Officially labeled the JMF612, the chip is targeted at a "new generation of NAND flash chips built using smaller process geometries that will be entering the market soon." Vague! The JMF612 chip will reportedly use an ARM9 core in a 289-ball TFBGA package, supporting up to 256MB of DDR or DDR2 DRAM as an external cache. Technical!

But my brain hurts now. Put simply, if this lofty rhetoric isn't just hot air up our ass, it means half price SSD by Christmas or thereabouts.

Of course, there's that brick wall looming on the horizon, but I guess we'll deal with that headache when it arrives. [DailyTech via Engadget]

Papa Samsung does have a legitimate FIRST!! claim here, in that these moviNAND cards are the only ones to date to use 32Gb chips built on 30nm-class technology. This is only really exciting to the kind of people who go to work in a clean room and regularly wear anti-static bracelets—not so much to consumers.

An aspect of the announcement that does mean something to us is this: Samsung makes more NAND memory than any other single company, so when they ship a 32GB card intended for mobile devices, you can expect to actually see it mobile devices. And since many products (like the iPod Touch) are loaded with two or more cards, that means 64GB flash-based portable devices may soon enter the mainstream. [Aving]

The 32GB drive will come in 1.8" and 2.5" sizes, while the 64GB will only ship in a 2.5" size. Micron, who also owns memory makers Lexar and Crucial, will release an SSD USB enclosement under the Crucial brand, making SSD expansion easier for users. Micron also expressed an interest in making a 128GB SSD, but have no definite plans as of yet. Pricing is still undetermined on the 32GB and 64GB models, but Micron expects the products to ship in Q1 2008. [Micron]

The giganormous industrial machine and secret inter-dimensional empire, also known as Samsung, has started mass-producing 16Gb chips. These are the biggest flash NAND memories ever, just in time to feed that Godzilla monster that lives in Cupertino.

According to Samsung, the 51-nanometer wonder supports 30MB/s transfer rates and 4-bit error-correcting code. They will offer software to support its new 4KB page structure and they believe that "demand for 16Gb NAND flash memory is expected to grow rapidly, pushing this new chip into the mainstream market beginning late this year". After consulting my Kabbalah for Dummies book and my Frosties' Secret Code Wheel, I believe the secret message there is that we will see a solid-state iPhone-like iPod at MacWorld San Francisco 2008. However, read the complete press release after the jump for your own head-hurts-post-party-weekend-aw-shaddap interpretation.

Samsung First to Mass Produce 16Gb NAND Flash Memory

Using Finest Process Technology to Accelerate Data Speeds

Seoul, Korea - April, 29, 2007 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leader in advanced semiconductor technology, announced today that it has become the first to begin mass producing 16 gigabit (Gb) NAND flash, the highest capacity memory chip now available. The company said it will fabricate the devices in 51 nanometers (nm), the finest process technology to be used in memory mass production to date.

"In rolling out the densest NAND flash in the world, we are throwing open the gates to a much wider playing field for flash-driven consumer electronics," said Jim Elliott, director, flash marketing, Samsung Semiconductor. "To minimize production costs and improve performance, we have applied the finest process technology a 'half generation' ahead of the industry, which is introducing 55nm and higher."

Samsung's 51nm NAND flash chips can be produced 60 percent more efficiently than those produced with 60nm process technology. Samsung achieved this new migration milestone just eight months after announcing production of its 60nm 8Gb NAND flash last August.

The new 16Gb chip which has a multi-level cell (MLC) structure can facilitate capacity expansion by offering 16 gigabytes (GBs) of memory in a single memory card. Furthermore, by applying the new process technology, Samsung has accelerated the chip's read and write speeds by approximately 80 percent over current MLC data processing speeds.

NAND flash memory reads and writes data in units called "pages." The 60nm NAND flash memory is designed with a 2 KiloByte (KB) page size, but the 51nm 16Gb version can process data in 4 KB pages, nearly doubling the data rate. The product also maintains the same 4 bit error-correcting code (ECC) capability as that of 60nm NAND, allowing customers to use existing system interfaces with only minor firmware upgrades. With its 4 bit ECC, Samsung eliminates the need to secure a better ECC capability to assure sufficient reliability, which would have required new costly controllers.

Samsung will offer an optimized suite of Flash software and firmware-incorporated storage devices for music phones and MP3 players to support 4KB pages. It also will provide a multi-plane performance optimization feature and wear-leveling for improved reliability. Memory cards and MP3 controllers to support the 4KB-page are already available,

Technology migration to 16Gb is expected to boost the recent explosive demand for high-density data storage in high-end music phones and the phenomenal trend toward user created content (UCC). As the demand for video content grows stronger by the day, products that feature extended recording time of high-resolution video footage, including mid-to-high-range digital cameras, will particularly benefit from the high capacity and performance of 16Gb NAND flash memory.

With support technology in place, demand for 16Gb NAND flash memory is expected to grow rapidly, pushing this new chip into the mainstream market beginning late this year. Aggregate global sales through 2010 are estimated to be US$21 billion.

– Jesus Diaz

For those who think that June will never come, can't wait to get a sexy subnotebook with flash storage even if it doesn't come with Mac OS X and live in Japan, here's the new Sony VAIO Type G: a 12.1-inch notebook that not only comes under the 2 pounds mark (1.97 or 898 grams) battery included, but includes a 32 GB solid storage unit for $1,926.

The VAIO Type G comes short on power though: it only has a Core Solo U1300 running at 1.06GHz and the Intel 945GMS Express chipset doing the graphic work, with just up to 1.5GBytes of DDR2 RAM. Perhaps that's why it comes with Windows XP Pro instead of Vista. And perhaps that's why I will stick to my MacBook until Apple releases something better with a SDD. – Jesus Diaz

Update: battery life with the standard battery and the SDD drive is 12 hours, but the total weight increases to 2.08 pounds (945 grams). With the small battery, Sony says it will last 6 hours

SONY, "VAIO type of 32GB flash loading/approximately 859g G" [PC Watch]

Surprising, specially when you compare it to the $600 32 GB SanDisk SSD, which offers double the size for half the price, even if you have to install it. However, the Trascend 16GB will be good for the extra space that pro digital photographers need while traveling light, as well as having a quick way to back up for everyone else. – Jesus Diaz

Trascend 16GB Express Card [Akihabara News]

And if 64MB/s reads and 45MB/s writes in a 15 grams, 1.8" low-consumption storage thingie doesn't have you drooling, I don't know what other Samsung thing will. – Jesus Diaz

Press Release [Samsung]

So forget about dropping it in your laptop any time soon, although given the specs, I wouldn't even want this in my mother-in-law MacBook: Intel says that their 8 Gbytes Z-U130 is going to reach 20 Mbytes per second transfer rates, whereas the competition is offering already 32 GBytes at 62 Mbytes per second. It just doesn't get sadder than that, really. Hopefuly, Apple won't be using them for their rumored sub-notebook.–Jesus Diaz

Intel Reveals Solid State Flash Drives [Daily Tech via Xinhua Online]

In its latest move to take over the world, the korean conglomerate and soon-to-be-intergalactic-empire Samsung has released yet another product: a new 8 GB flash NAND memory. Their moviNAND chip contains four 50-nanometer 16 Gbit modules and a high-speed MultiMediaCard controller, which allows for 52 megabytes per second transfers. According to our new galactic overlords them, the moviNAND 16 GB is 10 to 20% smaller than current 4 GB flash memories, has low-noise interference for use in cellphones and probably some kind radio brain controller to ease humanity's concerns about Samsung taking all over the world. Or at least my concerns, because I don't care if they invade the planet as soon as I get my 100 GB solid-state video iPod soon. – Jesus Diaz

Following up on the Sub-Macbook rumor, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu says now that Apple may introduce a new notebook based on Flash NAND chips «in the second half of the year». It's unclear if Apple will also finally introduce the personal teleporter with cold fusion engine in the same time frame, but that quote alone, coupled with Samsung announcing the first shipment of their hybrid NAND hard drive to OEMs, will probably fill Apple's fanboys' wet dreams for months to come. Myself included. – Jesus Diaz

Apple `chip' laptop in works [Mercury News]
Samsung Starts Shipping 'World's First Hybrid Disk Drive' [The Money Times]

The sub-notebook is being designed with an eye toward the Japanese market, a place where Apple isn't doing too well. Expect to see lots more on this as we approach the WWDC. – Nicholas Deleon

Apple to re-enter the sub-notebook market [AppleInsider]

Its most impressive spec is its random read rate of 7300 inputs and outputs per second, 100 times faster than most hard disks, letting the thing boot Microsoft Windows Vista in 35 seconds. That's about 28 seconds faster than a garden-variety hard disk can do. It's much smaller than the 2.5-inch 32GB flash drive Samsung introduced last March, but it's still rather pricey, adding around $600 to a laptop in which it resides. Going out to equipment manufacturers now, the company says we'll be seeing notebooks with this drive inside by the middle of this year. – Charlie White

Product Page [SanDisk, via Tracy and Matt's]

Better yet, it uses less power, even while moving data along at a snappy 33.3MB per second. We're happy to predict that it won't be long now until moving parts are completely eliminated inside laptops, desktops soon thereafter, and not a moment too soon. Bring it on. – Charlie White

TDK samples 32GB Flash disk [Reg Hardware, via CrunchGear]

Seeing as Samsung and Apple have a sweet deal going with their flash memory in the iPod Nanos, could this 8GB product mean that the 8GB Nanos are finally on their way? Perhaps as soon as WWDC next month, since there hasn't been an iPod product refresh in quite some time? We hope so. It could also mean cellphones and other MP3 players are due for a storage bump as well. – Jason Chen

60-nanometer 8-Gigabit NAND Flash Memory [Akihabara News]

The same analysts also thought that Apple is currently working on an ultra-portable PC, and the NAND memory could fit quite snugly into those as well. Both of these are estimated to be released in 2007 at MacWorld. We'll find out soon enough. – Jason Chen

Apple seen delivering "ultra-portable" at Macworld [AppleInsider via i4u]

The lack of moving parts will also allow it to go fanless, making it absolutely silent, plus it'll be more efficient, boosting battery life. Here comes the downside, though: it's going to cost $3700 for all this solid-state goodness, and it's saddled with an old-fashioned Celeron M 753 (1.2GHz) chip. Bring on the Core Duos, and lower that price! Come to think of it, it wasn't too long ago when all laptops cost that much or more. Just think of this as a peek into the future.

Press Release [Samsung]