M-Systems CEO Dov Moran, head of Israel-based flash memory maker M-Systems, is now Microsoft's new hardware partner for the Xbox. He recently stated in an interview with Israeli business newspaper Globes that "Microsoft has taken the hard disk out of its Xbox. The only thing left will be a CD; that's all."
A Microsoft represenative called Moran's comments "speculation" but declined to comment further. Dov Moran was in a bit more talkative mood.
"At some point, when users want to save their e-mail messages, copy music, or anything like that, the only storage they'll have is what we give them," Moran told Globes. Microsoft originally touted the hard drive as one of the key features distinguishing the Xbox from competing consoles, but the storage has not been utilized by software publishers to change the way games work. Instead, the hard drive is mainly used for small-scale storage operations such as saving data on progress in a game, and for nongame functions such as saving music tracks "ripped" from CDs. Analysts have said that dropping the hard drive could trim at least $ 20 per unit from production costs for the money losing game cosole. |
If you are an Xbox fan, check out the full story at ZDNet where you can also find a liink to the interview with the feisty Moran at the Globes.
*update* We can read that this company makes a drop in replacement for hard drives
that has no moving parts, available in SCSI and IDE 3.5" and 2.5" standard
form factors. This may be what is being considered. Right now it appears that it is limited to 1 gigabyte in capacity. Other than that, it looks pretty interesting.
"FFD (Fast Flash Disk) products provide rugged, high-performance and highly reliable data storage. They withstand extreme temperatures, shocks and vibrations, even in harsh conditions, without compromising on data integrity. FFD solid-state flash drives are a drop-in replacement for IDE and SCSI mechanical disks, eliminating seek time, latency and potential failures inherent in conventional rotating disks. FFD reduces the Total Cost of Ownership while enhancing reliability in the field."
Source: ZDNet
