Toshiba Announces Line-Up of Toshiba-Branded USB 2.0 Flash Drives Plus Customizable USB 2.0 Flash Drive Subassemblies for OEMs

Toshiba Announces Line-Up of Toshiba-Branded USB 2.0 Flash Drives Plus Customizable USB 2.0 Flash Drive Subassemblies for OEMs

Company to Offer Toshiba-Branded Flash Drives and Subassemblies From 128MB to 1GB to Enable OEMs to Add Custom Packaging

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- In a further expansion of its Flash-based memory solutions, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)* today announced a family of Toshiba-branded USB 2.0 Flash drives in capacities from 128 megabyte (MB)(1) to 1 gigabyte (GB)(2), along with a corresponding line-up of Flash drive subassemblies for OEMs that can be easily customized by adding the outer shell. The new Flash drives and subassemblies, developed by Toshiba Corp. (Toshiba) provide a range of capacities to enable the consumer to choose the best solution to fit their storage and outer shell preferences.

Both the Toshiba-branded USB 2.0 Flash drives and the subassemblies will initially be offered in capacities of 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB using Toshiba's multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash, which stores two bits of information in each memory cell (compared to one bit-per-cell for Single Level Cell (SLC) NAND Flash) to provide competitive cost/performance value.

"With Toshiba's latest generation, 90 nanometer (nm) process technology, the read/write performance of MLC NAND is close to that of the previous generation SLC NAND, with sustained read speeds of 8MB/s(3) and sustained write speeds of 3.8MB/s, said Brian Kumagai, business development manager, NAND Flash, for TAEC. "This performance level is well suited for a wide range of consumer applications, including USB flash drives."

TAEC conducted a study on the data storage performance requirements of digital consumer applications, comparing published performance characteristics of both MLC and SLC NAND against application requirements. This data demonstrates that Toshiba's latest MLC NAND Flash delivers sufficient bandwidth for reading and writing data from typical office applications such as Microsoft Office, Excel, PowerPoint and Word. In the study, the average time required to download typical size(4) Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files in an enterprise environment was less than one second.

The results of the study also indicate that MLC NAND is well suited for extended use in many consumer applications. MLC NAND 10,000 rated write/erase cycles enables a user to completely write and erase the entire contents of the flash memory device once per day for 27 years. For details on the study, visit mlcnand.toshiba.com.

Technical Specifications: Toshiba USB 2.0 Flash Drives and Subassemblies
Part Number Description Capacity
THNU2128 MLC NAND Flash 128MB
THNU2256 USB 2.0 drive 256MB
THNU2512 512MB
THNU201G 1GB



Subassembly
Part Number Description Capacity
THNU3128 MLC NAND 128MB
Flash USB 2.0
Subassembly
THNU3256 256MB
THNU3512 512MB
THNU301G 1GB



Pricing and Availability


Samples of the USB 2.0 Flash Drive subassemblies will be available in February 05. Sample pricing is as follows: 128MB $29.99, 256MB $49.99, 512MB $89.99, 1GB $129.99.

NAND Flash Background

As a recognized pioneer in flash technology, Toshiba invented NOR-type flash technology in 1984 and NAND-type flash technology in 1987. Toshiba maintains leadership in flash technology today, with the industry's broadest selection of 1Gb(5) NAND flash memory and a complete line of NAND memory in densities from 128Mb(6) to 8Gb to meet various application requirements. NAND Flash technology is the enabling solution used in all popular memory cards such as SD, CompactFlash, xD Picture Card, Memory Stick and USB Flash drives. Toshiba features both SLC and MLC NAND in addition to a vast selection of digital media solutions for a variety of applications including digital still and video cameras, audio players, PDAs, portable and desktop computers, handheld data collection scanners, cell phones, home entertainment systems and more. NAND flash has become one of the leading technologies for solid state storage applications because of its high-speed programming capability, high-speed erasing, and low cost. The sequential nature (serial access) of NAND-based Flash memory provides notable advantages for these block-oriented data storage applications.

*About TAEC

Combining quality and flexibility with design engineering expertise, TAEC brings a breadth of advanced, next-generation technologies to its customers. This broad offering includes memory and flash memory-based storage solutions, a broad range of discrete devices, displays, medical tubes, ASICs, custom SOCs, microprocessors, microcontrollers and wireless components for the computing, wireless, networking, automotive and digital consumer markets.

TAEC is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba, one of the five largest semiconductor companies worldwide in terms of global sales for the year 2003 according to Gartner/Dataquest's Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share Ranking. Toshiba is a world leader in high-technology products with more than 300 major subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. For additional company and product information, please visit TAEC's website at chips.toshiba.com. For technical inquiries, please e-mail Tech.Questions@taec.toshiba.com.

(1) When used herein in relation to memory density, megabyte and/or MB
means 1,024x1,024 = 1,048,576 bytes. Usable capacity may be less.
For details, please refer to applicable product specifications.
(2) When used herein in relation to memory density, gigabyte and/or GB
means 1,024x1,024x1,024 = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Usable capacity may
be less. For details, please refer to applicable product
specifications.
(3) Read and write speed may vary depending on the read and write
conditions, such as devices you use and file sizes you read and/or
write. (For purposes of measuring write speed in this context,
1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes).
(4) Typical size files in this context are based on an analysis of an
enterprise network used in the study. The average sized documents
were 159 kilobytes, 528kB and 1.18MB for Word, Excel and Powerpoint
documents. Results may vary depending on read and write conditions,
including the devices used and files sizes you read and/or write.
(5) When used herein in relation to memory density, gigabit and/or Gb
means 1,024x1,024x1,024 = 1,073,741,824 bits. Usable capacity may be
less. For details, please refer to applicable product
specifications.
(6) When used herein in relation to memory density, megabit and/or Mb
means 1,024x1,024 = 1,048,576 bits. Usable capacity may be less.
For details, please refer to applicable product specifications.



Information in this press release, including product pricing and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current and believed to be accurate on the date of the announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice. Technical and application information contained here is subject to the most recent applicable Toshiba product specifications. In developing designs, please ensure that Toshiba products are used within specified operating ranges as set forth in the most recent Toshiba product specifications and the information set forth in Toshiba's "Handling Guide for Semiconductor Devices," or "Toshiba Semiconductor Reliability Handbook." This information is available at www.chips.toshiba.com, or from your TAEC representative.

SmartMedia is a trademark. CompactFlash is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation. Microsoft, Windows, and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks and tradenames held within are the properties of their respective holders.


Source: Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.

CONTACT: Carol Bardia of MultiPath Communications, +1-949-481-5867,
carol@multipathcom.com, for Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.; or
Lisa Nemec of Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., +1-949-623-3099,
lisa.nemec@taec.toshiba.com

Web site: http://www.chips.toshiba.com/

Web site: http://www.mlcnand.toshiba.com/

Web site: http://www.toshiba.com/taec

Note to Editors: Reader inquiries please publish: Tech.Questions@taec.toshiba.com. Photo available upon request. Please contact Jan Johnson, jan@multipathcom.com.

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