Displaying items by tag: Flash Memory

As the computer market moves to smaller and smaller form factors the need to decrease the foot print of storage devices is growing. The problem that many manufacturers face is that a reduction in component size has traditionally meant a reduction in performance. This is where technologies like mSATA and M.2 SATA (or M.2 PCIe) come into play. Each of these has a benefit in terms of size and also performance. With mSATA you can maintain close to the same performance that you have with traditional SATA (with the right components), but there are limitations on which motherboards and even mobile devices support this. Now with M.2 (also called M Key) SATA and PCIe devices we are seeing a number of motherboard makers will support for them right out of the box. Because of this interest in these new devices has grown. Today we are taking a look at the first one to hit our lab: the Kingston SM22080S3/120G M.2 SATA drive.

The Flash Memory Summit wound down on Thursday after a four day run at the Santa Clara Convention Center in San Jose. The show floor was fairly crowded with over 5,000 attendees and a sold out exhibition space.

During yesterday an agreement was reached between Toshiba and CAA, by which Toshiba buys OCZ's technology related to solid state disk drives.

“By the time you get this message, I'll be in the dead zone.” – Capa, “Sunshine,” DNA Films, 2007
You have to wonder if this year’s Flash Memory Summit (FMS) didn’t have Al Shugart, a hard drive pioneer, spinning in his grave.
There are a whole lot of silicon engineers hell-bent on moving his technology to a dusty corner of the Computer Museum.
Shugart was a key developer of IBM’s RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) disk system that stored a whopping 5MB of data. Today, no kid would look twice at a smartphone or tablet if it didn’t have at least 32GB (1GB = 1,024MB).

With the official presentation of generation Haswell processors, Intel also unveiled several other attractions at Computex. Among them is a prototype flash memory for fast Thunderbolt interface.

Samsung might soon cease the production of microSD cards in their own facilities. According to Digitimes, the company gives up the manufacture of fabricated microSD card in order to improve focus on more profitable embedded solutions such as eMMC, EMCP and SSD.

With the issues that popped up over heat in Ivy Bridge we started to dig deeper into the limitations of the materials currently used. We have been following the progress of Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes, and are even on the lookout for other materials that might be used either alongside these more advanced options or perhaps even in combination (like Graphene and Nanotubes can be). Today we stumbled on an interesting article that covers a new material while also covering a new technology.

Apple is famous for many things. They are famous for making the iPhone and iPad, they are famous for their never ending stream of patents for things that already exist and last but not least they are famous for making sure that you cannot use their mobile products without their approval. You see if you buy an iDevice your core file system is pretty much locked down. Now there are ways to get into the file system and move things around, but it can get messy and things do not always make the transition intact. The other side of this is that there is no way to add more storage to any of their products. It is not like an Android or Windows based tablet with an SD card slot or USB ports. So what can you do if you bought one of the 16GB non-3G iPads or if you only own the iPad touch? Kingston has an answer for you. Kingston has put their expertise in making flash drives to good use and attached a flash drive to a wireless controller that can also act as a wireless bridge. They are calling it the Wi-Drive and when you pair this up with the WiDrive app from the AppStore you might just have a relatively low cost answer to a lot of people’s needs. So follow along as we take a look at the $180 32GB Wi-Drive on a first generation iPad.

Kingston Digital Announces Rock the Bells Festival Giveaway

Prizes Include Concert Tickets, Show Merchandise and Flash Memory

Fountain Valley, CA -- August 16, 2011 -- Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is sponsoring a ticket package and product giveaway for the Rock the Bells Festival Series 2011 in the United States. In its 8th year, Rock the Bells is a hip hop festival that brings together top artists such as Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas, Erykah Badu and Cypress Hill. The festival will be held in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Boston in August and September 2011.

Kingston^® is awarding eight grand prize winners two general admission tickets to a Rock the Bells show of their choice. Other prizes include Guerilla Union/Rock the Bells merchandise and Kingston memory gift packs. Kingston memory gift packs vary depending on availability.

To enter, purchase a Kingston product from a retailer or e-tailer such as Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com, Buy.com or TigerDirect.com, or through the store of your choice. Take a photo or create a video of your purchase that cleverly incorporates the Rock the Bells theme and post to the Kingston Facebook page. All winners will be determined by a panel of judges selected by Kingston and posted here.

“The Rock the Bells concerts are held in some of the best locations across the country and features the biggest names in hip hop for an extremely exciting festival experience,” said Danny Ordway, social media marketing manager, Kingston. “We’re happy to connect our customers with such a fun summer event.”
The Rock the Bells giveaway runs through September 17, 2011. Each contestant must be 18 years of age or older and a legal U.S. resident (void in Puerto Rico and Hawaii). Complete rules and information can be found here.

Kingston can be found on:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kingstontechmemory
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kingstontechnology
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/kingstonhq
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/164609?trk=tyah

About Kingston Digital, Inc.
Kingston Digital, Inc. (“KDI”) is the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products. Established in 2008, KDI is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, USA. For more information, please visit www.kingston.com or call 800-337-8410.  

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Kingston and the Kingston logo are registered trademarks of Kingston Technology Corporation. All rights reserved. All other marks may be the property of their respective titleholders.

Kingston Wi-Drive Wins Best of Show at Flash Memory Summit

Wireless, Portable Storage Solution for Apple Devices Recognized as

“Most Innovative Flash Memory Consumer Application”

Fountain Valley, CA -- August 11, 2011 -- Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced that Wi-Drive^™ has been chosen by the Flash Memory Summit as a Best of Show award winner for 2011 in the Most Innovative Flash Consumer Application category. The award was handed out last night at the Flash Memory Summit Best of Show Awards event in Santa Clara, Calif.

“We are honored to have received the Best of Show award this year as Wi-Drive is truly an innovative Flash memory-based wireless solution that extends the storage capacities of Apple devices,” said Andrew Ewing, Flash memory business manager. “Wi-Drive allows users to wirelessly view documents and media files, and choose to share them with others, while on the go for work or pleasure.”

The Flash Memory Summit conference, held once a year, is dedicated entirely to Flash memory and its applications. The summit features exhibits and technical sessions that bring together Flash vendors, engineers, system designers and other professions. Wi-Drive was reviewed by a panel of industry experts prior to the show. Winning products were evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Distinctiveness of the application, technology, or product
• Central use of Flash memory as a solution or innovation
• Technical and business significance to the general marketplace

“The judges of the Flash Memory Summit Awards Committee had the daunting task of selecting the Most Innovative Consumer Application from such a large pool of quality submissions,” said Tom Coughlin, Summit Chairperson and President of Coughlin Associates.  “We are proud to select Kingston Digital’s Wi-Drive as a wireless, portable storage device that allows users of the Apple iPad^®, iPhone^® and iPod touch^® to expand their storage.”

Wi-Drive began shipping in July and is available in both 16GB and 32GB capacities. Through the Kingston Wi-Drive app from the App Store^SM, three users can simultaneously watch movies, listen to music and view photos or documents. Its sleek, extremely portable and functional design allows users to view their files anywhere, without having to rely on cloud-based technology or Internet access.

To learn how users can easily enhance the storage capabilities of the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, a video demonstration and more information is available at www.kingston.com/flash/wi_drive.asp

For a complete list of all the Flash Memory Summit Best of Show awards winners, visit www.flashmemorysummit.com

Kingston can be found on:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kingstontechmemory

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kingstontechnology

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/kingstonhq

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/164609?trk=tyah

About Kingston Digital, Inc.

Kingston Digital, Inc. (“KDI”) is the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products. Established in 2008, KDI is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, USA. For more information, please visit www.kingston.com or call 800-337-8410.

About Flash Memory Summit

Flash Memory Summit is the only conference dedicated entirely to flash memory and its applications.  It is intended for system designers, analysts, hardware and software engineers, product marketing and marketing communications specialists, and engineering and marketing managers.  It features forums, half-day tutorials, paper and panel sessions, and expert tables.  Subjects include harsh environments, laptops, enterprise storage system applications, consumer products, performance, product design, caching methods, design methods, software, new technologies, market research, testing and reliability, and security.  The Summit also includes exhibits of the latest products and product awards. For more information, visit www.flashmemorysummit.com. Twitter: flashmem Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flash-Memory-Summit/72498807894

About Conference ConCepts, Inc.

Founded in 1994, Conference ConCepts is a full-service professional conference and association management company that provides extensive capabilities in all aspects of technical conference management. Conference ConCepts develops and produces events both on its own, and in partnership with associations, corporations, and publishers. The skill sets of the company’s employees and contractors, representing over 200 cumulative years of experience, enables Conference ConCepts to offer clients a choice of services, ranging from assistance with a single aspect of a conference to the complete development and administration of a full-fledged “turnkey” event. For more information about Conference ConCepts, visit: http://www.confconcepts.com