110 XP offers a few exclusive features. Users can opt for a 32 GB SSD and WLAN. It comes with Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator, that provides smooth playback of HD video at resolutions of 1080p. It comes with Windows XP Home SP3 pre-installed. The Mini 110 Mi is physically identical, except for that it comes with a popular Linux distribution pre-installed, and allows users to opt for a 250 GB HDD or 2 GB of system memory. The Mini 1101 will retail in June with a base price of US $329. The Mini 110 Mi, with Linux, will be priced significantly lower, at $279.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, announced it has self certified its award winning UltraDrive SSDs for compatibility with the newest Apple MacBook (13"), MacBook Pro (15"/17"), and Mac Pro (Quad/8-Core) based on Intel's Core i7 CPUs.

During compatibility testing Super Talent was able to improve boot time by up to 58% and achieve performance gains of over 5.3x vs. the stock Apple Hard Disk Drive (HDD). The UltraDrive ME delivered 32x the bandwidth of the HDD on 256K Random Writes as measured by the xBench standard benchmark. The UltraDrive also outperformed the Apple SSD by 2.5x.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, announced it is introducing the PCIe RAIDDrive Workstation. These Workstations use Super Talent's patented RAIDSSD Technology to accelerate the adoption of systems with very high performance solid state disk subsystems through the integration of large numbers of SSDs. PCIe RAIDDrive Workstations are based on Intel's newest Quad-Core Core I7 Processors, and Super Talent's 1333MHz DDR3 DIMMs.

PCIe RAIDDrive Workstations scale up 6TB in a Workstation Tower form factor. Benchmarking data taken with Crystal Disk Mark v2.2 shows sustained sequential read speed of over 1.5 GB/sec (1500 MB/sec), sequential write speed of nearly 1.35 GB/sec (1350 MB/sec). Benchmarking data taken with HDBench showed random read speed of 725 MB/sec and random write speed of 515 MB/sec.

Silicon Power, the leading brand among Solid State Disk (SSD) Manufacturers lifts the benchmark another notch with their new Portable eSATA / USB SSD II. It is the world's first eSATA (eSATA; External Serial ATA) /USB dual interface portable SSD drive. The new drive emphasis the convenience of USB connection and the ultra fast performance of eSATA interface as an external drive. Overall, the drive has excellent aesthetics and the performance to match.

Having won rave reviews with their 64GB eSATA /USB SSD, Silicon Power releases the new lidless and portable eSATA/USB SSD II. Through the eSATA interface, maximum read speed reaches 90MB/Sec and maximum write reaches 50 MB/Sec. Maximum read through the USB connection is rated at 30MB/Sec and 20MB/sec for write. It is the perfect solution for professional multimedia enthusiasts or users that often carry and transfer large capacity files.

NEC unveiled one of the slimmest netbooks to the hit the market, literally the size of a large scribbling-pad, and as slim as 15.8 mm. This 10-inch netbook tips the scales at 725 g, and offers a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. Under its hood is an Intel Atom Z540 CPU, 1 GB of memory, and a 64 GB SSD. Its lone connectivity option is the gigabit Ethernet. Interestingly, it comes with Windows Vista Business Edition pre-loaded. It should hit the stores by July.

Although it barely introduced the G-Monster V2 drives, PhotoFast is already planning on letting loose the V3 line-up of 1.8-inch SSDs. Set to be unveiled at the Computex show next month, the V3 will be available in 32 and 64GB capacities, have 64MB of built-in cache memory and come in three flavors - with 40-pin ZIF, 44-pin IDE or 50-pin IDE connectors.

PhotoFast hasn't provided any read/write speed estimates for the drives. Pricing is unknown at this moment in time.

PhotoFast announced two 1.8-inch IDE solid-state drives under its G-Monster series. The two are demarcated by the interface, although both are IDE technically. The G-Monster 50 IDE V2 uses a 50-pin IDE interface, while the G-Monster 1.8" ZIF V2 uses a zero insertion-force IDE interface that's commonly found in portable devices such as PMPs, HD video cameras, etc. Both come in capacities of 32, 64, 128 GB, and offer transfer rates of 80/50 MB/s (read/write). The drives offer an MTBF of 1 million hours and are backed by a 1 year company warranty. Although there isn't anything spectacular about SSDs with sub-100 MB/s transfer-rates with the IDE interface, the durability of the drives over conventional hard-drives, especially for the kind of devices they end up in, may be their biggest selling points.

Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, announced today it is shipping a bundle kit with the popular SSDNow M Series 80GB and 160GB solid-state drives. The SSDNow M Series are the Intel X-25M SATA SSDs. The bundle combines the solid-state drives (SSD) with the software tools necessary to clone the contents of one's hard-disk drive to the SSD, as well as installation hardware.

"This all-in-one kit is the perfect solution for enterprise companies, corporate end users and consumers to incorporate SSD technology into existing systems," said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston. "The Kingston SSDNow M Series Bundle makes moving the operating system, applications and all other data from a hard-disk drive to a solid-state drive quick and easy whether for a notebook, desktop or workstation."

OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today released the highly anticipated Summit Series 2.5" Solid State Drives, tailored to meet the stringent demands of business professionals, enthusiasts, and entry-level enterprise applications. Building on their premium flash-based storage solutions, OCZ's Summit Series strives to bridge the gap between the needs of high-end gaming and professional desktops and notebooks to small scale server PCs that require amplified criteria for maintaining a solid and stable work environment.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced that it has published the first official standard for solid-state drives. MO-297 defines the dimensions, layout and connector position for 54mm x 39mm 1.8-inch solid-state drives with a standard SATA connector. Adopting a standard form factor for these types of solid state drives will enable interoperability throughout the supply chain, benefiting drive manufacturers, product designers and consumers. Conforming to a single standard will further simplify the product design process, and increase the adoption of SSD storage solutions among different segments as replacement for the traditional hard disk drives or as complementing storage options. The MO-297 registered outline also corresponds with the SFF Committee specification SFF-8156, and the Serial ATA International Organization's (SATA-IO) Revision 2.6 specification for connector dimension and tolerance. The document with the new MO-297 standard is now available for free download here, as part of JEDEC Publication 95: Registered and Standard Outlines for Solid State and Related Products.

TDK Corporation announced today the launch in late May 2009 of the SDG2A series of serial ATA(SATA) II compatible industrial solid state drives(SSDs) with a maximum memory capacity of 64 GByte.
These products are industrial SATA Flash discs equipped with GBDriver RS2 SATA controller ICs developed by TDK. They support high-speed access with an effective read speed of 95 MByte/second and effective write speed of 55 MByte/second. They also feature powerful error correction capabilities scalable to 15-bit/sector ECC(error correction code), providing high levels of data reliability. The use of an internal power supply protection function prevents errors in the event of a power interruption. These SATA drives are also equipped with an auto-recovery function that automatically recovers data when read disturbance errors occur from repeated reading of data, making them ideal for use on automotive application such as car navigation systems.

In case you have completely run out of 3.5", and 5.25" drive bays to cram in the last of your hard drives, and have a few slots next to your RAID card left, you would probably like this enclosure. Novac designed what it calls "PCI mounting kit", that uses one expansion card slot to hold a 2.5" HDD. What's more, it even provides a door that allows users to add or remove the drive from behind the case, without having to remove it. This perhaps is also its biggest USP, as 2.5" drives, especially SSDs, are very pocketable. Novac plans to sell this for about $36 a piece.

Trying to squeeze the maximum from its products, Super Talent today said that it is now shipping its award winning UltraDrive SSDs with Firmware version 1370 which enables improved performance when used with Microsoft Windows 7. Super Talent has made a firmware upgrade tool available to allow existing owners to improve the performance of their UltraDrive SSDs. SuperTalent has also developed an "UltraDrive Performance Refresh Tool" which users can run to refresh their performance, should they experience performance degradation associated with all SSDs when files become fragmented and data becomes stale. With the new firmware Super Talent has increased the maximum sequential read speed of both the UltraDrive ME and UltraDrive LE to 260 MB/sec max and the sequential write performance of the UltraDrive ME to 200 MB/sec max and the UltraDrive LE to 210 MB/sec max, delivering the world's fastest SATA 3 Gb/s SSDs in a small 2.5" form factor.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their "value add" bracket to be included in all future Warp and Torqx SSD drive purchases

SSD drives have been predominately associated with mobile laptop computers. With 3.5""desktop drive bays, the standard SSD size of 2.5" is not currently an option for desktop owners. The Patriot SSD bracket clears that hurdle for desktop owners

"Consumers are looking for options; our goal is to give them that opportunity to add new technology," says JR Wakabayashi, Patriot's Marketing Manager. "By including the SSD bracket in all SSD purchases for the Warp and Torqx series, Patriot makes SSD an attractive choice for Overclockers, gamers, and PC enthusiasts; a definite 'value add' for all consumers."

For more information about Patriot's Torqx and Warp SSD series and other memory module and flash memory solutions, please visit Patriot Memory.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their Torqx SSD Series.

The Torqx SSD line is one of Patriot's latest releases designed with Patriot's new cutting-edge technology that adds 64MB of DRAM cache in conjunction with its current equipped NAND technology.

"With SSD technologies becoming more 'mainstream' in the consumer market, Patriot's goal is to give their customers discretion across their purchasing preferences," says Meng J. Choo, Patriot's Flash Product Manager. "In these tough economic times, consumers are looking for options; our goal is to give them that opportunity to add new technology, and have no reservations about their decisions."