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Toshiba to Make Solid-State PC Disks

Joins competitors in effort to create demand for flash memory

By Laila Weir,  Newser User

Posted Dec 10, 2007 3:05 PM CST
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(Newser) – Toshiba will start making flash-based solid-state drives for laptops, the company said Monday. The Japanese memory chip maker is trying to create more demand for flash chips, reports Reuters. Solid-state drives, which offer a faster boot-up than hard disk drives, are used in portable devices, but aren't mainstream yet in PCs due to their high cost.

Toshiba said it will produce 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch drives in May 2008. The drives will range from 32 gigabytes to 128 gigabytes of capacity. Samsung Electronics and Toshiba partner SanDisk already make solid-state drives, and Micron Technology plans to enter the market next quarter.

SanDisk Vaulter Disk, a flash-based solid state module that can speed up the performance of a laptop or desktop PC by working in conjunction with the computer's hard drive, was introduced by SanDisk Corporation of Milpitas, Calif. The device, which won an innovations award from the Consumer Electronics Association, will...
SanDisk Vaulter Disk, a flash-based solid state module that can speed up the performance of a laptop or desktop PC by working in conjunction with the computer's hard drive, was introduced by SanDisk Corporation...   (Associated Press)
A customer tries out a Toshiba Dynabook computer at a Tsukumo Denki store at Akihabara electric and electronic shopping district in Tokyo, Friday, July 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
A customer tries out a Toshiba Dynabook computer at a Tsukumo Denki store at Akihabara electric and electronic shopping district in Tokyo, Friday, July 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)   (Associated Press)
Toshiba's new USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive
Toshiba's new USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive   (Associated Press)
17 October 2007.
17 October 2007.   (Getty Images)
SanDisk Corporation of Milpitas, Calif., announced today that its 1.8-inch UATA solid state drive (SSD), which replaces a hard drive in notebook computers, has been certified by Microsoft Windows Hardware Qualification Lab. The announcement was made in Los Angeles during the annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC 2007). (Photo
SanDisk Corporation of Milpitas, Calif., announced today that its 1.8-inch UATA solid state drive (SSD), which replaces a hard drive in notebook computers, has been certified by Microsoft Windows Hardware...   (Associated Press)
Three flash-based products from SanDisk Corporation were named honorees at the Innovations 2008 Design and Engineering Awards sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association. The awarded products include SanDisk's microSDHC(TM) 8-gigabyteGB flash storage card in the category of Wireless Handsets Accessories; SanDisk's 64-Gigabyte SATA 5000 2.5-inch solid-state drive (SSD) in...
Three flash-based products from SanDisk Corporation were named honorees at the Innovations 2008 Design and Engineering Awards sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association. The awarded products include...   (Associated Press)
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Related reading

Read about Toshiba's move in Wired.com's Gadget Lab blog
Wired

 
flash • Samsung • Toshiba • Micron Technology • hard drives • solid state drives • SanDisk

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