Intel plans to standardize SSD specifications for its Ultrabook platform, which would steer it toward slimmer, faster Ultrabooks. The company plans to invite a large number of industry players, including NAND flash memory makers SanDisk, Micron, and Samsung, for discussions into what is known as Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), a new SSD form-factor derived from mSATA (think Apple's SSD form-factor found in the MacBook Air).

Intel is in a bit of a hurry with its NGFF SSD plans because the current mSATA form-factor poses limitations, including limited PCB area, in which a limited number of ONFI channels can be wired out. NGFF most likely is mSATA with greater PCB area, allowing the same number of ONFI channels as 2.5-inch SSDs, with the latest generation of controllers and toggle-NAND flash memory. NGFF doesn't increase the thickness of the SSD compared to mSATA, but merely elongates it (again, similar in form to Apple's SSD specifications). Five length standards are being discussed between Intel and Ultrabook partners.

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced an adjustment to production of NAND flash memory at its Yokkaichi Operation plant in Mie Prefecture, Japan, that will cut Toshiba's production by approximately 30%, effective from today.

Oversupply of NAND flash memory in the retail market, for application in USB memories and memory cards, has resulted in continual price declines since the beginning of this year. Toshiba has responded by adjusting shipments to the retail market since June and from today will reduce the operating rate at the plant in order to adjust output. This move will help to reduce inventory in the market and improve the overall balance between supply and demand.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash storage and enthusiast computer products today announces the launch of the Supersonic Rage XT USB 3.0 drive. Built with an ultra-portable form factor and the enhanced speed of USB 3.0, the Patriot Memory Supersonic Rage XT is the perfect solution for those looking for a compact design that doesn't compromise performance. The Supersonic Rage XT comes with a custom slide to connect design that provides best in class protection from wear and tear.

Available in 32GB and 64GB capacities and plug and play compatibility, the Patriot Memory Supersonic Rage XT offers excellent storage solutions that are extremely easy to use across multiple platforms. Backed by Patriot Memory's award winning customer service, the Supersonic RAGE XT will come with a 5-year warranty.

Since the last couple of weeks, we've known of MSI's plans to enter the client SSD market, thanks to a leak by LSI-SandForce. Today we're getting the first pictures of what MSI has been secretly working on. Called the Reflex series, MSI's first SSDs are built on the most widely used performance SSD platform, a combination of LSI-SandForce SF2281 controller and 25 nm synchronous NAND flash.

MSI's Reflex series will be launched in three variants, the RX-60 (60 GB), the RX-120 (120 GB), and the RX-240 (240 GB), respectively. Performance numbers differ with model. The RX-60 offers up to 525 MB/s reads with 495 MB/s writes, and 85,000 IOPS 4K random write performance. The RX-120 ups that to 550 MB/s reads with 515 MB/s writes, and 90,000 IOPS 4K random writes. Leading the pack is the RX-240, with 560 MB/s reads, 525 MB/s writes, and 90,000 IOPS 4K random writes. The three are built in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. Pricing and availability information is awaited.Update (23/07): MSI Europe informed us that while the product is real, it will not be available for purchase in Europe, and that there are no plans to sell the drives in the old continent, in the near future. MSI Europe's statement follows

Super Talent Technology, a leader of NAND Flash storage solutions, today announces their enduring, and most reliable SSD to date, the SATA3 SuperNova.

Whether you're a large corporation or a small company the Supernova provides the advantages to reduce TCO. The SuperNova features thermal conductive silicon padding which prevents overheating and requires less cooling. Increase the speed and lifetime of data along with the most secure encryption on the planet, and the proprietary RAISE technology that virtually eliminates unrecoverable read errors makes the SuperNova the ideal choice.

Micron Technology, Inc., and Elpida Memory, Inc.'s ("Elpida") trustees announced today that the parties have signed a definitive sponsor agreement for Micron to acquire and support Elpida. The agreement has been entered into in connection with Elpida's corporate reorganization proceedings conducted under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo District Court.

Under the agreement, 200 billion Yen (approximately USD $2.5 billion assuming 80 Yen/USD) total consideration, less certain reorganization proceeding expenses, will be used to satisfy the reorganization claims of Elpida's secured and unsecured creditors. Micron will acquire 100 percent of the equity of Elpida for 60 billion Yen (approximately USD $750 million) to be paid in cash at closing. In addition, 140 billion Yen (approximately USD $1.75 billion) in future annual installment payments through 2019 will be paid from cash flow generated from Micron's payment for foundry services provided by Elpida, as a Micron subsidiary. As a result of these payments, all pre-petition debt obligations of Elpida will be fully discharged under the corporate reorganization proceedings. The agreement also calls for Micron to provide certain financing support for Elpida capital expenditures, subject to specified conditions, and to maintain Elpida's operations and employees.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash storage application products, today announced the launch of the XPG SX910 solid state drive, a significant broadening of the popular and powerful XPG line of storage products. The SX910 features a 7% capacity increase over common SSDs that use a SandForce controller, delivering a powerful combination of capacity and high performance with a five-year warranty.

The XPG SX910 uses new optimized firmware to maximize utilization of the NAND Flash components, allowing for full use of the available storage capacity. This zero percent over-provisioning in the design and engineering of the SX910 is implemented with no loss to performance- Maximum 4k random read/write speeds are 50,000 and 85,000 IOPS respectively, with sequential read and write speeds reaching 550 and 530 MB/sec, respectively.

SK Hynix announced its launch of client SSD (Solid State Drive). The SSD features faster speed and low power consumption than HDD (Hard Disk Drive) so it is expected to replace the HDD as another type of storage for PCs and other applications.

The first ever SK Hynix's client 2.5" SSD consists of ONFI synchronous NAND Flash memory using 20nm class process and densities of 128GB (Gigabyte) and 256GB are available. It significantly improves the speed and reliability by adopting SATA III interface with data transmissions at 6Gb/s (Gigabits per second). This high performance SSD generates sequential read speeds of 510MB/s (Megabytes per second) and sequential write speeds of 470MB/s. It is three or four times faster than the traditional HDD.

Hard drive prices refuse to budge after last year's floods that struck manufacturing facilities in Thailand, even as manufacturers turn record profit. The solid-state drive market, on the other hand, is finally rolling with competition, high volume production, and advancements in NAND flash technologies. With memory majors such as Hynix adding new NAND flash manufacturing facilities to their infrastructure, SSD is expected to finally get its big break in the mainstream market.

SSD prices, according to price aggregators, are on a free-fall. Models which once held relative pricing as high as $2 per gigabyte, and going deep within the $1 mark. For example, Crucial's widely-praised M4 256 GB SSD has a price per GB of 'just' $0.82, and a market price around $200, something unheard of, for a 256 GB SSD with transfer rates of over 500 MB/s. With SSD major OCZ Technology releasing new generations of drives under the Vertex 4 and Agility 4 series that use Indilinx processors, older Vertex 3 and Agility 3 models are being phased out, some of these are seeing sub $1/GB prices. Intel is also responding to market trends, with prices of its SSD 520 series dropping sharply. Find a boat-load of stats at the source.

Greenliant Systems, a leader in energy-efficient, highly secure and reliable solid state storage products, is now sampling its e.MMC NANDrive GLS85VM embedded solid state drive (SSD) product family to select customers. The new NANDrive devices support the JEDEC e.MMC 4.4 standard and are backward compatible with 4.3. While the JEDEC operating temperature range specification is -25 to +85 degrees Celsius, e.MMC NANDrive operates at full industrial temperatures between -40 and +85 degrees Celsius, giving customers data storage that can withstand the most severe conditions.

e.MMC NANDrive combines Greenliant's internally developed NAND controller with NAND flash die for a fully integrated SSD in a multi-chip package. It is available with 2-bits-per-cell (MLC) or 1-bit-per-cell (SLC) NAND to meet varying customer requirements for lifespan, endurance and performance. Measuring 14mm x 18mm, e.MMC NANDrive is offered in a 100 ball grid array (BGA) package, with 1mm ball pitch for increased long-term reliability.

SK hynix Inc. ('SK hynix' or 'the Company') announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire California-based storage solution company Link_A_Media Devices Corporation ('LAMD'). LAMD, founded in 2004, is a leader in the development of semiconductor system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for the data storage market. These SoC solutions, also called controllers, interface with processors to significantly increase the speed and reliability of Flash memory. Upon completion of the acquisition, LAMD will join SK hynix as a business unit focused on customized NAND based solutions.

As various mobile applications such as smartphones and tablet PCs are being rapidly adopted and cloud computing grows in popularity, the NAND Flash market has been evolving from raw NAND memory solutions for USB and memory cards to value-added products equipped with controllers. The role of the NAND controller in premium products such as e-MMC (embedded Multi Media Card) and SSDs (Solid State Drives) has become increasingly important to meet the high memory densities and improved interface speeds required by end users.

ADATA Technology today announces the launch of the XPG SX300 and Premier Pro SP300 mSATA solid state drives. Both products are geared towards consumers who wish to get the most out of recently released motherboards that have built-in mSATA sockets. By using an mSATA SSD as a cache drive instead of main storage, systems can reach speed boosts comparable to systems with SSDs as primary drive.

The XPG SX300 has a SATA 6 Gbit/sec interface, and is targeted towards power users who demand the utmost in speed and capacity. Read and write speeds reach an impressive 550 and 505 MB/sec respectively, with maximum 4K random write of 85,000 IOPs. With capacities of 64, 128, and 256GB in such a small form factor, the SX300 brings the full power of solid state technology to the mSATA field.

Korean memory giant SK Hynix is launching its own branded consumer and enterprise SSD lines, à la Samsung (the other Korean memory giant). It is starting off with high-performance consumer SSDs targeting Ultrabooks, built in the 2.5-inch 7 mm-thick SATA form-factor. The SH910 series SSDs combine Hynix' homegrown H27QDG8VEBIR-BCB MLC NAND flash chips built in the 25 nm fab process, with LSI-SandForce SF-2281 processor.

The drive will be initially available in two capacities, 128 GB and 256 GB (higher than usual capacities thanks to adjusted overprovisioning). Both drives offer sequential transfer speeds of up to 520 MB/s reads with 500 MB/s writes; up to 60,000 IOPS 4K random seek, 35,000 IOPS random write; and feature-set that includes 128-bit AES encryption, TRIM, NCQ, and SMART. A performance review can be found at the source.

SSDs, with their advantages of high performance, compactness and low power consumption, are the perfect adaptation of storage products to the emergence of tablet PCs and Ultrabooks. Indeed, SSDs have become the defacto storage solution for ultra-thin notebooks. Apacer, a leading manufacturer of industrial SSDs, understands the demands for even more compactness and has produced a new mSATA A1 modular SSD that features a SATA 3.0 high-speed transmission interface and complies with JEDEC MO-300 standard codes. Currently, this model supports Intel Rapid Start and Intel Smart Response technologies, enabling users to enjoy an almost immediate start-up within seconds and enjoy a continuous high performance of the computer.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash storage application products, today announced the launch of new Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) and Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) Ultra High Speed I (UHS-I) U1 memory cards.

These latest additions to the company's Flash storage lineup bring breakthrough performance in speed and capacity, and are expected to strengthen the company's already formidable Premier Pro memory solutions.

Strontium expanded its Python performance SATA 6 Gb/s SSD series with a new high-capacity 480 GB variant, which was displayed at Computex. Built in the 2.5-inch 7 mm-thick form-factor, the Python 480 GB is driven by SandForce SF-2281 processor, and uses MLC NAND flash. It offers sequential speeds as high as 550 MB/s reads, with 520 MB/s writes; and 4K random access performance of 60,000 IOPS. The company assures 1.5 million hours MTBF, and backed the product with 3 years warranty. The new 480 GB variant will reach stores soon, priced around US $450-500.

Building on the success of the industry leading Bullet Proof line of mSATA SSDs, we at MyDigitalSSD are proud to announce two highly anticipated SATA III (6G) mSATA drives that reach up to 256GB capacity at a price that's right for any budget.

Like their predecessors, Bullet Proof 3 SSDs offer the performance and reliability you've come to expect from MyDigitalSSD while boasting improved Read/Write speeds of over 500/300MB/sec with Random 4K speeds of over 20/40MB/sec. Featuring Asynchronous NAND Flash and the new Phison S8 Controller, BP3 drives are the perfect upgrade solution for anyone looking for the best price to performance ratio on the market. For those who like to push their devices to the max, MyDigitalSSD will be releasing an IOPS minded Firmware in mid to late July.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced plans to build a new fabrication line in Hwaseong, South Korea, to meet the growing demands for logic products. Samsung will invest 2.25 trillion Korean won in the new fabrication line, which will break ground this month with a target timeline for completion by the end of 2013.

The new fabrication line will mainly produce highly advanced mobile application processors on 300mm wafers at 20nm and 14nm process nodes. Along with Lines 9 and 14, which have been converted to System LSI fabrication earlier this year, the new line will help supply to the expanding need for smart mobile solutions.

RunCore, the leading manufacturer of high-performance and rugged solid state drives (SSDs), today introduced their new Pro VI 2.5-inch 7 mm SSD for Ultrabooks, offering higher and more stable performance than previous 7 mm SSDs.

According to latest results of various research institutions, it is estimated that more than a million Ultrabooks will be bought within 2012 as the retail price is expected to drop into the $799 to $899 range. Recently SSD pricing has already been declining, encourageing PC suppliers to use SSDs in their products, in particular Ultrabooks. In addition to the Pro V Ultra SSD, RunCore once again introduce another new 7 mm SSD - Pro VI 2.5-inch 7 mm SSD - to enrich their product lineup for Ultrabooks.

MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, announced today the world's first 1T1R 802.11ac dual-band concurrent Wi-Fi router and dongle solutions. MT7620 + MT7610E and MT7610U provide the mass market with 1T1R 802.11ac router and dongle to enable high quality data transmission, voice and video applications in connected homes. MediaTek will demonstrate its latest wireless technologies, connectivity devices and applications to its customers during Computex Taipei 2012.

MT7620 family integrates a 2T2R 802.11n Wi-Fi radio, a 600 MHz MIPS 24KEc CPU, 5p FE switch, 2xrGMII, USB, PCIe, SD-HC. The PCI Express interface will connect to 2nd Wi-Fi chipset for 11n 2x2 DBC router or to an 11ac chipset for 1x1 DBC 11ac routers. The high performance USB 2.0 allows MT7620 to add 3G/LTE support on a router or can add a UVC cam to enable the best cost/performance IP-Cam. And to support the wireless storage application, MT7620 supports NAND flash interface, SD-HC, USB 2.0 and storage accelerator for NAS, Wi-Fi HDD and Wi-Fi card reader. Audio interface I2S and PCM will enable wireless speaker and VoIP applications. MT7620 also steps up to the leading Hardware Network Address Translation (HNAT) milestone by supporting 2Gbps wired speed with IPv6 forwarding. The cost effective rGMII iNIC interface (2.4G or dual-band concurrent) can be utilized for cable, PON, xDSL and broadband wireless router.

PMC, the semiconductor innovator transforming storage, optical and mobile networks, today announced its 12Gb/s SAS flash manager (SFM-12G) for the next wave of enterprise solid state drives (SSDs). With this introduction, PMC has delivered the industry's first end-to-end 12Gb/s SAS solution, from the protocol controller to the SSD controller.

PMC's SFM-12G enables more than 300,000 I/Os per second (IOPS) in a 2.5" SAS SSD, more than double the performance of today's 6Gb/s SAS SSDs. When paired with the industry's highest-performing protocol controller, PMC's SPCv 12G, cloud server and big data storage manufacturers can deliver a stunning 2.4 million IOPS in an eight-drive, enterprise-class flash subsystem.

Toshiba announced the first SSDs based on its swanky new 19 nm-class NAND flash memory. These include four models in the 2.5-inch 9.5 mm-thick form-factor (standard), another four models in the 2.5-inch 7 mm-thick form-factor (slim, for Ultrabooks); and three models in the super-compact mSATA form-factor. The 9.5 mm-thick and 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch models differ only with their thickness, and are otherwise identical, since SSDs are essentially just printed circuit boards with NAND flash memory, controllers, caches, and ancillary components soldered onto them.

The 9.5 mm-thick 2.5-inch models carry the model number scheme THNSNFxxxGBSS (xxx = number of GB capacity), while the 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch models use THNSNFxxxGCSS. Both lines are available in 64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB capacities. The 128, 256, and 512 GB models offer transfer rates as high as 524 MB/s, while the 64 GB model offers up to 440 MB/s. Toshiba implemented a new controller that features next-generation Deterministic Zeroing TRIM (a feature exclusive with Windows 8 and future *nix kernels), Quadruple Swing-by Code (QSBC), a performance-optimized ECC-equivalent, and a read-only mode. The mSATA models (model number scheme THNSNFxxxGMCS) offer similar performance to their 2.5-inch cousins, but are available in only three capacity options, 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB. Toshiba will release its new line of SSDs in August.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today unveiled its new Agility 4 SSD series that delivers an ideal balance of 6Gbps SATA III interface speed, exceptional input/output operations per second (IOPS) performance, and enterprise-grade endurance and reliability all in a value-oriented SSD.

Utilizing OCZ's cutting-edge Indilinx Everest 2 controller platform (first introduced in the flagship Vertex 4 SSD series), Agility 4 SSDs offer a cost-effective alternative to other SATA III SSD solutions in the market making them ideal for mainstream entertainment, gaming, and mobile storage applications.

RunCore, the leading manufacturer of high-performance and rugged solid state drives (SSDs), today introduced their latest consumer-grade SSD for ultrabooks and MacBook Air, the Rocket Air SSD.

As moderns laptops are designed ever thinner and lighter to be more energy-saving and easier to carry, demand for improved storage performance is also increasing at the same time. In order to deliver both these advantages, the RunCore Rocket Air SSD is ultra-thin in size, yet provides superb performance. With its internal MLC flash and consumer-grade operating temperature, the RunCore Rocket Air SSD is particularly targeting thin laptops like ultrabooks as well as MacBook Air.

Spansion Inc., a leading innovator in Flash memory solutions for embedded markets, today announced it has started sampling its first family of single-level cell (SLC) Spansion NAND products using 4x nm floating-gate technology, targeted specifically for data storage in automotive, consumer and networking applications.

Spansion SLC NAND will be offered in densities from 1 Gb to 8 Gb in 3.0V and 1.8V families that feature high performance, extended temperature range, long-term product support and stringent reliability demands, such as 1-bit error correction code (ECC). Additionally, Spansion also unveiled its SLC NAND product roadmap through 2017.