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SanDisk Announces X300s SSDs
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SanDisk Announces X300s SSDs

While most SSD manufacturers are likely holding their product announcements until Computex next month, SanDisk has today announced a new model to their business SSD portfolio: the X300s. Most manufacturers tend to have just two lineups, one for the clients and the other for enterprise, but it’s not unheard of for manufacturers to include a third, business-oriented lineup as well. SanDisk has been doing this for quite some time now and Kingston is doing it with their KC300 series.

Even though most business-oriented SSDs are just derivatives of client models, the idea behind the separation of the two is that businesses tend to require a more sophisticated feature set, which the manufacturers use to cash in. The manufacturers know that features like hardware encryption are vital in business use but not in average consumer use, so by limiting some features to business models the manufacturers are able to make an extra profit. Obviously not all manufacturers do this, for instance Crucial and Samsung have decided to not have a separate business lineup and has improved their client drives instead, but SanDisk’s strategy is to have the business drives as their own entity.

With a brief outline of product segments out of the way, let’s focus on the X300s. It will be available in June through SanDisk’s Commercial Business Channel, meaning that it’s unlikely that you will be able to find this drive in retail. There will be two form factors, 2.5″ 7mm and M.2 2280, and the capacities will range from 64GB to all the way to 1TB. The M.2 version will only be available in up to 512GB, which is due to the fact that SanDisk has opted for a single-sided design in order to make the drive slightly thinner and thus more suitable for Ultrabook designs. 

Capacity 64GB 128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB
Controller ?
NAND SanDisk 1Ynm MLC
Sequential Read 450MB/s 510MB/s 510MB/s 520MB/s TBD
Sequential Write 140MB/s 300MB/s 450MB/s 460MB/s
4KB Random Read 68K IOPS 80K IOPS 89K IOPS 96K IOPS
4KB Random Write 35K IOPS 63K IOPS 77K IOPS 79K IOPS
Idle Power (slumber/DEVSLP) 80mW / 3.5mW 80mW / 4.0mW 80mW / 4.5mW 80mW / 5.0mW
Max Power (read/write) 2.3W /
1.95W		 2.35W /
2.75W		 2.35W /
3.8W		 2.45W /
3.85W
Endurance 40TB (21GB/day for 5 years) 80TB (43GB/day for 5 years)
Encryption TCG Opal 2.0 & IEEE-1667

SanDisk is being very tight-lipped about the hardware inside the X300s and they wouldn’t even reveal whether the controller is in-house or third party. However, I’m fairly confident that it is a Marvell’s 88SS9189 because the X210 used a 88SS9187, and the lower DEVSLP power numbers suggest the 9189 as it brought some DEVSLP optimizations at the silicon level. It’s certainly possible that the controller hasn’t changed from the X210 and SanDisk was able to fine tune the firmware to lower DEVSLP power consumption, but either way it is very likely a Marvell controller. 

As for the NAND, SanDisk lists it as 1Ynm MLC, which translates to second generation 19nm NAND. The NAND and SSD manufacturers don’t always disclose the exact lithography and use the letter X, Y and Z instead to refer to the generation of the NAND (X refers to first generation, Y to second and so on). We know that SanDisk’s first generation 10nm-class (i.e. 10-19nm) lithography was 19nm (1Xnm) and we also know that the second generation is also 19nm (1Ynm). I went through the reasons why both lithographies are called 19nm in one of our recent reviews but shortly put the first generation had a cell size of 19nm*26nm, while the second generation has 19nm*19.5nm, meaning that both can technically be marketed as 19nm even though there is a quite dramatic difference in actual cell size. The second generation 19nm NAND is the same as what Toshiba refers to as A19nm or Advanced 19nm since the companies have a joint-venture that produces the NAND.

Now, the features. Probably the biggest addition in the X300s is the support for TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 standards, which together bring support for Microsoft’s eDrive. Furthermore, SanDisk is including Wave’s Embassy Security Center software with every X300s, which includes some additional encryption features that businesses may find handy (e.g. can authorize computers to access the drive remotely). The X300s has also been certified by several other encryption software providers, such as McAfee and AbsoluteSoftware, so there is no need to migrate to a new software in case your existing software is in the list of comptible software vendors. 

All in all, the X300s seems to be a relatively modest, yet needed upgrade from the X210. It brings the much desired support for hardware encryption while providing a decent upgrade in performance (at least based on the specifications). The newer NAND should also ensure that pricing is competitive, though unfortunately SanDisk hasn’t released any MSRPs. Even though the X300s isn’t a retail product, we are trying to get review samples from SanDisk to see how the X300s stands up with the retail Extreme II.

MSI Z97 Gaming Motherboard Giveaway
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MSI Z97 Gaming Motherboard Giveaway

On Sunday Intel lifted its embargo on its Haswell refresh, including the updated Z97 chipset. From a high level, Z97 looks a lot like last year’s Z87. Z97 primarily adds official support for M.2 and SATA Express, as well as RST support for PCIe storage devices. This year we’ll see the transition to native PCIe/NVMe SSDs, so Z97 marks the beginning of a platform transition to a world where PCIe storage is more widespread. 

We’ll be publishing Z97 motherboard reviews over the coming days, but to kick off the launch MSI is giving AnandTech readers the chance to win one of four Z97 motherboards. We’ve got two MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC motherboards and two Z97 Gaming 7 boards to give away.

The Z97 Gaming 9 AC is a standard ATX motherboard with integrated Intel 802.11ac WiFi as well as Killer’s E2205 gigabit Ethernet. The board features a single M.2 connector and three PCIe x16 slots (physical). 

The Z97 Gaming 7 drops the 802.11ac but keeps most of the other features, including the M.2 slot. 

Both are high-end options for your next Haswell build, either with one of the existing SKUs, newly refreshed CPUs or upcoming Devil’s Canyon parts.

We’ll be accepting entries for the next three days. To enter you must be a US resident – simply leave a comment below (please leave only one). We will randomly choose four winners, two will receive a Z97 Gaming 9 AC and the other two will receive a Z97 Gaming 7. We’ll choose the winners/prize combinations at random. Good luck!

Microsoft Unbundles Kinect, $399 Xbox One Model Available Starting June 9th
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Microsoft Unbundles Kinect, $399 Xbox One Model Available Starting June 9th

In an interesting reversal of what happened last generation, Microsoft’s Xbox One launched at a $100 price premium to Sony’s PlayStation 4. Despite Sony building the higher performing console, Microsoft’s Xbox One actually had a higher silicon budget (thanks to eSRAM increasing the SoC’s total die area). It was ultimately the bundling of Microsoft’s Kinect that forced the Xbox One to launch at $499 instead of $399. Committed to making the Xbox One more than just a game console, Microsoft seemingly hoped Kinect would be a non-negotiable part of the Xbox experience. That all changes in early June however.

Microsoft just announced a $399 version of the Xbox One, without Kinect, available starting June 9th. The console hardware appears unchanged, it’ll just be sold without Kinect. Microsoft will offer a standalone Kinect option later this fall. Also in June Microsoft will begin offering its Games with Gold Xbox Live program to Xbox One owners as well. Any Xbox One user with a Gold Xbox Live subscription will get access to free games every month (similar to the program already available for Xbox 360 owners, a single subscription will give you access to Games with Gold on both platforms).

Putting the Xbox One at price parity with the PS4 makes a lot of sense, and should help Microsoft in the near term. The real question is whether $100 is enough to move users over to the Xbox One or if the market views the PS4’s spec/performance advantage as being more valuable than the Xbox ecosystem. 

The real tragedy in all of this is that both Microsoft and Sony appear to have hedged their bets a little too much with the Xbox One/PS4. I get the feeling that neither company felt the market for ultra high end consoles was all that solid to begin with, and instead aimed lower on the performance ladder than they did last round (relatively speaking). It’s a bit of a self fulling prophecy at this point. Going more conservative with performance due to a fear of a market going away is a great way to ensure that the market is open for a higher performing alternative (read: Steambox, PCs) to come in and steal users away. 

In speaking with NVIDIA prior to the Tegra K1 launch their viewpoint is that the clock is ticking for when mobile SoCs can equal the performance of the new consoles. I’m sure the other mobile players are focused on the same thing. We’ll likely see Xbox 360-ish performance out of mobile silicon in the next 12 months. Add another few generations (and process nodes) and we’ll be a lot closer to Xbox One/PS4 performance. We’re already pretty close on the CPU side.

Motorola Introduces the Moto E: The $129 Smartphone for Everyone
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Motorola Introduces the Moto E: The $129 Smartphone for Everyone

It doesn’t seem like it was long ago that everyone was excited by rumors of a new Motorola phone after Google’s short-lived acquisition of the company in May 2012. Motorola had long been known as a company that introduced their own custom interface onto Android which users felt offered little benefit in return for the performance impact it had on their devices. After their acquisition by Google it was hoped that Motorola would offer an experience closer to that of Google’s Nexus devices. Those wishes came true, and Motorola has since been creating devices that are very close to stock Android with only minor modifications which, for the most part, are generally seen as helpful. Motorola also made a move for the mid-end segment of the market with the Moto G which offered users a formidable smartphone relative to its price.

Today Motorola has continued along their new path by introducing the Moto E, the most inexpensive device in their new lineup of smartphones.

Motorola’s Smartphone Lineup
  Motorola Moto E Motorola Moto G Motorola Moto X
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (MSM8x10)
2x ARM Cortex A7 at 1.2GHz
Adreno 302 at 400MHz		 Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
(MSM8x26)
4x ARM Cortex A7 at 1.2 GHz
Adreno 305 at 450MHz		 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (MSM8960Pro)
2x Krait 300 at 1.7 GHz
Adreno 320 at 400MHz
Motorola X8 System (SoC+NLP Processor+Contextual Processor)
RAM/NAND 1GB LPDDR2 + 4GB w/ MicroSDHC 1GB LPDDR2 + 8/16GB NAND 2GB LPDDR2 + 16/32GB NAND 
Display 4.3″ 960×540 LCD 4.5″ 1280×720 IPS LCD 4.7″ 1280×720 RGB Stripe AMOLED
Network 2G / 3G (MSM8x10 21.1Mbps HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100MHz or 850/1700/1900/2100MHz) 2G / 3G (Qualcomm MSM8x26 21.1Mbps HSDPA) 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Qualcomm MDM9x15 UE Category 4 LTE)
Dimensions 124.38 x 64.8 x 12.3mm, 142g 129.9 x 65.9 x 11.6 mm, 143g 129.3 x 65.3 x 10.4 mm, 130g
Camera 5MP (2592 х 1944) Rear Facing 5MP (2592 х 1944) Rear Facing w/ 1.4µm pixels and F/2.4 aperture

1.3MP Front Facing

 10 MP (4320×2432) Clear Pixel (RGBC) Rear Facing w/ 1.4µm pixels and F/2.4 aperture

2MP 1080p Front Facing
Battery 1980 mAh (7.52 Whr) 2070 mAh (7.87 Whr) 2200 mAh (8.36 Whr)
OS Android 4.4.2 Android 4.4.2 Android 4.4.2
Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS 802.11 b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, DLNA, NFC
SIM Size Micro-SIM (Dual SIM SKU) Micro-SIM Nano-SIM

The Moto E sports a similar design to the other smartphones in Motorola’s lineup with a rounded plastic design and a lip at the top for the 3.5mm headphone jack. Similar to the Moto G, customers will be able to swap out the back cover for ones of many different colors which adds a level of customization to the phone’s design. I hope that Motorola has not compromised on the quality of construction to attain such a low price point; the Moto G felt exceptionally well crafted given its cost.

On the face of the device we have a 960×540 qHD display. Motorola isn’t being forthcoming with whether or not this is an IPS panel, although they do confirm that it is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. To attain its low price point the Moto E does not come with a front facing camera. There is also a large front facing speaker along the bottom of the device. On the back we have the 5MP camera which is capable of FWVGA (854×480) video recording, and the indented Motorola logo that has become standard across Motorola’s new devices.

Inside the device we have Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 200 platform with two Cortex A7 cores running at 1.2GHz and an Adreno 302 GPU at 400MHz. On the cellular side the device supports 21.1Mbps HSDPA on bands 1, 2, 5, and 8 for the North American and European versions and bands 1, 2, 4, and 5 in Latin America. A special SKU with support for dual SIM cards will also be available in certain markets with support for dual SIM standby. The device packs a 7.52 Whr battery and Motorola is promising that it will be capable of lasting you the day on a single charge. The device ships with only 4GB of NAND (only 2.2GB of which is available to the user) but to compensate Motorola has included a MicroSD card slot for up to 32GB of storage expansion.

Motorola is marketing this as the smartphone to kill the dumbphone and they have set up a website which encourages users to tell their friends still using flip phones to make the switch. The website states “Life before mobile apps should be a thing of the past. Introducing the Moto E. Made to last. Priced for all.” It really is something to see such a capable device at a price accessable to the masses. It was only a few years ago that hardware of this capability was reserved for the fastest and most expensive of smartphones.

The Moto E comes with Android 4.4.2 out of the box. It is available now in the US and India for $129 USD and 6999 Rs respectively, with Motorola planning to launch in over 40 countries in the coming weeks.

Source: Official Motorola Blog

TechEd NA 2014 - Services In The Cloud
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TechEd NA 2014 – Services In The Cloud

On Monday Microsoft kicked off TechEd North America 2014 in Houston. TechEd is the technology conference geared towards IT Professionals and Enterprise developers, and focuses on the tools, software, and services that many enterprises rely on for s…