New SSD drive: Pulsar

Looks like Seagate has waiting long enough and has jumped into the SSD market. It’s first branded offering is called the Pulsar. Looks like it’s in a standard 2.5″ shell with a SATA connection. It will be offered in sizes of 50GB, 100GB, and 200GB. Also comes with a 5 year warranty. Seems to be aimed at the enterprise market, expect it to be pricey.

Toshiba puts 320GB into a 1.8″ frame

More data storage into a smaller package (see a recurring theme here?). Toshiba‘s come out with their latest and greatest, get ready for new ipods. In order to accommodate your storage needs Toshiba has increased the platter density, improved energy efficiency, and data transfer rates. It spins at 5,400 rpm and has 16MB of cache. It even boasts greater durability than a traditional 2.5″ laptop drive. Look for the new drive secretly hiding in your gadgets next year.

Big storage, tiny package

I got your 128GB flash storage, right in my pants baby! No seriously. The new Kingston data traveler stores 128GB in a tiny flash storage device. Take your porn collection with you where ever you go (because we all know you can’t live without it). Just be prepared to spend a bit of money. An alternate option might be just buying a whole laptop. Are we getting ridiculous yet?

I don’t know about you but the most data I’ve ever had to move around has been 8GB. Haven’t even had the need for a 32GB flash usb drive. Here’s a thought, why not use that external drive you’ve got sitting around? It won’t fit in your pocket but it’s a whole hell of a lot better than spending $900 on a little usb thingy. However, if you’re a rich bastard than why am I even talking to you.

Seagate ups the ante, 500GB per platter

1 platter or 2? Is less platters better? 1 less spinning surface, more room (relatively) inside of that 3.5″ hard drive? Less debris to be collected over a few years of use? Seagate has announced that platter density just got even more crowded. Move over boot sector, and make room for more storage. Pushing the density from 300GBs (roughly) per platter to 500GBs. So instead of a 2 platter 750 GB drive you’ll have a 2 platter 1 TB drive. Yay! All I gotta say is “Mo’ data, mo’ problems.”

Western Digital, your move.

Western Digital cutting jobs

Hard drive maker, Western Digital, is planning on cutting 2,500 jobs and executive pay based on the current economic forecast. They expect next year’s sales to be lower due to weakening demand. Western Digital is planning on closing it’s hard drive factory in Thailand and has plans to sell 2 factories in Malaysia.

Perhaps we will see a stabilization of storage prices next year. $60 for a 500GB drive is dirt cheap but current ‘sale’ prices may be short lived. With a few million less hard drives in production, relative supply will shrink and prices may even go up. Hmm, maybe I will pick up that 1.5TB drive for Christmas.