New SSD from Intel points to serious UMPC expansion

Ars Technica is running a story on Intel's new solid state drive (SSD) for inclusion in ultra mobile computing platforms. It is designed to replace the USB-based solid state drives in such devices as its Classmate PCs, increasing performance, reducing power consumption, and drastically reducing size and weight. In fact, the drive is the size of a fingertip, weighs only 0.6 grams, and measures power consumption in milliwatts (as low as 1.1mW in sleep mode).. While it matches the capacity of Intel's current generation of solid state drives (2 and 4GB), Intel promises that future generations will hold up to 16GB.

This was one of the major limitations of the Classmate PC. Increased onboard storage decreases dependence on the Internet and backend storage servers, as well as allowing for more robust application sets. The drive is designed to be paired with Intel's upcoming Silverthorne CPUs, delivering extremely energy-efficient UMPC devices. Classmate 2.0, here we come!