Transcend Information has announced the availability of its latest ultra-compact USB flash drive - the JetFlash T5 in India.The flash drive measures 29.9mm x 15.3mm x 6.1mm (L x W x D) and weighs 2gms.

Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC and APAC, Transcend, said, "The T5's tiny size and lightweight design gives the user the freedom to carry it in places normal flash drives just do not fit. Simply attach it to your mobile phone or keychain so you'll always have a storage device with you wherever you go. Extremely small yet easy to use, Transcend's JetFlash T5 breaks free from the flash drive status quo. Its unique ultra-tiny casing with retractable USB connector and its eye-catching two-tone design with unique hexagon pattern are sure to wow the users!"Transcend maintains that the T5 is constructed with non-breakable plastic and is rugged enough to resist bending, stress, vibration, shock, and even full water submersion. It is fully high-speed USB 2.0 compliant and the JetFlash elite software tools can turn the T5 into a key to automatically log on to website accounts, or even temporarily lock a computer to prevent unauthorized access. The software also allows users to browse their favorite bookmarked websites and check their email from any compatible computer with the included Internet Favorites and Mobile Email functions.

The JetFlash T5 USB flash drive is available in capacities of 2 GB (Orange/Black) for Rs. 500, 4 GB (White/Black) for Rs. 650 and 8 GB (Red/Black) for Rs. 850 with a 3-year warranty.

Intel and Micron today announced mass production of their jointly developed 34nm, 32 gigabit multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory device.

Developed and manufactured by the companies? NAND flash joint venture, IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), the process technology is the most advanced process available on the market and enables the industry?s only monolithic 32 Gb NAND chip that fits into a standard 48-lead thin small-outline package (TSOP). The companies are ahead of schedule with 34nm NAND production, expecting their Lehi facility to have transitioned more than 50 percent of its capacity to 34nm by year?s end.

The 34nm, 32 Gb chips are manufactured on 300 mm wafers. Measuring just 172mm², less than the size of a thumbnail, the 34nm, 32 Gb chip will enable high-density solid-state storage in small form factor applications including digital cameras, personal music players and digital camcorders. Additionally, the chip will enable more cost-effective solid-state drives, increasing their current storage capacity.The companies also plan to begin sampling lower density multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC) products using the 34nm process technology in early 2009.

"Green" electronic products are extremely popular nowadays, since more and more people are becoming aware of the major environmental issues of our planet and actually try to do something about it. And that's exactly the case with the EarthDrive USB flash drive from ATP, a device that really screams "green," starting with its packaging and ending with the material it's built from.

ATP Inc. is a well-known manufacturer of all sorts of memory products, whether we're talking about Flash memory or DRAM. However, with the EarthDrive, it has managed to create a product that's entirely bio-recyclable, manufactured from a biodegradable polyester derived from renewable resources, and which still manages to carry out its external storage functions very well.Moreover, the company seems to have taken this eco-friendly approach even further, since it's actually donating a hefty portion of the EarthDrive's sales towards the planting of new trees across the world, which is indeed a noteworthy decision, especially given the fact that relatively few technology firms prove their commitment to the environment in such a manner.

Design and aesthetics

Overall design features

Design-wise, the EarthDrive is somewhat different from the numerous devices of this type available on the market. First of all, it's extremely small (it measures just 35.7 mm x 23.3 mm x 10.31 mm), which means that you really won't have any problems carrying it around. However, since such a small size might make it prone to loss/misplacement, the device also sports a small hole in the upper side, which can be used for attaching the drive either to the lanyard provided in the package or even to something more solid, like a backpack, bag, etc.As far as the color scheme is concerned, the EarthDrive is rather "classical," featuring an all-white front side, while the rest of its body is all-black (reflective, piano-black, to be more precise).Despite being manufactured from biodegradable materials, the quality of the build is quite impressive. Thus, there's nothing "cheap" about it, and even if the case looks just like plastic, it's by no means the cheap plastic we encounter in so many other similar products on the market.

Button and sliding mechanism

In order to keep the size to a minimum, as well as render the device as shockproof, dustproof and waterproof as possible, the drive from ATP features a sliding mechanism, which means that users will have to push a button in order to "eject" the USB connector.The button is placed right in the middle of the drive and is dented and "tall" enough, compared to the surface level of the drive to ensure the fact that users won't have any problems pushing it out. Plus, no springs are involved, so the sliding mechanism is not very likely to fail anytime soon.

Last, but certainly not least, I'll have to point out that the drive also sports a LED activity indicator, which turns to bright blue whenever data is being transferred.

Eco-friendly and bio-recyclable

We couldn't really end our analysis of the design of this drive without talking a bit about one of its main features, namely the one related to the materials it has been built from. As the guys over at ATP inform us, following a very long research period, they've been able to design and build the device using the maximum amount of biodegradable materials (PLA). PLA, or Polylactic acid is a biodegradable polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn.
source : softpedia

Toshiba, one of the leading manufacturers of computer NAND flash memory devices, has just announced that it plans to launch a new line-up of 43nm Single-Level Cell (SLC) NAND flash memory solutions. The new devices are slated to debut on the market sometime in the first quarter of 2009.
The new 43nm-built SLC NAND flash memory will be made available in densities ranging from 512MB to 64GB in no less than 16 versions. The new range includes three products with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, all of which are built using 43nm monolithic 16GB chips, the highest density SLC NAND chips available. The new devices are set to hit the market in Q1 2009, while lower-capacity products will be made available in the third quarter of next year.
The company has specifically built the new devices to meet the requirements of different applications. Its product offering delivers support for mobile phones, office automation equipment and servers, providing increased read and write speeds as well as high levels of reliability.
Toshiba has been promoting the expansion of the NAND flash memory market by accelerating development of high density MLC chips that can be used for high capacity data storage in memory cards, MP3 players and other storage devices. SLC chips haven't been adopted by Toshiba because of the limitations of its 56nm and 70nm process technologies. However, the new 43nm process technology allows the company to expand its wide range of advanced SLC flash memories designed for high-performance storage applications.Toshiba is one of the leading providers of storage-based and consumer electronics products, which, aside from its range of magnetic hard drives, has also introduced a line of solid state drives for consumers that require a higher-performance storage solution. With the introduction of its 43nm SLC flash memory line-up, the company plans to expand its selection of high-value added products for a wide range of embedded applications.

SanDisk is bringing to market its 16GB microSDHC and Memory Stick Micro (M2) mobile memory cards - the world's largest storage capacity for mobile phones.The fingernail-sized 16GB memory cards allow consumers to "wake up" the many storage-intensive features offered by today's portable handsets such as music and video playback, high-definition digital camera functions, gaming and GPS applications. In addition to the mobile phone, consumers can use the 16 GB microSDHC card in a multitude of other devices, including a video camera, GPS receiver or a MP3 player with a microSD slot such as SanDisk's Sansa players."Handsets have become far more than just phones - they've become mobile jukeboxes, mobile offices, even mobile movie theaters," said Avi Greengart, Research Director for Mobile Devices at Current Analysis. "Flash memory cards have increased in storage capacity, but even an 8GB card may be too small for anyone with GPS map data, a few movies, a game or two, a presentation file and other applications. There is an acute need for more mobile storage capacity. 16GB gives consumers the ability to carry their digital content with them and still have room to do more with their mobile phones."

SanDisk's 16GB micro SDHC card has an MSRP of Rs. 4499 and the 16GB M2 card has an MSRP of Rs. 4999.

SanDisk's 16GB mobile memory cards will be available at Hot Spot Retail chain, Vijay sales and Croma in October with a five-year limited warranty.

It looks like Lexar has had quite a lot of surprises in store for this year's Photokina. After announcing the launch of a Kodak-branded SDHC card and adopting Eye-Fi technology for one of its own cards a short while ago, the flash memory manufacturer has just announced a significant improvement to its Professional line of CompactFlash (CF) memory cards, whose access speed has been bumped up to 233x.

Thus, all the Lexar Professional 233x CF memory cards will be UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access)-enabled from now on and will also be capable of minimum-sustained read and write speeds of 35MB per second. The new, speedier cards will be available in three capacities, including 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB, and will be able to deliver professional-level performance for a wider range of digital SLR users.

However, these 233x cards are not the fastest in Lexar's lineup. The new CompactFlash cards actually represent the entry-level models, which come to further enhance the performances of the Lexar Professional line, which includes Lexar Professional 300x CF products ranging from 2GB to 16GB in capacity and Lexar Professional Secure Digital 133x products ranging from 2GB to 8GB.As always, the company's representatives claim that the reason behind this improvement is related to the fact that an increasingly higher number of people go for DSLR cameras. “With the recent surge in popularity of digital SLR cameras, professional photographers and photo enthusiasts require flash memory cards that not only safely store all of their images, but also are fast enough to keep pace with rapid shooting,” said Greg Agustin, senior product marketing manager, Lexar. “The new Lexar Professional 233x CF cards provide the reliability, speed, and capacity photographers require to shoot continuously and confidently, while improving post-production workflow capabilities.”

There's no pricing information regarding the two cards available for the time being, but chances are that they'll be available at pretty much the same price point as their slower counterparts, actually replacing them in stores on the future. source : softpedia.com

Kingston has just announced that it is expanding its line of USB Flash drives with the introduction of the DataTraveler HyperX (DT HyperX) model. Designed for ultra-fast read/write speeds and lower price points, the DT HyperX drive is available in capacities up to 8 GB.
“Taking its cue from our HyperX line of industry-setting high-speed memory modules for gamers, enthusiasts and overclockers, the DataTraveler HyperX offers exceptionally fast read and write speeds,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Product Manager, APAC Region, Kingston

The DT HyperX has data transfer rates of 30MB/sec. read and 20MB/sec. write. Designed to run on any Windows platform but specifically enhanced for Windows ReadyBoost on Vista-based systems, users can expect to quickly and easily transfer photos, videos, music and data to their desktop, notebook etc. The new Data Traveler HyperX is backed by a five-year warranty and free technical support.The DT HyperX flash drives are available in 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB capacities and are priced at Rs. 3,860, Rs. 6,500 and Rs. 11,115 respectively.

Consumer electronics giant Samsung also happens to be the world’s premier NAND Flash memory manufacturer. It now aims to further strengthen its position by acquiring flash memory maker SanDisk, if reports in the Korean media are to be trusted. The rationale behind such a move is that an acquisition will not only bolster Samsung’s current flash memory production capacity but also save the company about $350 million annually – the amount Samsung pays SanDisk in royalties.SanDisk has been navigating through some rough financial weather lately, but still is coveted by couple of big companies. Of course, rumors of Seagate making a bid for the company have also been around. A possible acquisition would handover a considerable advantage to Seagate in the SSD market. SanDisk certainly seems to have a few takers.

SanDisk has launched a new line of SD memory cards that they claim can provide users with up to 30 megabytes per second for file transfers and that’s nothing to sneeze at. The new card range is called - SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition line. The new cards, will be available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities and are designed to deliver peak performance when used with the new digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, Nikon D90.

The Nikon D90 is the industry’s first DSLR camera to support SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC cards at increased performance. Featuring a 50-percent speed boost from previous 20MB/s cards, the new SanDisk card makes it possible to record 39 images in continuous shooting mode at 4.5 frames per second with a file size of 6.0 MB.“The high capacities and performance of the SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC cards give users the freedom to shoot lots of high-resolution photos and video clips,” said Susan Park, director of consumer product marketing for SanDisk’s performance cards.

Beyond their high capacities and performance levels, all SanDisk Extreme III cards are capable of functioning in temperatures, from -13 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit or -25 to 85 degrees Celsius. The cards also carry a lifetime limited warranty. SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 30MB/s Edition cards, which have a Class 6 performance rating, are fully backwards-compatible; working in any camera, card reader or other device that supports SDHC cards.SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 30MB/s Edition cards are expected to be available in India by October. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is Rs. 2,499 for the 4GB card, Rs. 4,499 for the 8GB card, and Rs. 8,999 for the 16GB card.

Toshiba tonight upgraded its onboard flash memory with a new, 32GB module destined for smaller portable devices. The storage combines eight 4GB NAND flash chips built using a smaller 43 nanometer manufacturing process and makes a single package, fitting twice as much capacity into a similar space as before. The design also builds in its own controller to manage its data traffic and would let device makers drop the new package in without reengineering their hardware.The combined storage is explicitly intended for cellphones, portable media players, video cameras, and other devices where a large amount of storage is necessary in one package. Toshiba doesn't name individual customers, but is a key supplier of Apple and through the design would enable a 32GB iPhone as well as a 64GB iPod touch. Toshiba also produces its own electronics, including Gigabeat media players, and frequently sells its memory for competitors and manufacturers of MMC and SD cards.

The Japan-based company will start offering samples of the enhanced memory to its clients in September and will start producing the design in bulk quantities during the fall. Release dates for products based on Toshiba's components will vary by the company but have historically started in the quarter following mass production.

We first looked at the Eye-Fi wireless SD flash memory card back in February, and liked its easy uploading and support for photo-sharing sites like Flickr. This week, Eye-Fi announced new partnerships with Nikon's my Picturetown, Adobe's Photoshop Express, and made its cards available at Circuit City. Here are the details.
Nikon and Eye-Fi

While Nikon already supports wi-Fi wireless uploading to my Picturetown from its Coolpix S50c, S51c, and S52c, the built-in support in Eye-Fi Share and Explore cards enables users of any Nikon camera that uses SD media to transfer pictures automatically to my Picturetown.

Nikon has also worked with Eye-Fi in the design of its new D60 DSLR camera. The D60 adjusts its power levels when using an Eye-Fi card for better wireless uploading.Shoot Them and They Will Come (to Your Favorite Sites)

Eye-Fi Share and Explore cards now support Adobe Photoshop Express as well as over 20 other photo sharing sites, including Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, Snapfish, Windows Live, and many others.
Easy to Use, Easier to Find

Eye-Fi Share cards are now available at Circuit City stores and the Circuit City website.
Eye-Fi by the Numbers

In our original February review, we reviewed the Eye-Fi Share card, but Eye-Fi actually make three different lines of 2GB SD cards with Wi-Fi radios:

* The entry-level Eye-Fi Home card ($79.99 MSRP) connects wirelessly to Wi-Fi-equipped home computers or the user's iPhoto account.
* The Eye-Fi Share card ($99.99 MSRP) connects wirelessly to Wi-Fi-equipped home computers or the user's choice of photo sharing websites.
* The Eye-Fi Explore card ($119.99 MSRP) adds geotags to your pictures and supports uploading from over 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots

Easy Photo Transferring and Sharing - What's It Worth to You?

Eye-Fi cards command a hefty price premium over standard 2GB SD cards, but they can save you a lot of time and effort. What say you? If you're already using Eye-Fi cards, tell us how they're doing for you. If you're new to the idea, let us know if you think the features are worth the money.

Flash memories are solid state electronic devices with random access memory capabilities used for fast digital information storage. They are used in a wide range of applications, such as storing BIOS routines in typical digital computers, as medium capacity hard drives for digital cameras or as memory cards for laptop computers and video consoles.

The technology used to manufacture flash memories is based on EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) chips, which consist of memory banks formed of storing cells disposed in a grid of columns and rows. A basic storing cell has two MOS-FET transistors at each intersection, and are separated by an oxide layer. The two transistors are known as the floating gate and the control gate.

When the floating gate is connected to the row, the cell stores a '1' logic bit. The value changes to '0' logic through a process known as the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, which alters the distribution of electrons inside the floating gate. When charge is applied tothe floating gate from the column, it passes through the transistor and then drains to the ground, forming a negative charge build up on the other side of the oxide layer.

Once the electric charge forms, no other electrons can penetrate through the layer and on the other side due to electrostatic forces, thus establishing a charge distribution slightly higher than 50 percent between the floating gate and the control gate, which registers as '1' logic. However, when the charge distribution between the two transistors drops below 50 percent, then the cell is evaluated as storing a '0' logic bit.

In order to erase the flash memory and return the electron distribution inside it, a high-voltage charge is used to generate an electric field that resets all the cells to '1' logic. This can be done in certain blocks of the memory or the entire chip. Flash memories can retain information only as long as they are powered, however Flash RAM can maintain the information it is storing without requiring any supplemental power sources.

There are several types of Flash memories, each with different specifications regarding size and storage capacity, but they all share roughly the same properties. They are solid state devices, thus having no moving parts and therefore are noiseless, have fast access speeds and are relatively small in size. They consume low amounts of power while in use and can provide a storing capacity ranging between several kilobytes to a few tens of gigabytes.
Source : Softpedia.com

IronKey Inc have announced that their IronKey self destructing USB flash memory drive featuring military grade AES 256-bit CBC-Mode encryption, the 4GB model of which we featured a while ago here on TFTS, is now available with double the previous capacity.

Adding to the IronKey range, which already consists of 1GB, 2GB and the aforementioned 4GB range, the new 8GB capacity IronKey, like its stable mates, comes with hardware based, military grade encryption and also offers protection against ‘brute force’ attacks – the drive integral Cryptochip serving to erase all encrypted data held on the drive courtesy of its Flash Trash (cool title) technology which comes into force after a policy determined number of failed login attempts.The IronKey also comes with a suite of applications including portable Firefox, IronKey Password Manager, RSA SecurID and a Secure Sessions service as well as a programmable policy settings allowing IronKey administrators to turn these applications off or on as desired.

‘Our virtual desktop customers have been eagerly awaiting IronKey 8GB drives because they are deploying large Windows desktops which rapidly wear out ordinary flash drives and most importantly need to be secured,’ said John Jefferies, vice president of product marketing at IronKey. ‘Running virtual desktops from flash drives demands high performance with superior reliability which is why customers are choosing to deliver mobile desktops and business continuity solutions on IronKey.’

The 8GB capacity IronKey USB Flash Drive has just been made available for $299.

IronKey

Flash memory guys and girls .. it's the next big thing ever since the first high volume HDD was introduced into the market. I've been active in the hardware scene for over ten years now and I have not ever seen a development rate going so fast as Flash memory. The amount of choice in media, sizes, speed and then obviously development of Solid State drives it's just all going really fast. I mean, two years ago when I was traveling I had a very handy 256MB stick along with me to carry PDF presentations. And two years ago that was considered to be a pretty big flash USB stick.

Last year in March I picked up a 1 GB stick, paid 50 EUR for it, the same amount of money you now pay for a 4 GB stick. And today ... we'll test the Corsair Flash Voyager with a capacity of an astonishing 32 Gigabyte !

A flash USB stick with:

* Plug & Play functionality in Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME, Linux 2.4 and later,
Mac OS 9, X and later
* Durable and Price/performance leader 32GB USB drive
* Includes the True Crypt security application (Windows Vista/XP/2000 compatible
only) allowing for a virtual encrypted drive using AES-256 encryption
* Water Resistant, Shockproof & Plug-n-Play These are the sticks that Bruce Willis could carry around while making Die Hard 4.0, they've been laundered, baked, frozen, boiled, dropped, and even run over by a SUV in many third party reviews. After all the punishment it receives, these sturdy little freaks continue to work.

Now available in a 32GB capacity the flash-disk became a massively worthy investment. It's a small HDD in your pocket. With that file size you could even partition it, split into two partitions, and make one encrypted as the product supports EAS-256 bit encryption technology.

Great stuff to store movies, MP3, work related files, classified stuff (encrypted) or even you could use it as a backup drive. Very robust, water tight and easy to use.