Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the new Crucial BX200 solid state drive (SSD), which offers substantial yet affordable performance gains compared to a standard hard drive. The drive, designed for consumers and SMBs, allows users to load applications in seconds, boot up almost instantly, and accelerate every day applications.

The new BX200 provides sequential read and write speeds up to 540 MB/s and 490 MB/s respectively on all types of data, as well as random read and write speeds up to 66k and 78k IOPS respectively. Additionally, when compared to a typical hard drive, the new BX200 is more than 13 times faster and 40 times more energy efficient for almost instantaneous access to data, resulting in longer battery life and a cooler, quieter system. The new drive utilises a Silicon Motion SM2256 Controller and is coupled with Micron verified firmware, allowing users to upgrade their existing infrastructure at an affordable price, which is a great alternative to buying a whole new system.

Kingston announced the SSDNow UV300 line of mainstream solid-state drives. Built in the 5 mm-thick (Ultrabook-compatible) 2.5-inch form-factor (with spacers for 7 mm and 9.5 mm thickness), these drives embed TLC NAND flash memory, driven by a Phison S10 class processor. Available in 120 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB capacities, the drives offer sequential transfer rates of up to 550 MB/s reads, with up to 510 MB/s writes; with endurance (TBW) rated at 64 TB, 128 TB, and 256 TB, respectively. 4K random access speeds are rated at 85,000 IOPS for the 120 GB and 240 GB variants, and 75,000 IOPS for the 480 GB variant. Kingston didn't reveal pricing.

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., announced today two new internal solid-state drive (SSD) storage devices with up to 960 GB of capacity. The new SSDs include the Toshiba Q300 Pro Series Internal SSD Hard Drive, built for gaming and creative applications with high-end demand for performance and reliability and the Toshiba Q300 Series Internal SSD, offering a balance of high performance and value, ideal for PC upgrades from traditional hard drives. With Adaptive Size SLC Write cache technology to enable SLC-like performance, both models offer high processing speed and low power consumption and are compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux.

"Toshiba's announcement of the new Q300 Pro and Q300 internal SSDs demonstrates that Toshiba is continuously striving to bring the best storage solutions to the market," said Maciek Brzeski, Vice President of Branded Storage Products, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "Today's announcement addresses increasing consumer demand for speed, performance, quality and reliability to improve their computing experience. As the inventor of flash memory, our new Q300 and Q300 Pro Internal SSD Series delivers leading-class performance and reliability to meet a wide variety of computing needs."

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, today announced it will be presenting at the upcoming Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, CA from August 11th to 13th and will be showcasing an array of SSD solutions at booth #313, including the award winning SM2246EN SATA 6Gb/s SSD solutions, the new products using SM2256, the world's first turnkey SSD controller supporting TLC NAND and the new SM2260 PCIe 3.0 SSD controller.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND flash products, today launched the Premier SP550 SSD, which uses triple-level cell (TLC) architecture to offer an affordable SSD without compromising performance. The Premier SP550 is the first ADATA drive to include the Silicon Motion (SMI) SM2256 controller, which uses NANDXtend technology to help ADATA implement SSD technologies such as data shaping, LDPC ECC, and a RAID engine for enhanced data protection, stability, and reliability. SLC caching technology has been implemented to boost performance.

"The launch of ADATA's Premier SP550 SSD with our SM2256 client controller represents a milestone in SSD adoption," said Nelson Duann, Silicon Motion's Vice President of Product Marketing. "TLC-based SSDs significantly improve the affordability of high performance, low power SSDs."

Toshiba Corporation today unveiled the new generation of BiCS FLASH, a three-dimensional (3D) stacked cell structure flash memory. The new device is the world's first 256-gigabit (32gigabytes) 48-layer BiCS device and also deploys industry-leading 3-bit-per-cell (triple-level cell, TLC) technology. Sample shipments will start in September.

BiCS FLASH is based on a leading-edge 48-layer stacking process that surpasses the capacity of mainstream two dimensional NAND Flash memory while enhancing write/erase reliability endurance and boosting write speeds. The new 256 Gb device is suited for diverse applications, including consumer SSD, smartphones, tablets and memory cards, and enterprise SSD for data centers.

Today, Micron Technology, Inc. announced a new addition to its expansive portfolio of flash storage products, providing a purpose-built solution for cost-sensitive consumer applications seeking high performance and reliability. The new TLC NAND is built on their 16-nanometer (nm) process and delivers a balanced set of features for applications like USB drives and consumer solid state drives. The market appetite for TLC is projected to be strong throughout 2015, constituting almost half of the total NAND gigabytes shipped.

Micron's 16 nm process-recognized by TechInsights as the Most Innovative Memory Device and 2014 Semiconductor of the Year-is a mature and proven storage technology, making it an excellent foundation for a reliable TLC design. TLC, or triple-level cell, is a technology that fits three bits in every flash data cell, creating greater cost and size efficiency. Customers of the technology will benefit from Micron's extensive design support team, who act as trusted advisors to ensure smooth qualification and optimal end-solution performance. Key flash customers and ecosystem partners worldwide have already begun working to integrate this new NAND with their latest designs, ensuring quick adoption in end applications.

Plextor is expected to launch its value SATA SSD line, the M6V, on 17th July, 2015. The drive combines a Silicon Motion SMI-2246 controller, with Toshiba A19 TLC NAND flash chips. The drive comes in capacities of 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB, with DRAM cache sizes of 128 MB, 256 MB, and 512 MB, respectively. All three variants offer sequential read speeds of up to 535 MB/s, while their sequential write speeds are rated up to 170 MB/s, 335 MB/s, and 455 MB/s, respectively. Common features include NCQ, TRIM, and native 256-bit AES encryption. There's a likelihood of Plextor introducing a few new features, such as PlexVault, a software that encrypts and stores your data in hidden partitions, and PlexCompressor, which compresses the least accessed data on your drive.

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash storage solutions, today introduced the iNAND 7232 storage solution, a new, advanced embedded flash drive (EFD) optimized to deliver best-in-class imaging performance and superior storage capacity in flagship mobile devices. Available in capacities up to 128 GB, the iNAND 7232 storage solution enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to introduce smartphones, tablets and other connected devices that feature ample storage to meet the needs of increasing consumer content while providing data-rich application experiences and next-generation digital photography capabilities.

"From North America to China, consumers are demanding higher and higher capacity storage," said Christopher Bergey, SanDisk's vice president and general manager of Mobile and Tablet Solutions. "Our iNAND 7232 storage solution not only enables mobile OEMs to cost-effectively deliver the robust storage mobile users want, it is also our most advanced embedded storage solution to date. It leverages new, innovative application-level storage architecture and SanDisk's latest 15 nanometer flash storage technology to enable outstanding application experiences, terrific 4K Ultra HD video capture and digital photography experiences never before possible in flagship smartphones."

OCZ announced the Trion 100, a new lineup of cost-effective SSD for first-time users graduating from HDDs, and for those who want fast read-intensive drives to replace storage HDDs in their systems. Some extremely low price-per-gigabyte figures build their case. The drive features 19 nm TLC NAND flash chips made by Toshiba, driven by a controller also made by Toshiba. This controller features an SLC-caching tech that deals with a small portion of the TLC NAND flash as SLC (by storing just one bit per cell), which has the maximum sequential transfer performance. The controller juggles hot-data in and out of this portion from the rest of the TLC area. Other controller features include DEVSLEEP mode support. In this mode, the drive draws just 6 mW of power. Other essentials such as TRIM and NCQ are also featured.

OCZ Trion 100 comes in four capacities - 120 GB, 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB, priced at US $56.99, $87.99, $184.99, and $369.99, respectively. All four variants offer sequential read speeds of up to 550 MB/s, while the maximum sequential-write speeds are rated at 450 MB/s, 520 MB/s, 530 MB/s, and 530 MB/s, respectively. The maximum 4K random-read performance for the 120 GB variant is rated at 79,000 IOPS; while the other three offer up to 90,000 IOPS. Random-write performance figures for the four variants are 25,000 IOPS, 43,000 IOPS, 54,000 IOPS, and 64,000 IOPS, respectively. The drives are built in the 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The drives ship with OCZ's SSDGuru software that lets you monitor the drive's health, update its firmware, and wipe it. OCZ is offering a 3-year warranty with these drives.Read our review of the OCZ Trion 100 480GB.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices, today announced that its SM2256 SATA (6 Gb/s) client SSD controller now supports Micron's new 16 nm 128 gigabit (Gb) TLC NAND flash, enabling high-performance and unprecedented reliability for a new class of cost-effective TLC-based SSDs.

SM2256, the world's first SSD controller supporting Micron's 16nm TLC NAND, offers the best performance and cost-optimized four channel SATA 6 Gb/s client SSD controller in the market. Using Micron's 128 Gb 16 nm TLC NAND, the SM2256 delivers up to 540 MB/s sequential read performance and 460 MB/s sequential write, as well as up to 90,000 random read IOPS and 80,000 random write IOPS. Leveraging Silicon Motion's proprietary NANDXtend error-correcting code (ECC) technology, the SM2256 enhances the endurance and retention of TLC NAND, delivering more than three times better reliability for TLC SSD as compared to the existing BCH ECC schemes.

Team Group unveiled its cost-effective L3 EVO line of SATA SSDs. Making use of TLC NAND flash chips, these drives come in capacities of 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB (pictured below). The 240 GB and 480 GB variants offer sequential speeds of up to 560 MB/s, with up to 540 MB/s writes; with up to 85,000 IOPS reads and up to 90,000 IOPS writes, in 4K random access performance. The company didn't put out performance figures of the 960 GB variant. The drives feature SATA 6 Gb/s interface, are 7 mm-thick, and support all modern SATA SSD features, including TRIM, NCQ, native AES acceleration, and SMART.

OCZ Storage Solutions -- a Toshiba Group Company and the most awarded solid state drive (SSD) brand of all time, today announced plans to showcase the all-new Trion 100 series, a new SSD based on Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND flash, at this year's Computex in Taipei, Taiwan held June 2 - 6. As OCZ's new value-oriented option, Trion 100 SSDs are built to provide an easy and affordable way for entry-level users to optimize their mobile or desktop systems.

Leveraging Toshiba's Alishan SSD controller and premium A19 TLC flash memory technology, the Trion 100 series was designed to deliver a superior balance of performance, reliability, and value and will be available this summer. Running live in OCZ's Computex booth, Trion 100's preliminary performance ratings include up to 550MB/s of bandwidth and up to 91,000 random read IOPS, making the Trion 100 series a competitive upgrade solution that will transform any notebook or PC.

"Computex is the ideal venue for us to unveil our upcoming TLC NAND-based Trion 100 SSDs," said Alex Mei, CMO and GM of the Client Business at OCZ Storage Solutions. "By leveraging controller and TLC NAND technology from Toshiba, we are pleased to be able to bring to market the exciting new Trion 100 SSD Series which will offer end-users an optimal mix of performance, features, and value, making it easier than ever for value-conscious consumers to leverage the benefits of a high quality yet affordable SSD that delivers improved desktop and mobile computing experiences."

Micron Technology, Inc., and Intel Corporation today revealed the availability of their 3D NAND technology, the world's highest-density flash memory. Flash is the storage technology used inside the lightest laptops, fastest data centers, and nearly every cellphone, tablet and mobile device.

This new 3D NAND technology, which was jointly developed by Intel and Micron, stacks layers of data storage cells vertically with extraordinary precision to create storage devices with three times higher capacity than competing NAND technologies. This enables more storage in a smaller space, bringing significant cost savings, low power usage and high performance to a range of mobile consumer devices as well as the most demanding enterprise deployments.

Lite-On Storage, a leading developer of enterprise flash storage technology, today introduced its CV2 family of solid-state drives during a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Solid-state drives are faster and more affordable than ever. Lite-On also improves their reliability with its CV2 family armed with next-generation low-density parity-check (LDPC) technology.

Lite-On's CV2 is the first SSD powered by Marvell's four-channel 88SS1074 controller, enabling support for 256-bit AES encryption, an ultra-low-power DEVSLP state for extended battery life in mobile devices, and the latest flash memory interfaces. Lite-On's firmware engineers take that cutting-edge feature set and tune it, optimizing every aspect of the storage platform.

The 88SS1074 is matched up to triple-level-cell Toshiba A19 NAND in capacities of 128, 256, and 512GB. By implementing the controller's LDPC error-correcting technology, Lite-On extends the CV2's endurance as much as 33%, hitting reliability levels previously only attainable with MLC flash. The result is an SSD rated for 2,000 program-erase cycles and protected by a three-year warranty.

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."

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.

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash storage solutions, today announced the availability of the SanDisk X300 SSD. The SanDisk X300 SSD leverages the latest advancements in X3 technology to deliver a great user experience with high-performance, while utilizing robust error-correction to increase reliability and provide peace of mind for today's CIOs. SanDisk's new client SSD also includes an improved SSD Dashboard, which provides visibility into the drive's performance, security, and available firmware updates, in order to maintain peak performance at all times-an important feature for today's mobile workforce.

"The SanDisk X300 SSD is our first X-series drive to incorporate the use of our nCache 2.0 tiered caching architecture and X3, three bit-per-cell technology, to deliver a highly optimized and reliable solution for both CIOs and their employees," said Kevin Conley, senior vice president and general manager, client storage solutions at SanDisk. "This mainstream corporate drive not only provides the reliability and performance companies need today, but also helps CIOs reduce total cost of ownership and shorten the time to return on investment."

Samsung and the world's second solid-state drive based on 3D vertical-NAND flash technology, the 850 EVO, was spotted on marketing material, ahead of its launch. Closely trailing the company's flagship 2.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s drive, the 850 Pro, the 850 EVO will have lower price per GB. The drive will be based on Samsung's 3-bit (TLC) 3D V-NAND chips, and Samsung's updated triple-core processor. Given how Samsung is offering a stunning 10-year warranty with the 850 Pro, this drive could come with a similar warranty. The 850 Pro, for example, is rated with a TBW ceiling of 150 TB, double that of its predecessor.

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced that it will showcase its latest NAND flash and storage products at Flash Memory Summit, the world's largest flash memory conference, which will be held from August 5 to 7 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California, USA. The exhibition part of Flash Memory Summit will be held in the latter two days, August 6 and 7, and Toshiba will be exhibiting at booth #504.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices, today introduced SM2256, the world's first complete merchant ASIC/firmware SATA 6 Gb/s SSD controller solution supporting 1x/1y/1z nm triple-level cell (TLC) NAND from all major NAND suppliers.

Leveraging Silicon Motion's proprietary NANDXtend error-correcting code (ECC) technology, the SM2256 provides comprehensive data protection and enhances the endurance and retention of TLC NAND, delivering more than three times better durability for TLC SSD. The SM2256 and Silicon Motion's other products will be showcased at booth #615 and # 617 at the upcoming Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, CA from August 5 to 7.

With Memoright's proprietary Advanced Endurance Write features and Super Cache firmware architecture, Memoright XT3 SSD (SATA 6Gbps) currently supports TLC NAND with latest 19nm process technology. XT3 series SSD offers the best combination of reliability and performance, ideal for applications in personal computing, while driving the cost down with advanced TLC.

XT3 Series SSD is currently sampled in 2.5"/1.8" 7mm ultra-thin designs and mSATA form factor with options of 128, 256, and 512GB in capacity. The sequential read/write performance with incompressible data exceeds 500/450 MB/s. Advanced Trim command handling restores the performance of the SSD thus avoids the write performance cliff, which is commonly experienced after a SSD is used for a long period of time.

Earlier available only through the OEM channel, Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 1 TB, the highest capacity mSATA SSD, is beginning to show up in retail channels, stateside. B&H Photo Video has the drive listed on pre-order for US $615. The drive is sought after in the production industry, particularly by users of digital video cameras that feature mSATA SSD slots, as it allows you to film lossless high-resolution video longer. It's also a potential favorite among Ultrabook users. The 840 EVO mSATA features Samsung's MEX controller, which embeds a triple-core ARM processor; and TLC NAND flash memory. It offers impressive sequential speeds of up to 540 MB/s reads, and up to 520 MB/s writes. The controller uses no over-provisioning, and relies on a 1 GB LPDDR3 DRAM as scratchpad. The other sizes the 840 EVO mSATA is available in, include 120 GB, 250 GB, and 500 GB.

For today's PC users, high-performance, high-quality SSDs are increasingly the preferred choice. KINGMAX, a premium memory and Flash module manufacturer that serves the world market, is proud to introduce SME 32/35, the latest additions to its SME Xvalue SSD Series. The SME SATA III2.5"SSDs make a timely debut as many must be considering a replacement or upgrade of their HDDs. For most end users, performance is hardly the ultimate determinant for choosing between the two storage devices, empirical studies show. But they know SSDs are faster than HDDs and that the former does speed up their system both during booting and in operation.

An exceptionally attractive cost-performance ratio justifies SME as a bargain. This is especially the case with those who would rather go for a partial refresh as an across-the-board upgrade of their existing old devices seems hardly warranted. Pitted against comparable HDD counterparts, it stands out with an ultra-low cost per IOPS and extraordinary operational efficiency on the same measure of power consumption.

Memoright is announcing next-generation XTM Series SATA III SSD products at Computex 2013. Including Memoright's exclusive Endurance Write firmware architecture developed with in-house R&D, the product supports MLC and TLC flash memory made with the latest process technology. Offering the best combination of reliability and high-speed performance, the product is ideal for applications in cloud computing, business servers, workstations and high-end personal computers. Using the latest 19 nm MLC / TLC flash memory, the XTM SSD includes Memoright's exclusive Endurance Write firmware architecture that significantly enhances SSD life while providing stable, high-speed read/write performance.

Earlier TLC flash memory applications have been confined to digital audio players and other products that have flash drive storage requirements at the low range of performance and service life. Yet market expectations for SSDs have increased steadily, making a design that balances performance, product life and product cost an important test for the SSD industry and manufacturers.