Intel Shows off World’s Smallest SSD

The Z-P140 can fit on your fingertip, but will pack up to 16GB of storage in the future, and pump data along at speeds far faster than conventional flash cards.

Intel attempted to shake up the solid-state drive market late on Friday with the introduction of an SSD that’s smaller than a penny and as light as a paperclip. The Z-P140, at only 18mm long, 12mm wide, and 1.8mm deep, is currently the world’s smallest SSD.

The Z-P140 will come in both 2GB and 4GB variants, but will expandable up to 16GB. Unlike similarly sized flash cards (like the microSD format), Intel’s SSD uses a parallel ATA interface that’s native to most operating systems, giving it read speeds of 40 MBps and write speeds of 30 MBps. The maximum theoretical transfer speed for many flashcards, including microSD cards, is 12.5 MBps.

At the moment, Intel has a 2GB version of the drive ready to go, with the 4GB version expected by mid-2008. The drives will be featured at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and according to PC Magazine, the company is in talks with various mobile equipment manufacturers.