When it comes to gadgets and devices, the public are very contradictory about what exactly they want. When it comes to phones for example, it’s generally the bigger they are, the better. However when it comes to tech such as computers, it’s usually considered that the thinner and lighter a device, the better it will be. However not only do consumer want hardware to be smaller, thinner and lighter, it is also expected to be faster and more agile.
Samsung Electronics, who are world leaders in advanced memory technology, has announced that they have begun mass producing the industry’s smallest SSD drive. Developed by combining 16 of Samsung’s 48-layer 256-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND flash chips, one 20-nanometer 4Gb LPDDR4 mobile DRAM chip and a high performance Samsung controller, the SSD provides a huge 512GB of storage. Measuring just 20mm x 16mm x 1.5mm, it is approximately just one hundredth of a typical laptop or PC SSD – which usually measure up at around 2.5-inches.
The computer world’s first NVMe PCIe solid state drive (SSD) in a single ball grid array (BGA) package. It is set to be used in the next-generation of PCs and ultra slim notebooks. Tripling the performance of typical SATA SSD in the smallest form factor available, it offers read/write speeds up to 1,500MB/s and the ability to the ability to move a full HD movie or a file size of 5GB in about 3 seconds. The not so conveniently named ‘PM971-NVMe’ features a whole range of tremendously compact package that contains all essential SSD components, including NAND flash memory, DRAM and controller while delivering the superior performance expected of Samsung products.
Aiding in the creation of even lighter and even thinner devices in the future, such as laptops and desktops, the new SSD will also allow manufacturers to improve other components and add features, such as larger batteries in laptops and notebooks. They could also signal the way for use in mobile phones, helping to increase mobile phone memory storage, again either allowing companies to make thinner phones, or helping to increase battery capacity.
Planning to introduce more high-capacity and ultra-fast NVMe SSDs in order to meet increasing customer demand for improved performance and greater density, Samsung look set to lead the way with small, yet powerful devices.
