Toshiba Corporation and Western Digital Corporation today celebrated the opening of the New Fab 2 semiconductor fabrication facility located in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Expanded use of flash memory in smartphones, SSDs, and other applications is driving continued growth of the global flash memory market. The New Fab 2 facility will support the conversion of the companies' 2D NAND capacity to 3D flash memory, allowing realization of solutions offering higher densities and better device performance.

Construction of New Fab 2 began in September 2014. Following partial completion of the facility in October 2015, Toshiba and SanDisk (acquired in May 2016 by Western Digital Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation) worked together to implement leading-edge manufacturing capabilities for mass production of 3D flash memory, and first-phase production started in March of this year. The parties intend to further invest to expand production capacity over time, depending on market conditions.

Plextor also unveiled the M8Pe lines of SSDs that take advantage of the 32 Gb/s PCIe interface. These include the M.2-2280 form-factor M8PeG series, and the PCI-Express add-on card form-factor M8PeY series. Both drives come in sizes of 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB; and are driven by Marvell 88SS1093 series processors, wired to Toshiba-made MLC NAND flash memory.

The 128 GB variants of both drives offer up to 1,600 MB/s reads, with up to 500 MB/s writes, with up to 120,000/130,000 IOPS R/W 4K random access; the 256 GB variants offer up to 2,000 MB/s reads with up to 900 MB/s writes, and 210,000/230,000 IOPS random access; the 512 GB variants offer up to 2,300 MB/s reads with up to 1,300 MB/s writes, and 260,000/250,000 IOPS random access; while the 1 TB variants lead the pack with up to 2,500 MB/s reads, up to 1,400 MB/s writes, and 280,000/240,000 IOPS random access.

Plextor unveiled the EP2 line of SSDs that take advantage of 32 Gb/s PCIe, and come in two form-factors, M.2-22110 and U.2 2.5-inch. Both drives combine a Marvell-made processor with up to 1 GB of DDR3 DRAM caches, and Toshiba-made 15 nm MLC NAND flash. Both drives support the ATA protocol. The M.2-22110 drive comes in 960 GB capacity, and offers sequential transfer rates of up to 2,200 MB/s reads, with up to 800 MB/s writes, up to 270,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 150,000 IOPS 4K random writes. The company didn't put out performance numbers for the U.2 variant. We did manage to get some up-close pics of its PCB, though, revealing a rich array of capacitors that could amount to power-outage protection.

Here's the first picture of an Urbane 610 SSD by Klevv, in the flesh. The performance-segment SSD is built in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and serves up 560 MB/s of sequential reads, with up to 530 MB/s sequential writes (480 GB and 960 GB variants) or up to 360 MB/s writes (240 GB variant). It combines Toshiba 15 nm MLC NAND flash memory, with Phison PS3110-S10 controllers.

OCZ is refining its popular consumer SSD brands to reach out to more buyers. As part of the integration with Toshiba, they rebranded their consumer SSD lines, to VT180, and the TR150, which more closely aligns with Toshiba's SSD model naming. Besides the naming, both drives are identical to the Vector 180 and Trion 150. The VT180 comes in capacities ranging from 120 GB to 960 GB, and is powered by Toshiba-made MLC NAND flash. These drives offer sequential transfer rates of up to 550 MB/s reads, with up to 530 MB/s writes, and 96,000 IOPS 4K random reads, with 90,000 IOPS 4K random writes. The TR150, on the other hand, runs TLC NAND flash memory, and although its maximum sequential speeds are rated the same as the VT180 series, their 4K random access numbers are different - 87,000 IOPS reads, and 83,000 IOPS writes.

The Toshiba-Samsung consortium TSST (Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology) has reportedly stopped production of optical drives. TSST manufactured CDRW+DVDR, DVDRW+BDR, and BDRW drives under the Samsung brand. Samsung and Toshiba co-founded TSST in 2004 to manufacture optical drives under the Samsung brand name, and to make unbranded OEM optical drives for use in Toshiba and Samsung branded notebooks.

Samsung had to partner with Toshiba as it held the requisite optical disc technology licenses and patents. LG Electronics similarly partnered with Hitachi, another founding-member of several optical disc standard SIGs, to make up HL-DT (Hitachi-LG Data-Storage Technology), and sell drives under the LG brand. Speaking to KitGuru, a TSST sales manager stated "it's true that TSST(Samsung ODD) stopped production from Mid-April." All is not over for TSST, though. "We will continue the ODD business aggressively to obtain about 50% of market share," and will "release a new ODD to the market," he added.

Lite-On unveiled the Mu-II line of consumer SSDs. Built in the 2.5-inch form-factor with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, the drives come in capacities of 120 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB. The drives feature Toshiba-made 15 nm TLC NAND flash memory. The 480 GB variant offers sequential speeds of up to 555 MB/s reads with 520 MB/s writes; the 240 GB and 480 GB variants, and up to 500 MB/s reads with up to 360 MB/s writes for the 120 GB variant. Standard features include TRIM and NCQ. The drives will be backed by 3-year warranties.

Plextor unveiled the M6S Plus series performance-segment consumer SSDs. A successor to the M6S series launched as recently as February 2016, the M6S Plus features 15 nm Toggle NAND flash chips from Toshiba, instead of the 19 nm ones found on the original M6S. The controller remains unchanged - Marvell 88SS9188. The drives are built in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface.

The drives come in three capacities - 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB, featuring DDR3 DRAM caches of 256 MB, 512 MB, and 768 MB, respectively. All three models offer sequential read performance of up to 520 MB/s, with sequential writes of up to 300 MB/s, 420 MB/s, and 440 MB/s, depending on the capacity. Their 4K random access performance numbers similarly vary, at up to 88,000 IOPS, up to 90,000 IOPS, and up to 94,000 IOPS, respectively. The company didn't announce pricing.

Plextor announced the M7V, a new line of cost-effective consumer SSDs, which succeed the M6V Series launched last July. Available in 2.5-inch and M.2 form-factors, the drives take advantage of the SATA 6 Gb/s interface. Available in capacities of 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB, the M7V is driven by a Marvell 88SS1074B1 processor, wired to Toshiba 15 nm TLC NAND flash memory, and DDR3 DRAM caches of 256 MB, 512 MB, and 768 MB, respectively. The 512 GB M.2 variant features higher 1 GB DRAM cache. The drives offer sequential transfer rates of up to 560 MB/s reads on all three variants, with up to 500 MB/s, 530 MB/s, and 530 MB/s, respectively. Depending on the capacity, you get a manufacturer rated TBW tolerance of 80 TB, 160 TB, or 320 TB. Plextor didn't announce pricing.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., a committed technology leader, announces the immediate availability of dual-port functionality on OCZ's award-winning Z-Drive 6000 NVM Express (NVMe) Solid State Drive (SSD) series. The Z-Drive 6000's addition of dual port connection enables two host systems to concurrently access data from the same storage device or provides a redundant access path to the drive, providing SAS-like features such as High Availability (HA) that storage architects have come to rely on.

Now dual-ported, the Z-Drive 6000 series represents a complete solid-state storage solution that supports the real-time I/O needs of business-critical enterprise applications and virtual infrastructures which require high bandwidth and low latency performance, but also need redundancy. The Z-Drive 6000's dual port capabilities enable redundant data access that eliminates a single point of failure and when two hosts are using the same drive, maintains Quality of Service (QoS) in an event when one data path is compromised. In addition to the dual port upgrade, the Z-Drive 6000 series now includes feature enhancements such as multiple namespaces, non-binary sector sizes, and self-encrypting drive (SED) with Crypto Erase.

ZOTAC International, a global manufacturer of innovation, is pleased to introduce the flagship solution for data and gaming, SONIX PCIE SSD, a brand new addition to the growing arsenal of fast SSDs. SONIX is aimed at enthusiasts, introducing top-of-the-line high performance SSD product for serious gaming, productivity, and enterprise. Each SONIX product undergoes rigorous testing and is fine tuned to ensure that it meets the highest performance standards.

The first foray into the PCI Express based storage, SONIX is the first consumer level NVMe 1.2 PCIE SSD from ZOTAC where it significantly improves performance over SATA based SSDs. With read and write speeds up to four times that of a 2.5-inch SATA SSD, SONIX includes 512MB DDR3 of high-speed cache for tasks that demand next generation speeds.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., a committed technology leader, announces the HK4 Series, a new enterprise 6Gbit/s SATA solid state drive (SSD) series, designed for read-intensive and value-endurance workloads. The HK4 Series is Toshiba's first enterprise SSD to embed 15 nm MLC NAND flash memory for enterprise and data center applications, including low latency tuned for high quality of service (QoS).

The read-intensive HK4R Series is available in capacities up to 1.92 TB with low operating power and is suitable for enterprise applications such as web servers, files servers, media streaming, video-on-demand, search engines and warm data storage. The HK4E value-endurance drive offers an endurance level of three DWPD3 and a capacity up to 1.6 TB. It is well suited for data centers and mixed workload applications.

Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor & Storage Products Company today announced the launch of the "SG5 series" of client SSDs integrating NAND chips fabricated with 15nm TLC process technology. The new products, which include high capacity 1024GB models, will be available in 2.5-type and M.2 2280 (single- and double-sided) form factors, to meet various mounting requirements from the expansion of SSD application fields. Sample shipments start from today.

The SG5 series is equipped with Toshiba's proprietary QSBC (Quadruple Swing-By Code) error correction technology, a highly efficient error correction code (ECC) which helps protect customer data from corruption and improves reliability. Toshiba will continue strengthening its SSD lineup, meeting the various needs of users and leading the continuously expanding SSD market.

Plextor announced the M6S Plus line of performance consumer SSDs, succeeding the company's current M6S lineup. The drives implement Toshiba A19 toggle NAND flash memory built on the 15 nm process, and are driven by Marvell 88SS9188 controllers. Available in 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB variants, the drives serve up sequential transfer rates of up to 520 MB/s reads on all three variants, and up to 300 MB/s, 420 MB/s, and 440 MB/s writes, respectively. Random access speeds range up to 90,000 IOPS reads, with up to 80,000 IOPS writes. Plextor's proprietary PlexTurbo data-caching and PlexCompressor data-compression tech carries over from the M6S. Built in the 7 mm thick, 2.5-inch form-factor, the drives feature SATA 6 Gb/s interface.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., a committed technology leader, announces the availability of the new Trion 150 SSD series, an affordable performance upgrade for mainstream notebooks and desktops. Built with the Toshiba's 15 nm Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NAND flash technology from Toshiba, the Trion 150 series continues to deliver the superior balance of reliability, endurance and value of its predecessor, Trion 100, with increased real world performance.

Offering an easy and affordable way for entry-level users to enhance their mobile or desktop systems, Trion 150 SSDs provide a superior computing experience, enabling increased multitasking and productivity over traditional hard drives. Rated for sequential read speeds up to 550 MB/s, sequential write speeds up to 530 MB/s and random write I/O performance up to 91,000 IOPS, the Trion 150 series help improve boot time, system responsiveness and optimize storage operations.

Toshiba's Business Solutions Division (BSD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the addition of the 6th Generation Intel Core processors to its line of high-performance, enterprise-class of thin-and-light mobile computing devices. This lineup consists of a 13.3-inch Portégé Z30 and 14-inch Tecra Z40 Ultrabooks, which come with a variety of screen options. The award-winning Portégé Z20t Detachable 2-in-1 Ultrabook now features the new USB Type-C reversible connector to increase data speeds. Rounding out the portfolio is the 15.6-inch Tecra Z50, which features an entirely new aluminum chassis.

"By extending the capabilities, performance and bandwidth of our updated enterprise line of Portégé and Tecra products, we're giving mobile professionals a better way to work," said Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing and engineering, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "With the new Intel 'Skylake' processors included in our lineup, enterprise customers will enjoy increased form factor performance, reliability, advanced security and impressive craftsmanship they've come to expect from Toshiba for the past three decades."

Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor & Storage Products Company today announced the availability of a new very read-intensive, enterprise SAS solid state drive (SSD) - the PX04SL series. The PX04SL series is optimized for read-intensive application workloads such as data warehousing, web servers, media streaming and video on demand (VOD). Sample shipments start today.

The PX04SL can offer the most cost-effective solutions in Toshiba's PX04S generation of SAS interface enterprise SSDs. Available in 2TB[1] and 4TB capacities, the PX04SL enables organizations to minimize total cost of ownership (TCO) without sacrificing performance. With sustained random read performance of 270K IOPS[2], the PX04SL helps read-intensive application workloads achieve superior results. To combat bottlenecks, this SAS SSD provides high-density storage for efficient data throughput to deliver high performance, reliability and endurance for maximum application scalability.

ZOTAC unveiled its upcoming premium PCIe SSD at the 2016 CES. Built for performance, with sequential transfer rates in the neighbourhood of 2 GB/s, the drive is based on a Phison processor, mated with Toshiba 10 nm class MLC NAND flash memory. The half-height add-on card features an integrated heatspreader, with a back-plate. It interfaces with your system over PCIe gen 3.0 x4, and is bootable.

Toshiba today launched a new line-up of NAND flash memory products for embedded applications that are compatible with the widely used Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI). Wide ranging applications for the new "Serial Interface NAND" include such consumer applications as flat-screen TVs, printers and wearable devices, and industrial applications, including robots. Users can choose from a wide line-up of 12 products that offers three densities, 1Gbit, 2Gbit and 4Gbit; two packages, WSON[1] and SOP[2] and two power supply voltages. Samples shipment starts today and mass production is scheduled to begin with the 1Gbit products from December. Mass production of the remaining line-up will follow.

Compatibility with the widely used SPI, which can be controlled with just six pins, allows the new "Serial Interface NAND" to be used as SLC NAND flash memory, with a low pin count, small package and large capacity.

Toshiba Corporation and SanDisk Corporation today announced the start of equipment installation in the New Fab 2 facility at Yokkaichi Operations. New Fab 2 is primarily intended to provide the clean room space necessary to transition a significant portion of the current Yokkaichi 2D NAND capacity to 3D flash memory. The companies also signed definitive agreements for joint manufacturing of 3D flash memory and investment in New Fab 2.

Seiichi Mori, Corporate Senior Vice President of Toshiba Corporation and President and CEO of Semiconductor & Storage Products Company, said, "The partnership of SanDisk and Toshiba has consistently pioneered advances in the memory industry through our technology leadership and commitment to innovation and excellence. We look forward to fabricating 3D flash memory, BiCS FLASH, in New Fab 2."

The Storage Products Business Unit of Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., a committed technology leader, announces its newest enterprise performance hard disk drive (HDD) line, the AL14SE series, designed for mission critical servers and high-performance, high-availability storage systems. The AL14SE is Toshiba's latest 10,500 rotations per minute (RPM) HDD to support 12Gbit/s SAS and 512n sector length for compatibility with the latest generation host controllers and host bus adapters.

The AL14SE features a new four platter design, increasing storage capacity by 33 percent over the previous AL13SE generation models. The new AL14SE family is also updated with a 128MB data buffer for improved performance. The AL14SE family of HDDs provides 12Gbit/s dual-ported SAS support and 512n sector models in industry standard capacities of 300GB, 450GB, 600GB, 900GB and 1200GB.

OCZ Storage Solutions -- a Toshiba Group Company and provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced the introduction of Host Managed SSD (HMS) technology, first supported by the Saber 1000 Series SSDs. HMS technology enables Host controls over internal SSD background processing tasks that were previously not exposed to host-level software. System-level software control of background processing tasks, such as Garbage Collection, enable improving overall storage performance, and specifically enable obtaining consistent and predictable latency across a large pool of SSDs.

Hyperscale, Cloud, and datacenters now run software defined storage applications which manage large pools of SSDs across multiple servers. Consistent performance of these SSDs is critical to many modern applications, such as modern data bases and online trading, that have migrated to the Cloud. Exposing HMS functions via API enables integration of HMS functions into the storage stacks.

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced dynaPad, a unique Windows 10 tablet that reinvents pen and paper. The world's thinnest and lightest 12-inch Windows tablet, dynaPad measures just 6.9mm thin and weighs only 1.25 pounds2, enabling it to go anywhere. With an included high-precision pen input and optional ultra-thin keyboard dock, dynaPad is designed to encourage creativity and enhance productivity - the ultimate digital notebook.

"This tablet is designed to enable everyone to quickly capture information, effectively organize ideas and better express themselves," said Philip Osako, senior director of product marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "Combining an ultra-thin, pen-capable tablet with Toshiba's suite of productivity applications plus the versatility of Windows 10, we are closer to achieving the vision: truly personal computers that act as a complete medium for learning and expression."

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the availability of the Satellite Radius 12, the world's first 12.5-inch convertible Windows 10 laptop with a 4K Ultra HD display. Available at Best Buy stores and BestBuy, the Satellite Radius 12 features top-of-the-line screen and sound quality, a sleek, lightweight design and a 6th generation Intel Core processor that delivers maximum mobile performance and solid battery life.

"Our design goal was to develop a highly compact, versatile PC that does not compromise on performance or functionality to meet the needs of today's discerning content creator," said Philip Osako, senior director of product marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "Toshiba has created the ultimate companion for the highly mobile, digital consumer that requires versatility, portability and durability with top-of-the-line technology that enables them to fully take advantage of Windows 10 and enhance their productivity and creativity."

OCZ Storage Solutions, a Toshiba Group Company, today announced that its enterprise Z-Drive 4500 SSDs has achieved VMware Ready status. This designation indicates that after a detailed validation process, Z-Drive 4500 SSDs has achieved VMware's highest level of endorsement, and can be found on the VMware Solution Exchange (VSX) here.

"Driven by our Virtualized Controller Architecture Technology, the Z-Drive 4500 utilizes the full processing bandwidth of eight controllers working in unison which enables the storage subsystem to run more efficiently while delivering dominant small block / large block performance and low latency," said Bert Mauricio, director of Strategic Alliances, OCZ Storage Solutions. "By using Z-Drive 4500 SSDs with vSphere 5.x or 6.x, enterprises can deliver virtualized applications that can be accelerated while delivering fast and reliable access to data without burdening host CPU and memory resources."