Solar power is something we've seen touted in every big tech trade show for as long as we can remember, but it's taken until recently to make it a bit easier on the eyes. Enter TDK's design-, color-, and sun-enhanced chargers, found hanging out under a hard light in the back of the company's CEATEC booth casually powering a fan. It's definitely a step up from dark paneling, so how long until we see this applied to some stylish mobile phones, eh world? Video after the break.

As with pretty much every other optical disc out there that claims to hold a near-infinite amount of data, we're still skeptical about TDK's ability to actually bring to market the 320GB spinner you see above. But hey -- it's got ten 32GB layers and it's practically see-through. Did you really expect us to walk on by without clicking the shutter even once? Exactly.

Even though we have yet to see the long-hinted 100GB and 200GB prototype Blu-ray discs as real products, TDK is looking beyond that, ready to display 320GB ten-layer platters at CEATEC 2009 that can be read and written with current blue laser technology. Key in stacking so many layers is improving the transmittance of the outermost layer as seen above - that nearly clear one on the right doesn't require a more powerful laser to get through. The only thing we can't see? When or if any of these will actually be released.

[Via Hot Hardware]

It's been a little while since TDK has made some news in the neverending race for next big hard drive breakthrough, but it looks like that could be changing fairly soon, with a recently revealed roadmap indicating that the company currently has some 640GB drive platters suitable for a 3.5-inch drive going through qualification tests by its OEMs. While nothing's obviously official just yet, TDK is reportedly looking to begin mass production of the platters in November of this year, which could pave the way for some four-platter, 2.5TB drives to debut as early as February of next year. As Register Hardware points out, a five-platter, 3.2TB drive would also be possible, though somewhat less likely. We can dream, though.

[Via Electronista]

Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.

On our last episode of Movie Gadget Friday, we rode around the robotics-dependent world of Runaway. Traversing from robots-gone-wrong to "wire-tripping"-technology-junkies, this week jacks-in to the cyberpunk streets of LA in Strange Days. While lacking in computer gadgetry, there is no shortage of leather pants, grunge metal, huge cell phones and random rioting in this 1995 film. Keeping true to the times, we can't get over how even the murderer commits crimes while managing to sport a fanny pack.


SQUID Receptor Rig

Short for Super-conducting Quantum Interference Device, the SQUID receptor rig consists of a two-part system: a lightweight, flexible mesh of electrodes and a recorder. The technology had originally been developed for the feds to replace body wires, but has since leaked onto the black market. The SQUID acts as a magnetic field measurement tool on a micro level. By placing the electrodes over your head and activating the recorder, your first-person audio-visual-sensory experience is recorded wirelessly, direct from the cerebral cortex onto a TDK 60-minute MiniDisc. The rig can also be hacked using a signal splitter and simstim attachment - allowing someone else to experience your experience in real-time. Optional accessories for the rig include a fanny pack for closely storing the recorder and various wigs for concealing your otherwise obvious surveillance of others.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no way to directly upload these recordings to the net, leaving room for inefficient, in-person, illegal "playback" dealings of MiniDiscs similar to buying and selling drugs. From sex to committing crimes, clients to the self-proclaimed "switchboard of souls" dealers are able to jack-in to a variety of illicit activities without leaving their home. More after the break.

Not just everyone can get away with consumer-level kit, and if you plan on keeping that Counter-Strike server running for another four years without so much as a hiccup, you should probably look into some industrial-strength materials. To that end, we present to you a new pair from TDK: a U.DMA 6-compatible CompactFlash card and a line of PATA SSDs, both of which boast a maximum capacity of 16GB. Both lines combine the original GBDriver RA8 U.DMA 6-compatible NAND Flash memory controller with a high-frequency SLC NAND Flash memory module for read speeds of up to 50MB/sec and write speeds up to 30MB/sec. You'll also find an error correction function scalable to 15 bit/sector ECC to provide high data reliability -- remember, zero hiccups -- and a static wear leveling function to greatly increase the write life span. Sadly, no pricing figures are disclosed, but both crews should start shipping next month.

[Via SlashGear]

We had a dream back in June that America would one day be able to buy 6x BD-Rs for these 6x Blu-ray burners without relying on a Japanese importer, and today, that dream has been realized. Imation is bringing TDK Life on Record media to US soil, marking the first time 6x Blu-ray recordable (BD-R) and Blu-ray recordable double layer (BD-R DL) media has been available here. Unfortunately, this stuff is still absurdly expensive -- expect to hand over $13.99 for a single BD-R in October, while a BD-R DL 1-pack will ring up at a staggering $32.99.

Things are looking up in the SSD race: TDK has just announced what they are calling the smallest Micro SATA SSD drives. The HS1 series will measure just 1.8 inches with 16, 32, and 64GB capacities and will use single-level cell NAND flash memory. Read / write speeds are spinner-like 100MBps and 50MBps respectively and are expected to be energy efficient at 20mA. Security wise, we're looking at 128-bit AES encryption with 7-bit error correction. They won't come cheap, though: prices are expected to run $900, $1,500, and $2,000 for the three capacities.

[Via Electronista]

It's far from the first SATA-compatible SSD drive, but TDK seems to think its new GBDisk RS1 series drives will be just the ticket for some very particular users (though not likely you or us). Apparently designed specifically for industrial use, the drive uses single level cell NAND flash memory (as opposed to multi-level cell) and a GBDriver RS1 SATA controller, which TDK says will together help it maintain data reliability while standing up to frequent, high-speed data writing. You will have to make do with some fairly small storage capacities even by SSD standards, however, with the drives topping out at 16GB, all of which come in 2.5-inch drive enclosures. No word on prices just yet, but you can look for them to start rolling out this June.

Just try naming a major player in the hard drive biz not touting some sort of stupendous breakthrough to boost HDD capacity, and you're likely to come up fairly empty. Nevertheless, TDK is hopping on the ever-growing bandwagon, as it has reportedly "developed the technology to more than double the data storage capacity of hard-disk drives compared with the most advanced products now available by modifying the design of magnetic heads and disks." Notably, we've heard of similar processes before, but TDK is suggesting that its method can offer up the capability to "read and write 602-gigabits of data per square inch" while producing drives up to 3TB in size. Best of all, this all seems to be a bit beyond the drawing board, as the outfit hopes to mass produce the heads sometime in 2010. [Warning: read link requires subscription]

You don't usually think of IBM in the context of flash memory innovation, but all those processors Big Blue cranks out require some kind of cache , and the company's new joint venture with TDK is designed to create the next-gen of flash, using a technology called "spin torque transfer" that will allow scaling beyond 65nm. STT-RAM, as it's called, uses a current to "spin-polarize" electrons and align their magnetic fields to represent 1s and 0s. Intel and others have invested heavily in a rival next-gen tech called phase change, but IBM says STT is faster and may last longer. Obscure system-on-a-chip next-gen flash memory format war, here we come!

Seems we can't have a month go by without another industry-wide price fixing scandal. Today's cartel was bent on fixing the prices of professional-grade video tapes used in television. An infamous list of swindles which includes DRAM, LCDs, and online-music just to name a few. While the EU regulators citied "several companies," only Sony would confirm that they were charged with the crime. Fingers are also wagging in the direction of Panasonic, Fujifilm, Hitachi Maxell and TDK but all declined to comment on the matter. So innocent until proven guilty, mkay. The EU's charges are based on raids it made in 2002 as well as information received since, under a leniency program. Companies now have two months to respond. If guilty, companies could be fined as much as 10% of their annual global sales. Oh my.

TDK just slipped NXT's crazy-thin SoundVu technology into your pocket. That's right, the 80 × 117 x 16-mm (3.15 x 4.6 x 0.63-inch) Xa-10 flat panel speaker brings a 1.2W x 2ch waft of breathy bass you might otherwise choose not to float from your trou. The speakers will accept USB power (or batteries) and a mini-stereo input when they hit Japan in March for just ¥2,980 or about $25.

[Via Impress]