The Flash Storage Revolution (4/2009)

Part 2: What's Next for Flash

See Part 1: The Growth of Flash

    by Douglas Dixon

Contents

Part 1: The Growth of Flash

• Consumer Electronics Market
• The Growth of Storage
      Moore's Law (1965)
      Storage Growth
• Flash Storage
      Flash Memory Chronology & Products
• Flash Displaces Magnetic Storage
      Floppy Disk -- 3 1/2 inch - 1982 - 1990's
      USB Flash Drive Chronology & Products
• Portable MP3 Players Displace CD Audio Disc
      Portable Music Player Chronology & Products
• Digital Cameras Displace Film
      Digital Camera Chronology & Products
• Digital Camcorders Displace Videotape
      Video Camcorder Chronology & Products
• Camera Phones Displace Dedicated Cameras and Camcorders

Part 2: What's Next for Flash

• Solid State Drives (SSD) Displacing Hard disk
      SSD Chronology & Products
• Netbooks Displacing Notebooks
      Netbook Chronology & Products
• Smartphones and Convergence Devices
      Smartphone Chronology & Products
      Video Game Systems
      Digital Book Readers
• The Future of Storage

For earlier round-ups of interesting products, see my related articles:

• Digital Media Trends 2009: New Products and Technology (from CES, 1/09)
• Holiday Gadgets 2008 (12/08)
• Digital Media Galleries for more details on these and related products

References:

• See links to my Digital Media Galleries, recent articles, and Manifest Tech Blog
• IBM History - http://www-1.ibm.com/ibm/history
• Sony History - www.sony.net/Fun/SH
• Sony Corporate History - www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/history.html
• Sony Design History - www.sony.net/Fun/design/history/index.html

See Part 1: The Growth of Flash

Solid State Drives (SSD) Displacing Hard Disk

Flash-based Solid State Drives (SSD) are encroaching on the domain of hard disk drives (HDD). SSD has a compelling story: it's more rugged (with no mechanical parts or spinning platters), more power efficient (with 10 to 15 percent longer battery life), weighs less, and offers significantly faster performance -- so your system can start up and launch applications twice as fast. 

Hard drives do still offer higher capacity and lower cost, but the gap is shrinking. SSD also did have a concern about flash storage wearing out after too many write operations, but the industry has advanced the technology to have lifetimes on par with hard drives.

Solid State Drive (SSD) Benefits vs. Hard Disk Drives (HDDs)

• Reliability - Rugged to shock from drops, no moving mechanical parts
      Withstand more heat, vibration and shock than a HDD
      Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) 2 million hours, up to 6 X HDDs
• Performance - Boots and launches applications faster, up to 2X HDDs
• Power/Efficiency - Run much quieter and cooler than HDDs
      Consume 1/2 the power of HDDs (spin when idle)
      Result in 10-15% longer battery life (up to 30 minutes per charge) 
• Less Weight - Weigh 44 grams, less than 1/2 HDDs

You can look forward to next notebook having SSD storage, but the industry sees plenty of use for SSD right away. SSD is moving from an extra-cost option (as in the Apple MacBook Air) to a cost-effective option for upgrading older systems. For example, instead of replacing an old laptop, you can swap in a SDD drive to make the systems feel young again, with a clearly visible performance boosts for disk-intensive operations.           

• SanDisk - Drive Your Laptop - SSD Info, SSD Academy
      www.driveyourlaptop.com
  

Notebook Hard Disk Capacity Growth

SSD is reaching capacities required for mainstream use in notebooks

    From NAND Flash: The Ubiquitous Storage Medium, Samsung Semiconductor, 
                www.samsung.com/us/business/semiconductor
        Flash Memory Summit, 8/2008, www.flashmemorysummit.com

Solid State Drives Reaching Hard Disk Pricing

SSD is dropping to price range required for mainstream use in notebooks

    From Memory Storage Through The Global Recession, Samsung Semiconductor, 
                www.samsung.com/us/business/semiconductor
        at Storage Visions 2009, http://www.storagevisions.com/2009/Book/Jim%20Elliot.pdf

SSD Chronology and Products

• See my Portable Storage Gallery - Solid State Drives

SanDisk Solid State Drives - G3 SSD - to 240 GB (mid-09)

Drop-in replacement for hard disk drive, thin and light notebooks
Superior durability and higher performance, particularly for OS boot and application load

Imation Solid State Drives: M- and S-Series (~ 4/09)

SSD unit, plus upgrade kit with connector and software to migrate from existing hard disk

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Netbooks Displacing Notebooks

Simpler, portable, less expensive, focused on Internet access
Netbook PCs taking off: 500,000 in 2007 to 18 million in 2009 (SanDisk/Taiwan MIC)

• See my Portable Communications Gallery - Netbooks

Netbooks are small and inexpensive notebook sstripped down to focus on portability and significantly lower cost. Netbooks are all about online access, for browsing websites and keeping in touch with e-mail, but also run versions of Windows or Linux so you can edit documents and the like.

In comparison, "ultraportable" notebooks like the Apple MacBook Air and Sony VAIO TT series feature larger displays and better performance, and weigh closer to 3 pounds, but at premium prices ($1800 and up).

Netbook features

• Portability -- around 2 to 3 pounds
• Inexpensive - around $500
• Simpler software - Windows XP Home or Linux
• Smaller display - 7 to 10 inch
• Smaller size - scrunched keyboards
• Reduced performance - low-power processors like the Intel Atom, more limited memory and storage
• No CD/DVD drive

References

• Intel - Netbook vs. Laptop - www.intel.com/consumer/learn/netbook.htm
• Wikipeda - Netbooks - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook 

Laptop vs. Desktop PCs (unit sales)

 60 /  40 Ratio Has Reversed

• 2005 - Desktop 58%, Laptop 42%
• 2009 - Desktop 37%, Laptop 63%
• From Global CE Sales & Forecasts, Consumer Electronics Association, CES 1/09 - www.ce.org

Consumer PC Market: Desktop, Notebook, Netbook

    Courtesy Futuresource Consulting,  www.futuresource-consulting.com

Netbook Operating Systems

ABI Research 1/09 - 2009 netbook worldwide shipment forecast nearly 35 million, estimated 139 million in 2013

ABI Research - 4/09 - The Down Economy Could Give Alternative Netbook Operating Systems a Hand Up - www.abiresearch.com

• 75% of netbooks shipped in 2008 ran Windows XP
• 2012 will see the tipping-point at which netbooks running Linux-based and mobile operating systems 
      outnumber those running Windows XP

Netbook sales may not be adversely affected - in fact may actually be helped - by the recessionary pressures. There are three reasons for this. First, netbooks are a fairly new class of device, and widespread adoption has only recently begun. Second, they are relatively inexpensive, and some consumers may see them as a viable alternative to that pricey laptop they originally intended to buy. Finally, they can run inexpensive operating systems that don't require powerful hardware.

While much recent media attention has been focused on the trend to beef up netbooks and make them more laptop-like (and more expensive), the more important change has been at the lower end of this market. To create a lower-cost device designers are turning to Linux, and, for netbooks with ARM processors, to any of several mobile device operating systems such as Android. Mobile OSs such as Android, Windows Mobile, and Maemo can still provide the core functionality required of a netbook, but at lower cost and with smaller storage and memory requirements.

Netbook Chronology & Products

• See my Portable Communications Gallery - Netbooks

Sample Netbook Computers

• Acer Aspire One - www.acer.com/aspireone
• ASUS Eee PC - http://eeepc.asus.com
• Dell Inspiron Mini - www.dell.com/home/netbooks
• HP Mini - www.shopping.hp.com/mini
• MSI Wind - www.msimobile.com
• Samsung N mini notebooks - www.samsung.com
• Sony VAIO P series Lifestyle PC - www.sony.com/vaio
• Wikipeda - Netbook comparison - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_netbooks

ASUS Eee PC - 2007

The netbook market started growing with the introduction of the ASUS Eee PC in 2007, starting at $299. For around $399, the Eee PC 710 weighed 2 pounds with a 7 inch screen, and was (under-)powered by an Intel Celeron processor, 512 MB RAM, and 4 GB solid-state drive. But it was easy to use and quite responsive with Linux applications and Wi-Fi networking.

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO - 2007

Rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop developed by the MIT Media Lab. Released 11/2007.

ASUS Eee PC 1000HE - 10", 160 GB, 3.2 lbs., 9.5 hours, $399 (1Q 09)

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (9/08)

• Inspiron Mini 9 - 9/08 - 8.9 inch display, 2.28 lbs. - starting at $279
      Bundle with two-year AT&T LaptopConnect agreement - $99 (regularly $449, after $350 mail-in rebate)
• Inspiron Mini 10 - 2/09 - 10.1 inch WSVGA widescreen display, 2.86 lbs, starting at $399
• Inspiron Mini 12 - 11/08 - 12.1 inch WXGA display, 2.72 lbs., starting at $399
• Box.net web-based file storage, free 2 GB, upgrade to 25 GB, www.box.net/dell
      Safely and securely upload files of any type, access files from almost anywhere on any device
      No software to download, edit documents and photos directly from web browser
• Dell Netbooks - www.dell.com/home/netbooks

Sony VAIO P series Lifestyle PC - $900 Netbook (2/09)

Upscale "lifestyle" Sony PC fits in a jacket pocket or a handbag -- Just don't call it a "netbook"

The Sony VAIO P series Lifestyle PC has an 8 inch display, and weighs only 1.5 pounds. It includes both Wi-Fi and mobile broadband (with cellular subscription), plus GPS. It is priced at $899 with a 60 GB HDD, $1199 with a 64 GB SSD, and $1499 with 128 GB SSD -- still a premium for the solid-state drive, but with larger capacity than the available hard drive.

8 inch display, 1.4 lbs. 1.33 GHz Intel processor, 2 GB RAM Wi-Fi , Mobile Broadband (with cellular subscription), GPS Built-in webcam and microphone Instant-mode boot for music, video, photos, Web Windows Vista Home Premium or Home Basic 4  hour battery life 4.72 x 9.65 x 0.78 inches, 1.5 pounds 2/09 - $899 60 GB HDD, $1199 64 GB SSD, $1499 128 GB SSD www.sony.com/vaio     Find the Sony VAIO P on Amazon.com

Apple MacBook Air - $1800 Ultralight Notebook (1/08)

Compare Apple ultralight notebook

13" display, full-sized keyboard and thin (3/4 inch) and light (3.0 lbs) No optical drive, 80 GB HDD, limited connectors (no video out , Ethernet) 4/09 - 1.6 GHz, 2 GB, 120 GB HDD, $1799; 1.86 GB, 128 GB SSD $2499 1/08 - 1.6/1.8 GHz, 2 GB, 80 GB, $1799 www.apple.com/macbookair See article: Sony 2008 VAIO Notebooks (and Apple MacBook Air)     Find the Apple MacBook Air on Amazon.com

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Smartphones and Convergence Devices

All-in-one devices: Phone + Media player + Camera + Internet + PDA + GPS ...

Netbooks are just one vision of the once-hyped "convergence" of computing, communications, and entertainment -- combining a mobile phone, PDA, Internet access, portable media player, and camera. In this way, netbooks are positioned more as competition for smartphones, with the larger screen and near-full-size keyboard for extended usage.

Plus there are other kinds of multi-functional digital devices. Handheld game units like the Nintendeo DS line and Sony PSP have a significantly expanded view of entertainment, and E-book readers like the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader also can display music and photos.

A smartphone provides take-everywhere Internet access, rather than an almost-everywhere device like a netbook, which really does not fit unobtrusively in a pocket. And you may need a full-up notebook anyway for business travel. And it may not make sense to integrate all these functions into a single device, compared to having separate dedicated devices for occasional activities such as listening to music, shooting better-quality photos and videos, and GPS navigation.

• See my Mobile Communications Gallery

Mobile Internet Device Market Trends

Integrate / converge into single device -- Communications, Media, Internet 
Broadband wireless Internet - WiMax, LTE
Mobile Internet Device? Pocketable Computing Device? Personal Computing Device?

SanDisk - Smartphones with Storage

• Smartphones will account for 28% of wireless shipments in the U.S. in 2008 (SanDisk/CEA)
• 80% of cell phones will have memory slots by 2012 (SanDisk/Gartner)
• 20% of computing devices will have solid state drives by 2011/2012 (SanDisk/Gartner)

Mass Quantities of Mobile Devices

• 2.5 billion cell phones worldwide (500 million with Internet service)
• 100 million mobile computers
• 600 million Internet-connected PCs 
• By 2010, over 1 billion wireless Internet devices (cell phones, PDAs, laptops, and sensors)
• See article - Next-Generation Wireless: LTE & WiMAX

Broadband wireless - LTE & WiMAX

• LTE (Long Term Evolution) - 10 to 20 Mbps to users when deployed in 2010, potential of 40 to 100 Mbps
• WiMAX - Downloads 1 to 5 Mbps, total capacity up to 40 Mbps, up to 15 Mbps for mobile networks
• See article - Next-Generation Wireless: LTE & WiMAX

Parks Assoc., 1/09 - Fixed-Mobile Convergence

• 3G subscribers exceed 2.5 billion worldwide by 2013, over one billion in Asia alone
• Chart - www.parksassociates.com/research/reports/tocs/2008/fixedmobileconvergence.htm

The tremendous expansion of this large service population will catalyze the development of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), creating new service options where users can access video, audio, and community offerings via mobile devices once limited to traditional voice applications.

IDC, CES 1/09, Semiconductor Demand and Technology Adoption in CE and Mobile Devices, www.idc.com

• Internet users:    1.4 billion 2008, 2 billion 2012
• Internet devices: 1.5 billion 2008, 3 billion 2012 - Almost half connected by 2012
• 3G/4G/WiMax subscribers over 1.4 billion by 2012 - Wireless broadband (100 Mbps)

ABI Research 1/09 - 1.21 billion handsets shipped in 2008, for annual growth of 5.4%, 2007 was 16%
    Nokia 38.6%, Samsung 16.2%, LG  8.3%, Sony Ericsson 8.0%, Motorola 8.3%
    RIM 1.9%, Kyocera 1.4%, Apple iPhone 1.1%, HTC 1.1%, Sharp 1.0%, Other 14.1%

ABI Research 1/09 - GPS-enabled Handsets
    Global handset shipments expected to drop 4-5% in 2009, GPS-enabled phones will increase 6.4% to 240 million units
    Demand for smartphones will increase at average annual unit shipment rate of 19% through 2014
        90% of smartphones will contain GPS ICs in 2014, compared with one in three in 2008

Smartphones Expand Mobile Phone Market

Mobile phone market still growing, as smartphone segment starts to expand

    From Memory Storage Through The Global Recession, Samsung Semiconductor, 
                www.samsung.com/us/business/semiconductor
        at Storage Visions 2009, http://www.storagevisions.com/2009/Book/Jim%20Elliot.pdf

Smartphone Chronology & Products

• See my Mobile Communications Gallery

LG Touch Watch Phone (1/09)

Watch, plus touch screen phone (1.4"), MP3 player, organizer
Raise wrist towards mouth to talk (Dick Tracy), or Bluetooth headset
    Stereo Bluetooth (for headsets), speaker (speaker phone, music)

Verizon Wireless / RIM BlackBerry Storm Smartphone (11/08) -- Enterprise + multimedia

Apple iPhone  (6/08) - iTunes sync

Sync with Google applications: Google Search, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, YouTube

10/08 - $179 3.2-inch flat touch-sensitive screen, 320 x 480 Hinged screen slides up to reveal QWERTY keypad 3.2 MP camera, fixed focus     ** No built-in video recording, playback (beyond YouTube) Full HTML Web browser Instant Messaging/text/e-mail     Google Maps, Compass mode Reads MS Word and PDF documents   ** No Exchange (enterprise e-mail) ** No desktop sync Music player  ** No built-in video playback GPS navigation: built-in GPS receiver and map software microSD memory card expansion slot (SD 2.0 compatible) HTC ExtUSB (audio jack) ** No standard headphone jack T-Mobile 3G and EDGE network, and Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g Removable battery 5.57 oz with battery Android Market - www.android.com/market T-Mobile G1 - www.t-mobileg1.com HTC G1 - www.htc.com/www/product/g1 Open Handset Alliance - www.openhandsetalliance.com

Windows Mobile Smartphones

Verizon Wireless Samsung Omnia (SCH-i910) - Touch screen, 5 MP  (11/08)

All-in-one mobile device: Business + multimedia, Wi-Fi, 5.0 MP camera
Windows Mobile 6.1 with touchscreen, haptic feedback, TouchWiz interface, customizable drag-and-drop widgets

Verizon Wireless HTC Touch Pro (XV6850) - Touch Smartphone (4/09)

Windows Mobile with touchscreen, TouchFLO 3D interface, Wi-Fi
Slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Portrait and landscape orientation

Sprint / Palm Pre  (1H/09) - Multi task, Multiple personalities, Bridge office and personal

Synergy feature: Apps communicate dynamically to web
Integrated view: Contacts, calendar, e-mail, messaging  from multiple sources
"Card" model: Switch easily between multiple activities
Universal search: Start typing to search contacts, apps, then Google, Wikipedia

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Convergence Devices: Video Game Systems

Portable game systems as media players

• See my Portable Media Players Gallery - Portable Game Systems

Handheld game units like the Nintendo DS line and Sony PSP have a significantly expanded view of entertainment -- the PSP also is a media player (including full-length movies) and Web browser, and the new DSi plays and captures music and photos -- and allows you to edit them with fun effects to share wirelessly with friends.

1/09 - Total units sold: 96 M Nintendo DS, 50 M  Sony PSP, 30 M Apple iPhone / iPod touch (4/09 - Engadget)

• Sony 1/09 - sold 50 million PSP series handhelds worldwide since December 2004
      2,000+ titles available worldwide on UMD, 200 million software sales
      www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/090213e.html
• Nintendo 12/08 - sold 96.22 million DS handhelds between December 2004 and December 2008
• Apple 3/09 - sold over 30m units of iPhones and iPod touch, 17M 3G
     www.engadget.com/2009/03/17/live-from-apples-iphone-os-3-0-preview-event

Sales History

• 4/09 - Nintendo has sold 75 million DS units since the product launched in 2004 (CNBC)
• 4/09 - Nintendo sold 600,000 DSi units across North America and Europe during first few days of availability (GameDaily)
      DSi has sold over 2 million units in Japan since it went on sale there in November 2008
• 6/08 -Sony  PSP - 41 million units sold worldwide
      3/07 - 25M units sold, 100 million software units 

Ninty's sold just about twice as many total DS units than Sony's 50m PSPs, hard numbers from which no amount of marketing bluster can really distract. In fact, if we were in charge at Sony, we'd be more worried about the emergence of the iPhone and iPod touch, which have sold over 30m uni

Nintendo DSi (4/09) -- Play and share with photos and music

"More than a game system, more of a personal tool to enrich our daily lives"

Larger 3.2 in. screens Two VGA / 0.3 MP cameras, interior hinge points towards user, exterior shell Audio player: Music player (AAC , not MP3) - adjust speed and pitch, apply filters     Voice recorder - Modify 10sec. sound clips, apply to songs Camera software: Apply lens effects to photos     View photo albums and slideshows, edit photos, Trade wirelessly Web browser, DSi Shop - games and applications, Prices free to $8, max $20 SD/SDHC expansion card slot (not Game Boy Advance) ARM 133 MHz CPU, 16 MB RAM, 256 MB internal Flash memory 4/09 US - $169/$149, blue or black Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DSi www.nintendodsi.com    Find the Nintendo DSi on Amazon.com

Nintendo DS Lite (6/06) / DS (04)

Nintendo DS Lite (6/06) Slimmer and lighter, brighter screen (4 levels); 6/06 US - $129 Nintendo DS (04) Stereo speakers, built-in microphone Wi-Fi 802.11 to interact with near-by players     online with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service Backwards compatible with Game Boy Advance cartridges Released North America 11/04 - $149, 8/05 $129 www.nintendo.com/ds

Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Handheld gaming machine  + Movie player for films on UMD disc + Personal media player: Music, photos, video + Wi-Fi networking 12/06 - PSP-1000 launch 9/07 - PSP-2000 - slimmer and lighter, video out 11/08 - PSP-3000 - enhanced display, microphone www.us.playstation.com/PSP

Sony PSP-3000  (11/08) Enhanced display, contrast ratio, color gamut     built-in microphone for voice input, Skype phone 4.3 inch display, 64 MB, Memory Stick PRO Duo slot Wi-Fi wireless - Infrastructure mode,      Ad hoc mode (up to 16 consoles)     Web browser (Flash content), Internet radio,          RSS feeds (streaming audio and video)         Remote play (access PS3)     PlayStation Network - buy games and content MPEG-4 Video, MP3 / WMA audio, photos 8/08 - $199     Find Sony PSP-3000 on Amazon

Convergence Devices: Digital Book Readers

E-book readers also can display music and photos

• See blog: The Amazon Kindle as a Mobile Convergence Device
• See my Portable Media Players Gallery - Alternate Delivery

There's another type of portable media -- plain old text. And between e-mail and the Web browser on our PDA phones, we're actually doing a lot of reading on our devices, even though that's not the focus of their design. Meanwhile, Amazon and Sony have been working on a different category of device, e-book readers that are also on the convergence track, with better displays, audio playback, photos, and wireless connectivity.

Sony Reader Digital Book (10/08)

Touch screen display, size like thin paperback book
Sony eBook Store, plus access 500,000 free public domain books from Google
    http://ebookstore.sony.com/google-ebooks

PRS-700, 3rd generation 6 inch touch-screen display,  8-Level Gray Scale, 170 Pixels Per Inch Transfer eBooks, documents (Word, PDF)     Music (MP3, AAC), Photos: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP Memory Stick Duo / SD card expansion storage 0.4 in. thin (5 1/9 x 6 7/9 x 13/32 in.), 10 oz. Battery - turn up to 7,500 pages (two weeks of reading) Announced 10/08 - $399; 4/09 - $349 PR 10/08 - http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/ computer_peripheral/e_book/release/37586.html www.SonyStyle.com   Find the Sony Reader on Amazon.com

Amazon Kindle 2 (2/09)

Purchase and download books directly to device, 1 min. delivery (Sprint broadband wireless, no extra monthly charge)
    Download some 230,000 books directly from Amazon, U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, blogs
    Explore and preview books by downloading first chapters for free
Sync Audible recorded books via PC, transfer personal documents via online service (Word, PDF)
Web browser, best used for simple, text-centric Web sites

6 inch display (not touch screen), 600 x 800, 167 ppi,     Upgraded from 4 to 16 levels of gray for clearer text, crisper images. Half as thin, just over 1/3 of an inch (8 x 5.3 x 0.36 in.), 10.2 oz. More storage, hold over 1,500 books (no memory card expansion) Play MP3 music, display image files Runs up to 4 days with wireless on, 2 weeks with wireless off "Experimental" Text-to-Speech, read books out loud Released 2/09 - $249   Find the Amazon Kindle 2 on Amazon.com

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The Future of Storage

Portable and home, Flash and the cloud

Consumer Digital Storage

Home & portable - Total consumer storage usage: Optical disc, hard drive, and flash

    From Storing Your Life Consumer Digital Storage- Personal, Shared, Hierarchical and Virtual
        Coughlin Associates, January 2008
        www.tomcoughlin.com/Techpapers/Storing%20Your%20Life%20for%20UCSC,%20100108.pdf

Digital Storage In Consumer Electronics

• By 2015 overall consumer content could add up to about 760 exabytes worldwide, including commercial, personal as well as shared content 
• Projections based up on a consumer survey show that we could expect over 2.2 TB of new content in an average home in 2013 including backups
• By 2013 total content in an average home could total almost 9 TB. 5 TB of this is commercial content
• Projections for the upper 10% most active users of content in the home could easily see their storage capacity requirements double those of the average user
• After 2010 Life Logs and other new content capture and sharing technologies could drive the use of storage capacity for user generated content to enormous levels
• Most mobile applications will migrate to flash memory except where higher storage capacities are required for mobile library content or higher resolution video is captured (such as in higher resolution, longer use time camcorders)
• Total digital storage device capacity for all storage devices shipped into the home could reach 650 exabytes by 2013. At the same time expected accumulated consumer data by 2013 is expected to be about 760 exabytes.
• Coughlin Associates, January 2008
      www.tomcoughlin.com/Techpapers/Brochure CE_Storage_Report, 010208.pdf

Cloud Storage

Netbooks with Online Storage

"Hybrid" storage - Local HDD / SSD + online

ASUS Eee PC

• Online Eee storage: 10 GB Online Eee storage, free first 18 mos., upgrade to 60 GB
• http://eeepc.asus.com

Dell Inspiron Mini

• Box.net web-based file storage, www.box.net/dell
• Lite - Always Free - 2 GB of storage, 25 MB file uploads, 5 collaboration folders
  Professional - $99.99 / year - 25 GB of storage, 1 GB file uploads, 10 collaboration folders
      + 24/7 phone support, Faster Uploads, Version history
• Business - $15 / user / month - 15 GB of storage, 1 GB file uploads, Unlimited collaboration folders
      + Custom branding, Admin console

LaCie Goes Online with Wuala (3/09)

• 3/09 - LaCie Merges with Caleido AG, the creators of the Wuala social online storage service
• Reliable and secure cloud storage
      Store and back up files, Access and share anywhere from the Web
• Start with 1 GB, can get as much as you want
      Trade idle disk space (i.e., 50 GB on your computer for 50 GB online)
      Buy additional storage: 10 GB $25/year, 100 GB $100 / year, 1 TB $1000 / year
• Based on technology researched at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich)
• All data first encrypted on user's computer
      split into fragments, redundantly stored on servers and in grid network
      128 bit AES for encryption, 2048 bit RSA for authentication
• Upload in background, fast download P2P in parallel
• Desktop client (Java) to drag-and-drop files and upload in the background: Windows, Mac, and Linux
• LaCie morphs from pure hardware manufacturer to solution provider
      Sees combined solution for storage
          Local storage on devices for fast access,
          Secured remote storage on the cloud, for easy sharing and complete data versatility
• PR 3/09 - www.lacie.com/us/company/news/news.htm?id=10468
• www.lacie.com
• www.wuala.com

Flash Storage

Western Digital Enters Solid-State Drive Market - Acquires SiliconSystems

• 3/09 - WD acquires SiliconSystems, $65 million cash acquisition
• Western Digital is a leader in hard drive storage for computing and consumer electronics
• SiliconSystems is leading supplier of solid-state drives for the embedded systems market
• Solid-state drive market estimated $1.1 billion in 2008,  embedded systems largest segment at $400 million
• Sold millions of SiliconDrive products
      SATA, EIDE, PC Card, USB and CF interfaces, in 2.5-inch, 1.8-inch, CF and other form factors
• Addresses emerging opportunities in WD's existing markets
      Accelerates programs for netbook, client and enterprise markets
• PR - 3/09 - www.wdc.com/en/company/releases/pressrelease.asp?...
• www.westerndigital.com
• www.siliconsystems.com

demo

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