Toshiba has expanded their line up of NAND-flash-based solid state drives with the 2.5-inch 512-GB SSD. Toshiba says the new drives provide a high level of performance and endurance for use in notebook computers, gaming and home entertainment systems.

Toshiba's new line of 43nm NAND SSD family also includes 64GB, 128GB and 256GB units in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch form factors or as SSD Flash Modules. Toshiba claims the second-generation SSDs offer increased capacity and performance for notebook computers. The drives offer maximum sequential read speed of 240MBps and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps, enabling an improvement in overall computing experience, and faster boot and application loading times. The AES data encryption prevents unauthorized data access.

"The solid state drive market is evolving rapidly, with higher performance drives to meet market requirements, and differentiated product families targeted for appropriate applications," said Mr. Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Vice President of Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor Company. "This new 43nm SSD family balances value/performance characteristics for its targeted consumer applications, through use of MLC NAND and an advanced controller architecture."

No word on price yet, but Toshiba expects to start mass production in the second quarter in 2009.

OCZ has unveiled the Flex EX memory series, featuring breakneck speeds demanded by enthusiasts. These premium high-density modules operate at incredibly fast DDR2 and DDR3 speeds to run the latest memory-intensive games and applications.

The Flex EX memory series offer enthusiasts the thermal management necessary for the stability and performance on high-end gaming and overclocking systems. It offers a specifically tailored configuration for all users to maximize the performance for all types of systems. It encompasses the needs of enthusiasts, power users, and gamers with incredible frequencies up to DDR3-2000, and DDR2-1200 as the fastest DDR2 4GB kit available.

The OCZ Flex EX thermal management solution enables high-frequency memory to operate within an optimal balance of extreme speeds and low latencies without the high temperatures that inhibit or damage the module. Each Flex EX memory module features the integrated liquid injection system design. It has a “flexible” all-aluminum design to give enthusiasts the option to run the modules water-cooled or passively via the array of aluminum fins, and the concurrent use of both options promotes maximum heat dissipation.

Backed by a lifetime warranty, the Flex EX modules will be available in 4GB (2x2048MB) dual channel kits.

OCZ has announced new Gold Series Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) flash memory cards. These premium memory cards offer photography enthusiasts incredible speeds and capacities to deliver the tailored storage they demand.

OCZ says its Gold Series SDHC cards are ideal for the latest D-SLRs and HD video cameras to deliver exceptional shooting performance, speed, and reliability. The Gold Series is designed and optimized for HD video enthusiasts and photography professionals capturing large volumes of high resolution images and video. These offer Speed Class 6 at 150X write rate.

“The new Gold Series cards make use of premium quality flash and are optimized for shooting large RAW files with the latest D-SLR cameras and exceed the performance requirements of the latest 1080 high definition camcorders,” said Alex Mei, Chief Marketing Officer of the OCZ Technology Group.

OCZ Gold Series SDHC cards are available in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB and come backed with lifetime warranty. There is no word on pricing yet, should be available in stores soon.

OCZ Technology has unveiled the industry’s first triple channel memory kit designed specifically for the forthcoming Intel Core i7 microprocessors.

Developed for enthusiasts and early-adopters, the low voltage OCZ Triple Channel solutions are the choice counterparts for leading-edge performance that won’t inhibit the functionality of Core i7 CPUs. In addition, modules are tested in matched triplets ensuring superior compatibility.

OCZ will release the triple channel kits under the award-winning Platinum and Gold series designed specifically for enthusiasts and gamers.

Available as 3GB and 6GB kits, these ensure optimal performance via an ideal combination of low voltage requirements, speed, and latency.

Link: OCZ

Kingston has announced the release of 2GHz HyperX DDR3 memory modules, the fastest-performing DDR3 available to date. Available in 2GB memory kits, the new HyperX PC3-16000 memory offers gaming enthusiasts top-of-the-line Enhanced Performance Profile (EPP) ready memory with EPP profiles pre-programmed on the modules.

"Two Gigahertz is now the sweet spot for many benchmarking enthusiasts and Kingston's new 2GHz HyperX DDR3 memory is fully tested at specified frequency and timing values so it's ideal for anyone seeking to boost performance," said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston.

The 2GHz HyperX DDR3 is available at a price tag of $227.

Link: Kingston

Fujifilm has introduced four new Secure Digital (SD) cards, thus extending its flash memory products line.

The Secure Digital (SD) line includes 1GB and 2GB SD cards. The Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) family has 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB cards. Micro SD cards will include 1GB and 2GB in the standard capacity models, and 4GB and 8GB in the high capacity SDHC line.

The Fujifilm SD cards will come in brightly colored, customer-friendly packaging, specially designed with easy to understand graphics ensuring that customers choose the cards best suited for their needs and devices.

"We've found that there is a growing customer demand in the marketplace for higher capacity cards, as more users take video as well as higher-resolution photos with their digital cameras," said James Avato, vice president, Electronic Imaging Division, Fujifilm U.S.A., Inc. "And our new compact packaging design makes it even easier for customers to obtain the best possible flash media for their devices."

The price has not yet been disclosed, but the cards will be available next month.

Link: Fujifilm
 

SanDisk now offers world’s largest removable storage capacity for mobile phones. It is now offering 16GB microSDHC and Memory Stick Micro (M2) mobile memory cards.

The fingernail-sized 16GB memory cards allow consumers to ‘wake up’ the many storage-intensive features offered by today’s portable handsets such as music and video playback, high-definition digital camera functions, gaming and GPS applications. Consumers can also use the 16GB microSDHC card in a multitude of other devices, including video cameras, GPS receivers or MP3 players with a microSD slots such as SanDisk’s Sansa players.

The 16GB microSDHC card is listing for $99.99 while the 16GB M2 lists for $129.99. The new 16GB capacity will be available at Best Buy Mobile stores in October and Verizon Wireless stores in November. SanDisk’s 16GB mobile memory cards come with a five-year limited warranty.

Link: SanDisk

SuperTalent caught our eye recently with their sexy 256GB solid state drives, and just to prove they aren't one to rest on their 'Talents' the memory manufacturer today announced three new 8GB USB flash drives including the world's smallest 8GB drive. How small? Try 31 x 12mm. These new drives include: PICO-A, with a swivel lid; the retractable PICO-B; and ultra small PICO-C. Super Talent’s patented PICO series USB drives are manufactured using chip-on-board (COB) technology, which enables up to 8GB of Flash storage to fit into an incredibly minute case. PICO-C drives weigh less than a nickel (about 4.7 grams) and measure only 31.3mm x 12.4mm x 3.4mm to be precise.

They are shock resistant, storing data securely even under adverse conditions. They also support read speeds upwards of 30MB/sec (200X) for lightning fast access to files. Super Talent Marketing Director, Joe James explained, “These 8GB PICO drives have redefined mobile storage, combining new levels of speed, elegance and durability into the world’s smallest pen drive”.

They should be perfect for a whole host of applications - secret agents, photographers, impressing your mates down the Dog and Duck. All Super Talent USB drives are backed with a lifetime warranty. All three 8GB PICO drives are available from eWiz.com today for under $35.

A-Data introduces the S701 USB flash drive and SDHC memory card Eee PC special edition. For those who recently purchased an Eee PC and looking for additional storage – A-Data offers these accessories to storage your entire digital life.

A "Permanent" Second Storage Drive

Even before Asus launched its Eee PC – this new budget notebook was already a success. However one of the limitations of Asus’s Eee PC is the limited storage. In today’s daily life, we all use and share a great scale of digital images, audio and video. To storage our digital life, the Eee PC may be insufficient for some users. Through built-in memory card reader, A-DATA SDHC memory card can be used as a "permanent" second storage drive. This 8GB SDHC memory card offers larger capacities at great prices and able to store 4,000～6,000 pictures, more than 2,000 mp3 songs and 14 ~16hrs MPEG videos.

Your Eee PC Gets Accessorized

To share your digital files, you can choose A-Data’s S701 USB flash drive special Eee PC edition: white exterior with leather carrying strap. This S701 will be the best accessory to match your Eee PC. This product also won prestigious iF and Red Dot product design awards and is the best way to show your own style.

The S701 and SDHC memory card have life-time warranty that assures you to store all your files for an extended period. 

Link: TechConnect.