Posted 11/06/08 at 11:27:47 AM by Paul Lilly

If solid state drives (SSDs) continue to march into the mainstream market, 2008 might very well one day be looked at as the start of the SSD era. But for that to happen, the performance numbers have to improve and users have to be convinced that the technology can be reliable on a long-term basis. Performance, which is supposed to SSD's strong point, has come under fire amid real-world benchmark comparisons, and as far as SanDisk is concerned, Vista is to blame.

Taking matters into its own hands, SanDisk has developed a new file system, ExtremeFFS, which the company claims has the potential to increase write performance by up to 100 times in SSDs over existing systems.

"To maximize random write performance, SanDisk developed the ExtremeFFS flash file management system," the company wrote in a press release. "This operates on a page-based algorithm, which means there is no fixed coupling between physical and logical location. When a sector of data is written, the SSD puts it where it is most convenient and efficient. The result is an improvement in random write performance – by up to 100 times – as well as in overall endurance."

ExtremeFFS allows NAND channels to work independently of each other, so while some might be reading data, others can be simultaneously writing. The technology also purports to "learn" user patterns and eventually localize data, which sounds a lot like advanced defragging routines. Admittedly, SanDisk senior VP and GM Rich Heye's concedes that it might not make a difference in benchmarks, but believes "it is the right thing to do for end-users."

In related news, SanDisk has also come up with a performance metric it is calling vRPM, or virtual RPM. The metric has been designed to let users know how fast a typical hard drive would need to spin to match the performance of an SSD, which would also allow for a performance comparison between SSDs.

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Software, Sandisk, flash, hardware, ssd, solid state drive, build a pc, extremeffs, file system

Posted 10/23/08 at 08:43:34 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Samsung has withdrawn its offer to acquire SanDisk for $5.85 billion. The decision came after SanDisk continuously maintained that the $26 per share offer was inadequate and asked for an upwards revision. Yoon Woo Lee, vice chairman and CEO at Samsung Electronics, still clings onto the belief that “a combination of our two companies would have created a superior global brand, an unparalleled technology platform and the scale and resources to drive convergence in the marketplace.” In a letter to SanDisk’s board, Lee mentioned Samsung’s obligations towards its own shareholders and the volatile economic environment as the two main reasons for not revising the bid upwards.

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samsung, Sandisk, flash, stockholders, stocks, bid, offer, shares

Posted 10/16/08 at 03:20:27 PM by Pulkit Chandna

About a month after SanDisk announced its SlotMusic MicroSD memory cards with preloaded MP3 music, the flash memory manufacturer has extended its nascent SlotMusic brand to MP3 players as well. The newly announced SlotMusic MP3 player can play music stored on a MicroSD card.

You will have to part with a paltry sum of $20 to own the SlotMusic player. Price alone won’t decide the fate of the SlotMusic player, though. It will hinge, eventually, on the success or failure of SlotMusic cards. The MP3 player comes with batteries and earphones.

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MP3 Player, Sandisk, flash, microsd, slotmusic

Posted 09/30/08 at 04:10:26 PM by Paul Lilly

SanDisk on Tuesday announced plans to release a 16GB microSDHC and Memory Stick Micro (M2) mobile memory cards, which would qualify as the world's largest mobile phone removable memory card capacity. The timing couldn't be better either, as handsets continue to up the ante with high tech features like media playback, HD digital camera capabilities, GPS, gaming, and everything else manufacturers can stuff into a mobile phone.

"Handsets have become far more than just phones - they’ve become mobile jukeboxes, mobile offices, even mobile movie theaters," said Avi Greengart, Research Director for Mobile Devices at Current Analysis. "Flash memory cards have increased in storage capacity, but even an 8GB card may be too small for anyone with GPS map data, a few movies, a game or two, a presentation file and other applications."

Officially available at Best Buy Mobile stores in October and Verizon Wireless stores in November, SanDisk has set the MSRP for the 16GB microSDHC at $100, and $130 for the M2.

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mobile, storage, Sandisk, Cellular, Cell, micro sdhc, phones

Posted 09/23/08 at 01:20:52 PM by Florence Ion

SanDisk is teaming up with major music labels, including Sony BMG, to offer “slotMusic”; 1GB memory cards preloaded with full length albums.

The albums will be sold at retailers likes Wal-Mart and Best Buy and will be encoded in high quality mp3 format. The microSD cards will have no DRM restrictions, allowing the music to be easily downloaded to a computer or loaded onto an mp3 player. SanDisk also anticipates that be offering 1GB cards, artists will take the liberty of offering more than just an average 11-track album, maybe even venturing to offer music videos, interviews, album art, bonus tracks, and other premium content.

This business venture is an interesting one, especially considering that SanDisk seems to be attempting to revive physical media. This could prove to be a difficult endeavor, especially with companies like Apple being ahead of the game with iTunes. There’s speculation that this is SanDisk’s way of trying to offset the takeover bids from Samsung and Toshiba, though analysts say there is little the company can do to try to stay independent.

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drm, samsung, toshiba, Sandisk, mp3 players, memory cards, mp3s, microsd

Posted 09/18/08 at 02:10:00 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Samsung Electronics vindicated rumors about its interest in acquiring SanDisk by publicly making a takeover bid on Tuesday. But SanDisk quickly rejected the takeover bid, which valued it at $5.85 billion - $26 per share, citing its 52-week high of $55/share.

But Samsung wasted little time in readying its response. Samsung’s CEO Yoon-Woo Lee reiterated his company’s original offer in a missive sent to SanDisk’s board. “The world has changed dramatically in the past 52 weeks as can be seen from SanDisk's own disappointing results,” he astutely derided SanDisk’s allusion to its 52-week high.

He called their attention to the fact that the offer is a “premium of 80% over your closing share price on September 15, 2008, and a 66% and 164% premium to your 30-day weighted average price and enterprise value as of September 4, 2008, respectively.”

This is going to be a game of cat and mouse just like the drama that played itself out between Microsoft and Yahoo; and EA and Take 2.

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samsung, Sandisk, hardware, flash memory

Posted 09/06/08 at 02:49:49 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Consumer electronics giant Samsung also happens to be the world’s premier NAND Flash memory manufacturer. It now aims to further strengthen its position by acquiring flash memory maker SanDisk, if reports in the Korean media are to be trusted. The rationale behind such a move is that an acquisition will not only bolster Samsung’s current flash memory production capacity but also save the company about $350 million annually – the amount Samsung pays SanDisk in royalties. SanDisk has been navigating through some rough financial weather lately, but still is coveted by couple of big companies. Of course, rumors of Seagate making a bid for the company have also been around. A possible acquisition would handover a considerable advantage to Seagate in the SSD market. SanDisk certainly seems to have a few takers.

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samsung, seagate, Sandisk, hardware, ssd, nand flash

Posted 07/23/08 at 10:52:36 AM by Paul Lilly

With the all the brouhaha surrounding solid state drives (SSDs), there remains a question of exactly how big of a performance advantage flash memory really holds over today's hard drives. On paper, most SSDs scream ahead in both read and write speeds, but real-world benchmarking paints a different picture. So why the discrepancy? At SandDisk, they're blaming Vista. The company's CEO, Eli Harari, says SSD "performance in the Vista environment falls short of what the market really needs. Vista is not optimized for flash memory solid-state disks."

It's not hard to find fault with Vista, but blaming the OS for underperforming SSDs qualifies as a new one that even Apple hasn't yet exploited in its many mocking commercials.  To be fair, Harari made the statement as part of a pitch to improve SSDs' next generation controllers, which he says "need to compensate for Vista's shortfalls." Because of this need, the company claims it is behind schedule bringing competitive SSDs to market.

Is SanDisk justified in pointing the finger at Vista?

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vista, windows, microsoft, Software, Sandisk, hardware, ssd, solid state drive, build a pc