Former hard drive maker (it sold the HDD business to Toshiba in 2009) Fujitsu has finally decided to give SSDs (solid state drives) a try and so it developed and released such a storage solution. Codenamed HLACC2031A-G1, Fujitsu's SSD has a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, a SandForce SF-2281 controller, MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory, and is capable of read/write speeds of up to 550/500 MB/s, and of a random read/write performance of 55,000/40,000 IOPS.

The HLACC2031A-G1 is first being shipped to APAC (Asia-Pacific) markets in two capacities - 120 GB (~ US$202) and 240 GB (~ US$427). Both models will come with a three-year warranty.

Mac-loving company Other World Computing (OWC) has recently revealed a new line of high-grade solid state drives, the Mercury Enterprise Pro 6G. Designed for 'mission-critical deployments', these 2.5-inch SSDs feature a SandForce 2582 controller, Toshiba-made Enterprise Toggle Synchronous (eMLC) NAND memory chips, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, and OWC's Paratus Power Technology which prevents data loss in the case of power interruptions.

OWC's drives also have chip-based 256-bit AES encryption, they deliver sustained read/write speeds of up to 550/525 MB/s, and are capable of a random 4K read/write performance of up to 60,000 IOPS. The Mercury Enterprise Pro 6G drives are backed by a seven-year warranty and will ship by the end of this quarter in 50 GB ($629), 100 GB ($799), 200 GB ($1,349) and 400 GB ($2,199) capacities.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the latest addition to its SSDNow family, the SSDNow V+200. The new Kingston SSDNow V+200 solid-state drives are the ideal high-performance upgrade solution for the performance minded yet cost-conscious business or home user.

The SSDNow V+200 features the second-generation high-speed SATA 3.0 (6 Gb/s) SandForce SF-2281 Processor and outstanding sequential read and write speeds of up to 535 MB/s and 480 MB/s. The SSDNow V+200 enables fast system start-up, rapid data access and speedy copying of large files such as videos, presentations and graphics illustrations.

BiTMICRO Networks, a manufacturer of high-end enterprise Solid State Drive (SSD) technologies, and Global Unichip Corporation (GUC), the Flexible ASIC Leader, have successfully taped out a third generation SSD controller. Dubbed as TALINO-DE (Translation and Linking of I/O Nodes - Device Edition), this multi-core SSD controller provides high-speed data transfer between host and storage device. TALINO-DE is seen to be a generation ahead of today's market-leading technology.

TALINO-DE features multiple embedded CPUs, high-speed serial on-chip buses and proprietary integrated data moving technology, enabling parallel access to hundreds of flash chips. Other features include full data path protection, end-to-end data integrity, embedded AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) engines for data security, embedded XOR engines for delivering faster transaction processing in RAID configurations, power management, and other resource optimization.

It has been half a year since that the concept of "Ultrabook" was proposed by Intel at Computex 2011. The concept was well-received by major brand vendors in hopes that Ultrabook can revive Notebook market demand, many of whom such as Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer, Fujitsu, Asus, have launched Ultrabooks, or announced they are to launch one. With the expected major growth in Ultrabooks in the next few years, SSD indeed is given a great opportunity as it is one of the key components of Ultrabooks.

To seize the opportunity, RunCore, a leading supplier of high-performance solid-state drives has made its move and announced its Ultrabooks solution - 7 mm Pro V Ultra SSD. The product is a Sandforce-based SSD, and it adopts stainless steel enclosure. With SATA 6 Gbps interface it offers up to 525 MB/s read and 525 MB/s write, featuring an extreme write IOPS up to 75000.

Plextor, leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and storage equipment, announces the release of its latest Solid State Drive, M3 Pro, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas today.

The new M3 Pro Series offers improvements to the current M3S, including a significant boost in sequential and random read/write speeds. Other changes include high-grade 24 nm Toggle Flash, firmware updates, and a new 7 mm height form factor to fit ultra-slim notebooks.

Today at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, iconic brand Victorinox Swiss Army (VSA), the exclusive marketer of Victorinox USB Flash Memory devices, announced the launch of two new portable storage additions - the Victorinox SSD and Victorinox Slim 3.0. VSA brings more than 125 years of trusted precision, quality, function and versatility to its newest consumer electronics innovations, which is a burgeoning product category for the brand.

The Victorinox SSD (Solid State Drive) and Victorinox Slim 3.0 USBs offer unprecedented data storage capacity with security measures fit for protecting the most confidential of personal and professional documents. Each pocket-sized device packs anywhere from 16 GB to one terabyte of storage capacity, is equipped to withstand a range of environmental and daily use factors, and remains true to the Swiss Army legacy of flawlessly designed products that endure.

ROCSTOR, a leading provider of fast, high-capacity data storage and encryption solutions, announces the launch of Amphibious, an International CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree. The Amphibious is a secure, ruggedized portable hard drive with real time hardware encryption and offers advanced two-factor authentication, USB 2 and Firewire 800. In addition, the crypto module is FIPS 140-2 certified.

The Amphibious is considered as one of the most secure and user-friendly devices in the world for size, strength of encryption, and method of authentication. It offers users the option of using the device in a cross platform and Operating System independent fashion, and no GUI or software installations required. The Amphibious is the result of several years of intensive R & D effort and collaboration. For the user it offers the value of data security by using an original concept of two-factor authentication with Smart Card and Keypad, real time hardware encryption, and futuristic design sense. The Amphibious is appropriate for consumers, SOHO's, enterprises, institutions, military and government applications who want to store data in a secure manner.

Verbatim, the global leader in data storage technology including USB flash drives, portable hard drives, solid state drives, CDs, Blu-ray disks and memory cards, announces the availability of its 2.5" SATA Solid State Drives (SSD) and upgrade kits.

Available in both SATA II and SATA III interfaces, Verbatim SSDs featuring ultra-fast data transfer rates, faster system boot-up, shut down, and increased system responsiveness. Verbatim's new SSDs are the ideal hard drive replacements for users seeking a performance and reliability upgrade. Verbatim SSDs contain no moving parts, resulting in greater mechanical stability and reliability, increased shock resistance, silent operation, and reduced power consumption for increased battery life.

German TV tuner maker Elgato has today announced an external solid state drive featuring Thunderbolt connectivity. Known simply as the Thunderbolt SSD, Elgato's drive measures 83 x 21 x 131 mm, it weights 270 grams, has a 'rock-solid' metal enclosure, and is capable of transfer speeds of up to 270 MB/s.

The Thunderbolt SSD will ship next month in 120 GB ($430) and 240 GB ($700) capacities.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today introduced a 7 mm version of the award-winning Crucial m4 SSD to meet the need for thinner storage devices. With the same performance delivered by the standard 9.5 mm Crucial m4 SSD, the new ultra-slim 7 mm version supports the latest thin and light form factor laptop models, such as the Lenovo ThinkPad T420G, Acer Aspire 6920G, and new Intel-inspired Ultrabook devices.

The 7 mm Crucial m4 SSD is available in 64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB capacities. The 512 GB capacity offering is one of the highest-capacity storage drives - magnetic or solid state - available in the market today for laptops with a 7 mm tall drive bay.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, and Marvell, a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, today unveiled the industry's fastest and most versatile PCI Express (PCIe) storage system, the Z-Drive R5. The increased performance, reliability, and endurance of the Z-Drive R5 is designed to take PCIe-based solid state storage to the next level for enterprise environments.

The Z-Drive R5 features a jointly developed "Kilimanjaro" OCZ and Marvell native PCIe to NAND flash controller platform, allowing for completely scalable performance and redundancy while eliminating the need for a separate storage controller, thus reducing the cost to deploy high performance solid state storage systems in the data center.

BryteWerks LLC announces the launch of a product line poised to establish a new category of intelligent, hybrid media centers based on an advanced high-definition digital projector platform. The BryteWerks Model One line of Intel Core CPU-based digital projectors merge state-of-the-industry computer, digital, and optical technologies with superior connectivity capabilities and innovative industrial design into a cost-effective and intuitive multimedia control and exhibition powerhouse.

Designed for either consumer or professional applications, the BryteWerks Model One line delivers exhibition-quality 16:10 widescreen 1920x1200 resolution (within 5% of professional 2K cinema systems), through a LCD Native WUXGA panel. The projectors also feature an ultra-high brightness of 6,000 - 11,000 lumens, a 1000:1 True Contrast Ratio, and a 1:1 throw of 1 foot to 50 feet, making them the very best, all-purpose digital projectors in their class. Internally, the BryteWerks Model One projectors feature (depending upon model configuration), a fully-integrated Intel Core i3 to i7 HTPC CPU, a full featured, slot-loaded Blu-ray player, up to 2 terabytes of internal storage, including a 500 gigabyte Solid State Drive, unequaled connectivity options, and a custom version of XBMC, an open source media organization and playback application, making the Model One a revolutionary and unsurpassed media center.

Next month at CES 2012 in Las Vegas (January 10-13), Chinese company RunCore Innovation Technology (RunCore for short) is set to show off a trio of NAND-based storage solutions, the Xapear, Falcon and Pro V 7mm solid state drives.

The ultrabook-friendly Pro V 7mm SSDs come with a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface and deliver read/write speeds of up to 540/500 MB/s, while the Falcon Series models are known to have SATA 6.0 Gbps connectivity and a Marvell controller (no word on speeds through).

The Xapear drives are a bit special because they feature both automatic AES128 encryption and RFID (radio-frequency identification) support so as to ensure a high level of data security. Moreover, the Xapear allows users to check drive status or activate a self-erase function via mobile phone. Other specs were not revealed but will surely be available at RunCore's CES booth.

Leaked last week, OCZ's newest solid state drive, the Indilinx Everest-based 'Petrol' has now been made official and is confirmed to reach distribution channels in the 'coming weeks'.

The Petrol targets 'cost-sensitive' applications and has a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, 2xnm asynchronous MLC NAND Flash memory (backed by the life span-enhancing NDurance technology), a MTBF of 1.25 million hours, TRIM support, and three years worth of warranty.

Now that the Octane models are out and about, the OCZ Technology Group is preparing the launch of a second line of solid state drives based on the Indilinx Everest platform, the more value-minded Petrol series. Like the Octane SSDs, the Petrol drives feature a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, and make use of the NDurance technology technology which increases the life span of NAND flash memory by as much as 2 times.

The Petrol models also have 2xnm asynchronous MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory (the Octane line uses synchronous MLC NAND), a MTBF of 1.25 million hours, TRIM support, and are backed by a three-year warranty.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, announces the Talos 2 Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) SSD Series, the follow-up to the high performance, high capacity Talos Series previously available only in a 3.5 inch form factor.

With capacities up to 1TB now available in a compact 2.5-inch form factor, Talos 2 offers increased I/O performance and scalability in enterprise storage environments. Talos 2 leverages OCZ Virtualized Controller Architecture 2.0 technology which implements an intelligent complex command queuing structure with unique queue balancing algorithms to provide exceptional performance. Talos 2 SSDs deliver superior random transactional performance at up to 70,000 4K IOPS and features improved mixed workload (75% read; 25% write) performance with up to 42,000 8K IOPS.

CyberpowerPC, a leading manufacturer of custom gaming desktop PCs, gaming notebooks, and performance workstations, today announced a new series of enthusiast gaming PCs based on Intel's 2nd Generation Core i7-3000 Series CPUs (code named Sandy Bridge-E) and X79 chipset motherboards.

CyberpowerPC gaming systems receiving the new CPU makeover includes the Gamer Xtreme 3D series, the FANG EVO Black Mamba and Cobra as well as its award winning Gamer Xtreme XE and XI systems. The series will include the flagship Intel Core i7 3960X (3.33Ghz and Turbo Boost up to 3.9Ghz), and the Core i7 3930K CPU (3.2Ghz and Turbo Boost to 3.8Ghz) to deliver unmatched performance, the ability to customize your rig, and features that put you in control of the action.

Following up on the successful launch in May this year of the S511 SATA III solid state drive, which received an enthusiastic industry response and multiple awards, ADATA Technology has introduced the industry's fastest high-performance XM13 mSATA solid state drive. This display of the company's increasingly strong R & D capabilities establishes a firm foundation for ADATA in the Small Form Factor (SFF) applications market.

The "rapid start" usage of Tablet PCs has had an impact on the consumer desktop market, causing rising hopes and expectations for performance. The future market is expected to demand that boot devices combine the power of rapid, efficient operation with a thin profile and price competitiveness. To this end, ADATA has set its sights squarely on the market trends of the near future, applying the full force of the company's development capability and years of experience in memory storage. The result is the introduction of the XM13 mSATA SSD, incorporating mSATA memory cache, low power consumption, and implementing the latest Sandforce controller.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, today announced the release of the S510 Solid State Drive (SSD), a mid-range version of the company's flagship S511. Implementing the SATA III (6Gb/sec) specification, the S510 is aimed at the growing pool of users who recognize the cost and performance advantages of solid state drive upgrades for both desktop and portable computers.

The performance advantages of the SATA III transfer specification are becoming well-known among consumers, and the S510 capitalizes on this trend with native support through adoption of the SandForce SF-2200 series chip. Its read and write speeds are twice that of SSDs using the older SATA II specification, and in real world test simulations reached 550/510MB read and write speeds respectively, with 4K random write speeds as high as 85,000 IOPS.

Micron Technology, Inc., introduced a new version of its popular RealSSD C400, featuring self encryption for unmatched data security. The C400 SED (Self-Encrypting Drive) is based on the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) Opal specifications and provides a hardware-based answer for the increasing wave of data breaches that continue to impact computer users and enterprises worldwide.

Security breaches caused by malicious attacks are on the rise, according to the recent Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. While it's notable that the increase in small-scale external attacks doesn't rely on highly sophisticated approaches, encryption is widely credited as the first choice for the most affordable security solution for deterring such intrusions.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, today announced the $129.99 MSRP 60GB capacity model to its award-winning, built in the USA OWC Mercury Electra 6G Solid State Drive line. Offering a lower starting price point to one of the industry's fastest 6G SSD lines, the new SandForce Driven 6Gb/s 60GB capacity OWC Mercury Electra 6G SSD utilizes the highest quality components available, including Tier 1/Grade A NAND, to deliver 556MB/s read and 523MB/s write sustained data rates for over 7X faster performance than a standard factory hard drive found in Mac and PC computers.

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that it has implemented the new SATA µSSD specification into its SanDisk iSSD product line of postage stamp-sized embedded SSDs. SATA-IO, an industry consortium dedicated to sustaining the quality, integrity and dissemination of serial ATA (SATA) technology, introduced the standard today.

The number of media tablets shipped worldwide is expected to grow from 17.8 million units in 2010 to 53.5 million units in 2011. The five-year CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is 48.5 percent, according to the IDC 1Q11 Media Tablet and eReader Tracker Forecast. These thin, high-performance mobile computing platforms combine sophisticated components in a small physical area, compounding design complexity and driving the need for industry standards.

Until recently, conventional wisdom stated that SLC-based (single level cell) solid state drives (SSDs) were the only drives suitable for demanding Tier 0 Enterprise applications. That has changed with the introduction of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' (Hitachi GST) new Ultrastar SSD400M MLC (multi level cell) SSD family. As a cost-effective alternative to SLC SSDs, Hitachi GST's Enterprise MLC SSDs are the most advanced in the industry, utilizing Intel's 25 nanometer (nm), highest endurance Enterprise-grade, MLC NAND Flash and delivering outstanding performance. Couple this with Hitachi GST's known quality and reliability, and the result is a compelling Enterprise-class MLC SSD that meets the performance, capacity, endurance and reliability demands of today's Enterprise and Cloud data centers. Targeting Enterprise capacity sweet spots, the Ultrastar SSD400M family is available in a 2.5-inch form factor with a 6Gb SAS interface in capacities of 200GB and 400GB.

Leading memory storage brand, SP/Silicon Power today announces the launch of its first SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD), the Velox Series V30. Continuing the efficiency and stability of the V20, the V30 employs the highest spec SATA 6 Gbps interface on the market, while remaining backwards compatible with the SATA II Gbps interface. Running at over double the efficiency of the SATA 3 Gbps interface, the V30 is a top level product that can meet the needs of computer gamers and professional computer users alike.

The SP/Silicon Power V30 SSD uses a SandForce controller chip, enabling it to reach a top read speed of 550 MB/s, and top write speed of 500 MB/s. It also supports TRIM command and Garbage Collection technology, resolving the issue of decreased efficiency in SSDs used for long periods of time.