Toshiba today announced it has developed mini SSDs (pictured on the right hand side) that are just a seventh of the size of existing 2.5-inch drives. The Toshiba drives will features a mini-SATA (aka mSATA) interface connector, as specified by the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) just yesterday. The new specification is designed for notebooks and similar portable devices.
Toshiba initially plans to roll out two models, an SSD with 30GB and another with 62GB on board. Sized at just 30×4.75mmx50.95mm, these drives weigh 9g. They will features 70MB/s writing speed and 180MB/s reading speed.
Toshiba says mass production of both models will begin as early as next month. The 62GB drive will cost $220, while the 30GB version will be priced at $110 (these are sample prices). Both SSDs will be entirely “made in Japan”.