Some people are worried that the superior technology in flash-based solid-state-drives (SSD's) might make a serious dent in the hard disk drive (HDD) market. However, according to market analysis firm TrendFocus, the hard drive industry is actually looking at a projected growth. Thanks to perpendicular recording technology, which reduces the cost to shove more data on a disk, the hard drive market is expected to grow an impressive $33 billion USD. The enormous growth projection is also due to the growing IT markets in India and China.

Seagate held a special meeting yesterday where they presented at least two different soon to be introduced products. First there was a notebook hybrid hard drive that employs a 256MB flash memory buffer to cache data during normal use. The data come from a conventional 160GB 2.5 inch platter setup spinning at 5400rpm. Seagate officials said it won't digg into SSD (Solid State Disk) technology because the drives would be too expensive compared to present technology. When the buffer stored all the data the whole system needs in order to run the platters will come to rest and will spin up only when additional data is needed. The use of hybrid drives obviously offers great benefits, among them low access times, decreased power consumption and improved reliability.
The chaps from Chilehardware who attended the show also got more information regarding Seagate's 1TB (1 terabyte equals 1000GB) hard disk solution. By the end of April the 7200.11 Series will be in stores. All models out of this series feature a speed of 7200rpm, SATA II with NCQ (Native Command Qeueing) and 16MB cache. Thanks to the use of Seagate's advanced perpendicular recording efforts the aforementioned 1TB top model only needs 4 platters to store that amount of data. Hitachi's Deskstar 7K1000 1000GB however needs 5 platters which in general needs a stronger motor and bearings which is in turn more expensive to produce.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., announced at its annual Mobile Solution Forum in Taipei that it has developed a 1.8"-type 64 Gigabyte (GB) flash-solid state drive (SSD). The new flash-SSD is based on an eight gigabit (Gb) single-level-cell (SLC) NAND, which provides significantly higher performance over conventional SSDs. The read and write performance of the new SLC flash-SSD have been increased by 20 percent and 60 percent respectively over the 32GB flash-SSD Samsung introduced last year, meaning that the new SSD's ability to outperform conventional rotating-media hard drives is even greater than had been anticipated.

Solid State Drives and Rugged Cases Create More Durable Mobile Solution

SUNNYVALE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 03/19/07 -- Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation today introduced the first pen-enabled notebooks with solid state drives (SSDs). The LifeBook P1610 and LifeBook B6210 ultra-portables will offer an option for an SSD, an advanced NAND flash-based replacement for traditional hard disk drives. Fujitsu also introduced a rugged case for added durability and reliability. The rugged-enhanced notebooks, designed for optimal portability and data protection, are ideal for medium-sized and large organizations within vertical markets, including healthcare, aviation, and field service, which require a light and compact, but highly durable mobile computer.

The 2.2-pound LifeBook P1610 convertible touch screen notebook and 3.2-pound LifeBook B6210 touch screen notebook are now offered with two flash-based SSD configurations, 16 GB or 32 GB. SSDs offer lower power consumption, added ruggedness, high reliability, and improved performance.

After Intel, Samsung, Seagate and Sandisk there is a new competitor in the Solid State Disk Business: Super Talent. In April they will start selling 1.8" (up to 32GB), 2.5" (up to 64GB) and even 3.5" models (max. 128GB). The prices are still not known but all versions will have a SATA interface.

Yes, this is just a rumor, but it comes from the same analyst group that guessed that Apple was making a cell phone. According to the analyst Shaw Wu, Apple is definitely interested in putting flash-based hard drives in their notebooks. This would save power, increase speed, and be much quieter. If Apple really is making these flash-based notebooks, we will start hearing about them/seeing them in Q2 2007.

MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 13, 2007 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today broadened its solid state drive (SSD) product line for the portable computer market with the introduction of a 32-gigabyte (GB)1, 2.5-inch Serial ATA (SATA) interface model, compatible with most mainstream notebook designs. Coming just two months after SanDisk introduced a 1.8-inch SSD for ultraportable notebooks, the 2.5-inch SSD is now available to PC manufacturers as a drop-in replacement for hard disk drives.

Intel has added to the competition among solid state hard drive manufacturers with its new Z-U130 range. Based on NAND flash memory and using the USB 2.0/1.1 interface, the drive is claimed to be superior to standard flash drives because it offers faster boot times, embedded code storage, rapid data access and low-power storage alternatives. Compared to standard hard drives, solid state drives have lower seek times, faster start up times, improved read times, lower power consumption, silent operation and they normally weigh less, not to mention no moving parts which allows for improved reliability. Intel will be starting out with 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions, however the larger densities won't be available until later in the year. Although these drives aren't yet able to compete on price or capacity, as the technology develops and more efficient production techniques are found they are likely to become the replacements for current-day spinning drives.Update: this information is now available in an Intel Press Release

Solid state flash disk manufacturer Adtron Corporation, announces today the immediate availability of its most advanced generation of the Adtron Flashpak Family of products including the IDE and Serial ATA (SATA) flash disk models, the I25FB and A25FB, respectively. The products in this announcement include the industry's highest capacity 2.5" SLC NAND flash disk drives at 160 GBytes, only available from Adtron.(Editors note: Picture shows the 96GB model, but the 160GB should look the same)

Taipei, Taiwan ~ PQI, the leader in industrial storage solutions has just released two new products to start the new year. PQI's Turbo SATA DOM and Turbo SATA Solid State Disk (SSD) 2.5" 64GB both are PQI patented. The application of SATA technology and specially designed clip-on connector on SATA DOMs provide stability and prevent connectors detaching unexpectedly. The implementation of SATA interface on industrial storage is a world's first. Another breakthrough is the maximum capacity of 64GB on Turbo SATA SSD 2.5" drives. If you are looking for fast and large capacity industrial solutions, PQI's got them!

SanDisk Corporation today introduced a 32-gigabyte (GB), 1.8-inch solid state drive (SSD) as a drop-in replacement for the standard mechanical hard disk drive. Initially aimed at enterprise users as the first step toward mass consumer adoption, SanDisk SSD offers field-proven durability to keep mobile PCs working in the toughest of conditions and improves the overall user experience.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced that it is now sampling its 16-gigabit(Gb) NAND flash memory with customers - the first NAND flash using 50 nanometer(nm) process technology. The first samples of this high density NAND flash memory have a multi-level cell(MLC) design with a 4Kbyte(KB) page size to enhance both its read and write features. The new 4KB page function improves the conventional 2KB paging system for MLC NAND flash to double the read speed, while increasing write performance 150%.

Scientists at IBM, Macronix and Qimonda have been working together researching a possible replacement for flash memory, which is currently used in the majority of solid state media players and portable drives. Their work has lead to "phase-change" memory, a non-volatile storage method (meaning it does not require power to retain data) which benefits from faster transfer rates than standard flash memory whilst requiring smaller dimensions. Some of the technical details of how this phase-change storage works can be read at DailyTech.

Super Talent Technology, today announced a 16GB solid state disk (SSD) that is fully compatible with industry standard 1.8" notebook IDE drives. Super Talent SSD's employ an industry standard 44-pin IDE connector that is pin compatible with laptop IDE drives. Moreover, they have the same physical dimensions as standard 1.8" IDE laptop drives, making them an easy drop-in replacement for a conventional hard drive. Super Talent offers these flash drives in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities with typical 17MB/sec data transfer speeds. These products are available in industrial temperature range and with aluminum casing for greatest durability; or commercial temperature range and plastic casing for lowest cost and lightest weight. All six products have already been validated in leading laptop computers, and will be available this month from Super Talent.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of memory modules and flash products, today announced a 16GB solid state disk (SSD) that is fully compatible with industry standard 1.8" notebook IDE drives.

Samsung Electronics, today announced that its three solid state disk (SSD) drives have been officially recognized by Microsoft Corporation as fully qualified Windows-compatible peripherals. After thorough testing by its Windows Hardware Qualification Lab (WHQL), Microsoft has validated that Samsung SSDs meet all of the requirements for storage media in a Windows operating environment. Microsoft has certified a 32GB 1.8-inch sized Samsung SSD, a 32GB slim-type Samsung SSD (53.6x70.6x3.0mm) and a 16GB small-type SSD (56x48x3.8mm). The new sizes support the physical requirements of sub-notebook PCs. The SSDs' substantial size and weight advantages are expected to further encourage a steady adoption of SSDs into a number of PC applications, such as in ultra mobile PCs, "ruggedized" notebooks and special industrial applications.

The Fujitsu Lifebook Q and Lifebook B can now be had with either a 16 or 32GB Samsung SSD hard drive. The Fujitsu FMV-Q8230 features an ULV Core Solo U1400 (1.2GHz) processor, 512MB of memory (1GB maximum), Intel 945GMZ Express chipset, 12.1" WXGA screen, GbE, two USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire port, a PCMCIA slot and a fingerprint reader with TPM. The laptop measures 11.7" x 8.6" x 0.78" and weighs 2.17 pounds. The Fujitsu FMV-B8230 instead goes with a Celeron M 423 (1.06GHz) processor and uses the Intel 940GML Express chipset. The notebook uses a 12.1" XGA display and otherwise is similarly equipped to the FMV-Q8230. The notebook has dimensions of 10.6" x 9.0" x 1.23" and weighs 2.75 pounds. The upgrade to a 16GB SSD hard drive costs $700 and the 32GB variant will set you back $1400 compared to a normal hard drive.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced that a 4GB solid state disk (SSD), now being readied for production, will also serve as a high speed NAND flash cache for notebooks and PCs in conjunction with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. The device - compatible with Windows ReadyBoost, a new Windows Vista feature that uses flash memory to improve system responsiveness - enables users to avoid the hundreds of annoying multi-second delays they experience every day when moving within and between frequently used applications.

SEOUL, Korea - May 23, 2006 : Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the leader in digital media technology, will release the world's first PCs embedded with a 32-Gigabyte (GB) NAND flash-based solid state disk (SSD). This marks the first time that NAND flash has moved into a commercial mobile computing application and is a breakthrough that will pave the way for replacing hard disk drives with NAND flash-based memory disks.