LG Electronics (LG) is expanding its LG gram series in 2024, offering consumers a wider selection of compelling choices, including the new LG gram Pro. The perfect blend of power and portability, LG gram series ultra-lightweight laptops combine high-end specifications with exceptionally slim yet durable designs and all-day battery life. All 2024 models come with the latest AI-enabled functions on LG gram Link app, simplifying tasks like file sharing, photo sharing and screen mirroring across LG gram, Android and iOS devices. U.S. pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.

LG's best-in-class LG gram Pro laptops (models 16Z90SP and 17Z90SP) come equipped with a Intel Core Ultra processor with hybrid architecture, an NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card. The new LG gram Pro laptops are also embedded with the Intel AI Boost, Intel's neural processing unit (NPU) that can handle AI workloads even without a network connection.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that for the first time in the industry, it has successfully verified Compute Express Link (CXL) memory operations in a real user environment with open-source software provider Red Hat, leading the expansion of its CXL ecosystem.

Due to the exponential growth of data throughput and memory requirements for emerging fields like generative AI, autonomous driving and in-memory databases (IMDBs), the demand for systems with greater memory bandwidth and capacity is also increasing. CXL is a unified interface standard that connects various processors, such as CPUs, GPUs and memory devices through a PCIe interface that can serve as a solution for limitations in existing systems in terms of speed, latency and expandability.

Phison Electronics Corp., a global leader in NAND flash controller and storage solutions, today announced the company's predictions for 2024 trends in NAND flash infrastructure deployment. The company predicts that rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will continue apace, with PCIe 5.0-based infrastructure providing high-performance, sustainable support for AI workload consistency as adoption rapidly expands. PCIe 5.0 NAND flash solutions will be at the core of a well-balanced hardware ecosystem, with private AI deployments such as on-premise large language models (LLMs) driving significant growth in both everyday AI and the infrastructure required to support it.

"We are moving past initial excitement over AI toward wider everyday deployment of the technology. In these configurations, high-quality AI output must be achieved by infrastructure designed to be secure, while also being affordable. The organizations that leverage AI to boost productivity will be incredibly successful," said Sebastien Jean, CTO, Phison US. "Building on the widespread proliferation of AI applications, infrastructure providers will be responsible for making certain that AI models do not run up against the limitations of memory - and NAND flash will become central to how we configure data center architectures to support today's developing AI market while laying the foundation for success in our fast-evolving digital future."

MSI, the world's leading gaming PC hardware brand, is excited to announce the launch of its next-gen flagship SSD, the SPATIUM M570 PRO FROZR, along with the high-performance model, SPATIUM M482, expanding its SSD product line. Featuring the revolutionary PHISON E26 PCIe Gen 5 controller paired with state-of-the-art 3D NAND flash and an innovative passive thermal solution, the SPATIUM M570 PRO FROZR introduces a new era in storage performance with lightning-fast read and write speeds of up to 12.4/11.8 GB/s.

This represents up to 1.8 times faster speeds compared to current PCIe 4.0 SSDs, accompanied by a temperature reduction of up to 20℃. The SPATIUM M482, built with high-quality, high-density 3D NAND flash, delivers top-tier performance for PCIe 4.0 with a sequential read speed of up to 7300 MB/s. Both models deliver a supremely responsive experience, gaining valuable milliseconds in latency for gameplay or processing gigabytes of files for professionals, content creators, and gamers. Performance-enhancing technologies include a DRAM cache buffer for M570 PRO, and a SLC cache for all announced models, supporting a comprehensive range of data error correction features including LPDC ECC and E2E Data Protection. These SSDs offer a high TBW (Terabytes Written) for excellent durability and longevity backed with a limited 5-year warranty.

You can check out our review of the MSI Spatium M570 Pro Frozr 2 TB SSD.

KIOXIA America, Inc. today announced that its CM7 Series and CD8P Series NVM Express (NVMe) SSDs have passed certification testing for PCI Express (PCIe) 5.0 specification and NVMe 2.0 specification compliance. Developed by PCI-SIG, the PCIe 5.0 interface specification is an upgrade that enables twice the data transfer speed and bandwidth versus the PCIe 4.0 specification - up to 14,000 Megabyte/s read throughput for a x4 lane SSD. PCIe 5.0 tests were conducted at PCI-SIG compliance workshops against PCI-SIG maintained systems, along with other leading manufacturers of PCIe products.

KIOXIA CM7 Series and CD8P Series drives can now be found on the PCI-SIG Integrator's List. Achieving compliance certification during these workshops assures users that KIOXIA drives meet the rigorous PCIe 5.0 specification requirements. KIOXIA CM7 Series and CD8P Series drives have been added to The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory's (UNH-IOL) official Integrator's List. In order to be considered for inclusion on the list, technologies must undergo conformance testing performed by the UNH-IOL through laboratory tests or during an NVMe plugfest. Successful completion of this testing provides a level of assurance that the product being tested will function properly in NVMe enabled systems and NVM Express over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) environments.

ADATA Industrial, the world's leading brand for industrial-grade embedded storage, officially released today its SATA 31D series of industrial-grade solid-state drives including 2.5-inch ISSS31D, M.2 2280 IM2S31D8, and M.2 2242 IM2S31D4, designed for retail terminals and embedded systems.

The SATA 31D series of industrial-grade SSDs utilize 112-layer 3D TLC flash memory developed by WDC, boasting a P/E Cycle of 3,000 which is comparable to MLC. The 31D series also offers a variety of ultra-thin and compact mainstream specifications such as SATA 2.5-inch, M.2 2280, M.2 2242, and various capacity options from 128 GB to 2 TB. 112-layer 3D NAND (BiCS5) 31D series SSDs all support thermal throttling technology, which reduces SSD transmission performance in stages to effectively mitigate the risk of data damage due to overheating. Furthermore, a LDPC ECC error correction mechanism and End-to-End Data Protection technology ensure reliable data transfer and improve data integrity. The 31D series is eminently suitable for POS systems, information kiosks, digital signage, and embedded equipment.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, and storage solutions innovator, today unveiled the new high-capacity TS-hx77AXU-RP ZFS NAS series, including 12-bay TS-h1277AXU-RP and 16-bay TS-h1677AXU-RP rackmount models powered by AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors based on the cutting-edge AMD Socket AM5 platform. By integrating robust hardware and diverse I/O including DDR5 RAM, M.2 PCIe Gen 5, PCIe Gen 4 slots, and redundant power supplies, the TS-hx77AXU-RP series unleashes enterprise-level performance and delivers ultra-high bandwidth, futureproof expandability, and trusted reliability for performance-demanding Tier 2 storage, virtualization, 4K video editing, and PB-level storage applications.

"The whole new TS-hx77AXU-RP series ZFS NAS provides enterprises with superb performance and large storage capacity to tackle business-critical workloads and storage-demanding applications. The AMD Ryzen 7000 Series multi-core processors further unlocks the key performance of DDR5 and M.2 PCIe Gen 5," said Alex Shih, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "Paired with the ZFS file system that's most suited for business applications, the TS-hx77AXU-RP series stands out as the top choice for storage solutions that require uncompromising data integrity."

Other World Computing www.OWC.com -- the leading end-to-end ecosystem solution provider of computer hardware, accessories, and software for both consumers and professionals - today introduced the Express 1M2, the first USB4 drive and fastest single blade NVMe OWC has ever offered.

Exceptional Speed, Ultimate Flexibility
The OWC Express 1M2 was purposefully built to maximize the performance capabilities of today's and tomorrow's USB4-equipped Macs and PCs. It offers photo and video professionals, DITs, and prosumers/performance enthusiasts real-world speeds up to 3151 MB/s. It also offers versatile compatibility to work with millions of existing Thunderbolt and USB-C machines and devices.

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that its lineup of KIOXIA RM7 Series Value SAS SSDs are now available in HPE ProLiant Gen11 servers from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). KIOXIA RM7 Series SSDs are the latest generation of the company's 12 Gb/s Value SAS SSDs, which provide server applications with higher performance, reliability and lower latency than SATA SSDs, delivering higher IOPS/W and IOPS/$.

In addition to being available in ProLiant servers, KIOXIA RM Series Value SAS SSDs are being used in the HPE Spaceborne Computer-2 (SBC-2). As part of the program, KIOXIA SSDs provide robust flash storage in HPE Edgeline and HPE ProLiant servers in a test environment to conduct scientific experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

ADATA Technology, the world's leading memory brand, has launched its latest SD810 external solid state drive, featuring triple IP68 waterproof, dustproof, and MIL-STD shockproof protection. The drive is equipped with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 x2 transmission interface with a read/write speed of up to 2000 MB/s and adopts the mainstream Type-C interface. In addition to supporting the latest series of iPhone 15 smartphones, it is also perfect for photographers or video creators who work outdoors on a regular basis. The SD810 external SSD delivers fast transfer and backup of large audio and video files while guarding against accidents and allaying the challenges of harsh working environments to perfectly protect your precious files.

The SD810 external SSD supports the USB 3.2 Gen 2 x2 high-speed transmission interface with read/write speeds up to 2000 MB/s. In order to prevent the high temperatures generated by high-speed transfer from affecting performance and stability, the body of the SD810 is constructed from aluminium alloy and its unique structure improves heat dissipation to maintain stable transfer performance even during continuous operation. Users can also edit and access large files directly on the SD810, increasing work efficiency. In addition, the SD810's elegant aluminium body is smaller than a credit card, making it lightweight, space-saving, and very convenient to carry whether you are working or traveling.

TrendForce reports a pivotal shift in the NAND Flash market for 3Q23, primarily driven by Samsung's strategic decision to reduce production. Initially, the market was clouded by uncertainty regarding end-user demand and fears of a subdued peak season, prompting buyers to adopt a conservative approach with low inventory and slow procurement. However, as market leaders like Samsung implemented substantial production cuts, buyers' attitudes shifted toward a more aggressive procurement strategy in anticipation of a market supply decrease. This led to a stabilization and even an uptick in NAND Flash contract prices by quarter-end, driving a 3% QoQ increase in bit shipments and culminating in a total revenue of US$9.229 billion, marking an approximate 2.9% increase.

The story unfolds with Kioxia and Micron—the only two to witness a dip in revenue rankings this quarter—while Samsung maintained its robust performance. Despite sluggish demand in the server sector, Samsung's fortunes rebounded thanks to a boost in consumer electronics, especially with high-capacity products in PCs and smartphones. Samsung emerged from a trough in Q3, with strategic inventory replenishments fueling further strategic stocking, and a shift in operational focus toward maximizing profit. This led to a minor 1-3% decrease in shipped bits, but a 1-3% increase in ASP, stabilizing Q3 NAND Flash revenue at US$2.9 billion.

Micron Technology, Inc., today announced it is shipping the Micron 3500 NVMe SSD, which leverages its 232-layer NAND to power demanding workloads for business applications, scientific computing, cutting-edge gaming and content creation, pushing the limits of what is possible. The Micron 3500 SSD, available in the M.2 form factor and with capacities up to 2 TB, provides a superior user experience over the competition as proven by its best-in-class SPECwpcsm performance, including an up to 71% improvement for product development applications.

"At Micron, we are focused on delivering exceptional products that best meet the rigorous needs of end-users," said Prasad Alluri, Micron's vice president and general manager of Client Storage. "With impressive specs like a remarkable 132% improvement in scientific computing benchmark scores, the 3500 SSD will turn your next PC or workstation into a powerhouse to enable insights and empower creativity."

Aimed at the thriving creator market, T-CREATE, the creator brand under the leading memory provider Team Group Inc., has announced the T-CREATE CinemaPr P31 Portable External SSD, providing professional photographers, movie creators, and users of smartphones such as the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max with fast and reliable expanded storage, perfect for capturing breathtaking content. For digital creations, this top-of-the-line portable storage device is your best choice.

The T-CREATE CinemaPr P31 Portable External SSD utilizes patent-pending technology and designs, featuring proprietary, first-of-their-kind 12 1/4" screw holes and a bundled screw set that fits all 1/4" screw hole cages. Whether on a cage for a cinema camera, digital SLR camera, or an iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max, the CinemaPr P31 can be installed multi-directionally and is suitable for a variety of situations. Its flexibility makes expansion and setup a breeze. Compact and weighing only 110 g, this lightweight and easy-to-carry external SSD can be installed on photography and video equipment effortlessly.

Patriot Memory, a leading manufacturer of high-performance enthusiast memory modules, SSDs, flash storage and gaming peripherals, has announced the upcoming release of their newest internal solid state drive: the VP4000 Mini M.2 2230 PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD.

The VP4000 Mini marks the first-ever M.2 2230 SSD set to be released by Patriot Memory's gaming division, Viper Gaming. The VP4000 Mini features strong sequential read speeds of up to 5,000 MB/s, sequential write speeds of up to 3,500 MB/s and a special edition ultra-thin heatspreader. With high storage capabilities of up to 2 TB and a compact body design, the VP4000 Mini will be fully compatible with handheld gaming consoles, such as the ROG Ally and Steam Deck. The VP4000 Mini is also compatible with other slim PCs, laptops and tablets, including the Microsoft Surface, making for a versatile storage solution built for gamers, tech enthusiasts and content creators alike.

ASUS today announced the Dual GeForce RTX 4060 Ti SSD, the world's first graphics card equipped with an M.2 slot, allowing for a seamless cooling upgrade for high-performance NVMe drives.

Reimagined M.2 storage
At its core, this card has all of the same amazing features as the ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB. Third-generation RT Cores and fourth-generation Tensor Cores, now featuring DLSS 3.5 and frame generation, drive incredibly immersive real-time ray tracing experiences, enabling this graphics card to push the limits of how good modern games can look. Housed in a sleek 2.5-slot design that only requires a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, the Dual GeForce RTX 4060 Ti SSD can easily fit into almost any existing build.

Today, Seagate Technology Holdings plc, a world leader in mass-data storage infrastructure solutions, announced the Seagate Nytro 4350 NVMe solid state drive (SSD), the company's latest addition to its Seagate Nytro drive portfolio. Engineered with Phison, the new drive delivers consistent performance, low latency, low power consumption, and high quality of service (QoS) for data centers.

Designed to improve QoS, the PCIe Gen 4 drive achieves over ten times the bandwidth while doubling the throughput of SATA SSDs. The Seagate Nytro 4350 SSD removes data bottlenecks with up to 58K IOPS random write speeds and up to 800K IOPS random read speeds to provide consistent response times and offers more computing power with less energy consumption with the drive's 3.3 V power supply. The Seagate Nytro 4350 brings up to 1.92 TB capacity in an ultra-small M.2 2280 form factor and is designed to take on enterprise workloads, delivering 1 DWPD at 2M hours MTBF for enhanced endurance.

T-FORCE, the gaming brand of the leading memory and storage provider Team Group Inc., continues to push the boundaries of product development. Today, T-FORCE is launching four new gaming SSDs, the T-FORCE G70, G70 PRO, G50, and G50 PRO, which all use the PCIe Gen 4x4 interface. The SSDs feature international manufacturer InnoGrit's controller, which provides outstanding stability.

The G70, G50, and their PRO variants are available in the M.2-2280 form factor and come with patented ultra-thin graphene heat sinks. The G70 PRO also comes with an aluminium alloy heatsink, giving users an additional cooling option. Since every SSD cooling module in this series is compatible with the PS5 SSD expansion slot, both PC and console gamers alike can enjoy the high performance of these brand-new PCIe 4.0 SSDs. The T-FORCE G70 and G70 PRO SSDs have read speeds of up to 7000 MB/s, while the G50 and G50 PRO SSDs can clock up to 5000 MB/s. The T-FORCE G70 and G50 SSDs support SLC cache technology, and their PRO variants support both DRAM and SLC caching, giving players options to fit their needs. All four M.2 2280 SSDs use controllers produced by international manufacturer InnoGrit, which provide excellent stability and peace of mind for gamers.

PNY announced the addition of the CS3150 M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 5 x4 SSD with integrated heatsinks to its lineup of solid-state drives. The CS3150 is at the forefront of cutting-edge storage, leveraging the NVMe PCIe Gen 5 x4 interface to deliver unrivaled data transfer speeds. With sequential read/write speeds up to 12,000 MB/s and 11,000 MB/s respectively, this breakthrough technology catapults computing experiences to unprecedented levels, making it an ideal choice for professionals, enthusiasts, and anyone seeking the pinnacle of storage performance.

Innovative Heatsink
The CS3150 at launch will be available in 1 TB and 2 TB densities and will come integrated with one of three different dual-fan heatsinks - Black, White, or Black-RGB. These revolutionary heatsinks have an innovative design with not one but two ultra-quiet fans to maximize heat dissipation generated by highly intensive applications, prolonged workloads, and lightning-fast transfer speeds.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today unveiled the T5 EVO, a lightweight portable Solid-State Drive (SSD) that provides up to 8 terabytes (TB) of capacity, which is the largest capacity size currently offered by portable SSDs available on the market. Along with its capacity, the T5 EVO delivers ultra-fast speeds in a compact, durable design as a cutting-edge, versatile SSD solution.

"For consumers who are looking for substitutes for traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), the T5 EVO - offering the largest-available capacity along with speed and durability in a compact design that fits in the palm of your hand - is an innovative, new external storage option," said Hangu Sohn, Vice President of the Memory Brand Product Biz Team at Samsung Electronics. "The T5 EVO is built to fulfill the needs of a wide range of consumers with diverse lifestyles. Its capacity of up to 8 TB, fast speeds, compact design and data protection from external shocks are well-suited for users who want to store and access data anywhere, anytime."

CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast components for gamers, creators, and PC builders, today announced the launch of the MP700 PRO, its fastest PCIe Gen 5 M.2 SSD to date. Available in capacities up to 4 TB, with three different cooling options, the MP700 PRO sets a new standard for next-generation storage, with sequential read and write performance reaching a phenomenal 12,400 MB/sec and 11,800 MB/sec respectively—that's up to 75% faster than PCIe 4.0 SSDs.

On top of the impressive sequential throughput, the random read and write performance of up to 1.5 million read and 1.6 million write input/output operations per second (IOPS) put the MP700 PRO way ahead of the best PCIe Gen 4 drives. The MP700 PRO is backward compatible with PCIe 4.0 motherboards, making this an upgrade that will last you for years to come. Native support for Microsoft DirectStorage ensures that you'll get the most from the latest games, while copying files in Windows and loading applications has never felt so fast.

[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of the MP700 Pro is now live]

Today, Lenovo announced the new ThinkStation P8 tower workstation powered by AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7000 WX-Series processors and NVIDIA RTX GPUs. Designed to deliver unparalleled performance, reliability and flexibility for professionals who demand the best from their workstations, the bold new ThinkStation P8 builds on the success of the award-winning P620, the world's first workstation powered by AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO processors. Featuring an optimized thermal design in a versatile Aston Martin inspired chassis, the ThinkStation P8 combines Lenovo's legendary reliability, customer experience and innovation with breakthrough compute architecture courtesy of AMD and NVIDIA. ThinkStation P8 raises the bar for intense workloads across multiple segments focused on outcome-based workflow agility.

"At Lenovo, we understand that our customers need high-quality workstations that can adapt to their changing and diverse needs. That's why we collaborated with AMD and NVIDIA to create the ThinkStation P8, a workstation that combines power, flexibility and enterprise-grade features," said Rob Herman, vice president and general manager, Workstation and Client AI Business Unit, Lenovo. "Designed to offer unparalleled performance and scalability, whether to run complex simulations, render stunning visuals, or develop cutting-edge AI applications, the ThinkStation P8 can handle it all. And with Lenovo's certifications, security and support, you can trust that the ThinkStation P8 will exceed expectations."

Patriot Memory, a leading manufacturer of high-performance enthusiast memory modules, SSDs, flash storage and gaming peripherals, has announced the upcoming release of their newest external storage solution: the Transporter External Portable SSD.

Featuring sequential read speeds of up to 1000 MB/s and write speeds of up to 1000 MB/s, high-speed USB 3.2 support and compatibility with prior USB versions, the Transporter Portable SSD offers supreme performance for easy file, photo, video and any kind of download or transfer. Along with its plug-and-play design, sleek compact exterior and dual Type-C to Type A+C connection, the Transporter Portable SSD offers the perfect combination of versatility, performance and quality for any PC or Mac user.

TrendForce has issued its latest findings, indicating that the global SSD market has rectified its supply and demand dynamics in 2022, following a resolution in the shortage of master control ICs that had hampered the market in 2021. Despite the normalization of supply, global SSD shipments witnessed a decline, with only 114 million units shipped in 2022—a 10.7% decrease from the prior year.

The top three SSD shipment leaders of 2022 were Kingston, ADATA, and Lexar, with Kingston and ADATA maintaining solid advantages and experiencing growth in market share over 2021. Lexar's growth was attributed to an aggressive push for revenue in anticipation of going public. Kimtigo, in 2022, made significant strides in expanding into industrial control and OEM markets, which in turn boosted its shipment volume and market share. Netac maintained its competitive edge in the SSD market alongside securing several government orders in the enterprise SSD sector, keeping its market share and ranking consistent with the previous year.

Alibaba's T-Head unit, responsible for the design and development of in-house IC design, has announced the first domestic SSD controller based on the PCIe 5.0 specification standard. Called the Zhenyue 510, the SSD controller is aimed at enterprise SSD offerings. Interestingly, the Zhenyue 510 is powered by T-Head's custom Xuantie C910 cores based on RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA). Supporting the PCIe 5.0 standard for interfacing, the SSD controller uses DDR5 memory as a cache buffer. Regarding the performance, there are no official figures yet, but the company claims to have 30% lower input/output latencies compared to competing offerings. T-Head claims the SSD has an IO processing capability of "3400 Kilo IOs per second, a data bandwidth of 14 Gbytes/s, and an extremely high energy efficiency of 420 Kilo IO per second for every Watt".

This is an essential step towards Chinese self-sufficiency as T-Head has designed various ICs for processing different tasks. Still, now Alibaba's chip design unit has a domestic design for storage as well. Claiming low latency figures, the Zhenyue 510 is suitable for enterprise workloads like big data analysis, as well as AI inference/training systems workloads. The development of Zhenyue 510 started in 1H 2021, and it took the company more than two years to complete the design and validation of the chip to prepare it for deployment. This is the second Chinese-made SSD controller after Yingren Technology (InnoGrit) announced their chip in September.

With a simple mod, Storage Review got a Valve Steam Deck handheld gaming console to work with the world's highest capacity SSD, the mammoth 61.44 TB variant of the Solidigm D5-P5336. At its core, the Steam Deck is a highly compacted x86-64 PC powered by an AMD Ryzen mobile processor that features an industry standard PCIe interface, which it uses for an onboard M.2-2230 NVMe SSD. Storage Review used a simple adapter that converts M.2 to U.2—the interface of the D5-P5336—and the Steam Deck just worked.

Out of the box, the Steam Deck uses Valve's SteamOS, although it's fairly straightforward to install Windows, and get the Steam application to present its user interface (with which you can play just about any Windows PC game that's not yet available on SteamOS). A quick benchmark with KDiskMark (the Linux analog of CDM) sees the D5-P5336 post sequential read speeds of 3.6 GB/s, with 2.8 GB/s sequential writes. There's a catch here, though. It's not practical to lug the D5-P5336 along with your Steam Deck, the Solidigm drive is designed for servers, and besides the U.2 connection, requires a power input that a U.2 enclosure can provide.