SanDisk outs faster U100 and i100 SSDs for ultra-portables and tablets, we go hands-on
SanDisk has been pumping out press releases all day thanks to Computex-mania, so we shuffled past its stall to see what all the fuss is about. The biggest news is the U100 range of tiny SSDs for ultraportables, which crank data in and out at twice the speed of SanDisk's previous generation P4 drives. We're talking 450MB/s reads and 340MB/s writes thanks to the latest SATA III interface, plus a max capacity of 256GB -- specs which have already enticed ASUS to use the U100 in its lightweight UX-series notebooks. Mass production is expected in Q3 of this year. Specs table and triple-shot of PR coming up after the break, plus a gallery showing size comparisons of the U100 SSD in its glorious mSATA and Mini mSATA varieties, stacked up against some common objects like a 2.5-inch SSD drive, an HP Veer, and a vaguely goth bracelet.
Meanwhile, SanDisk hasn't forgotten about our desperate need for faster tablets. The company has doubled the speed of its existing iNAND embedded flash modules, and is also releasing a brand new SATA III drive, the i100, specifically for this form factor. The i100 maxes out at 128GB and achieves a significantly slower write speed (160MB/s) than the U100, but it has same impressive read speed (450MB/s) -- which should mean nippier tablets in the not-too-distant future.
%Gallery-124851%
Show full PR text
SANDISK LAUNCHES TWO NEW SOLID STATE DRIVES (SSD) FOR TABLETS AND ULTRA-THIN NOTEBOOKS
New SSDs combine fast SATA III performance with power consumption as low as 10mW1-enable feature-rich computing platforms with longer battery life
SanDisk® SSD series' U100 drive for ultra-thin notebooks offers SATA III performance and customized form factors
SanDisk® iSSD™ integrated storage device series' i100 drive is the world's smallest, fastest 128 gigabyte (GB)2 (SATA III) BGA-based SSD-ideal for slim, high-performance tablets and ultra-thin notebooks
Sampling now with volume production scheduled for Q3 2011
Computex, Taiwan, May 31, 2011- SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today introduced two new solid state drives (SSDs) for the mobile computing market. The U100 drive, successor to the popular SanDisk® P4 modular SSD series, delivers a flexible, cost-effective solution for ultra-thin notebooks. The SanDisk® iSSD™ integrated storage device series' i100 drive is the world's smallest, fastest 128 gigabyte (GB)2 (SATA III) BGA (ball grid array) SSD and an ideal storage solution for slim, powerful tablets and ultra-thin notebooks.
The new SSDs utilize the high-performance SATA III interface to improve application loading times, web-browsing speeds, multimedia synchronization, file-transfer rates and overall system responsiveness. The drives employ a low-power architecture that reduces power consumption to as low as 10mW1. This combination of high performance and low power allows OEMs to develop feature-rich products with longer battery life.
"Our deep involvement with key ecosystem stakeholders allows us to align our products with fast-moving market requirements," said Rizwan Ahmed, director, SSD product marketing, SanDisk. "We develop low-power, high-performance SATA SSDs that optimally fit into a growing number of thin client devices."
SanDisk® SSD Series' U100 Drive for Ultra-Thin Notebooks
The U100 drive builds upon the successful SanDisk P4 modular SSD series, which enjoyed widespread adoption among ultra-thin notebooks and other mobile computing platforms. U100 supports an array of design needs and is available in a variety of form factors, including Half-Slim SATA SSD, mSATA, mSATA mini, 2.5" cased, as well as customized modules.
The U100 drive delivers fast SATA III performance with up to 450 megabyte per second (MB/sec)3 sequential read and up to 340MB/sec sequential write speeds3. The drive's low-power architecture allows OEMs to extend their products' battery life while maintaining high performance. The drive is available in 8GB to 256GB capacities, and OEMs, attracted to the outstanding price/performance value proposition, are already successfully integrating the new SSD into their next-generation platforms.
SanDisk® iSSD™ for Tablets
The i100 drive is the smallest, fastest 128GB (SATA III) BGA-based SSD on the market and the newest product in the SanDisk iSSD integrated storage device series. The drive is available in 8GB to 128GB capacities, offering OEMs a flexible range of storage options. Measuring only 16mm x 20mm x 1.4mm (for up to 64GB) and 16mm x 20mm x 1.85mm (for 128GB), the drive allows OEMs to design sleek, high-performance tablets and ultra-thin notebooks.
The drive's SATA performance achieves up to 450MB/sec3 sequential read and up to 160MB/sec sequential write speeds3. The i100 drive can improve sideloading rates, multitasking capabilities, real-time gaming experience and multimedia synchronization-all while extending battery life via its low-power architecture.
New SSDs Offer Additional Benefits
Drives support Power Classes for flexible performance and power-budget control capabilities
nCache™ Acceleration Technology provides fast random burst write performance for improved system responsiveness and multitasking functionality
Based on a JEDEC-standard package for industry compliance
The i100 and U100 drives are sampling now with volume production scheduled for Q3 2011.
1 With Slumber (SATA PHY state) Power mode with DIPM enabled. Lower Power modes can be achieved by implementing advanced low power management techniques. Technical specifications are preliminary and subject to change.
2 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. Some capacity not available for data storage.
3 Based on SanDisk internal testing; performance may be lower depending upon host configuration. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes. Technical Specification are preliminary and subject to change.
SanDisk's product and executive images can be downloaded from
http://www.sandisk.com/corporate/media.asp
SanDisk's web site/home page address: http://www.sandisk.com
© 2011 SanDisk Corporation. All rights reserved. SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder (s).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for new product introductions, applications, features, markets, and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: the market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or our products may not be available in the capacities that we anticipate, our products may not perform as expected and the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K. We do not intend to update the information contained in this press release.
Show full PR text
ASUS SELECTS SANDISK SOLID STATE DRIVE (SSD) FOR NEW ULTRA-THIN NOTEBOOK
SanDisk creates customized form factor to meet ASUS' design requirements
New U100 drive combines SATA III performance with low-power architecture
ASUS UX Series ultra-thin notebook measures 0.3cm to 1.7cm and weighs 1.1kg with an 11.6" screen
Computex, Taiwan, May 31, 2011- SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that ASUS has selected the U100 drive for use in the new UX Series ultra-thin notebook. The drive's flexible, cost-effective SATA III performance and low power consumption allows ASUS to deliver a sleek, powerful notebook with a long battery life.
The recently announced U100 drive builds upon the successful SanDisk® P4 modular SSD series, which is widely used in ultra-thin notebooks and other mobile computing platforms. The ASUS UX Series notebooks measure 0.3cm to 1.7cm thick and weigh only 1.1kg while providing remarkable performance with a SATA III SSD, Intel® core CPU and Instant-On technology.
"SanDisk tailored their SSD to meet our specific needs and then helped us optimize the drive in our new UX Series notebook," said S. Y. Shian, corporate vice president and general manager, notebook business unit, ASUS. "SanDisk's U100 drive allows our notebook to achieve the thin size, fast performance and long battery life needed to produce an enjoyable user experience."
"The ASUS UX Series notebook combines advanced features with the portability that consumers demand from a mobile computing platform," said Kevin Conley, senior vice president, solid state drives, SanDisk. "Our form factor miniaturization leadership enabled us to customize the U100 drive according to ASUS' needs while providing high performance and low power consumption."
The U100 drive delivers fast SATA III performance with up to 450 megabyte per second (MB/sec)1 sequential read and up to 340MB/sec sequential write speeds1. The drive's low-power architecture allows OEMs to extend battery life while maintaining high performance. The U100 is available in a variety of form factors, including Half-Slim SATA SSD, mSATA, mSATA mini and 2.5" cased, with capacities ranging from 8 gigabytes (GB)2 to 256GB.
SanDisk SSDs Offer Additional Benefits
nCache™ Acceleration Technology3 provides fast random burst write performance for improved system responsiveness and multitasking functionality
Based on a JEDEC-standard package for industry compliance
1 Based on SanDisk internal testing of sequential read and write speeds; performance may be lower depending upon host configuration, host device, OS and application. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes. Technical Specifications are preliminary and subject to change.
2 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. Some capacity not available for data storage.
3 nCache™ acceleration technology is a large Non Volatile Write Cache, a unique feature in SanDisk U100 SSD that improves random write performance to ensures an improved user experience. Studies show that modern operating systems mostly access the storage device using 4k access blocks. The cache is filled during these small write commands and emptied during idle time when the host is not accessing the drive, with no risk of data loss. For a typical everyday use, the write performance that the users see is the nCache™ (burst) high performance, and not steady state (sustained) SanDisk U100 SSD performance. Based on IOmeter 4K random write test.
SanDisk's product and executive images can be downloaded from
http://www.sandisk.com/corporate/media.asp
SanDisk's web site/home page address: http://www.sandisk.com
© 2011 SanDisk Corporation. All rights reserved. SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. nCache is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder (s).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for new product introductions, applications, features, markets, and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: the market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or our products may not perform as expected and the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K. We do not intend to update the information contained in this press release.
Show full PR text
SANDISK RAISES PERFORMANCE BAR WITH INAND EXTREME™ EMBEDDED STORAGE FOR TABLETS AND MOBILE DEVICES
Improves Multimedia Synchronization, File-Transfer Speeds and Operating System Responsiveness
New device broadens SanDisk's segmented embedded storage lineup, which includes iNAND™ and iNAND Ultra® devices
Features up to 50MB/sec sequential write and up to 80MB/sec sequential read speeds
Computex, Taiwan, May 31, 2011- SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today introduced the iNAND™ Extreme® embedded flash drive (EFD), SanDisk's first in a new line of products designed for high-end tablets running advanced operating systems and data-intensive applications. The drive features up to 50 megabyte per second (MB/sec)1 sequential write and up to 80MB/sec sequential read speeds.
High-performance embedded flash storage can significantly improve a tablet's multimedia synchronization speeds, file-transfer rates and operating system responsiveness. Fast sequential performance is essential when capturing HD2 and 3D2 video content or when transferring large files via the high-speed USB 3.0 interface. By selecting the iNAND Extreme EFD for their next-generation tablet designs, OEMs can improve the key performance criteria that produce an enjoyable user experience.
"iNAND Extreme broadens our embedded product line to cover the needs of all mobile market segments, from feature phones to high-end tablets," said Amir Lehr, vice president, embedded business, SanDisk. "We offer OEMs high-quality products as well as the experience and technical know-how needed to optimize our solutions for specific applications and usage scenarios."
SanDisk engineers work closely with mobile and tablet manufacturers to ensure they integrate iNAND™ products for optimal performance and efficiency in new hardware designs. SanDisk developed its e.MMC based iNAND Extreme EFDs through industry-leading mobile usage analysis capabilities and the experience accumulated through many successful mobile and consumer electronic designs. Already a dominant choice for embedded smartphone storage, the e.MMC interface has quickly established itself as an attractive solution for the tablet market.
"The embedded application market is experiencing significant growth through the increasing popularity and variety of mobile computing platforms," said Jeff Janukowicz, research manager, solid state storage technology, IDC. "Companies with broad embedded product lineups and value-added services have an increasing capability to meet the diverse needs within the mobile market."
Available in a highly compact 12mm x 16mm JEDEC package with heights as low as 1.0mm, the iNAND Extreme EFD enables slim and highly portable mobile and tablet designs. By conserving internal space, the drive allows more room for other components such as larger batteries-particularly important in high-end tablets with demanding energy needs or larger screens.
The iNAND Extreme EFD comes in 16 gigabyte (GB)3 to 64GB capacities and is scheduled for sampling in Q3 2011. The new drive expands SanDisk's segmented embedded storage lineup, which includes iNAND and iNAND Ultra drives for handsets and tablets.
SanDisk iNAND and iNAND Ultra EFDs
The iNAND EFD is available in storage capacities ranging from 2GB to 64GB for quick integration into handsets and other designs that require an e.MMC interface. The drive features up to 30MB/sec read and up to 13MB/sec write speeds and can serve as a reliable boot device and mass storage solution. The iNAND Ultra EFD offers up to 40MB/sec read and 20MB/sec write speeds that increase the system responsiveness of feature-rich smartphones that need fast, high-capacity storage in a small form factor.
All iNAND EFDs utilize a highly advanced caching technology that increases system responsiveness for faster application loading, web-browsing and multitasking. SanDisk works closely with all major mobile OEMs, chipset and operating system vendors to ensure tight integration between host and storage devices. This engagement is crucial to achieving a more enjoyable user experience and is a key reason why iNAND ranks among the leading e.MMC devices on the market.
1 Based on SanDisk internal testing of sequential read and write speeds; performance may be lower depending upon host device, OS and application. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes. Technical Specifications are preliminary and subject to change.
2 Full HD, HD and 3D video support may vary based upon host device, file size, resolution, compression, bit rate, content and other factors. See www.sandisk.com/HD.
3 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. Some capacity not available for data storage.
© 2011 SanDisk Corporation. All rights reserved. SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. iNAND, iNAND Ultra and iNAND Extreme are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder (s).
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for new product introductions, applications, features, markets, and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: the market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or our products may not be available in the capacities that we anticipate, our products may not perform as expected and the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K. We do not intend to update the information contained in this press release.
