The USB Flash Drive Alliance, founded in December 2003 by Samsung, Lexar Media, Kingston Technology and others, is a group of companies promoting the use of USB flash drives (also called "keydrives" and a variety of other names). [1]
In 2003, according to the alliance, 50 million USB flash drives were sold in the US alone[ citation needed ].
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory are named after the NAND and NOR logic gates. The individual flash memory cells, consisting of floating-gate MOSFETs, exhibit internal characteristics similar to those of the corresponding gates.
The SuperDisk LS-120 is a high-speed, high-capacity alternative to the 90 mm (3.5 in), 1.44 MB floppy disk. The SuperDisk hardware was created by 3M's storage products group Imation in 1997, with manufacturing chiefly by Matsushita.
CompactFlash (CF) is a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices. The format was specified and the devices were first manufactured by SanDisk in 1994.
Removable media is a form of computer storage that is designed to be inserted and removed from a system. Some forms of removable media, such as optical discs, require a reader to be installed in the computer, while others, such as USB flash drives, have all the hardware required to read them built into the device, so only need a driver to be installed in order to communicate with the device.
MultiMediaCard, officially abbreviated as MMC, is a memory card standard used for solid-state storage. Unveiled in 1997 by SanDisk and Siemens AG, MMC is based on a surface-contact low pin-count serial interface using a single memory stack substrate assembly, and is therefore much smaller than earlier systems based on high pin-count parallel interfaces using traditional surface-mount assembly such as CompactFlash. Both products were initially introduced using SanDisk NOR-based flash technology. MMC is about the size of a postage stamp: 24 mm × 32 mm × 1.4 mm. MMC originally used a 1-bit serial interface, but newer versions of the specification allow transfers of 4 or 8 bits at a time. MMC can be used in many devices that can use Secure Digital (SD) cards.
A USB flash drive is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than 30 g (1 oz). Since first appearing on the market in late 2000, as with virtually all other computer memory devices, storage capacities have risen while prices have dropped. As of March 2016, flash drives with anywhere from 8 to 256 gigabytes (GB) were frequently sold, while 512 GB and 1 terabyte (TB) units were less frequent. As of 2018, 2 TB flash drives were the largest available in terms of storage capacity. Some allow up to 100,000 write/erase cycles, depending on the exact type of memory chip used, and are thought to last between 10 and 100 years under normal circumstances.
Micron Technology, Inc. is an American producer of computer memory and computer data storage including dynamic random-access memory, flash memory, and USB flash drives. It is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Its consumer products are marketed under the brands Crucial and Ballistix. Micron and Intel together created IM Flash Technologies, which produces NAND flash memory. It owned Lexar between 2006 and 2017.
Lexar is an American brand of flash memory products manufactured by the Chinese company Longsys.
Kingston Technology Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells and supports flash memory products and other computer-related memory products, as well as the HyperX brand of headsets, solid-state drives, keyboards, mousepads and other gaming equipment. Headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, United States, Kingston Technology employs more than 3,000 employees worldwide as of Q1 2016. The company has manufacturing and logistics facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Taiwan, and China.
Vroegh v. Eastman Kodak Company, et al. is a class action complaint that alleges that the defendants, "[i]n marketing, advertising and/or packaging their Flash Memory Cards and Flash Memory Drives, Defendants misrepresent the size of the memory storage contained in the Flash Memory Cards and Flash Memory Drives." The complaint accuses the defendants of "false advertising, unfair business practices, breach of contract, fraud, deceit and/or misrepresentation, and violation of the California Consumers Legal Remedy Act".
USB FlashCard is a flash memory card format developed by Lexar, and announced on December 13, 2004.
M-Systems Ltd., was a Nasdaq-listed Israeli producer of flash memory storage products founded in 1989 by Dov Moran and based in Kfar Saba, Israel. They were best known for developing and patenting the first flash drive, marketed in 1995 as DiskOnChip, and the first USB flash drive, marketed in 2000 as DiskOnKey. They also created the patented True Flash Filing System (TrueFFS) which presented the flash memory as a disk drive to the computer. After 17 years of business, they were acquired by their prior competitor, SanDisk, in 2006. The DiskOnChip (DOC) was developed at the R&D Center established by M-Systems called EUROM. Rick Iorillo, Rony Levy and David Deitcher were the individuals that worked on the development and marketing of the first 2 MB DOC. This product went on to receive the Most Innovative Award from EDN in 1995 and later went on to become the Flash Drive and DiskOnKey.
Secure USB flash drives protect the data stored on them from access by unauthorized users. USB flash drive products have been on the market since 2000, and their use is increasing exponentially. As both consumers and businesses have increased demand for these drives, manufacturers are producing faster devices with greater data storage capacities.
IronKey is the brand name of a family of encrypted USB portable storage devices owned by Kingston Digital, the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc.
Dmailer specialized in portable backup and synchronization software for a range of mobile devices, including USB flash drives, memory cards, external hard disk drives, MP3 players, embedded phone memories, SIM cards and flash-based memory cards for mobile phones.
ADATA Technology Co., Ltd. is a publicly listed (3260:TAI) fabless Taiwanese memory and storage manufacturer, founded in May 2001 by Simon Chen. Its main product line consists of DRAM modules, USB Flash drives, hard disk drives, solid state drives, memory cards and mobile accessories. ADATA is also expanding into new areas, including robotics and electric powertrain systems. In addition to its main ADATA brand, the company also sells PC gaming hardware and accessories under its XPG brand.
ATP Electronics is a manufacturer of NAND based storage DRAM modules founded in Silicon Valley in 1991, headquarter was later moved to Taipei, Taiwan. ATP’s product line consist of Industrial grade products, such as SSD, SD / microSD memory cards, along with DRAM products that are used in business industries across Networking, Enterprise Mobility, Automotive industry, Military, IPC/Embedded Systems, Health care, Gaming and The Internet of Things (IoT). Intel's CMTL, one of the largest third party testing lab for Intel server platforms, only recommended two memory modules companies to purchase motherboards in Taiwan, one noted to be ATP Electronics.
Kingmax is a Taiwan-based corporate group and manufacturer of RAM modules and memory cards. The principal company of the group is Kingmax Semiconductor Inc. was established in 1989, headquartered in Zhubei City, Hsinchu County, Taiwan, and the group manufactures and offers computer hardware and electronics products all over the world.
The Crucial X8 is an external solid-state drive (SSD) released by Crucial, a subsidiary of Micron Technology. It was released in 2019 and is the first portable flash storage device to be released by Micron after it sold off its previous subsidiary Lexar in 2017.
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