Hybrid hard drive coalition starts

SEAGATE, Toshiba, Samsung and Hitachi said they will cooperate to create hybrid hard drives using flash memory.

Unlike Sandisk, which earlier today announced a 32GB drive costing $600, the so-called Hybrid Storage Alliance will focus on NAND caches.

The group said hybrid drives will have faster bootup and resume, better durability, and lower power consumption.

Microsoft Vista automatically supports hybrid tech, the firms said. They'll be showing off some hybrids at Las Vegas early next week. µ