Intel announces its arrival in the solid storage drives space with the announcement of Intel Z-U130.This drives are based on NAND flash memory boasting capacities of 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB besides standard interfacing of USB 2.0/1.1. Besides this the drives has a max read speed and write speed of 28MB per second and 20MB per second, respectively.

“Solid state drive technology offers many benefits over traditional hard disk drives including improved performance and reliability,” said Randy Wilhelm, vice president and general manager of Intel’s NAND Products Group. “

The Z-U130 will at the moment ship in 1GB and 2GB versions, the 4GB version to be added in April. Besides this its flagship 8GB drive wont be here until December.

The Z-U130 product comes in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB densities. The 1GB and 2GB versions are already in production, with the 4GB to be added in April. The top-end 8GB drive isn’t slated for production until December. While no pricing hasn’t yet been revealed, Intel predicts that the price of the 4GB drive should be below standard 1.8-inch drives and with ramping of production by 2009, its 8GB drive might cost less than any 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch HDD.