In addition to making inroads on its range of 1.8in hard-disk drives, Toshiba has announced the arrival of "an industry-leading" 256GB solid-state drive (SSD).
The device, pictured below, features a multi-level cell (MLC) controller allowing for parallel data transfer and higher read-write speeds. Toshiba quotes maximum read and write speeds of 120MB/s and 70MB/s, respectively. That, however, is a fair amount slower than Intel's 80GB drive which offers read speeds of up to 250MB/s.
The 2.5in notebook-orientated SSD will also be joined by a trio of small flash modules, aimed at the burgeoning netbook market. The modules will be available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities, and will provide read and write speeds of 80MB/s and 50MB/s, respectively.
There's no word on pricing just yet, but mass production for all four products is expected in Q4 2008.
Official press release: Toshiba Launches 256GB Solid State Drives with MLC
