Samsung

Intel's new X25-E Extreme SSD blows the competition away

Paul Mah — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:55:19 -0500

Intel has unveiled a new solid state drive (SSD) in the form of the X25-E Extreme, which is even faster than the X25-M which was released in September. The folks over at the Tech Report got their hands on an engineering sample, where they wrote, "This is without a doubt the fastest solid-state drive we've ever tested." Due to the performance of its single-level cell (SLC) memory chips, the 32GB X25-E Extreme SSD is perfectly suited for the enterprise environment at which it's targeted at. However, the drive doesn't come cheap at $719, which works out to $22 per gigabyte. Still, nothing else beats this device if you are looking for the absolutely fastest drive. Other than Intel, companies such as Seagate, Samsung and SanDisk are scrambling to manufacture and flood the market with high-performance SSDs.

For more on this story:
- check out this article from the Tech Report

SanDisk unveils dramatic performance boost for SSD

Paul Mah — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:10:09 -0500

SanDisk, on Wednesday, announced a new flash memory management system called Extreme Flash File System (ExtremeFFS) that it claims can work up to 100 times faster than the existing generation of solid-state drives (SSD). One feature of ExtremeFFS essentially allows data to be written to the disk without erasing and rewriting nearby stored data, according to Don Barnetson, senior director of marketing. SanDisk went as far as to predict that the performance of SSDs will improve by "a factor of four" in 2009 over that of current-generation SSDs. This will put them at approximately six times faster than the newest 2.5-inch hard drives. In addition, the company also proposed a virtual RPM (vRPM) standard which compares the performance of an SSD with that of an equivalent hard disk. With big-leaguers Intel, Samsung and Seagate in the SSD race as well, it'll be an interesting 2009 ahead for SSDs.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article from the Computerworld.com

Samsung, Sun joins forces to bring SSDs to servers

Paul Mah — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:02:40 -0400

Samsung and Sun Microsystems announced Tuesday that they have co-developed a new 8-GB single-level-cell (SLC) flash memory for use in solid-state drives (SSD). According to the companies, the new memory gives a five-fold increase in terms of the number of write-and-erase cycles over current products available on the market today. What is so unique here is that the breakthrough is implemented at the level of the flash chips themselves, with no changes necessary in the controller. With the market for SSD projected to reach as many as 2.2 million solid state drives by 2012, it is not hard to see why everyone is eager for a slice of the pie. In fact, Sun has earlier said it expects to offer flash drives as an option across the range of its servers and storage.

For more about the report:
- check out this InformationWeek article

Top vendors form WiMAX patent alliance

Paul Mah — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:19:03 -0400

A group of six major vendors have announced the creation of a patent alliance to ensure that companies are able to access WiMAX technologies at predictable costs. The Open Patent Alliance (OPA) is made up of Cisco, Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, Clearwire, Samsung and Sprint. Another six to nine companies are expected to join the organization.

Companies interested in creating WiMAX equipment can approach the OPA directly, resulting in a "competitive and open intellectual property rights model." In turn, it is hoped that the WiMAX industry will be stimulated to create a healthy ecosystem. This way, it will be easier to reach the critical mass of equipment and users necessary for WiMAX to truly take-off.

For more the Open Patent Alliance:
- check out this CNET News.com article

Samsung flaunts 256 GB SSD

Paul Mah — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:41:38 -0400

Samsung plans to launch a 256 GB solid state disk before the end of this year. A prototype sporting the same 2.5-inch form factor as the hard disk drives traditionally utilized in notebook computers was unveiled in Taipei at a Samsung event. This effectively allows the SSD to function as drop-in replacement for current generation of laptops. The prototype has a read speed of 200 MB/sec, with a sequential write speed of 160 MB/sec. Samples are expected to be available by September, with mass production to follow. A 1.8-inch version is also expected to be ready by the fourth quarter. No pricing information is available at the moment, though.

For more on Samsung's new 2.5-inch SSD:
- check out this IDG News article

Is open-source software a blessing?

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Open-source software may be a blessing in disguise for IT offices that are forced to tighten their belts because of economic woes. "The economic slowdown in the United States may actually boost demand for open source services," said Gard Little, program manager, IDC's Worldwide Services and Emerging Services Opportunities research programs. "If organizations adopt more open source software as part of a strategy to reduce software costs, the demand for related services should increase." Does this make sense to you?

For more on the benefits of open source software:
- Check out this Tekrati article

For more tech stories from the FierceCIO network:
> Seagate sells 1 billion drives
> Samsung shakeup claims chairman
> Windows Mobile 7: coming late 2009?

Samsung shakeup claims Chairman

Mehan Jayasuriya — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:22:26 -0400

The Samsung corruption scandal has been going on for so long now, it's almost hard to believe that we finally have what appears to be a resolution on our hands. It seems that the shame spiral was far too great for Chairman Lee Kun-hee to resist forever and he, along with his son Lee Jae-yong and Vice Chairman Lee Hak-soo, has announced that he'll step down from his position at the helm of South Korea's pride and joy. "We, including myself, have caused troubles to the nation with the special probe. I deeply apologize for that, and I'll take full responsibility for everything, both legally and morally," said Lee at a press conference, announcing his resignation following an indictment on tax evasion charges. No word yet on how this will effect Samsung, but considering that Lee was the son of the company's father, it would be silly to dismiss the potential impact of his absence.

For more on Lee stepping down:
- see this AP article

WD Velociraptor is fastest drive ever

Mehan Jayasuriya — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:33:32 -0400

What's faster than a Raptor? A Velociraptor, apparently. Western Digital has gone and bested their existing Raptor line of speedy drives by unleashing the Velociraptor, a drive that they claim is the world's fastest mechanical hard drive. The 300GB drive connects via 3GB/s SATA and spins at a blazing fast 10,000RPM. What's more, it's actually a 2.5" drive but because of its massive heatsink, needs to be placed in a 3.5" drive bay. So, is the Velociraptor a marketing ploy or the fastest drive ever? The folks at Maximum PC set out to find the answer and their benchmarks (versus the old Raptor X and the previous king of the storage hill, Samsung's HD103UJ) present a compelling case. "[W]hen it comes to consumer-level drives that are both affordable and practical, you cannot beat a Velociraptor."

For more on the Velociraptor:
- check out the benchmarks over at Maximum PC

Live from CTIA Wireless 2008

Mehan Jayasuriya — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:37:57 -0400

The crowds on the show floor are starting to thin, the seemingly endless parade of panels is coming to a close and exhaustion is finally starting to set in. Yep, it's the final day of CTIA Wireless 2008. If you didn't check in with us throughout the week, here's a quick recap of show highlights that you missed:

If that's not enough for you, make sure you check out the full CTIA coverage at FierceWireless, the official online show daily of CTIA. It's been a fun couple of days out here in Vegas--we'll see you again at CTIA IT in the fall! -Mehan

Samsung BlackJack gets WinMo6 update

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:59:57 -0500

BlackJack users, you've been a patient bunch and it looks like your patience is being rewarded at last. At 5pm EST today, Samsung will finally release the official Windows Mobile 6 ROM for the original BlackJack. In addition to Windows Mobile 6 (as seen on the BlackJack II), you'll also get "enhance[d] roaming capabilities, especially internationally." To perform the upgrade, you'll need a PC running either Windows XP or 2000 (sorry kids, no Vista allowed), your BlackJack and that USB cable that came in the box.

For more on the update:
- see this Gizmodo article