Intel and Micron have announced mass production of jointly developed 34nm, 32GB multi-level cell NAND flash memory.
The development and manufacturing of 34nm NAND memory chips was carried out by the subsidiary of Intel and Micron, IM Flash Technologies, and was introduced in May this year. These NAND chips are ideal for phones, portable media players and other handheld devices.
The 32GB NAND chip fits into standard 48-lead thin small-outline package (TSOP) and can hold up to 4GB due to its multi-level cell nature manufactured on 300mm wafers. Apart from handheld and portable devices, these chips will also 'dramatically' increase the current storage capacity of SSDs and make them more cost-effective.
Intel and Micron haven't specified when these chips will ship. Companies looking to include these chips in their products will have to wait till early 2009. Intel-Micron's update brings them face-to-face with Toshiba's 32GB module. Toshiba's 32GB NAND Flash memory chips are expected to hit production this holiday season.
Now all those handheld and portable device geeks can start cooking up stories with enthusiasm. As per speculations, Apple is planning to pump the iPhone and iPod Touch storage to 32GB and 64GB, respectively. Any such update will be acclaimed, but might add to cost. Expect to see more mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs, mobile internet devices, digital cameras, handheld consoles and more devices with enhanced storage capacity in late 2009 and eventually in 2010.
Source: Electronista
