So SanDisk has said they’ve got a technology called ExtremeFFS that will increase random SSD write speed by like a million percent. Sounds great, right? So what is it? Well, what they do is take all the stuff that’s going to be written on the SSD and instead of trickling it to the disk at the maximum random write rate (very slow compared to sequential writes), it writes it to “virtual storage,” assumed to be RAM, and then writes it to the SSD at the maximum rate it can go.

Wait, did I read that correctly? Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this entire “technology” just a bigger cache? The write speed is not improved at all, it’s just tricking the OS into thinking it’s writing onto the SSD as fast as it is writing onto RAM. I guess that kind of makes sense, but it’s a bit misleading, and seems like it would be pretty taxing on the RAM.[I stand corrected] The technology does have some other benefits, however (NAND channel independence is good), and it doesn’t appear to harm anything, so I guess this is good news.

Update: I believe I misinterpreted this! It decouples the physical and logical location of a piece of information, so that when data is physically written, it is written to the location that is fastest and easiest for the SSD — based on free blocks and anti-wear-and-tear algorithms — and the information on the physical location is kept in “virtual storage,” and the OS can’t tell the difference because the shuffling is done at the controller level.
Read More

Just in case you haven’t been paying attention, here’s the skinny: Samsung offered to by SanDisk for $26 per share in cash which is promptly turned down by a unanimous BoD vote. We explain why Samsung wants SanDisk, and then yesterday, Samsung withdrew its bid. 

SanDisk’s official response:

From the start of this process SanDisk’s Board has remained open to a transaction that recognizes SanDisk’s long-term value and contains the right protections for SanDisk’s shareholders. We repeatedly outlined a clear path to hold further discussions, including most recently in our letter on September 15, and Samsung consistently chose to ignore that path and, in fact, never contacted SanDisk regarding their proposal after we delivered our letter. We believe this raises questions about the real motivations behind Samsung’s offer.

So there.

Oh, these multi-billion dollar companies and their flings! I thought they would have made such a cute match, too. Actually, probably not, but still. Was Samsung’s game just not good enough? Was SanDisk playing a little too hard to get?

Romantic conceits aside, it looks like SanDisk just wasn’t willing to give in and give up control of such a strong brand to the beast that is Samsung. They held out after rejecting the offer initially, and now Samsung is walking away, too. SanDisk would rather sell off some expensive assets and introduce some bad-ass new products to invigorate the company than become another head of the Samsung hydra. SanDisk doing it for herself!

Check out the whole release — plus saucy letter — after the jump.
Read More

It’s generally accepted that flash memory eventually doubles in capacity and apparently SanDisk is looking towards the future when 128 GB MicroSD cards are available. ‘cording to the Deccan Herald and SanDisk’s CEO though, those cards will not be available until 2011 and I am assuming they will be of the new SDHC flavor. Seeing as the largest widely available MicroSDHC card is currently only a 8 GB and 16 GB flavors coming real soon, it might just take over two years for us to see 128GB MicroSDHC cards. Just think of all the crap you can load on your phone when you have 128GB of room!

Deccan Herald via WMExperts

After that sun-seeking planter robot, I figured you guys could use something a little drier. So without further ado: it seems that SanDisk and Toshiba are “reallocating” the output of a couple fabs (Fab 3 and Fab 4 if you must know). Essentially, it comes down to SanDisk selling off 30 percent of a joint venture in manufacturing flash memory to their partner, Toshiba.

I don’t think that SanDisk is in dire straits, exactly, but generally the wholesale selling off of assets like the factories that make your goods isn’t seen as a sign of solvency. You can get a better idea by reading their quarterly financial results, which basically show a decline in revenue.

Well, that certainly was dry, wasn’t it? Here’s a unicorn!

My good friend Peter Ha isn’t sold on the Sandisk SlotMusic hoopla (see his post here). I think it’ll work, though. You have to approach it from the mindset of the casual consumer for it to make sense. Think of the player like a Walkman or a Discman and MicroSD cards as blank tapes or CDs. Then remember that entire albums used to be sold on tapes and CDs and that for many people, there’s a certain comfort in being able to drop a piece of media into a hardware player and have it just work.

Read More

Today, SanDisk announced the Sansa slotMusic player, which it claims is the easiest MP3 player for “loading and listening to music on the go.” The slotMusic microSD cards were announced in September and today we see a $20 music player to play said microSD cards.

Most of us are carrying cell phones with microSD slots with some archaic MP3 player built-in, so the cards themselves seem to make sense, but who wants to spend another $20 on a player that comes with craptacular headphones? Maybe the artist-branded ABBA or Robin Thicke slotMusic players will be enticing enough to spend $35 on. Yeah, I didn’t think so. No wonder Samsung wants to purchase SanDisk.

Have ya noticed that the price of flash memory keeps dropping? Apparently, everyone and their brother built plants to manufacture the memory and now the market is over saturated causing the prices to drop. Flash memory insiders were hoping that the SanDisk acquisition by Samsung would stimulate the industry and stabilize prices. Is that what we want as consumers? Stabilized prices? I sure don’t see the downside. Tell me why I wouldn’t want a 32GB thumb-drive for $30?

You are going to need a big, fast CompactFlash card now that high-def video is the norm for higher-end DSLR cameras and SanDisk has your back. The flash memory firm just announced its 32GB drive that can hold an hour and a half of 1080p HD video or a whole bunch of RAW photos. Plus, the card boosts 30 MB/s read write speeds which, the company says will transfer the whole 32GB card in under 15 minutes. Pricing wasn’t included in the press release but since the 16GB carries a $399 MSRP, the 32GB isn’t going to be cheap.

PR

SanDisk and the RIAA sure do hope y’all aren’t “finished” with physical media-based music playback. If you are, then this whole slotMusic venture will end up being a waste of everyone’s time.

SlotMusic, actually written slotMusic, is the name of Sandisk’s new line of music-filled microSD cards. The thinking behind slotMusic is that consumers, what with their music playing cellphones, still lack an easy way to load and listen to their favorite songs. So, you walk into a Best Buy or Wal-Mart (slotMusic will initially be sold there), grab the latest pop sensation-loaded slotMusic, then stick it in your phone and off you go.

Again, that’s the thinking. That the iPhone doesn’t accept microSD cards is one minor issue. That consumers are more comfortable with downloading music (from iTunes) and may have completely written off physical media is another.

It’s worth pointing out that the songs loaded onto slotMusic cards will be DRM-free MP3s. Specific bitrates and encoding methods? ::shoulder shrug::

And yeah, it’ll be interesting to see how this affects that whole Samsung-Sandisk talk.

UPDATE Some more info has trickled out, in the form of the official press release. The slotMusic cards weigh in at 1GB, and the MP3s are encoded at 320 kbps. All the big record labels are here, too. Sony BMG, EMI, Universal and Warner are all part of the scheme. Click through if you want to read the full press release. Maybe you’re bored?

Read More

In the parlance of today’s youth, Samsung could be said to be “all up in SanDisk’s grill.” But why? Why would a massive South Korean company with factories around the world be focused on a fairly small memory manufacturer with a total revenue of $3.9 billion? To put this into perspective, Samsung did $100 billion in 2007 which means Samsung has, in the common parlance, “more money than God.”

To recap, Samsung offered $26 a share for SanDisk and SanDisk politely refused. Here is what I think is going on.
Read More

Samsung yesterday, “You smell pretty. I buy you for 26 dollars a share. You mine now.”

SanDisk today, “Thanks, but get your stinking offer out of here. You are grossly undervaluing me Samsung, and I don’t have to take it. The market as a whole is down and that is why our stock price as dipped since we first started talking back in May ‘08. So get the hell away from me Samsung!”

Mockup

Looks as if those rumors of a Samsung buyout were true after all. The board of directors at SanDisk were sent the following proposal to swoop the memory manufacturer at $26 per share, cash. The letter states that SanDisk investors would see a 93 percent premium based on the surge SanDisk’s stock saw when it was first reported that Samsung was interested. And it basically goes on from there.

UPDATE – On the wires right now: Sandisk rejects Samsung’s “unsolicited offer.” More as we get it.
Read More

Capacity junkies and pro photographers, pay attention; everyone else can causally move on. The latest flavor in SanDisk’s long line of Extreme media cards has been boosted up to a whopping 32GB and 30MB/s read/write speed. The admission price is kind of high at $299, but if you are the type that needs a super fast 32GB CF card, that’s what you’re going to pay – at least until the price drops.

Before we dive into what the speculators are saying, here is SanDisk’s statement on the issue:

“SanDisk periodically has conversations with multiple parties, including Samsung, regarding a variety of potential business opportunities. We evaluate all of these opportunities, but maintain a policy of not commenting on market rumors or speculation.”

So the big rumor SanDisk is talking about is the one where Samsung buys them, and royally screws over Toshiba. If this happens Samsung will be the top dog in flash memory (they’re already close). They will also have their hands on the many patents owned by SanDisk. If this rumor is true this could reshape the flash memory market.

While I’m never the first to jump on Vista for this or that problem (I’m guessing it’ll be a great OS in a couple years), this is pretty dumb. Larger capacity solid state disks are in the works and, being more complicated internally, will require a more sophisticated controller. You don’t think about your hard drive controller that much, and that’s probably because hard drive technology has been in the same generation for practically 20 years. And you expect a company like Microsoft to future-proof their OS so that the next wave of technology will work best on Windows — what a selling point it would be if SSDs just worked better on Vista, right?

But Vista isn’t a forward-thinking OS, it’s a retrospective OS, the last and largest in a line of dinosaurs. And Sandisk says Vista isn’t ready for the next generation of SSDs. They’re gonna get zapped on this.

Looking for an inexpensive MP3 player to use for working out, showing off to tourists, and/or other general merriment?

Buy.com has the SanDisk Sansa Shaker for the low, low price of $14.99, which includes free shipping. Being that it’s a SanDisk product, there’s an SD slot that you can use to expand upon the 1GB of storage that comes standard.

The Shaker has a built-in speaker, two headphone jacks, and song changing is handled simply by shaking the device. You can also change tracks and regulate the volume by twisting the white bands on the top and bottom of the device. The regular price for the Shaker is around $50, so this deal might not last all that long.

SanDisk Sansa Shaker 1GB [Buy.com] via FatWallet

Yes, indeed, SanDisk has a vested interest in people buying removable storage cards, seeing as how the company makes its money by selling memory. However, SanDisk’s Jan Hauer – director of product marketing – made an interesting prediction in London earlier today. Hauer predicted that, eventually, MP3 players won’t be outfitted with memory at all. They’ll all use removable storage cards. So will most other devices that play music, too. So you’d be able to take your memory card between your MP3 player, your computer, your car, and your home stereo, for instance.

Granted, you can already do that with many devices nowadays, but Hauer’s prediction is that you’ll be able to do that with all devices someday. Thanks to Moore’s Law, you’ll be able to keep doubling your storage for the same price every year without having to buy all new gadgets because they’d all just take the same removable media.

SanDisk also announced that its Sansa Clip and Fuze players would be getting Ogg Vorbis and FLAC file support via a soon-to-be-released firmware upgrade and that all SanDisk digital audio players from now on would contain FM radios.

via The Register

Remember MusicGremlin? The WiFi based music player? No? Well, SanDisk bought them for an undisclosed sum. Full release follows.
Read More

SanDisk’s TakeTV — the thing where you plugged a thing into your computer, dragged over movies, and then schlepped them to your TV — is dead along with its content site, FanFare.

I probably could have told you that while the concept was solid there was one hole in the plan — that whole schlepping part. Imagine countless exchanges like this:

Customer: So I put the movies on here and then…
Best Buy Guy: You walk to your TV and…
Customer: Walk?
Best Buy Guy: Really? What’s this whole Windows Media Center thing about?