Mushkin Chronos GO Deluxe Wins Innovation Award

Mushkin recently received an Innovation Award from The SSD Review for its line of Chronos GO Deluxe solid state drives. The 1.8" drives received the award "due to its combination of its wide range of capacity offerings, form factor, and Mushkin's drive to push the limits of performance." Founder of The SSD Review Les Tokar highlighted the drive, stating that "The Mushkin Chronos GO Deluxe 1.8 SSD may be a relatively modest SSD to the world but it doesn't lack in performance. With both read and write transfer speeds above 500MB/s and write IOPS above 82,000, the LSI SandForce Driven characteristics are front and center."

Source: Press Release

ADATA Announces DashDrive UV150

The newest USB 3.0 flash drive from ADATA, the DashDrive UV150, is a value priced solution with a pearlescent exterior in glossy black and scarlet. The drive weighs only nine grams and has room for a lanyard strap, making it a perfect drive to carry around with you. Transfer speeds up to 90MB/s will allow for fast data transfers. The DashDrive UV150 will be available in capacities of 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB.

Source: Press Release

Seagate Announces New Solid State Drives

Seagate, one of the world's largest hard drive manufacturers, has announced a new line of products. The Seagate 600 Series is the company’s first client-based solid state drives. The solid state drives will be sold in three different capacities - 120 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB. Performance differs depending on the size:

• 120GB: 500+MB/s read, 300+MB/s write, up to 80,000 IOPS read, up to 60,000 IOPS write
• 240GB: 500+MB/s read, 400+MB/s write, up to 80,000 IOPS read, up to 70,000 IOPS write
• 480GB: 500+MB/s read, 400+MB/s write, up to 80,000 IOPS read, up to 70,000 IOPS write

Seagate has not disclosed what controller is being used, but some reviews suggest that it is based on Link A Media Device's LM87800 controller, which is also found in Corsair's Neutron and Neutron GTX.

A low power version will be available as well, called the 600 Pro Series. It is intended for low power server and storage solutions, such as cloud systems, hyperscale data centers, and virtualized environments. It has a typical power consumption of 2.8 W. Seagate has also announced the 1200 Series. These drives will feature dual-port 12 Gbps SAS connectors, and they are said to be twice as fast as previous generation drives. They come in capacities up to 800 GB.

Prices and availability has not been disclosed yet.

Source: MaximumPC

Corsair Unveils Drive Cloning Kit and SSD Toolbox

Corsair, one of the leading manufacturers of all things computer-related, has recently announced two new products for those looking for solid-state drives. The first is an HDD and SSD Cloning Kit, which allows for quick and easy transfers for anyone upgrading from a traditional hard drive to an SSD. The new SSD is connected via a USB cable, then the user selects the source and destination drives, and presses a button. All the data is transfered over with no fuss. The cable supports USB 3.0 and 2.0, with transfers speeds up to 180MB/s on the former. The Cloning Kit also supports 2.5" hard drives, and works with Windows XP on up or OS X 9.2/10.2 and above. It's available now for $24.99 and includes a three-year warranty.

The other new product is a piece of software called the SSD Toolbox. This is designed for users to install, configure, and optimize their new Corsair SSDs, as well as monitor the drive's health. It allows for the firmware to be updated, allocate space to prolong life and improve performance, display SMART status, securely wipe the drive, and more, plus a future update will enable cloning of the SSD. The software only works on Windows computers and is available as a free download from the Downloads tab of any Corsair SSD product page.

Western Digital Releases New SSHD Just 5mm Thick

Hard drive manufacturer Western Digital has today announced its first 5mm hybrid hard drive (or SSHD) has been released to OEMs. Western Digital have released two drives in the 5mm form factor, a WD Black drive and a WD Blue drive, however the Blue drive does not offer flash storage, and is a traditional hard disk drive (HDD). The main advantage of the new Western Digital Black drive is that it is just 5mm thick, compared to 7mm for its Seagate competitors. This makes the drive much lighter than other drives, and also leaves much more space in the hard drive bay.

The drive supports the SATA III 6Gbps standard, and boasts up to 24GB of NAND flash memory. This allows the drive to store much more data in the solid-state memory when compared to Seagate SSHDs, which feature 8GB of flash storage, which should enable faster transfer speeds. The WD Black drive has a capacity of 500GB and should have applications not only in the laptop market, but also in the growing tablet market. The pricing of the WD Black drive has not been confirmed, however its sibling, the WD Blue HDD, is priced at $89.

Source: CNET

Mushkin Announces New Solid State Drives

Mushkin has released a new line of 1.8" solid state drives under the Chronos GO SATA III name. The 1.8" form factor allows the drives to maintain a lower profile and fit into cases that have more strict space constraints. The new line of Chronos SSDs will be available in capacities of 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB. Director of Global Marketing Nicolas Villalobos said, "Mushkin continues to push the envelope with higher performance, higher capacity and higher reliability products, and the new line of 1.8-inch Chronos GO SATA III SSDs is just one example. With these improvements, the new drives are very well-suited for professionals and for solution providers in demanding environments like digital signage, healthcare and point-of-sale."

Patriot Announces Supersonic Mini USB 3.0 Drive

The newest in portable storage from Patriot is the Supersonic Mini, an extremely small USB 3.0 drive capable of transfer speeds up to 80MB/s. The drive is housed in a rubber casing to ensure durability and to protect the drive from daily wear and tear. Product Manager of Flash Storage Meng Jay Choo said, “The Patriot Supersonic Mini is one of the smallest USB 3.0 form factors available and offers excellent speeds for large file transfers. Never again will you have to sacrifice performance for portability.” The Supersonic Mini will be available in early April at an MSRP of $19.99 and $29.99 for capacities of 16GB and 32GB, respectively.

Patriot Announces AERO Mobile Hard Drive

Patriot has announced a new wireless storage solution, the AERO mobile hard drive. The AERO is a portable storage unit that can stream to all of your new mobile gadgets, from smartphones to tablets. The Patriot Connect app is compatible with all major mobile operating systems and is available for free. Internet pass through allows up to five devices to share the same connection while accessing files. Senior Director of Product Management Mike Kroll said, “In regards to storage, this demands major product evolution and Patriot is on the forefront of design and innovation. With the launch of AERO, I am proud to say Patriot has the largest and most compelling mobile storage lineup; from full featured all-in-one solutions to the award winning Gauntlet Node wireless enclosure.” The AERO will be available early next month in capacities of 500GB and 1TB at a price of $159.99 and $199.99, respectively. It is compatible with 802.11 B/G/N Wi-Fi, features WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, and WEP encryption, and the rechargeable battery will provide up to six hours of streaming.

3.5-inch Desktop Hybrid Drive Added to Seagate Range

On Monday, Seagate released its first 3.5" desktop hard disk featuring its hybrid drive technology. The drive combines NAND flash technology commonly used in SSDs with traditional magnetic disks to enable higher capacity drives that still provide a performance boost over standard hard disks. This also gives consumers faster disk access times, often comparable to full SSDs, while maintaining a low cost-per-megabyte.

This release is part of Seagate's recent refresh of its hard disk line, in which it also announced it will cease production of traditional 2.5" hard disks, in order to focus on hybrid drive technology. The introduction of the new 3.5" hybrid drive, in conjunction with the retirement of the 2.5" hard drive line may signify the beginning of an industry-wide transition towards hybrid SSD technology.

Source: PCWorld.com

Seagate to Cease Production on 7200RPM 2.5-Inch Traditional HDDs

Seagate is one of the largest and most well-known hard drive manufacturers around, but later this year some of its products are getting retired. The company recently announced it is ceasing production on all 7200RPM 2.5" hard drives by the end of 2013. Seagate will still offer 5400RPM 2.5" drives, but the 7200RPM models no longer make sense as the market shifts to alternatives products. Solid-state drives and solid-state hybrid drives (SSHD) offer far greater performance over a 7200RPM drive, which is something Seagate has noticed. Its third-generation SSHDs are set to arrive later this year, and is what Seagate will promote to users wanting the speed of an SSD yet the capacity of an HDD.

Even though Seagate won't be making any more 7200RPM 2.5" HDDs once the year ends, there should still be plenty of stock to go around for a while after. It may be a good idea to stock up at that point.

Source: X-Bit Labs

OCZ Releases 20nm Vertex 3

OCZ has announced a 20nm version of its popular Vertex 3 solid state drive, which should extend the availability of the SSD as other new drives come out. The 2.5" drive is built with MLC NAND flash and features a 6Gb/s SATA connection. The drive will be available in capacities of 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB. An LSI SandForce SF-2200 processor allows the Vertex 3 to achieve read and write speeds up to 550MB/s and 520MB/s, respectively. Senior VP of Product Management Daryl Lang said, “The Vertex 3 has been a popular SSD series among consumers and implementing the newer, smaller process geometry will not only extend its life, but enables mainstream users with an excellent computing experience at a competitive price point.”

Total Digital Storage to Exceed 40 Zettabytes by 2020

A recent report states that the total amount of data stored digitally will exceed 40 trillion gigabytes (40 zettabytes) by 2020. This means the average human will have approximately five terabytes of data stored on digital devices such as hard disks, flash drives, and on the cloud. The majority of this data will be stored in the traditional manner, on mechanical hard drives, however other storage mediums will continue to play a part in the data storage conundrum. As of now, however, hard drives remain the most effective medium in which to store large amounts of data, with more and more capacity being made available over time.

One of the more interesting points made by the report is that optical storage mediums will fall in sharp decline over the next seven years as more and more PCs ship without optical drives, and instead rely on external devices. The report also suggests that cloud storage will become much more widespread as more and more people gain access to faster broadband. This will be accelerated as more and more companies store data on the cloud. A recent survey suggests that 22% of companies that currently store data on the cloud hope to store 90-100% of their data on the cloud within the next three years.

Source: PCWorld.com

New mSATA SSD Available from Mushkin

Mushkin has announced that a 480GB version of its mSATA Atlas SSD will be available at the end of this month. This drive is built using MLC NAND flash and is controlled by a SandForce SF-2281 processor to provide high performance. The new Atlas also has support for S.M.A.R.T., TRIM, and ECC. It carries an MSRP of $499.99 and a three year warranty. Be sure to check out the coverage that our team provided when they viewed the Atlas at CES.

Synology Launches DiskStation Manager 4.2 Beta at CES

Synology announced the public beta for its DiskStation Manager 4.2 software at CES earlier this week, and it features a number of upgrades to the NAS operating system. A number of new applications have been added to the Quick Connect software including support for DS audio, DS photo+, and DS cloud apps. The software continues to offer support for iOS, Android, and Windows phones and these devices now have the ability to stream video from DSM. Updates to Package Center allow for better organization of applications and Audio Station supports Bluetooth speakers. All x86 models now have Synology High Availability to help minimize downtime while Amazon Glacier support allows for affordable backup to an external cloud.

Micron Launches 1TB SSD for Under $600

Solid-state drives are a fantastic upgrade for any computer, but the relative high price means larger capacities require an exorbitant monetary committment. Some SSDs are around $1/GB, which would mean a 1TB drive is going to set you back at least $1,000. However, Micron is changing all of that with a new SSD priced under $600. The Crucial M500 1TB SSD is only $599, with 960GB of usable data. That puts it right around $0.60/GB, which is even less than other SSDs below $1/GB. Micron has packed all that storage size into a 2.5" form factor and uses its densest NAND flash chips to acheive the feat. The company claims its 128Gbit-sized chips are an industry first.

There are three versions of the Crucial M500; an M.2 SATA card, a miniSATA card, and the 2.5" SSD. All are available in 120, 240, and 480GB capacities, but the 2.5" version is the only one with the 1TB size. Only the pricing on that size is available, but hopefully Micron announces the rest before long. The 2.5" Crucial M500 SSD is expected to arrive in the first quarter of this year, with the M.2 SATA and miniSATA arriving in the second quarter.

Mushkin Unveils 960GB Chronos SSD

Mushkin has been going all out at CES this week, with new SSDs and RAM leading the way. Today another new product has been unveiled by Mushkin in the form of a 960GB Chronos SSD. This latest addition to the Chronos line offers nearly a terabyte of storage on the SATA 6Gb/s interface and in a 2.5" form factor. No performance numbers were given, but considering the rest of the Chronos line, I expect read and write speeds near the upper range of SATA 6Gb/s. Mushkin says the 960GB drive is ideal for anyone needing high speed and high capacity, like those using CAD and other 3D software programs. It'd also be perfect for gamers who simply must have every game they own installed at once; you know who you are.

The Mushkin Chronos 960GB SSD will be available later this month, although a price wasn't mentioned at this time.

Seagate Reveals Additional CES Products

We had previously reported about two new products that Seagate revealed at CES, the Wireless Plus and Central Shared Storage solutions. Seagate is also showing off Backup Plus, introduced in June of last year, that simplifies backup for home use with the Seagate Dashboard software. The Backup Plus also allows for one click backup of Facebook and Flickr pictures. The company is also showcasing a 5mm thin 2.5" hard drive targeted at Ultrabooks and thin client devices with a storage capacity of 500GB. Rounding out the Seagate lineup will be the introduction of solid state hybrid drives for laptop and desktop systems.

ASUS Unveils ROG RAIDR Express: A High-Performance PCIe SSD

It was only a matter of time until ASUS assaulted PC gamers with enthusiast-class storage, and it's set to deliver with a PCI-Express-based SSD - the Republic of Gamers (ROG) RAIDR Express. Announced alongside the impressive Limited Edition ROG Aries II video card, the ROG RAIDR Express promises faster game loading times and transfer speeds compared to SATA-bound SSD storage, by exploiting the higher bandwidth of the PCI-Express 2.0 x4 interface. It utilizes a RAID 0 setup for its mSATA SSD sub-units in a red and black color schemed add-on card that's encased with an EMI shield, and is designed to work with both ROG and other ASUS motherboards as well. Available storage sizes have yet to be revealed, but ASUS has assured compatibility across current operating systems and chipsets. 

Seagate Central Shared Storage Simplifies Network Backup

Seagate has revealed a new network backup solution in advance of the CES trade show, Seagate Central Shared Storage. This low profile solution offers automatic backup to all networked devices and also provides the option to access the storage from devices external to the network. Seagate sought to create a backup solution that was easy to use, and created a software solution to reach this goal with compatibility for both Windows and Mac OS X systems. This solution creates a central location for all networked computers and also adds the ability to backup photos and videos from sites like Facebook. Seagate will also provide applications for several other platforms including iOS, Android, and Samsung Smart TVs. The Seagate Central Shared Storage is a 2013 CES Innovation Honoree and will be available in March. Available capacities are 2TB, 3TB, and 4TB with prices of $189.99, $219.99, and $259.99.

Kingston Ups the Storage Capacity to 1TB with New USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Kingston is one of the leaders in all things memory-related, and that also includes Flash storage devices. This time, Kingston is doing this a little different when it comes to storage, as rather than blinding speed it's going for massive capacity. Kingston has just unveiled its DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 USB drive with a capacity of 512GB and 1TB. That's right, this USB drive is packing up to 1TB of storage, which should be plenty for even the most on-the-go individual. There's still some fast speeds too, as the DT HyperX Predator 3.0 features read speeds of 240MB/s and write speeds of 160MB/s. The drive comes in at 2.84" x 1.06" x 0.82" without the attached keyring, while it jumps to 3.49" with it. That's still plenty portable to take with wherever you go, while the zinc metal alloy casing keeps it safe from harm.

The Kingston DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 USB drive is available now in the 512GB capacity, while the 1TB drive arrives later in the first quarter. No price was mentioned, but each drive is backed by a five-year warranty and free technical support.

Patriot Memory Readies the Autobahn USB 2.0 Drive

Get ready to cruise to the Autobahn, as Patriot Memory is launching a new ultra-portable USB 2.0 drive. The new drive, aptly named the Autobahn, is pretty tiny, as it comes in at only 18mm long and weighs a mere four ounces. However, that is more than enough room to pack in 8, 16, or 32GB of storage to load up with songs for those long car trips. Patriot designed the Autobahn to be plug-and-play with car stereos supporting USB ports, plus it works with Windows ME, 2000, XP, Vista, W7, and W8, Linux 2.4, and Mac OS9 and OS X. The Autobahn is available now for $11.99 for the 8GB, $16.99 for the 16GB, and $24.99 for the 32GB, and it also features Patriot's two-year warranty.

VIA Introduces New USB 3.0 Controllers Featuring Speeds of up to 280MB/s

Electronics manufacturer VIA has unveiled two new high speed USB 3.0 controllers that enable faster data transfer between NAND flash memory and high speed USB 3.0 ports. The controllers, the VIA VL752 and VL753, enable data transfer speeds of up to 280MB/s through use of 200MHz DDR NAND memory, which is also used in modern solid-state drives. Both controllers also feature bad block management and a robust Error Checking Code (ECC) engine. The VL752 is physically the larger of the two controllers, with a size of 8x8mm, while the VL753 measures 6x6mm. VIA will be showcasing the new controllers during the Consumer Electronics Show 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada, next month. However, the chips are already available to vendors so they could be finding their way into technology in the near future.

Mushkin Adds to Atlas Series of Solid State Drives

Mushkin is adding a 480GB SSD to the Atlas series, a line of SSDs in the mSATA form factor. The high capacity drive represents the most storage in the mSATA form factor to date and should be great news for anyone with an Ultrabook that needs more storage. The new SSD is powered by a SandForce SF-2281 SSD processor and has a SATA 6Gb/s connector. The drive also features S.M.A.R.T. support and TRIM support where enabled by operating system drivers. The 480GB Atlas will be available in January at an MSRP of $499.99.

LaCie Updates D2 to Feature USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt

Yesterday, hard drive manufacturer LaCie released its updated version of the LaCie D2 external hard drive. The update means the drive now supports USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connectivity, enabling transfer speeds of up to 180MB/s. The improved transfer speeds makes the LaCie D2 two times faster than FireWire connectivity and almost four times faster than the previous USB standard, USB 2.0. The hard drive is available in 3TB and 4TB variants, with the 3TB version retailing for $299, and the larger 4TB drive for $399.

The drive inside is a 7200RPM hard disk with 32MB cache with support for 256-bit software encryption, and is also compatible with Kensington Lock. The drive is passively cooled via the aluminium enclosure and heat sink combination. The drive also comes bundled with the LaCie Desktop Manager, which manages encryption, shortcut configuration, and email alerts through one piece of software.

HighPoint Announces New RAID Controller

HighPoint has announced the second generation of SATA 6Gb/s storage controllers, the RocketRAID 600L series. The 600L series of HBA's feature PCIe host controllers, port multiplier support, and a RAID Management Suite. Each 600L series HBA has four ports that support internal, external, and combination connection options and also support point-to-point connections to port multiplier based devices. The RAID Management Suite allows for quick and easy configuration of several different RAID and JBOD arrays. A web based interface is available for all major operating systems and a command line interface is also available for Linux and FreeBSD. PC and Mac platforms are officially supported and device drivers are available for Linux and FreeBSD. The Rocket 640L and 644L are available in direct connectivity options at a price of $69 and the RocketRAID 640L, 642L and 644L support RAID and port multipliers and cost $99.

Macronix Develops Self-Healing NAND Flash

Researchers at Taiwanese company Macronix have proposed a solution that will allow NAND flash to bypass the degradation that results from programming and erasing the memory thousands of times. The team had previously found that NAND flash could be returned to a "good" state but it would require "heating for hours at around 250°C" The new technique would achieve similar results by heating groups of memory cells to 800°C for a brief period using onboard heaters. The results of their research are being presented at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco, California from December 10-12. If this technique can be refined and placed into commercial solid state drives, it would have a tremendous impact on the reliability and lifespan of these storage devices.

Toshiba Announces 4TB Enterprise Hard Drives

This week, Toshiba announced that it is increasing the storage capacity of its enterprise line of hard drives. There will be four new additions to Toshiba's MG series: two SATA models - MG03ACA400, MG03ACA400Y - and two SAS models - MG03SCA400, MG03SCP400. All four 4TB drives have a 7200 RPM spindle speed, 64 MB of cache, up to 165 MB/s sustained transfer rate, and an average latency of 4.17 ms. The SATA based MG03ACA400Y supports self-encryption and cryptographic-erase using the more recent T13 SANITIZE and the older T13 ATA Security Erase Protocol. The SAS MG03SCP400 is a self-encrypting model, which supports both the T10 SANITIZE crypto-erase feature and the Trusted Computing Group Enterprice Security Sub-Classification protocols. All MG Series drives are protected by Toshiba's five-year warranty. Sample shipments are to start in December, followed by larger shipments in early 2013. Toshiba has not yet announced pricing information.

OCZ Launches Vector Solid State Drives

OCZ is expanding its lineup of solid state drives with the addition of the Vector Series. Featuring an Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller, these SATA 3 drives will provide plenty of speed and performance for anyone looking to upgrade their storage. The Barefoot 3 controller was developed by OCZ from the ground up, and provides tremendous sustained disk access and up to 100,000 input/output operations per second. Read and write speeds up to 550MB/s and 530MB/s, respectively, are achievable and the management capabilities of the Barefoot 3 will allow for years of heavy use without any NAND flash degradation. The Vector Series will be available in capacities of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.

Kingston Announces SSDNow V300

Kingston is adding to its cost-effective SSDNow V series line of solid state drives with the SSDNow V300. The drive features an LSI SandForce SF-2281 controller and is built using 19nm NAND flash memory. The V300 is targeted at users who want to follow the SSD path without spending a lot of money to get their first unit. Featuring performance up to 10 times faster than 7200 RPM hard drives, the V300 is capable of sequential read and write speeds up to 450MB/s. Kingston SSD Business Manager Ariel Perez said "The SSDNow V300 is the best cost-efficient upgrade for users who want their existing systems to perform faster. They will experience faster boot up and shutdown times, and will also see much better system performance when multiple applications are open." A number of different upgrade and standalone models will be available in capacities of 60GB, 120GB, and 240GB.

HighPoint Storage Solutions are Windows 8 Ready

HighPoint is a company known for its storage solutions, focusing on SAS, SATA, host bus adapters, and RAID, and has been around since the days of Windows 3.1. The company has now announced that all of its 6Gb/s SAS and SATA RAID host bus adapters are Windows 8 Ready. The products included in the announcement are the RocketRAID 4500 SAS, 2700 SAS, and 600 SATA series and the RocketU USB 3.0 HBA. These products are all available and ready to meet your Windows 8 storage needs.