Kingston Digital Transforms iPad, iPhone and iPod touch Storage Capabilities

New Wi-Drive Stylishly Delivers Wireless, Portable and Shareable Storage

COMPUTEX Taipei and Fountain Valley, CA — (June 1, 2011) — Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the sleek and functional Wi-DriveTM, built to address the ever-increasing storage needs of Apple iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch® users (www.kingston.com/flash/wi_drive.asp). Wi-Drive, a wireless, portable storage solution, allows users to expand the number of documents, images, music and video files they can access from Apple devices. The combination of this storage expansion, file sharing and a rugged portable form factor makes it a perfect companion device.

Wi-Drive, along with its app from the App Store SM, allows users to stream videos, access music or share files with other Apple device owners. The distinctively designed, pocket-sized Wi-Drive utilizes Flash-based technology to store data from USB-compatible PCs. These files are then easily retrieved via Wi-Drive’s built-in wireless signal without requiring cables or an Internet connection. Three users can work simultaneously with different file types from a single Wi-Drive without any performance disruption.

“Wi-Drive is an ideal solution for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users who feel confined by their current storage capacity,” said Andrew Ewing, Flash memory business manager, Kingston. “Wi-Drive allows Apple device owners to wirelessly manage document and media files, and choose to share them with others, while on the go for work or pleasure. This unique functionality, combined with the durability of a Flash-based device, will satisfy both casual users and the most discerning technophiles.”

To begin using Wi-Drive with any of the compatible Apple products, users simply drag and drop files from their PC to Wi-Drive via USB cable, similar to a typical USB Flash drive data transfer. Users then download the Wi-Drive application from the App Store before connecting the Wi-Drive to their device. A video with a demonstration of the solution is also available here: www.kingston.com/flash/wi_drive.asp

Kingston offers Wi-Drive in both 16GB and 32GB sizes and the product will be available for purchase in late June 2011.

Kingston Wi-Drive Features and Specifications:

Capacities*: 16GB, 32GB
Dimensions: 121.5mm x 61.8mm x 9.8mm
Operating Temperature: 32°F to 122°F (0°C to 50°C)
Storage Temperature: 14°F to 185°F (-10°C to 70°C)
Wireless Network Interface: Wi-Fi 802.11g/n with wireless security (WPA/WEP)
Rechargeable Battery: up to four hours of continuous use
Cable: Mini-USB to USB cable included. User can upload files and content from their PC/Mac to the Wi-Drive using the USB cable
Portable: Uses Flash-based technology for durability and reliability
Convenient: pocket-sized for easy transportability
Simple: just plug into a USB port
Guaranteed: one-year warranty
App: downloadable at Apple’s App Store
Compatible with: iPad, iPhone 3G/3GS/4, iPod touch (3G is limited to iOS 4.2.1+)
Configurable APN (access point name) and Key functions to connect to Wireless Access Point
(Internet Connection)
Supported File Formats:
• Audio: AAC, MP3, WAV
• Video: m4v, mp4, mov, Motion JPEG (M-JPEG), AVI
• Image: jpg, bmp, tiff
• Document: pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, txt, rtf, xls

* 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.

Part Number
WID/16GZ
WID/32GZ

Kingston Wi-Drive

Capacity and Features
Wi-Drive 16GB
Wi-Drive 32GB

MSRP (U.S. Only)
$ 129.99
$ 174.99

ASRock X58 Extreme6 Mainboard Review
Bluetooth 17 Oct 2010

Looking for the most affordable featured pack board. This board is no ordinary X58 chipset mainboard. This board is the first board based on Intel X58 chipset and it support up to 6 USB 3.0 ports on board. ASRock uses 3 NEC USB 3.0 chipsets to control the 4 rear 2 front USB 3.0 portsTo make it Not only that, it also has 6 SATA6Gbps ports on board. That makes it support up to 12 SATA ports (6 SATAII and 6 SATA III – 6Gbps). . In order to supply ample bandwidth, ASRock uses the PLX chip on board.

So how does ASRock achieve that? Basically, we went a bit further to study the block diagram and discovered that ASRock has made one of the better designs. In earlier designs from other manufacturers, the graphics PCIe lanes are hard wired or run at a lower speed. In ASRock’s design, the 3 graphics port lanes are configured as 16x + 8x + 8x. The remaining 4x is split into 2x + 2x, one for the Marvell SATA6Gbps and the other 2 lanes is connected to the PLX PEX8608 chip. The PLX PEX8606 transforms the PCIe x2 to support 3 NEC USB 3.0 (for 6 USB 3.0 ports), 2 Marvell SATA6Gbps chips (for 4 ports of SATA 6Gbps) and 2 PCIe x1 lanes.

Other than this implementation to support the fastest peripherals, ASRock X58 Extreme6 comes with ASRock DuraCap (2.5 x longer life time), 100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors. It supports the 6 core processor and supports Triple Channel DDR3 2000(OC). With 3 full length PCIe slots it supports supports ATI™ Quad CrossFireX™,3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™, NVIDIA® Quad SLI™,3-Way SLI™ and SLI™. 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), THX TruStudio Pro™ and Premium Blu-ray audio support

Other features include 2 x Front USB 3.0 ports, 4 x Rear USB 3.0 ports, 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors, 2 x IEEE 1394ports, Dr. Debug, Smart Switch Design: Power/Reset/Clear CMOS Switch with LED
Supports ASRock Instant Boot, Instant Flash, OC Tuner, IES, OC DNA, Good Night LED, Multi-Speed Fan Control, AIWI, APP Charger.

Free Software : CyberLink DVD Suite – OEM and Trial
Free Bundle: 1 x Front USB 3.0 Panel, 1 x ASRock SLI_Bridge_2S Card, 1 x ASRock 3-Way SLI-2S2S Bridge Card

Seagate and Samsung, the two major makers of hard drives and system memory, announced Thursday that they have entered into a joint development and licensing agreement.

 Under this agreement, the two companies will develop and cross-license related controller technologies for solid state drives.

This is interesting; Samsung has released many consumer-grade SSDs, whereas Seagate has recently taken the route of hybrid drive with the release of the Seagate Momentus XT (500GB). The company’s first attempt into the SSD market with the Pulsar drive didn’t make much of a splash.

According to Seagate, however, the two companies aim to develop new SSDs for the enterprise storage market, of which Seagate has been a strong player with traditional platter-based hard drives.

Steve Luczo, Seagate’s chairman, president, and CEO said, “Today’s agreement with Samsung will help us bring a compelling set of SSD innovations to the enterprise storage market, with benefits that range from enhanced performance, endurance, and reliability to cost and capacity improvements.”

Seagate says that the joint development will build on the existing SSD capabilities of each company while combining Seagate’s enterprise storage technology with Samsung’s 30 nanometer-class MLC NAND flash memory technology. Seagate will then use the jointly developed controller for its enterprise-class SSDs.

The first SSDs based on this joint development is expected to be available by the middle of 2012.

Source CNET

OCZ Vertex 2 E 60GB OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G Review
bluetooth 15 Aug 2010

HDD used to be the bottleneck for performance. This has been partially solved with higher SATA interface speed. As HDD goes speedier, it is still unable to saturate the interface.  SSD came and slowly take over as the preferred choice as storage media as it is speedy and could take advantage of the higher speed SATA II interface. As not all SSD are made equal, some SSD gives amazing read speeds but bad write speeds. OCZ Vertex II 60GB, the extended version inherits the original version with a bigger capacity and push the limits in both sequential and random read/write. As spec, it is able to do a max read and write up to 285MB/s and 275MB/s respectively. 4K random write (aligned) should be able to attain 50,000 IOPS. by virtue of the SandForce controller.

Built with SATA 3Gb/s, the Vertex 2 Series easily integrates into today’s mobile and desktop platforms and features TRIM support to optimize performance over the drive’s lifespan as the ultimate Windows 7 notebook or desktop upgrade.

The OCZ Vertex II 60GB comes with a metal bracketl 2.5” to 3.5” adapter so you can stick the SSD into a standard hard drive bay. Below is a video showing the package and the SSD.

Specifications

Max Read: up to 285MB/s
Max Write: up to 275MB/s
Sustained Write: up to 250MB/s
4k Random Write (Aligned): 50,000 IOPS
Seek Time: 0.1 MS
Power Consumption: Idle: 0.5Watts Active: 2Watt
Performance Optimization: TRIM (requires OS support)

Kingston SSDNOW V Series 64GB Notebook Upgrade Kit SNV425-S2BN/64GB Review
bluetooth 29 Jun 2010       

For notebooks, SSDNow drives are a perfect replacement for hard drives resulting in faster, more reliable performance. Making this change will improve a notebook’s efficiency in a wide range of tasks, from booting up to running the most demanding operating systems and applications.       

SSDNow uses a standard SATA interface but, unlike a regular HDD, SSD is very rugged and built with no moving parts, making it ideal for users who push the limits of their notebooks. Other benefits include reduced power usage, less noise and less heat generation.       

Comes with an USB enclosure, you can simply plug it in, clone your existing < 64GB partition using the Acronis Disk image software provided. Once that is done, you are able to boot up from the SSD as your primary OS drive. Alternatively, you can hook it using USB as an external drive.       

On the next page, we take a look at the packaging followed by benchmark tests.       

Features       

• Performance — enhances productivity; makes users more efficient
• Innovative — 2.5″ form factor; uses NAND flash memory components
• Silent — Runs silent and cool with no moving mechanical parts
• Reliable — less likely to fail than a standard hard drive
• Shock Resistant — No moving mechanical parts so the SSD handles rougher conditions
• Supports TRIM — ensures maximum performance on compatible Operating Systems ²
• Supports S.M.A.R.T. — Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology
• Guaranteed — 3 year legendary Kingston warranty, 24/7 tech support

Specifications       

• Capacity¹ — 30 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB
• Storage Temperatures — -40° C to 85° C
• Operating temperatures — 0° C to 70° C
• Vibration Operating — 2.17 G Peak (7–800Hz)
• Vibration Non-Operation — 20 G Peak (20–2000Hz)
• Sequential Speed ³ —
  30 GB – up to 180 MB/sec. read, 50 MB/sec write
  64 GB – up to 200MB/sec. read; 110MB/sec. write
  128 GB – up to 200MB/sec. read; 160MB/sec. write
• PCMARK® Vantage Advanced HDD Suite Score ⁴ —
  30 GB – 18,900
  64 GB – 21,317
  128 GB – 20,177
• Power Specs —
  Active: 1.7 – 5.2 W (TYP)
  Sleep: 0.05 – 0.7 W (TYP)
• Life expectancy — 1 million hours mean time before failure, 64 GB/128 GB
  500,000 hours mean time before failure, 30 GB

OCZ Technology Announces Vertex 2 and Agility 2 Solid State Drives

Company Unveils Cutting-Edge 2.5-Inch Solid State Drives for the Consumer Market 

 SAN JOSE, CA—April 8, 2010—OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (OTCBB: OCZT), a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and flash-based storage as an alternative to hard disk drives (HDDs), today unveiled the Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SATA II 2.5″ Solid State Drive (SSD) Series. These are new enthusiast-class SSDs designed for consumers who are seeking unprecedented speed and reliability with the goal of enhancing both their daily computing experience and long-term productivity.

“OCZ’s original Vertex Series of solid state drives have become a top seller due to the product’s exceptional performance and reliability,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. “The new Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SSD lines continue that tradition by incorporating the latest controller and firmware technology. They are an excellent solution for customers who are looking for improved transfer rates and best-in-class input/output per second (IOPS) for a wide range of uses, ranging from entertainment to workstation and tier 2 storage applications. Additionally, this new product line highlights our continuing determination to be the market leader in the high reliability memory and flash-based storage market.”

Building on the features that distinguished their highly acclaimed predecessors, the Vertex 2 and Agility 2 incorporate a cutting-edge new controller design that delivers superior performance across the board. As the higher-end option, the Vertex 2 excels in 4KB random writes up to 50,000 IOPS and features transfer rates up to 285MB/s read and 275MB/s write. For the value-conscious enthusiast, Agility 2 provides similar performance at a lower price point and delivers identical read/write rates and 4KB random writes up to 10,000 IOPS.

OCZ Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SSDs not only provide a faster, more responsive PC experience, but also promote cooler, quieter and more energy-efficient conditions compared to traditional mechanical hard drives. Built with SATA 3Gb/s, the drives easily integrate into today’s mobile and desktop platforms and feature TRIM support for Windows 7 systems. Available in 50GB, 100GB, 200GB, and 400GB capacities*, Vertex 2 and Agility 2 will begin shipping in the next few weeks through OCZ’s extensive global channel. Both series come backed by a three-year warranty and OCZ’s dedicated technical support for ultimate peace of mind.