August 19 - 12:25pm EDT   In the wake of last Friday's leak, Intel has now formally announced its Mainstream series of SSD drives. Models will be available in 1.8- and 2.5-inch sizes, and rely on MLC (multi-level cell) NAND memory, which should in theory aid to keep prices down. One of the first examples is the 80GB X25-M, which is also Intel's first SATA-based SSD for notebook and desktop OEM builders. [full story]

August 15 - 12:25am EDT   Sunnyvale-based OCZ on Thursday unveiled new Core Series V2 SATA II 2.5-inch SSD drives, offering users speedy 170 megabyte-per-second read and 98 megabyte-per-second write times, with much larger sizes. The drives represent a continued effort for OCZ to push down the prices of SSDs for mainstream users. While OCZ declines to supply exact prices from its release, it says that the new Core Series V2 drives cost half of what comparable products do, while offering sizes of up to 250GB. [full story]

August 12 - 1:45pm EDT   Intel has announced the availability of a new solid-state drive, a variant of the Z-P230. While a 40-pin ZIF version for PATA connections remains available, Intel has introduced a new PCIe "mini-card" model which is even smaller. The PATA model is itself said to be four times smaller than a normal 1.8-inch mechanical hard drive. Read and write speeds remain at 38 and 10Mbps, respectively. [full story]

August 11 - 1:30pm EDT   Semiconductor maker Indilinx has upped the potential throughput of SSD drives, an announcement claims. The company says that its Barefoot controller, just out of development, is capable of peak read/write speeds up to 230MBps, allegedly the fastest on the market. This speed is entirely dependent on the type of memory used however, and in practicality it operates at 170MBps with SLC (single-level) NAND memory, or 200/160MBps using MLC (multi-level) NAND. [full story]

June 24 - 5:00pm EDT   Seagate is rumored to be looking into buying out Intel's 49 percent stake in the IM Flash Technologies joint venture between the chip maker and Micron, a flash memory manufacturer, according to analysts. That is just one option for Seagate, but the analysts say the company would be better off buying into SanDisk, as it is not involved with any other companies and is less costly. Furthermore, they maintain that Seagate needs to purchase or team up with a NAND flash memory maker in order to be successful in its solid state drive (SSD) production. [full story]

June 2 - 3:05pm EDT   TDK will debut its HS1-series solid-state disk drives at the Computex Taipei 2008 show due to start tomorrow in Taiwan. At 1.8 inches, the drives are the smallest on the market to use a Micro SATA interface, and are meant for notebook computers and industrial devices. The drives are available in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities, and use single-level cell NAND flash memory. Prototype versions of the HS1 drives were first shown at CEATEC in 2007, and TDK says are now ready for use in industrial devices. [full story]

May 25 - 10:55pm EDT   Samsung late on Sunday promised what it says is a breakthrough in solid-state drives with the launch of its first 256GB SSD. The drive offers twice the capacity of the Korean firm's previous 128GB SSD but is also much faster. The 256GB edition reads sequential data at 200MB per second, twice the rate of the original model, while also seeing an even greater increase in write speeds: where the earlier drive writes at 70MB per second, the new SSD writes at 160MB per second. This comes in a chassis that is also described as one of Samsung's thinnest at 9.5mm (0.37in), making it suitable for very thin and light notebooks. [full story]

April 30 - 12:10pm EDT   People contemplating SSD versions of computers like the MacBook Air -- which costs approximately $1,300 more than the HDD edition -- may not find the performance difference worthwhile, writes Computerworld. The magazine has conducted a test of 32GB SSDs by Crucial and Ridata, in comparison to two 7200rpm hard drives by Seagate. All four drives used cloned copies of Vista Home Premium, and were benchmarked by software called HD Tach. [full story]

April 15 - 1:00pm EDT   Seagate has begun the first of what may be several lawsuits against makers of flash memory, show filings from the US District Court in San Francisco. It has accused STEC, formerly known as Simple Technology, of violating four patents it owns, connected to the creation of flash memory -- should it win, Seagate could be granted an injunction against STEC products as well as unspecified damages. Seagate CEO Bill Watkins argues that compensation would be well-due, as it has invested heavily in developing technology for SSD drives, and it has tried to persuade other companies to license its patents. [full story]

April 9 - 12:30am EDT   MCE Technologies today unveiled the QuickStream SS, a self-powered solid-state drive designed for standard and high-definition video capture. The QuickStream SS is ideal in situations where vibration or other environmental factors contribute to a less-than-desirable shooting environment for standard platter-based capture methods. Size configurations were not mentioned, but MCE will ship both a 2 hour and four hour model, for $1800 and $2800 respectively. [full story]

April 2 - 3:05pm EDT   Once again taking advantage of its Shanghai Developer Forum, Intel has announced its first-ever line of self-branded solid-state drives. Previously codenamed "Rocket," the drives are SATA models available in 1.8- and 2.5-inch sizes, and in capacities ranging from a standard 32GB to an unusually large 160GB. Each drive is also said to be ruggedized, and tested against forces up to 1,500G. [full story]

March 17 - 3:10pm EDT   Toshiba’s Japan-only new Dynabook SS RX1 is the first ever notebook to offer a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD), matching the storage capacity of conventional hard-disk drives with the speeds associated with flash drives. The model will be available about nine months after Toshiba also unveiled the first laptop with a 64GB SSD drive. In North America, the RX1’s equivalent is the Portégé R500, already a holder of many “world’s first” accolades. [full story]

March 10 - 3:55pm EDT   Imation has entered the burgeoning field of SSD storage with two sets of drives, designed in collaboration with Mtron. The first of these are the MOBI 3000s, SATA disks meant for the consumer market; these consist of 16 and 32GB 2.5-inch drives, as well as 16, 32 and 64GB 3.5-inch models. The drives are capable of reading at 100MBs, and writing at 80MBs; random access speed is just 0.1ms. Prices start at approximately $700. [full story]

January 23 - 5:55pm EST   HP today announced two new energy-efficient desktop computers, both of which use a solid-state drive to store data, and are compliant with the Energy Star 4.0 standard. The solid-state drives provide a number of benefits, such as faster system startup times, better reliability and durability, while maintaining a smaller footprint than a traditional hard drive. The ultra-slim HP Compaq dc7800 uses Intel Core 2 Duo processors with optional vPro technology, and Verdiem Surveyor network power management software, which can lower the energy cost for the computer to $10 per year, when combined. HP is selling the dc7800 for $1300. [full story]

January 8 - 1:20pm EST   OQO's presence at CES is being used to release new options for the model 02, its Windows-based UMPC. Buyers can now choose a new SSD drive, doubled in size from 32 to 64GB; the option is significant in that few full-sized notebooks offer a 64GB SSD, let alone a device as small as a UMPC. The model 02 has also been given the option of a "sunlight-optimized" display, making it more practical for people working outdoors. The previous screen continues to be the default. [full story]