Samsung has begun sampling new low-density, higher performing solid state drives that are 30 percent the size of today’s 2.5 inch SSDs. With these new smaller, lower capacity drives, Samsung hopes to introduce SSD technology to the low-cost PC market. The new multi-level-cell (MLC) SSDs will be available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities with mass production taking place next month. Specs for these drives are as follows:

The 32GB MLC SSD will have a read speed of 90MB/s and a write speed of 70MB/s. The 16GB reads at 90MB/s and writes at 45MB/s while the 8GB reads at 90MB/s and writes at 25MB/s. All three of these drives feature the same SATA II controller as the new Samsung MLC-based 128GB SSD.

No word on how much these drives will be but it’s nice to see SSDs being targeted for the low-cost market. I’d gladly pop a 32GB SSD into a nettop system if it meant lower power consumption and quieter operations.

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Technorati Tags: Samsung, SSD, Low-cost PC

Dell has announced that multi-touch capabilities will be coming to the Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC tomorrow in the form of a software update for both Windows XP and Windows Vista. With this update, the Dell Latitude XT will be the first convertible table to feature multi-touch capabilities in the industry.

Capabilities introduced with this update include the following:

• Scroll - by placing two fingers on the screen and moving them horizontally or vertically customers can easily navigate in web browsers and productivity applications.
• Zoom - by touching the screen with two fingers and moving them together customers can zoom various content in and out, such as pictures or Web pages.
• Programmable double-tap - customers can program a command, such as launching a Web browser or turning the screen off to save power, that will respond to two taps with two fingers.

Unlike other multi-touch enabled notebooks which integrate the feature into the touchpad, Dell’s solution is integrated into the entire touch display allowing users to directly manipulate the entire desktop if need be.

Here’s a video of the new update (which will be available at www.support.dell.com).

Oh yes - Dell also announced the addition of a new 128GB solid state drive which will go on sale tomorrow for $649. It will be available for Dell Precision and Latitude systems tomorrow and for XPS and Alienware systems next week.

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Technorati Tags: Dell, Latitude XT, Multi-touch, SSD 128GB

OCZ Technology announces their latest addition to their Solid State Drive product line in the form of the OCZ Core Series SATA II 2.5 inch SSDs. OCZ claims these new SSDs cost 50% less per gigabyte than other high speed offerings in the market. Features of the Core Series SATA II 2.5 inch SSDs include:

• Durable lightweight alloy housing
• 1.5 million hour meantime before failure (MTBF)
• 120-143 MB/s read speeds and 80-93 MB/s write speeds
• seek times of less than 0.35 s

The MSRP for the new line is as follows. The 32 GB will cost $169, the 64GB $259, and the 128GB $479.

Technorati Tags: OCZ Technology, Solid State Drive, Core Series SATA II 2.5 inch

What’s a great way to distribute software to the masses? Distribute it with other products. That’s what Super Talent Technology is doing with the Ubuntu Linux OS. The company announced today that for a limited time, their line of MasterDrive MX SSD’s will come with a free CD containing both the Ubuntu Desktop Edition Linux OS and OpenOffice software.

The Ubuntu CD will be included with every MasterDrive MX device shipped from July 1st till September 30th, 2008. Models in the MasterDrive MX lineup include the 15GB FTM15GK18H, 30GB FTM30GK18H, 60GB FTM60GK18H, and 120GB FTM20GK18H.

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Technorati Tags: Super Talent, MasterDrive MX SSD, Ubuntu Destop Edition Linux, OpenOffice

Toshiba also announced the addition of a 128GB Solid State Drive into their Portege R500-S5007V notebook making it the first and lightest system to feature a 128GB SSD. Oh yes.. it also happens to the world’s thinnest notebook to come with a 7mm DVD SuperMulti drive built into it.

The R500-S5007V features the following:

• 12.1 inch widescreen transreflective LED backlit 1280 x 800 display
• As thin as 0.77 inches
• More than 8 hours of battery life
• Toshiba EasyGuard technology which includes advanced encryption, multiple level passwords, and a fingerprint reader
• Windows Vista Business
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor U7700 running at 1.3 GHz
• 2 GB RAM
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
• Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN
• Intel Gigabit Ethernet
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

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Technorati Tags: Toshiba, Portege R500, 128GB SSD

Solid State Drives are certainly the wave of the future but they’re currently too expensive when it comes to price per gigabyte. Looking to address the performance/cost factor, Apacer has introduced what they’re calling combo SSD drives. These 2.5 inch drives feature the use of both multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level-cell (SLC) NAND flash chips. The 2.5 inch combo SSD supports up to 96 GB of storage capacity comprised of 32GB in SLC NAND flash and the rest using MLC flash. Apacer will also adjust the combination according to a customer’s needs.

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Technorati Tags: Apacer, Combo SSD

Here’s an interesting computer peripheral - it’s the new Addonics Dual CF-SATA HDD adapter which takes two compact flash cards and turns them into a single drive usable as a direct 2.5 inch SATA drive replacement in a computer. The two compact flash cards can be configured as RAID 1, RAID 0, or as one large compact flash drive. You can then insert the Dual CF-SATA HDD adapter into a computer using a mounting bracket. The adapter can be installed using the SATA interface or via a USB interface. The best part - the CF cards look like any other drive to the OS - no drivers are needed for this to work. This sounds like a great way to utilize inexpensive CF cards as a power efficient 2.5 inch hard drive replacement. The Dual CF-SATA HDD adapter can be purchased on the Addonics Online Store for $79.99.

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For those of you curious about the new Intel Solid State Drives, you can now check out their product webpages. There are two for the PATA SSDs - the Intel Z-P230 and the Intel Z-P140. Specs are broken down as follows:

Intel Z-P230 PATA Solid State Drive:

• Available in 4 and 8GB with 16GB coming in Q4
• Standard 40 pin ZIF PATA (IDE) interface
• Measures 38 x 54 x 4 mm which is 1/4 the volume of a standard 1.8 inch notebook hard drive
• Weighs only 10 grams
• 1.65 mW idle power draw and 314 mW typical operating power draw

Intel Z-P140 PATA Solid State Drive:

• Available in 2, 4, 8, and 16GB
• Parallel ATA interface
• Measures 12 x 18 x 1.8mm and weighs 0.6 grams
• 1.1mW idle power with typical operating consumption at 315mW
• 40MB/s read speed and 30MB/s write speed

Technorati Tags: Intel, Solid State Drives, Z-P140, Z-P230

Intel and Micron Technology introduced the industry’s first 34nm 32 gigabit (Gb) NAND chip. The new 34nm process technology was jointly developed by Intel and Micron and manufactured by the companies’ NAND flash joint venture - IM Flash Technologies. It is currently the smallest NAND process geometry on the market. You can expect shipments of this new chip to begin in June with mass production during the second half of this year.

According to the Intel press release, the new 34 nm 32Gb chips were “designed with solid-state drives in mind.” The new NAND flash chips will enable more cost effective SSDs - doubling the current storage capacities that are available today and delivering capacities greater than 256GBs in current 1.8 inch SSDs. You can expect to find these 32Gb NAND chips in the upcoming Intel SSD drives that were announced earlier.

[Check it out via News.com]

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Here’s some interesting news from over the weekend. Samsung Electronics announced that they have developed the world’s fastest 2.5 inch 256 GB multi-level cell (MLC) SSD drive with a SATA II interface. The drive, which was announced at Samsung’s fifth annual Samsung Mobile Solution Forum in Taiwan, is also the thinnest drive with this much capacity and the SATA II interface.

Specs on the new drive are as follows:

• Sequential read speed of 200 MB/s
• Sequential write speed of 160 MB/s
• 2.4 x faster than your typical comparable HDD
• Measures 9.5 mm thick with the other dimensions being 100.3 x 69.85 mm
• Mean time before failure (MTBF) of 1 million hours
• Power consumption at 0.9 watts in active mode

According to Samsung, the new drive also offers a data encryption process that prevents data stored on the drive from being accessed in an unauthorized manner. The 256 GB SSD will be mass produced by the end of the year with customer samples coming out in September. You can expect a 1.8 inch version of this drive in the fourth quarter of this year.

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Technorati Tags: Samsung, SSD, Solid State Drive, 256GB MLC