CE-ATA is a derivative of the ATA storage specification for CE (consumer electronics) equipment. The CE-ATA design is smaller and more power efficient than current technologies, making it a better choice for devices like portable audio players, handhelds, and mobilephones. From an industry perspective the benefits of CE-ATA are many. The CE-ATA standard is expected to benefit disk drive suppliers, silicon providers, product integrators, and consumers.
This initiative to define a storage interface tailored to the unique needs of handheld and portable consumer electronic devices is being led by Intel Corporation, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Marvell Semiconductor Inc., Seagate Technology and Toshiba America Information Systems. The specification is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2005, with the first end products supporting CE-ATA becoming available several months after.
