08.19.2010

SanDisk introduced integrated Solid State Drive for mobiles

SanDisk has introduced a line of miniature

solid state drives

 (SSDs) designed to fit inside mobile computing platforms such as ultra-thin laptops. Designed as an on-board storage solution for the burgeoning ultra-thin computing market, the iSSD is smaller than a stamp and weighs less than a gram.

The iSSD drive is the first flash Solid State Drive to support the industry standard SATA interface in a small BGA (Ball Grid Array) package that can be soldered onto any motherboard, and is fast enough for use with advanced operating systems in next-generation mobile computing platforms. The iSSD offers 160MB/s sequential read and 100MB/s sequential write speeds.

Measuring 16mm by 20mm by 1.85mm and weighing less than 1 gram, the drive uses a BGA form factor and a SATA interface, and is compatible with all leading operating systems. The SanDisk i

SSD

 is available in capacities ranging from 4GB to 64GB.

The company said the drive is designed to deliver the durability needed by portable devices that are frequently dropped or jostled. SanDisk's product portfolio includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders, digital audio/video players,

USB flash drives

 for consumers and the enterprise, embedded memory for mobile devices and

solid state drives

 for computers. SanDisk said iSSD offers a "substantial level" of design flexibility for OEMs who seek to create the next generation of tablets and ultra-thin mobile devices based on the

standard SATA interface

.

"The new category of embedded SSDs should enable OEMs to produce tablets and notebooks with an unprecedented combination of thin, lightweight form factors and fast performance," said Doron Myersdorf, senior director of SSD marketing for SanDisk. "With our embedded flash storage leadership, SanDisk believes it is uniquely positioned to deliver the ultra-compact Solid State Drive solutions needed by OEMs."

SSDs are expected to eventually replace traditional hard disk drives, but there is room available in the storage market for both products.

Solid State Drives

 still have a lot of growth potential, while

Hard Disk Drives

 have evolved by offering larger storage capacities and custom niche offerings.