Samsung Shrinks Flash Memory Chip

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,112684,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article...d,112684,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"Samsung Electronics has developed a prototype flash memory chip that has a capacity equal to the company's current largest commercial flash memory chip but at a smaller physical size. The new chip can store 4 gigabits (or 512MB) of memory and has a memory gate that is 70 nanometers in size. Samsung is currently mass-producing 4-gigabit chips with 120-nanometer, or 0.12-micron, memory gates and is also preparing to begin production of 90-nanometer versions."

[Timothy Rapson]

So, 4 gigabits is how 512 megabytes, on a single chip? How many chips are in a typical flash card design? 8?

If this is so, are 4 gigabyte cards on the way this year?

And the big questions; how much $$$$ and how fast?

With one chip sollutions of 512 MB, I expect to see a huge extension of the designs like the Sony UX50, incorporating flash memory right inside. The UX actually has only 32 meg of RAM, the other 72 meg is NAND memory. If some kind of flash ROM (now a days "Read Only Memory" has become a huge misnomer as virtually all ROMs are now rewritable) chip has to be included for the OS anyway, and you can put in one with 512 MB, you have room for hours of music and video without even paying for a flash card. That is something I predicted would happen a year ago. I don't often get to be right about such predictions. Even Foo and Mike Cane's critics get predictions right more than I do! But, I saw this coming. This new huge Samsung push makes it a virtual certainty.

All PPCs with the full package of applications have 32 MB ROMS, with this chip on board storing the ROM, they will have 480 MB of storage onboard even without a memory card. That is some new way of building and using
PDAs.