Daily News Brief: See What's Shakin' with SSDs!

Samsung Shimmers to Front of SSD Class

Things are heating up in the solid state drive (SSD) market, and putting the pressure on the competition, Samsung announced it has developed the world's fastest 2.5-inch, 256GB multi-level cell based SSD using a SATA II interface. The new drive sports a blistering 200 MB/s read and an equally impressive 160 MB/s write, making it about 2.4 times faster than a typical HDD, Samsung said. And SSDs only look to improve - according to market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent between 2008 and 2012.

Windows Home Server Bug Fix Coming

This week Microsoft released a beta build of WHS Power Pack 1. The service, er, power pack is intended to address the longstanding corruption issues afflicting primarily multiple-drive users, a problem Microsoft thinks it will have fixed by June. In its blog Microsoft wrote, "It is at an extremely low level of the operating syste and it requires thorough testing to ensure that the fix addresses the issue." More info here.

Borders to Abandon Amazon.com

After a seven year partnership with Amazon.com, Borders Group Inc. has returned to online retailing. Despite being the second-largest bookseller, analysts say it will be a challenge to compete with established e-tailers. Borders previously said it may put itself up for sale, prompting Barnes & Noble to put together a team to study the feasibility of a deal.

Is Apple Cooking Up a Solar Powered iPhone?

MacRumors.com has discovered a patent application by Apple employees that describes technology to integrate solar cells into portable devices. Further fueling speculation, some of the named inventors are iPod engineers, CNET reports. The patent application details the use of a semitransparent display with a solar cell placed underneath it, and also describes using multiple solar cells coupled to specific electrical components within a device. Of course, not all of Apple's patents bear fruit, but this one does appear promising.

Abit Rumored to Consider Dropping out of Motherboard Market

Citing un-named channel sources, DigiTimes claims second-tier motherboard maker Abit is considering phasing out of the motherboard market if its shipment performance of Intel 4 series motherboards under-performs. In 2007, Abit shipped 2-3 million motherboards and had set a goal to ship six million in 2008, but current shipments have decreased, according to the report. Abit maintains it will continue to develop motherboard products.

Holy Holograms, Batman!

It's not the Holodeck, but related sci-fi tricks may soon become a reality. Australian telecom Telstra today beamed a mobile three dimensional image of its CTO, Hugh Bradlow, from Melbourne to Adelaide to give a live presentation. In what Telstra claims is a national first, a high definition video camera filmed Bradlow, with an optical projection system in Adelaide creating the holographic image in front of onlookers. The company believes the technology could become commonplace among businesses in as little as five years.

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