Consumers' video expectations are being shaped by the brilliant images promised by 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) video and beyond. However, the technical-based hurdles and data demands of higher quality video mean that the majority of users only have access to full HD or lower video technology. For nearly three years, the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) has been working in lock-step with its members, the world's best-known leaders in video, to develop a better quality internet video technology that benefits all consumers. Today, the Alliance is proud to announce the public release of the AOMedia Video Codec 1.0 (AV1) specification, which delivers cross-platform, 4K UHD or higher online video, royalty-free – all while lowering data usage.

Whether watching live sports, video chatting with loved ones, or binging on a favorite show, online video is becoming a bigger part of consumers’ daily lives. In fact, video is so important to users that by 2021, 82 percent of all the world's internet traffic will be video, according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index™, 2016–2021. To remove many of the hurdles required by older, optical disc-era, video technologies, AOMedia developed AV1 specifically for the internet video-era, paving the way for companies to make more of the royalty-free, 4K UHD and higher video devices, products, and services that consumers love.

CDRLabs has taken an in depth look at Plextor's latest SATA SSD, the M8V. This entry-level device is powered by Silicon Motion's SM2258 controller and is available with up to 512GB of Toshiba's 64-layer BiCS3 3D TLC NAND flash. To compensate for the slow write speeds typically associated with TLC NAND, the M8V is equipped with Plextor's PlexNitro cache acceleration technology, which optimizes performance without taking up any space on the drive. The M8V also features built in LDPC technology as well as a RAID engine and data shaping for enhanced data transfer stability. To top it all off, the drive supports Plextor exclusive applications like PlexTurbo, PlexCompressor and PlexVault.

Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend), a leading manufacturer of storage and multimedia products, announced today the release of the 500S and 300S series of SD and microSD cards. These memory cards, produced in capacities of up to 512GB and featuring transfer speeds of up to 95 MB/s, are a ready-made solution for the storage needs of today’s users. The gold 500S series, constructed of durable MLC flash, is ideal for action cameras and drones, while the silver 300S series SD cards are offered in capacities up to 512GB, and the microSD cards have been crafted with the smartphone market in mind.

Meeting A1 performance specifications
Transcend’s 128GB 300S microSD cards meet the SD Association’s latest Application Performance Class 1 (A1) standards for responsiveness, which call for performing 1,500 IOPS on random read operations and 500 IOPS on random write operations, and sequential speeds of at least 10 MB/s. The 300S series tops out at 95 MB/s read and 45 MB/s write speeds, making it ideal for storing and running mobile apps.

Mushkin Enhanced MFG, an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance computer products, is announcing the Mushkin Source Series, a new line of solid state drives (SSDs) for the retail, e-tail, system integrator, and channel markets. The Source Series features a powerful, yet cost-effective design suitable for a wide-range of applications.

“The market has never been more ready for SSDs,” says Brian Flood, Director of Product Development for Mushkin Enhanced MFG. “With the ultimate balance of value, capacity, and performance, the Source Series leverages all of the great benefits expected from an SSD without breaking the bank.”

Source SSDs are ideal for mainstream computing – from gaming desktops and notebooks to mini-PCs (NUCs) and everything in between. Offered in 2.5” and M.2 2280 form factors, the Source Series is an excellent choice for almost any system. Source SSDs are available in 120GB, 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities and can achieve max sequential performance of up to 560MB/s read and 520MB/s write. Each Source SSD is protected by M.E.D.S. (Mushkin Enhanced Data-protection Suite) ensuring valuable data is protected and is backed by a 3-year warranty to ensure peace of mind.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched the XPG SX8200, its fastest consumer SSD to date. It arrives in a compact M.2 2280 form factor and uses the ultra-fast PCIe3x4 interface to deliver up to 3200MB/s read and 1700MB/s write – which is perfect for gamers, overclockers, and PC DIY enthusiasts in pursuit of unsurpassed performance! SX8200 employs the latest 2nd generation 64-layer 3D NAND Flash for improved reliability and ships in capacities of 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB.

PCIe Gen3x4 - Breakthrough the Barrier of Speed
Leveraging ultra-fast PCIe Gen3x4 interface and the NVMe 1.3 protocol, the SX8200 provides tremendous improvement in read/write performance. It implements a 32bit DRAM data bus, intelligent SLC Caching, and a DRAM cache buffer, accelerating sequential and 4K random read/write speeds. It reaches speeds of up to 3200MB/s for reads and 1700MB/s for writes and 310K/280K IOPS random 4K read/writes for faster boot, shorter game loads, and system response time.

LITE-ON Storage, an established leader in the rapidly expanding solid-state drive (SSD) industry, said today it will demonstrate its latest enterprise drives, the NVRAM Hybrid SSD, during the OCP U.S. Summit 2018, kicking off here today.

The new LITE-ON NVRAM Hybrid drive, slated for release this spring, is a compact high-density drive with multi-namespaces. One of the namespaces can be dedicated to NVRAM drive and the other namespace to boot drive, fully utilizing the NAND portion of the drive. This drive has a dual-use feature such that it can serve as boot drive for server with the SSD namespace and as cache with the NVRAM part of the drive, resulting in reduced overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) with a better utilization rate.

“Customers tell us they need the most technologically advanced SSDs in their enterprises, but those storage solutions must also make financial sense,” said Darlo Perez, Managing Director, LITE-ON Storage Group. “Our new NVRAM Hybrid SSD is capable of meeting today’s demanding and time-sensitive data center requirements while maximizing TCO.”

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it is rolling out its PM883, the highest density datacenter SATA drive, at eight terabytes (TB). Samsung’s new solid state drive (SSD) offering is the industry’s first datacenter SATA drive to incorporate LPDDR4 DRAM modules and features a 6.0-gigabits-per-second (Gbps) 2.5-inch SATA interface.

The high-performance PM883 is expected to accelerate a transition in many existing enterprise datacenters to SATA-formatted SSD designs, with improved economies of scale through the use of advanced-generation V-NAND technology at higher densities.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to enable a high level of storage density with low power consumption, which thanks to the efficiency of our 64-layer V-NAND-based technology, allows us to double the capacity of current SATA storage,” said Jim Elliott, corporate senior vice president, memory sales and marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. “Our expanded lineup for the PM883 will offer up to 8TB to allow optimal use in existing enterprise and cloud storage systems.”