Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., announced today it is shipping the first two products in its SSDNow line of solid-state drives (SSD) with the SSDNow E Series and SSDNow M Series. Kingston is targeting its SSDs to Fortune 1000 companies and select vertical markets. The SSDNow E Series is specifically designed for the enterprise server environment while the SSDNow M Series is built for the road warrior who demands ultimate performance from a notebook PC. The Kingston SSDNow E and M Series use Intel's solid-state drives, which are the best-performing drives on the market.
"We are thrilled to enter the solid-state drive market with our SSDNow E and M Series SSDs. The combination of the fastest SSDs in the world along with Kingston's tremendous distribution capabilities and legendary customer service will position us to succeed in this arena," said Mark Leathem, director of Flash business development, Kingston Digital. "The performance capabilities of these first two offerings are off the charts andour enterprise customers will be very pleased to use them in servers and corporate laptop computers."

The SSDNow E and M series drives create greater return on investment through increased performance due to impressive input and output operations per second (IOPS). The SSDNow E Series' higher IOPS means enterprises need significantly fewer SSDs compared to standard hard disk drives (HDD), which also leads to energy savings in a server environment. The SSDNow M Series high IOPS allows for faster boot times and quicker application load times which help mobile power users become even more productive.

Kingston's SSDNow uses a standard SATA hard disk drive interface but unlike an HDD, they are very rugged and can withstand shock and extreme environments as there are no moving parts. Kingston's SSDNow E and M Series drives are equipped with S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) to monitor the integrity and reliability of the drives. The drives are backed by a three-year warranty, 24/7 tech support and KingstonCare*, a comprehensive suite of tools and services designed to reduce downtime. For more information visit www.kingston.com.

Kingston SSDNow M and E Series Features and Specifications:

-- Fast: SSDNow E Series: 250MB/sec. read, 170MB/sec. write
SSDNow M Series: 250MB/sec. read, 70MB/sec. write
-- Durable: no moving mechanical parts, enabling the SSD to handle
rougher conditions
-- Guaranteed: backed by a three-year Kingston warranty, 24/7 tech
support and KingstonCare* program
-- Form factor: 2.5"
-- Interface: SATA 1.5Gb/sec. and 3.0Gb/sec.
-- Capacity**: SSDNow E Series: 32GB
SSDNow M Series 80GB
-- Storage temperatures: -55° C to 95° C
-- Operating temperatures: 0° C to 70° C
-- Dimensions: SSDNow E Series: 69.85mm x 100mm x 7mm
SSDNow M Series: 69.85mm x 100mm x 9.5mm
-- Weight: SSDNow E Series: 80 grams (+/- 2 grams)
SSDNow M Series: 86 grams (+/- 2 grams)
-- IOPS (Input and Output Operations Per Second): SSDNow E Series:
Random 4K read: 35K;
Random 4K write: 3.3K
-- Vibration operating: 2.17 G (7-800Hz)
-- Vibration non-operating: 3.13 G (10-500Hz)
-- Power specs***: SSDNow E Series: Active: 2.4 W TYP; Sleep: 0.06 W
TYP
SSDNow M Series: Active: 0.15 W; Sleep 0.06 W TYP
-- Life expectancy: SSDNow E Series: 2 million hours mean time
before failure
SSDNow M Series: 1.2 million hours mean time before failure
-- Operating shock: 1,000 G/0.5 msec operating and non-operating

* SSDNow E Series only. See your sales representative to determine your eligibility for KingstonCare.

** Some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage. For more information, please consult Kingston's Flash Memory Guide at Kingston.com/Flash_Memory_Guide.

*** Measurement based on IO meter

Kingston SSDNow E and M Series Solid-State
Drives
Part Number Capacity and Features
SNE125-S2/32GB 32GB 2.5¿ SATA SSD
SNM125-S2/80GB 80GB 2.5¿ SATA SSD

To bring consumers good fortune in this auspicious year, Kingston® Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the launch of the DataTraveler Year of the OX Limited Edition (Part Number: DTVIVR/4GBCN, DTVIVR/8GBCN) available in 4GB and 8GB during this Chinese holiday season in limited supply.

After launching the DataTraveler Mini Fun and DataTraveler 101 New Year Edition for the year of Pig and Rat, Kingston has received overwhelming responses on its Chinese Zodiac series USB drives. In order to satisfy the desire of enthusiastic collectors, Kingston DataTraveler Year of the OX Limited Edition is presented during the Chinese New Year season. In Chinese tradition, red and golden colors symbolize "happiness" and "wealth." Inspired by this concept, the DataTraveler Year of theOX Limited Edition is adorned with a red ox and Chinese characters "Yi-Chou", representing the year of 2009, on a golden background. Waving goodbye to 2008 and moving forward to 2009, DataTraveler Year of the OX Limited Edition will bring you great fortune and luck in 2009.

"Apart from the artistic pattern, the DataTraveler Year of the OX Limited Edition's design reduces the drive's overall size which allows for easy portability," said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Product Manager, APAC Region, Kingston. "In addition, the DataTraveler Year of the OX Limited Edition is what enthusiastic collectors can not miss, if you would like to own the complete Kingston DataTraveler Chinese Zodiac series USB drives." Su added.

As with all Kingston USB drive products, the DataTraveler Year of the OX Limited Edition carries a fully guaranteed five-year warranty and free technical support services.

For more detailed information please visit the Kingston Web site at www.kingston.com/asia.

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.

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.

Kingston Technology has announced the addition of 8GB microSD High-Capacity (SDHC) Flash memory cards to its mobile memory storage line. Shipping immediately, the new 8GB microSDHC cards offer greater storage options to the latest mobile phones and digital devices.
"Consumers are demanding more from their mobile phones, expecting them to double as music and portable game players, instant cameras, email communicators, browsers and navigators. Having enough storage capacity, particularly in the form of memory cards, keeps internal device memory free to deliver all this multi-functionality,” said Nitin Malhotra, Kingston Country Manager, India. “Our 8GB microSDHC cards are so roomy that mobile users can easily move entire digital libraries from a PC to their mobile phones - and beyond.”The new microSDHC 8GB card, is identical in physical size to the original microSD card, but is compatible with microSDHC host devices only and not backward compatible with standard microSD-enabled devices or readers.

The card is compliant with the SD Association Specification, Version 2.0 and can be used as full-size SDHC or miniSDHC card with appropriate adapter. The new 8GB card also comes with a High-Speed Class Rating - Class 4 i.e. 4MB/sec (minimum sustained data transfer rate).
Backed by a lifetime warranty and free technical support, Kingston microSDHC Flash memory cards are available through distributors, resellers and retailers for a price of Rs. 2,999.

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.

Kingston Technology Company has announced the release of its first Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)-validated USB Flash drive, the DataTraveler BlackBox, available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities. Gaining FIPS 140-2 certification requires a validation process that meets federal requirements set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Communications Security Establishment of the Government of Canada. This is critical because many governmental agencies in the United States and Canada mandate that sensitive “data at rest” (i.e., all information not in the network) must be encrypted with the FIPS 140-2 standard.“We are very excited that our DataTraveler BlackBox met all federal requirements established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),” said Nitin Malhotra, Kingston Country Manager, India. “This certification, along with other enhanced security features, makes the DT BlackBox an ideal way to store and transport confidential documents with the utmost confidence that the data is secure.”
The FIPS Level 2 standard requires the DT BlackBox to run a power-on self test which verifies that the encryption architecture is functioning each time it is plugged into a USB port. Beyond the NIST certification, the DataTraveler BlackBox features 256-bit hardware-based AES encryption via a dedicated processor which automatically encrypts and decrypts data on the fly. The drive automatically locks down after ten consecutive failed password attempts, thus helping to prevent unauthorized access if the drive is lost, stolen or misplaced.

The Kingston DataTraveler BlackBox is available for Rs. 4,999 (2GB), Rs. 6,999 (4GB) and Rs. 11,199 (8GB).

Kingston has announced the launch of three revamped USB drives from DATA Traveler family, namely DataTraveler 100, 400 and 101. These storage devices add high-storage space and advance features.

Kingston has upgraded the USB drives for superior performance. While the DT100 expands its storage capacity to 16GB, the DT400 incorporates MigoSync software along with 16 GB memory package. The DT101 features security software with 8 GB of memory.“The DT400 with MigoSync has been recognized by business travelers as the perfect solution for keeping files and documents up-to-date while on the road. The DT100 now available up to 16GB is an affordable, portable storage solution allowing users to save large amounts of data while our new DT101 is an attention getter with its bright colors,” commented Jean Wong, Flash memory product manager, Kingston.

In the Kingston DT400, MigoSync software enables consumers to work on multiple PCs. Once connected to the host-machine, it automatically synchronizes to keep data up-to-date. Consumers can recreate their desktop on any computer as they can sore their important data like emails and Internet browser settings on the drive. To access MigoSync with ease, consumers can take advantage of various language supports, including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Thai, Portuguese and Dutch.

Moreover, it also integrates SecureTraveler security software for Windows and delivers a reading speed of up to 20MB/sec and writing transfer rate of 10MB/sec. This plug-and-play device has been developed to offer hi-speed USB 2.0 support. It is compatible with plethora of operating systems such as Windows Vista, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP (SP1 and SP2), Mac OS 10.2x and higher.

The Kingston DT100 impresses users with its no-cap design, wherein users can use the thumb-action slider control for retractable USB connector. Compliant with hi-speed USB 2.0 specifications, the storage gizmo boasts to be easy-to-use with its plug-and-play operations. It is compatible with Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Mac OS X 10.3.x and above, Linux v.2.6.x and above operating systems.

Shining in vibrant colors, Kingston DT101 comes in a swivel design and features SecureTraveler software that lets owners to create and access a password-protected, secure area of the drive. The plug-and-play USB drive supports Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Mac OS X 10.3 and above, Linux 2.6 and above operating systems. However, the SecureTraveler is not supported on Mac and Linux OS.

For higher storage capacity, Kingston DataTraveler 400 and 100 are the best options as they are available in 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB configurations, while the Kingston DataTraveler 101 comes in 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB memory capacity.

Coming to the price range, the 2GB DT400 USB Drive costs $24.00 (approx. Rs. 1,014), 4GB DT400 retails for $45.00 (approx. Rs. 1,902), 8GB DT400 is available for $85.00 (approx. Rs. 3,593), 16GB DT400 is priced at $196.00 (approx. Rs. 8,286). The 2GB DT100 USB Drive carries a price tag of $14.00 (approx. Rs. 590), 4GB DT100 can be purchased for $23.00 (approx. Rs. 972), 8GB DT100 has a suggested retail price of $44.00 (approx. Rs. 1,860), and 16GB DT100 is estimated to cost $85.00 (approx. Rs. 3,593). The 2GB DT101 USB Drive, 4 GB and 8 GB are priced at $14.00 (approx. Rs. 590), $23.00 (approx. Rs. 972) and $44.00 (approx. Rs. 1,860), respectively.

Kingston Technology has announced a slew of flash products at Image Today 2008, a international exhibition for photography, laptop, mobile, and office equipments, which is to be held at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai.
Image Today 2008 is a three-day exhibition starting today, July 25, and ending on July 27.

Kingston's flash products include a full range of memory cards such as CF, SD, SDHC, microSD, microSDHC, and various stylish USB drives.

Some products showcased are :Kingston's DataTraveler Vault - Privacy Edition, is an ultra-secure, waterproof drive that encrypts 100 percent of data with 256-AES hardware-based encryption and protects it with an enforced complex password. It costs Rs. 17,720 for 8GB.
The DataTraveler Vault is a waterproof USB Drive and offers 256-AES hardware-based encryption and file access protection software to protect sensitive data. It costs Rs. 16790 for 8GB.

Kingston's DataTraveler Locker USB Flash drive protects data with 256-bit AES hardware encryption and has a swivel design. It costs Rs. 5600 for 8GB.

Kingston Technology Company, Inc. announced the release of the DataTraveler 400 (DT400), a new USB Flash drive preloaded with MigoSync data synchronization software from Migo Software. This pre-installed software allows users to work among multiple PCs by directly synchronizing files, email and Internet browser settings onto the drive."The DT400 is the perfect solution to keep documents and settings completely up-to-date and in sync," said Nitin Malhotra, Country Manager, India, Kingston Technology. "Accessing email and keeping sections of the drive secure through password protection make the DT400 a powerful device for anyone to stay safely connected with work or home while on the go," added Malhotra.Available in capacities of 2GB, 4GB and 8GB, the DT400 with MigoSync software helps users navigate between systems. In addition to standard file synchronization, MigoSync also comes with Universal Mail Format, which enables a user to access email on a guest PC, even when it does not support the user’s primary email application for formats including Windows Mail, Outlook, Outlook Express or Lotus Notes. The drive’s built-in SecureTraveler software allows the creation of a ‘Privacy Zone,’ whereby a user creates and maintains a password-protected area of the drive to keep data safe.

Since then we've returned the KHX11000 to Kingston and had a number of conversations with the company's Tech bloke and the whole thing is something of a puzzle. It seems that the methodology we used was fine and dandy as the other memory all worked well enough but it also looks like the Kingston modules were fault free. Kingston tested the memory after it was returned and sent us these four screen grabs from CPU-Z that show the memory running at an effective speed of 1400MHz with an overclocked Core 2 Duo E6550.

Clearly this was something of a mystery so we asked Kingston to send another batch of KHX11000 DDR3 for us to have another go at.