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Is SSD pricing finally starting to trickle into the mainstream? We’re not sure, but if the latest moves by OCZ and Intel are any indication, even budget buyers might be tempted to look at flash-based storage in lieu of mechanical hard drives. Less than a week ago, OCZ announced its sub-$100 Onyx SSD line, and now Intel is saying it too is shipping a low-cost SSD. Intel’s calling it the X25-V Value , which the company says sells for $125.

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Why Wipe Data Securely? Whether you are preparing to reuse a hard disk for another operating system, clear off your junk shelves by passing along outdated drives to a friend or relative, donate an old PC to a charity or school, discard a too-small USB drive or flash memory card, or repurpose an SSD, you don’t want to leave any information on the storage device. With stories abounding of identity theft aided by information lifted from discarded storage devices, you want devices you no longer plan to use to have no usable information when they head out the door. Why Erasing Files Is Not Enough Sure, you could erase the contents of the drive, but keep this in mind: the act of erasing a file does not remove it from a storage device.

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Citing sources from hard drive makers, news and rumor site DigiTimes says that Apple’s iPad could end up slowing SSD growth in the market place. Say what? The reason, sources say, is because the iPad might create a shortage of NAND flash chips. Apple already consumes about one-third of the total NAND flash output because of the company’s immensely popular iPod and iPhone devices, and if the iPad proves to be just as hot, NAND flash supply could tighten

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In another nod towards the increasingly popular SandForce controller, Corsair today announced its Force Series SSDs built around SandForce. “The Force Series are the fastest SSDs that Corsair has launched to date,” stated Kevin Conley, Vice President of Engineering at Corsair. “We have been very impressed with the SandForce SSD Processor innovations in the months that we have been working with them, and we can’t wait to get these extraordinarily fast SSDs into the hands of our most demanding customers.” And fast they are, at least on paper. By combining the SandForce SF-1200 SSD processor with MLC flash memory, Corsair claims its new SSD line can race along at 285MB/s read and 275MB/s write speeds. These will be available in 100GB and 200GB capacities and come with TRIM support in Windows 7

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USB 3.0 is still a rarity in PCs with Intel eschewing the new standard for now. But if you do have the new superspeed ports, and have a moderate obsession with security, this could be right up your alley. Super Talent’s new SuperCrypt drive is compatible with USB 3.0 and is built around some serious security features. The SuperCrypt uses hardware AES encryption in the form of 128-bit ECB for the standard version, and 256-bit XTS for the Pro edition. They will come in sizes ranging from 16GB up to a 256GB monster.

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Transcend this week announced a pair of ultra high-speed CompactFlash cards — Ultimate 600X and Premium 400X — the company claims offers “unmatched transfer rates.” Backing that claim is the Ultimate series 600X, which operates in a quad-channel configuration. Read and write speeds top out at about 90MB/s, while capacity ramps up to 32GB. For those who require a little more storage, the Premium series 400X offers capacities ranging from 16GB on up to 64GB. They offer the same 90MB/s read speeds as the Ultimate series, but a bit more subdued write speeds at up to 60MB/s

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Western Digital’s been quite the busy body today in the SSD sector. In addition to the just-announced MLC-based SiliconEdge Blue line, the storage vendor also just unveiled its WD SiliconDrive N1x 2.5-inch SSD family. Built around a single-level cell architecture (SLC), Western Digital says these provide a cost effective alternative without giving up a ton of performance. “The WD SiliconDrive N1x SSDs are the newest addition to our SiliconDrive product family, which has shipped several million units since the first products were introduced.

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Western Digital is no stranger to low capacity, high performance, pricey storage solutions, only up until this point they’ve always fallen under the company’s VelociRaptor line. That all changes today, as WD announced its first-ever consumer-oriented solid state drive (SSD), the SiliconEdge 2.5-inch SSD family. “The development of the WD SiliconEdge Blue product family leverages WD’s extensive experience in designing and manufacturing highly reliable storage products and the company’s worldwide sales and distribution network to accelerate SSD technology adoption by OEMs, technology enthusiasts, gamers and road warriors,” said Michael Hajeck, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s solid state storage business unit. “Customers who demand the ultimate in performance will find the WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs exceed all their requirements.” The new drives ship in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities and features a native SATA 3.0 interface. Read speeds come rated at up to 250MB/s, while WD says you can expect writes in the neighborhood of 170MBs

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Super Talent expanded its USB 3.0 product line this week by releasing the first encrypted drive to take advantage of the new SuperSpeed interface. It’s called the SuperCrypt and it’s available in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities. “SuperCyrpt, the third product in our USB 3.0 lineup, is the perfect blend of security, performance, and value and underscores Super Talent’s commitment and leadership in the USB 3.0 market,” said Super Talent COO, C.H. Lee. Using the new drive, Super Talent says it’s possible to transfer a 600MB movie in just 7 seconds.

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Data storage isn’t as simple as it once used to be, and a result, we’re seeing companies custom tailor their storage products for specific sectors, most notably healthcare. And that’s exactly what Iron Mountain has done, which on Monday announced an enhanced version of its Digital Record Center for Medical Images, a cloud storage service for performing backups and archiving digital medical info. “Today, healthcare organizations face the challenges of managing explosive data growth while ensuring access and control over information that originates in different silos but is needed across their organizations,” Iron Mountain said. “Tighter federal and industry regulations, along with shrinking IT budgets, have led healthcare organizations to re-evaluate how they store, access and protect their critical patient data, while preparing for the transition to electronic health record systems.” Iron Mountain went on to say that its Digital Record Center for Medical Images addresses those needs by providing a single cloud storage service for backups and archives. Features include a pay-as-you-go model, as well as a hybrid onsite and offsite storage model.

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