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Solid State Drives, or SSD, are the up and coming solution to the moving parts problem of current hard drives. Based on flash technology, the read/write times of SSDs are flat out blazing.

An Intel R&D group, headed up by Knut Grimsud, is responsible for developing new storage technologies, one of them being solid state drives. In the 2nd quarter of this year, Intel will likely make an announcement regarding these same drives. At the moment, Intel offers a chip for storage for end users, albeit one with a relatively small capacity. Small, in today’s sense, meaning up to 16GB’s.

Intel’s purported 2nd quarter announcement will reveal Intel’s intent to launch 1.8 and 2.5-inch solid state drives. These drives are expected to range in sizes from 80 to 160GB. Look for more as it happens.

Via [Crave]

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Sony wastes no time in rolling out its very first internal Blu-ray disc BD-ROM drive, called the very un-catchy BDU-X10S, available now for pre-order on SonyStyle.com. It’s going to come pre-bundled with a bunch of accessories, including Cyberlink’s PowerDVD BD Edition Player software, an SATA Data Cable and Power Cable (4pin to 15 pin), mounting screws, disc loading tray cover replacement kit, and of course a user manual and quick start guide.

What’s more surprising is that it’s only listed for $199.99 on the product page from Sony’s web site. Certainly opens the Blu-ray experience up to new markets now, doesn’t it? And the BDU-X10S can also play your old VCDs and DVDs, in case the cost of Blu-ray discs still get you down. It’ll be compatible with all versions of Windows Vista, and will also run on Windows® XP SP2 Home or Professional Operating Systems. So if you think you’re ready for “the Blu’s,” check out Sony’s new internal BD-ROM drive when you get the chance. Estimated ship date will be on April 7, 2008.

Via [Macworld UK]

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The Samsung Instinct received “Best In Show” during the Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Award competition, which took place during the CTIA Wireless 2008 convention in Las Vegas.

The Samsung Instinct was first voted “First Place” in the Mobile CE - Phones/Smartphones category by a panel consisting of 31 judges. The “Best In Show” award was then chosen by CTIA attendees. Not surprisingly, attendees voted via text message. CNET also bestowed an award on the Samsung Instinct during its Cream of the Crop CTIA 2008 Awards. The phone was given the title “Best cell phone” by CNET.

Sprint and Samsung first announced the Samsung Instinct April 1st. The phone is expected to compete with the iPhone because of the touch screen technology used by the phone in addition to its virtual QWERTY keyboard and voice activation features. The phone is also the first EV-DO Rev A device by Sprint which is marketed toward consumers.

The Samsung Instinct is capable of accessing a number of Sprint services, including Sprint Navigation (GPS navigation), Live Search for Sprint, Sprint TV, Sprint Exclusive Entertainment, the Sprint Music Store and Pocket Express which provides news and access to weather, sports and movie showtimes based on zip code. The Samsung Instinct is expected to be available in June.

Read more from the Sprint press release.

Brian’s Opinion

Sprint and Samsung have to be awfully pleased with the performance of the Samsung Instinct at CTIA. With all of the rewards it received there is no doubt that people who might have been considering an iphone might want to take a look at the Samsung Instinct before making their purchase. This is exactly the kind of phone which will help Sprint to attract new customers while retaining their current subscriber base.

You have to give it to Samsung. They designed a heck of a phone when it comes to the Instinct. It basically has everything someone would want in a smartphone. There’s no doubt that Samsung is going to grab some decent market share as a result of the Instinct.

It’s just too bad we have to wait until June to be able to grab one. If the phone was already available Samsung and Sprint could have been taking advantage of some of the momentum after CTIA. Now the two companies will have to create their own when the phone is launched three months later.

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Looks like the Motorola booth had a red Sidekick Slide on display this year at CTIA 2008. No word yet on when it will hit market (if it even will). I know a lot of people quoted the purple color as being a reason they steered away from the Slide. In my personal opinion the red looks sexy, and I’d totally rock
it. Click here for the full video of the tour of the Motorola booth.

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What day is April Fool’s Day? That’s right, April 1st. It appears that somebody either forgot to tell that to the folks at AbleComm, or they were suffering from such stunning inefficiency that the gag came out two days late, on April 3rd. Friday’s story about Panasonic’s cellphone plasma screens, in which AbleComm played small manufacturing role, was a fake.

The press release was dated April 3rd, and many blogs and news sites went with the story. It turns out that the mistimed press release caused such a fuss that a new release was released, as it were, and personal emails sent, like the one I got from PR Newswire’s Michael Toole:

Hi Charlie. AbleComm issued a kill yesterday stating that this release was completely false. Can you update or remove this post?

Thank you.

Engadget’s Nilay Patel sums it up:

Yep, we got punked, we’ll admit it. Unlike us, however, AbleComm hasn’t yet had the stones to issue its own retraction.

Panasonic Plans Plasma Screens For cellphones [Gadget Lab]

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The title says it all. Brian Krische and his roommate grew suspicious after far too many of their Netflix movies disappeared in the mail. So like any true nerds, they cooked up a hi-tech mousetrap. Krische hooked a camcorder up to his MacBook, installed some motion detecting security camera software and pointed the whole lot at the mailboxes.

Later that very day, their suspicion “that it was the white-trash tenants in the first floor” was proved true. The upstairs neighbor loitered around their mailbox and then disappeared with the red Netflix mailer. The guys called Netflix, who were ‘very understanding”. They also called the police, who busted the perp tried him. The sentence? A $750 fine and a stint in the First Offender Program. Busted!

How to Catch a Netflix Thief [Krische Online via Kottke]

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It seems only fitting that after two weeks of feverish 3G iPhone rumor mongering there would finally emerge a photo of this mythical device. This one was fed to the ipod Observer, and if there’s any merit to it, your 3G iphone will be a shiny black little number, with a rear end clad in glossy black plastic instead of aluminum.

Based on the photo, the phone also appears to do away with the separate black plastic end piece that covers the antenna. Personally, I have to say it also looks suspiciously similar to Knight Creations’ customized TiAlN (Titanium Nitride/Titanium Aluminum Nitride) iPhones. And although Apple does include that black plastic end piece to help create a clear signal for the phone, I’m not convinced Apple would completely do away with aluminum.

So what’s the verdict, people: Pretty decent mock-up, obvious fake, or possibly the real deal?

[Via iPod Observer]

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The AT&T Tilt has an admirer in the form of the Awang A9000 handset. This clone boasts a similar QWERTY keypad and overall design of the AT&T Tilt, featuring a microSD memory card slot, an integrated digital camera and in all probability, some sort of Windows Mobile operating system. I wonder how much this will cost, and will it ever fool anyone?

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The Fi-Hi novelty bag is no ordinary knapsack, as it carries more than just books. After all, with integrated speakers and amps, you will be able to ’share’ your favorite tunes with those around, so better make sure they’re universally appealing if you want to prevent being lynched by a mob who’s upset at the Britney Spears and her ilk. There is no word on how powerful it is, but it is available in a wide range of sizes and styles. No idea how much one of these puppies will cost though.

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Most cutting boards are but plain colored rectangles, but the Digital Cutting Board from Nardo Design is worlds apart from what we have in the market today. It is equipped with a flexible LCD display that shows cooking instructions on it to help you achieve that perfect meal. In addition, it also allows you to read up on downloaded recipes which you have a personal interest in. Chromium handles on both ends complete the Digital Cutting Board, and it will be made out of environmentally-friendly components which do not pollute our world after disposal. Unfortunately, the Digital Cutting Board is but a concept at this point in time, so you’ll be better off with a flat panel TV in your kitchen for now.