Solid State hard drives are finally starting to fall within reach in the mainstream market, and TDK have just launched one of their own solid state NAND flash memory variants. The drive is roughly the size of a typical notebook hard drive but does not rely on mechanical rotating platters and read/write heads for operation. Instead, the tiny drive uses high-speed NAND flash memory and can store up to 32GB of data using sixteen 16 gigabit chips.

Full details in TDK's press release, and also at the DailyTech.

TDK Corp. has developed a compact semiconductor disc featuring NAND flash memory and start providing samples for assessment at drive manufacturers.

The development is a 32 GB semiconductor disc embedded with 16 chips of 16 Gb NAND flash memory. It measures 79 x 68.9 mm, about 80% compared to a 2.5-inch HDD. "If this disc goes through assessment at drive manufactures, we will be able to develop the industry's smallest class semiconductor disc," said a TDK spokesperson.