16GB NAND Flash memory on the way.

[TheDruid]

Wow, this is getting crazy!

http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/01/samsungs_16gb_f.html

Wednesday, 3 January 2007
Samsung's 16GB Flash Module Could Make Music Cellphones Sing
Topic: Things

One of the main problems with listening to music on a cellphone is the limited capacity, since most phones use little Transflash cards to store music, and those currently max out at 2GB.  One solution is to throw a 4GB microdrive in there, as Nokia did with the N91, but that can hurt battery life, increase the chance of damage, cause longer startup times, and add more weight and bulk than the equivalent amount of flash memory would.

Flash memory has been getting cheaper, smaller, and more capacious every year, filling the coffers of companies such as Samsung which manufacture it.  If the trend continues, there will come a time when the whirr of hard drives is confined to server rooms, while laptops, MP3 players, and anything else portable will store their data on silent, motionless flash memory.  Today's revelation that Samsung will start mass production of 16GB high-density NAND flash memory modules in this first quarter of 2007 points to such devices showing up sooner rather than later.

As manufacturers start incorporating this memory into devices, a tiny musicphone will be able to hold more data than most desktop computers could only a few years ago.  Aside from the interface, the only remaining question at that point is whether cell service carriers will allow these phones the same degree of freedom and versatility that made the computer such a success.  An open, Linux-based cellphone with 16GB of flash storage and no restrictions on what you install or where you get your music would probably be enough to convince me to leave my iPod and/or Zune at home.

[Tom]

Its actually 16 Gigabit, or 2GB.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/03/samsungs-high-density-16gb-nand-flash-released-cheaper-faster/

Most devices that get larger, use multiple chips, now they'll just have to use fewer.

[TheDruid]

The quote from the main news page:

Samsung's 16-GB breakthrough means tiny cell phones will soon hold as much music as four iPod nanos. Suddenly, listening to tunes on your phone will make more sense. In Listening Post.

Either Wired screwed up bad because they are posting GB not Gb, or communication is getting screwed up somewhere.

[Shayne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb1w3_KySG8  in action

[Shayne]

Link following...

http://www.samsung.com/PressCenter/PressRelease/PressRelease.asp?seq=20070103_0000309157#

Seoul , Korea  ? January 3, 2007 : Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced that it is now sampling its 16-gigabit (Gb) NAND flash memory with customers ? the first NAND flash using 50 nanometer (nm) process technology.

http://www.google.ca/search?q=16+Gb+to+GB

[Tom]

I don't put too much stock in Wired's "credentials"...