An OEM for notable SSD brands such as Plextor, LiteOn kicked off its own consumer SSD line, with ZETA. Built in the 7 mm thick, 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, these drives come in three capacities, 128 GB (LCH-128V2S), 256 GB (LCH-256V2S), and 512 GB (LCH-512V2S), featuring LPDDR3 controller cache of 128 MB, 256 MB, and 512 MB, respectively. The drive is based on Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller, with 16 nm MLC NAND flash, made by SK Hynix.

All three capacities offer sequential read speeds of up to 520 MB/s, differing with sequential write speeds. The 128 GB variant offers up to 150 MB/s writes, the 256 GB variant offers up to 260 MB/s, and the 512 GB variant up to 430 MB/s. Their 4K random-access read speeds are up to 67,500 IOPS, up to 82,500 IOPS, and up to 83,500 IOPS, respectively; and random-access write speeds are up to 37,500 IOPS, up to 72,500 IOPS, and up to 80,000 IOPS, respectively. Most common client SSD features, such as TRIM, NCQ, and 256-bit AES native encryption, are part of the package. LiteOn didn't announce pricing information for markets outside the Greater China region, where the drives will make their debut.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today launched the 850 EVO, the latest addition to its branded solid state drive (SSD) line-up. Based on Samsung's 3-bit 3D Vertical NAND (V-NAND) technology, the 850 EVO SSD provides a significant boost in performance and endurance as compared to its predecessor, making it ideal for use in mainstream PCs. With the slogan of "a new caliber of performance & endurance," the new drive will be globally launched in a total of 53 countries in the United States, Europe and Asian markets later this month.

"We are thrilled to be providing users with an improved computing experience through the new 850 EVO SSDs," said Unsoo Kim, Senior Vice President of the Branded Product Marketing team at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will continue to introduce V-NAND-based SSDs in a variety of form factors, while accelerating the growth of the global SSD market."

Marvell, a worldwide leader in providing complete silicon solutions from mobile communications to storage, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud infrastructure, digital entertainment and in-home content delivery and Kinoma software enabling the "Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle," today announced the world's first DRAM-less NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) solid state drive (SSD) controller for mass market mobile computing solutions with industry-leading NANDEdge low-density parity check (LDPC) technology supporting triple-level cell (TLC) and 3D NAND. Marvell's 88NV1140 and 88NV1120 enable small form factor SSD solutions with unparalleled performance for integration into low-z-height tablets, Chrome devices and the upcoming wave of new 2-in-1 hybrid/detachable mobile PC platforms.

"As mobile computing and cloud-based services become an integral part of our daily lives, fast, secure, reliable and cost effective storage solutions with a small form factor are the key to bringing the benefit of technology to the mass market. I believe our latest game-changing SSD controller will drive the fast deployment of a new wave of small form factor SSD solutions for the mass market mobile computing platforms," said Weili Dai, President and Co-Founder of Marvell. "I am very pleased to see Marvell's leadership and our long track record of invention and innovation including the world's first DRAM-less NVMe SSD controller and the industry's most advanced LDPC technology enabling the latest TLC and 3D NAND flash memory. I am very thankful for our global engineering teams who continuously raise the technology bar to move our industry forward faster."

More details emerged, of Samsung's next mainstream SSD, the 850 EVO. The drive will launch in five capacities, starting with 120 GB, and including 250 GB, 500 GB, 750 GB, and 1000 GB variants. Built in the 7 mm-thick, 2.5-inch, form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, the drive will be based on Samsung's next-generation 3-bit 3D V-NAND chips, with an updated in-house made controller. The drive is now expected to launch some time in January, 2015. It will offer lower price-per-GB than the 850 Pro series, and slightly lower performance; targeting the mainstream market.

Synology today launched the new DiskStation DS2015xs and DS3615xs. Coming with built-in 10GbE SFP+ LAN ports, the 8-bay DS2015xs marks the advance of 10GbE solutions into small and medium-sized businesses. For large-scale businesses, the 12-bay DS3615xs offers the superior throughput and accuracy required for centralized data storage, management, and virtualization in distributed offices.

"Highly efficiency-minded companies are reaching beyond their limits every day, and their productivity simply should not be constrained by hardware infrastructure," said Michael Wang, product manager at Synology Inc. "We believe both SMBs and large businesses deserve storage solutions that can prepare them for a much more challenging - but rewarding - future, while carefully considering their different needs. That is how we designed DS2015xs and DS3615xs."

Powered by an all-new ARM Cortex-A15 quad-core CPU and a RAM module expandable to 8GB, DS2015xs delivers over 2,090 MB/s throughput at a cost little more than standard NAS storage for SMBs. Its two built-in 10GbE SFP+ ports as well as two 1GbE RJ-45 ports not only pave the way for businesses to transition to a 10GbE environment, but also provide support for Link Aggregation and failover. All these features, combined with the native SATA III 6Gb/s support, make DS2015xs capable of handling intensive multitasking with the kind of performance that used to be the privilege of costly enterprise-grade servers.

The shrinking NAND Flash production costs resulting from the NAND Flash industry's improving technology are expected to boost demand for various end products, including SSDs and eMMCs, according to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce. NAND Flash industry value is expected to rise consistently in 2015, reaching as high as US$ 27.6 billion on annual growth of 12%.

Based on the tendency for new hardware devices to be released in the third and fourth quarters of each year and the likelihood of demand being restrained in the first two quarters, Sean Yang, an assistant vice president of DRAMeXchange, believes the NAND Flash market will thrive mostly during the second half of 2015 rather than during the first half. Increased NAND Flash demand in both the third and fourth quarters is expected to benefit the NAND Flash industry tremendously by easing any potential oversupply that occurs in the two preceding quarters and allowing the market to reach a potential balance. By the end of 2015, the NAND Flash industry has a good chance of remaining healthy and growth is expected to continue.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of NAND Flash storage solutions, announces its updated DuraDrive AT7 built for approved automotive In-Vehicle-Infotainment (IVI) systems.

The DuraDrive AT7 is Super Talent's latest industrial data storage solution that offers enhanced durability and high capacity. With the ability to withstand temperatures between -40°C to 85° paired with read speeds of up to 500 MB/s and write speeds of up to 400 MB/s, the AT7 is a powerhouse built to cover all your automotive needs, withstanding all elements of vibration and shock in the most mission critical of situations.

The demand for industrial SSD is increasing significantly as the IoT and the need for mobility sweep across the world. According to Gartner market survey, the demand for relevant devices will increase to 26 billion sets, as the IoT market scale will reach USD1.09 trillion in 2020. Continuing the market heat of its reliable industrial SSDs, Apacer Technology has recently launched two brand new ultra slim industrial SATA3.0 SSDs: the SFD18SH-M complying with the JEDEC MO-297 standard and the mSATA H1-M, compliant with the MO-300 standard.

Both models made under 1ynm process are extremely price competitive for their ultra slim appearance, high speed, high stability, and wide temperature operation for industrial uses. In addition, most IoT devices require long-term, reliable operation in extreme environments and autotronics and medical devices ask for superb quality. Apacer industrial SSDs have passed market challenges, thus standing firm in the IoT, autotronics, medical electronics, and communication component markets and winning customer recognition for their outstanding quality and performance.

PMC-Sierra, Inc. (PMC), the semiconductor and software solutions innovator transforming networks that connect, move and store big data, today announced that Memblaze Technology Co. Ltd, a leading provider of flash storage solutions, is utilizing PMC's Flashtec NVM Express (NVMe) controllers in its next-generation PCI Express (PCIe) flash accelerators.

The Flashtec-based Memblaze PBlaze4 products are targeted at hyperscale and Open Compute Project deployments. They provide ultra-low latency and the lowest CPU load in the industry, with read and write capabilities of up to 850,000 I/Os per second (IOPS) for random read and 265,000 IOPS for random write and 3.2 GB/s sequential read, 2.5 GB/s sequential write performance. Memblaze products enable its customers to define and alter key settings to ensure optimum performance in specific applications and platforms.

Sonnet Technologies today announced the Tempo PCIe SSD PCI Express (PCIe) solid state drive (SSD) card with a 512GB SSD module, as the newest member of the Sonnet Tempo family of high-performance storage cards. The Sonnet PCIe SSD card serves as an ultra-fast alternative to traditional storage solutions mounting a high-performance PCIe SSD on a card that installs into a computer's PCIe expansion card slot.

Available in various form factors and capacities, SSDs have become important components in systems requiring extremely fast data transfer speeds and large numbers of I/O operations. Sonnet designed the Tempo PCIe SSD card around an M.2 PCIe SSD module, the fastest consumer-oriented SSD type now available. Capable of transferring files at up to 1100 MB/s, the Tempo PCIe SSD's module incorporates a PCIe flash controller, enabling the card to significantly outperform a 6Gbps SATA SSD, and to achieve even greater performance than two 2.5-inch form factor SATA SSDs configured in RAID 0.

Patriot's upcoming line of performance 2.5-inch SSDs, the Patriot Torch, got listings on Amazon, ahead of its launch. These 7 mm-thick, 2.5-inch drives, with SATA 6 Gb/s interfaces, come in two capacities (for now), 120 GB and 240 GB. Under the hood, they feature 16 nm synchronous MLC NAND flash, and Phison PS3110 controllers. The 240 GB variant offers sequential transfer rates of up to 555 MB/s reads, with 535 MB/s writes; while the 120 GB variant offers 545 MB/s reads, with 430 MB/s writes. The 240 GB variant is priced at US $106.11, while the 120 GB variant goes for $66.63.

Responding to the booming development of SSDs and the growing demands from users, QNAP Systems, Inc. has announced the TS-451S Turbo NAS, a 4-bay NAS that is optimized for high-density 2.5" SSDs and features an Intel Celeron 2.41GHz processor. Meanwhile, QNAP's powerful SS-x53 Pro series (SMB models that are optimized for high-density SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" SSDs) have been renamed the TS-453S Pro (4-bay) and TS-853S Pro (8-bay) respectively to assist users in quickly recognizing different options in the same product category.

"Users can enjoy numerous benefits when using SSDs in a Turbo NAS, including a smaller physical size to host at least 4 SSDs, higher-density storage capacity, RAID 5 configuration for data protection, quieter system operations, a home theater multimedia experience with the HD Station, and the exclusive QvPC Technology that allows the Turbo NAS to be used as a PC," said Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP. The TS-x53S Pro series can also work silently and reliably with 2.5" hard drives as well.

Mushkin Enhanced Mfg., an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance and mission-critical digital storage products, unveils the new REACTOR series of solid-state drives that offer cutting-edge 1TB capacity. The REACTOR SSD provides the extreme performance benefits of a solid-state drive, while enabling the big data capacity of mechanical hard drives.

"Solid-state drive technology is growing in leaps and bounds. Mushkin has been a leader in unleashing performance-maximizing products for a wide array of consumers, and we are pleased to be able to - once again - offer an SSD solution that can quench the growing need for large-scale data capacity at incredible speeds," said Nicolas Villalobos, Director of Global Marketing at Mushkin.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today announced a new gaming bundle offer through a partnership with Ubisoft. Available starting on Black Friday and while supplies last, the deal will provide purchasers of a Samsung 840 EVO solid state drive (SSD) with a bonus download of Far Cry 4, the newest action-adventure game in the popular Far Cry Series.

With the 840 EVO, players of the action-packed Far Cry 4 will be able to enjoy superior gaming through Samsung's best-in-class drive performance. The drive is significantly faster than a standard hard disk drive (HDD), providing users with a better gaming experience through decreased loading times, enhanced responsiveness and overall improved gameplay.

OCZ Storage Solutions -- a Toshiba Group Company and leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced its new enterprise-class Saber 1000 SSD Series designed for read-intensive applications targeting high-volume deployment hyperscale, web-hosting and distributed computing environments. The SATA-based Saber 1000 Series solves demanding key customer business challenges and supported by an enterprise-optimized feature-set, large storage capacities, and low total cost of ownership (TCO).

The new series leverages the latest A19nm NAND flash from Toshiba and is available in 240GB, 480GB and 960GB usable capacities. It utilizes OCZ's internally developed Barefoot 3 controller and firmware which delivers consistent sustained I/O performance across all capacities to accelerate enterprise applications.

Synology today introduced DiskStation DS1515+ and DS1815+, 5-bay and 8-bay NAS servers designed for small and medium-sized businesses to facilitate intensive data exchange, collaboration, and backup among large groups of employees.

"SMBs nowadays need a storage solution that is versatile and powerful at the same time; something that can fulfil diverse tasks with utmost reliability," said Rosiel Lee, senior sales and marketing manager at Synology. "DS1515+ and DS1815+ are built for exactly such purposes."

OCZ Storage Solutions - a Toshiba Group Company and the most awarded solid state drive (SSD) brand of all time, today announced availability of the new Vertex 460A SATA III SSD series for mainstream users. This line includes all the features and performance specifications of the popular Vertex 460 series, with new enhancements including the use of next generation Toshiba A19 MLC NAND flash, and the Company's innovative ShieldPlus Warranty.

Hitting shelves this week, Vertex 460A SSDs were designed to provide the very best of both worlds for those seeking high-end performance and accessories at a competitive price point. With the proven OCZ Barefoot 3 controller at its core, Vertex 460A provides performance that stands apart from other solutions with focus on real world metrics such as sustained performance and mixed workloads, all designed to provide a faster, more responsive computing experience.

Corsair gave its SSD family a much needed shot in the arm, with the Neutron XT line of performance SSDs. Built in the 7 mm thick, 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, these drives combine a Phison PS3110 quad-core controller, with modern 19 nm Toshiba A19 MLC NAND flash chips, over an 8-channel interface. The PS3110 brings innovations to the table, such as SmartFlush, which pushes inbound data to the flash, minimizing the chance of data-loss, in the event of a power failure. Other features include native 256-bit AES encryption, with TCG Opal 2.0 compliance.

Corsair Neutron XT comes in three capacities, 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB. The 240 GB variant offers sequential transfer rates of up to 564 MB/s reads, with up to 547 MB/s writes. The 480 GB and 960 GB variants, on the other hand, offer up to 562 MB/s reads, with up to 542 MB/s writes on the 480 GB variant, and up to 532 MB/s on the 960 GB one. All three are rated with write endurance of 124 TB. Corsair also updated its SSD Toolbox software, with a refreshed user interface. It lets you manually optimize performance, update firmware, tweak overprovisioning, clone, erase, and monitor SMART status of the drive. Corsair didn't finalize pricing.

SMART Modular Technologies, Inc., a global leader in specialty memory solutions, today announced its M.2 SATA XR+ product family equipped with SafeDATA power loss protection technology. These new NAND Flash memory based solid-state drives (SSDs) are SATA-III compliant and are optimized specifically for high-reliability in networking, telecom and industrial applications.

Available from 32GB to 512GB in an M.2 double-sided, 22mm x 80mm form factor, SMART's M.2 SATA XR+ products are manufactured to stringent specifications of tier 1 OEMs. Like other SMART SATA SSD products, the M.2 SATA XR+ product offers enterprise S.M.A.R.T. attributes and features that help to monitor many aspects of the drive's health. The M.2 SATA XR+ product also offers compelling performance with sequential read and write speeds up to 540 Mbytes/sec and 320 Mbytes/sec, respectively. Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and internal data cache are functionality built into the SATA protocol to enable high performance.

Synology releases DiskStation Manager (DSM) 5.1, the latest version of its NAS operating system. After 6 weeks of intense beta testing, the beta was a resounding success, thanks to the valuable feedback from individual users.

"We want to thank our users from all around the world for their participation and enthusiasm toward DSM and Synology products, paving the way for a more integrated and secured private cloud solution." said Alex Wang, CEO of Synology Inc.

Micron Technology, Inc., expands its automotive storage solutions portfolio with the introduction of their M500IT solid-state drive (SSD) in densities ranging from 60GB to 240GB and embedded multimedia card (eMMC) 5.0 memory. Both solutions are specifically designed to enhance automotive applications.

Micron's M500IT solid state drive (SSD) is the industry's first automotive-grade SSD with AEC-Q100-compliant NAND flash memory components and system-level qualification in select automotive applications and conditions. The M500IT is dramatically faster than hard disk drive (HDD) technologies, enabling nearly instantaneous system response times and fast application loads that are critical to the increasingly media-rich automotive experience. The M500IT SSD also includes hardware-based encryption, data-at-rest protection against unexpected power loss and an adaptive thermal monitoring system to secure user data at extended temperatures. The M500IT SSD uses AEC-Q100-compliant NAND flash memory technology and customized firmware to provide high quality and high performance for demanding automotive applications.

A new data storage solutions company focusing on Solid State Disk (SSD) technology has revealed itself by announcing a new SSD controller IC that enables SSDs with densities up to 5 Terabytes (TB). The company, Sage Microelectronics, is currently shipping in volume 2.5 TB SSD units on a single PCB with a standard 2.5" form-factor.

Sage Micro's new technology enables a single SSD controller IC to address up to 5TB of flash memory (on an array of 10 X 4 X 128GB eMMC BGA modules), achieving an industry first in high density and small form factor. The Sage S681 device, currently in mass production, employs a SATA II interface to drive 10 channels of SD, MMC or eMMC flash memory cards, with each channel supporting up to 512GB of flash memory.

"Until now, cost-competitive SSD densities were limited to 1 TB by the maximum capacity of flash memory chips, and by the fan-out limitations imposed on flash controllers by the high number of interface traces required for each memory device," explained Dr. Jerome Luo, founder and President of Sage Microelectronics. "Sage decided to leverage the highly competitive pricing of flash memory cards-such as eMMCs-to develop an SSD controller that can effectively address up to 5TB of data."

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced today a bundle deal with Assassin's Creed developer Ubisoft, which will include a download of Assassin's Creed Unity with the purchase of the Samsung U28D590D (UD590) monitor or the Samsung 850 PRO solid state drive (SSD). The UD590 is an optimal monitor for PC gaming, with an ultra-high definition screen, one millisecond response rate and one billion color gamut, while the award-winning 850 PRO SSD offers the lag-free performance and blazing-fast load times gamers need. Paired with Assassin's Creed Unity, these products offer gamers the ultimate gaming package.

"Our monitors create a one-of-a-kind, immersive gaming experience and our SSDs ensure quick load times and robust performance for drastically improved gameplay," said Ron Gazzola, vice president of marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "The UD590 premiere monitor and the 850 PRO SSD will bring Assassin's Creed Unity to life and allow players to experience the game in a completely new way. We're happy to be providing this extremely popular offering to our customers."

Lite-ON, leading developer of enterprise flash storage technology, announces the debut of its new EP1 Series M.2 PCIe Gen 2x4 solid-state drive at Dell World 2014 in Austin, Texas. Dell World draws thought leaders, subject matter experts, and IT professionals from around the world who come to learn about new trends, technologies, and how Dell and its partners are working to advance the world of information technology.

"We are extremely excited to present our new M.2 PCIe Gen 2x4 solid state drive at Dell World 2014," said Darlo Perez, Lite-ON Managing Director. "The new EP1 represents a significant step forward in enterprise storage technology, offering up to 1TB of storage on a compact and highly power efficient M.2 PCIe form factor. Now supporting power loss protection, it offers the perfect balance of performance, enterprise-grade reliability, and cost efficiency."

VisionTek Products LLC (VisionTek), a leading manufacturer of award-winning, high-performance upgrades and accessories for PCs and Macs, today announced the new VisionTek USB Pocket SSD line of thumb drive-sized Solid State Drives for creative professionals, IT power users, and performance enthusiasts seeking ultra-fast media and large file transfers. Offering speed, reliability, and storage capacity that rivals factory installed and aftermarket internal SSDs, the VisionTek Flash Drive can be used with nearly any Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux based system with a USB 3.0/2.0 interface.

More Than an Ordinary Thumb Drive
While it's sized like an ordinary thumb drive sporting a USB 3.0 connector, the VisionTek USB Pocket SSD's aircraft-grade aluminum housing contains a fully functional Solid State Drive featuring a high-performance LSI SandForce controller that delivers up to 455 MB/s reads and up to 440 MB/s writes... nearly double the speed of other flash drives. Plus, by installing Windows 8/8.1 on it, the VisionTek USB Pocket SSD can provide a bootable, fully functional Windows environment for an "office-on-the-go" solution.