Less completely wasted space

IDF 2009: New 2.5in SSD drive standard

EVERYONE KNOWS that Solid-State Drives (SSDs) are based on flash memory chip technology and have no moving parts, which makes them faster and more reliable than hard-disk drives (HDDs). SSDs are can also be manufactured in physical formats that are much smaller and thinner than their old-fashioned HDD counterparts. Nevertheless, the shape of the connectors that SSDs use to interface with devices has remained the size and shape of the traditional HDD form-factors.

Speaking to CNet way back in February of 2008, Samsung flash marketing manager Michael Yang outlined the company’s ambitious plans to develop new products utilizing SSDs and also went on to discuss the need to rework their physical packaging.

Today at IDF, the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) announced it is developing a specification for a mini-SATA interface connector, mSATA™. This new low-profile connector will enable more effective SATA integration in small form-factor applications.

The mSATA connectors will be about the size of a business card, 30mm x 4.75mm x 50.95mm, and should be perfect for applications such as netbooks, portable electronics and other embedded storage. Initially mSATA will support SATA and SATA II interfaces, while later SATA 6Gbps adoption is likely.

Toshiba followed up the news with announcement of the first commercial mSATA SSD drive.

Since much of the space in of 2.5in SSD drives is completely wasted, we are psyched to see the new connector and even more psyched to see that the specification is being codified into a Standard.

Now let’s see some monster-sized batteries and smaller devices!S|A

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