New iPod Mini Flash Drives?

[stevehaslip]

Aanybody see this?

I copied the text from uk pc magazine "PC Pro"

"Samsung unveils world's first 60nm 8GB Flash device
[PC Pro] 9:52

Samsung Electronics says it has developed the industry's first 60nm, 8GB NAND Flash memory device aimed at the booming market for storage media for portable consumer electronic devices. The company says that the 8GB NAND flash memory will allow designs of up to 16GB of storage on a single memory card which could store 16 hours of DVD quality video or 4,000 MP3 audio files.

The company says that the 60nm process technology used is around 30 per cent smaller than the recent 70nm 4GB NAND Flash memory.

The new memory device is built around a 3D cell transistor structure and high-dielectric gate insulating technology that minimises the interference between cells. Further compression is achieved by a new multi level cell (MLC) technology in the 60nm process technology.

There is no estimate for when a 8GB NAND device will become commercially available although Samsung says it expects to launch mass production of the 4GB NAND flash by the first quarter of 2005"

Am I right in thinking that this is the same kind of memory that the iPod mini uses? It uses a small flash microdrive? if so in the first quarter of 2005 should we expect new 8Gb iPod minis?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Aanybody see this?

I copied the text from uk pc magazine "PC Pro"

"Samsung unveils world's first 60nm 8GB Flash device
[PC Pro] 9:52

Samsung Electronics says it has developed the industry's first 60nm, 8GB NAND Flash memory device aimed at the booming market for storage media for portable consumer electronic devices. The company says that the 8GB NAND flash memory will allow designs of up to 16GB of storage on a single memory card which could store 16 hours of DVD quality video or 4,000 MP3 audio files.

The company says that the 60nm process technology used is around 30 per cent smaller than the recent 70nm 4GB NAND Flash memory.

The new memory device is built around a 3D cell transistor structure and high-dielectric gate insulating technology that minimises the interference between cells. Further compression is achieved by a new multi level cell (MLC) technology in the 60nm process technology.

There is no estimate for when a 8GB NAND device will become commercially available although Samsung says it expects to launch mass production of the 4GB NAND flash by the first quarter of 2005"

Am I right in thinking that this is the same kind of memory that the iPod mini uses? It uses a small flash microdrive? if so in the first quarter of 2005 should we expect new 8Gb iPod minis?

No, the iPod mini uses a microdrive - a miniature HDD, not flash-based AT ALL. Plus, Apple doesn't use Samsung as their supplier for iPod drives. What this DOES mean is that we'll soon be seeing 8GB USB pen drives. What Apple's waiting for is a better microdrive, not a better flash drive.

 

[mpopkin]

No, the iPod mini uses a microdrive - a miniature HDD, not flash-based AT ALL. Plus, Apple doesn't use Samsung as their supplier for iPod drives. What this DOES mean is that we'll soon be seeing 8GB USB pen drives. What Apple's waiting for is a better microdrive, not a better flash drive.

True, Apple does use a Microdrive, but as Samsung is the Supplier for ALL of Apple's Monitors(pbook, ibook, imac, cinema displays) i would say that it is safe to say that Apple would have no problem either using, trusting or getting a great deal from samsung. Flash Drives are also more stable, less likely to break if dropped and do not skip, and use less power, why does apple not use them now?? they are not commercially affordable in sizes that apple would want or need to power a mini, but samsung is a relative newcomer to the Flash drive field and because apple is such a huge customer of samsung, it is safe to say that Apple could get a great deal on Flash Drives in the 16gb range from Samsung and it would work just as well or better than the current microdrive.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

True, Apple does use a Microdrive, but as Samsung is the Supplier for ALL of Apple's Monitors(pbook, ibook, imac, cinema displays) i would say that it is safe to say that Apple would have no problem either using, trusting or getting a great deal from samsung. Flash Drives are also more stable, less likely to break if dropped and do not skip, and use less power, why does apple not use them now?? they are not commercially affordable in sizes that apple would want or need to power a mini, but samsung is a relative newcomer to the Flash drive field and because apple is such a huge customer of samsung, it is safe to say that Apple could get a great deal on Flash Drives in the 16gb range from Samsung and it would work just as well or better than the current microdrive.

Maybe Apple would rather use Toshiba, their current supplier for all things iPod- and iPod mini-related, because they don't want to depend too much on only one supplier.

 

[stevehaslip]

oops! my bad, i doubt Apple will change to flash drives now they've established the mini, you get compact flash media cards and you get micro drives that fit in the same port, is this the same as the mini?? i know the ones that the mini uses are about the size of a box of matches so i don't think they are the same. I bet 8Gb of flash memory will be pricey!!!

 

[panda]

flashy!

it would seem these would be great for the mini.

imagine...

they could be removable, then the capacity would not matter (too much), one could have a big collection of flash cards, filled with all sorts of stuff, they could be swapped with friends, the storage of the mini would be limitless...

...and now the real headache for itms starts -how to preserve copyrights for songs?

 

[AoWolf]

oops! my bad, i doubt Apple will change to flash drives now they've established the mini, you get compact flash media cards and you get micro drives that fit in the same port, is this the same as the mini?? i know the ones that the mini uses are about the size of a box of matches so i don't think they are the same. I bet 8Gb of flash memory will be pricey!!!

The mini's hard disk is about the size of a U.S. quarter.

 

[dongmin]

oops! my bad, i doubt Apple will change to flash drives now they've established the mini, you get compact flash media cards and you get micro drives that fit in the same port, is this the same as the mini?? i know the ones that the mini uses are about the size of a box of matches so i don't think they are the same. I bet 8Gb of flash memory will be pricey!!!

Yeah it all depends on the cost since the form factor and interface is essentially the same. Right now, there are 4GB flash drives coming to market but they carry a retail price of $500. Pretty steep.

 

[Abstract]

Yeah, flash is better, Samsung or not, so that isn't the issue as was suggested before. The issue is price.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Yeah, flash is better, Samsung or not, so that isn't the issue as was suggested before. The issue is price.

Yep - unfortunately, flash technology hasn't gotten as cheap or gained as much capacity as hard drive technology. Flash technology has no moving parts, though - making it nigh-immune to skipping and head crashes. For small-capacity devices where being solid-state is an advantage, flash is the way to go. If you need more capacity than flash provides, and you can afford to give up solid-state, then a hard drive of some sort is what you need.

 

[FuzzyBallz]

Flash memory is sloooow.

 

[slughead]

8GB in 60nm ??

anyone else see this as a misprint?

Maybe they mean each sector is 60nm?

 

[earthtoandy]

Maybe Apple would rather use Toshiba, their current supplier for all things iPod- and iPod mini-related, because they don't want to depend too much on only one supplier.

uhh i thought hitachi did all ipod drives.... or is hitachi and toshiba the same?

 

[blodwyn]

Flash memory is sloooow.

It's certainly fast enough for playback - I've got a TDK MP3 player that uses flash cards and it works fine. It's possible that transferring files would be a bit slower though

 

[wrldwzrd89]

uhh i thought hitachi did all ipod drives.... or is hitachi and toshiba the same?

Nope, it's Toshiba. Look here for proof.

 

[munkle]

Hitachi supplies the hard drives for the iPod mini.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Hitachi supplies the hard drives for the iPod mini.

They do? I'm not convinced just yet - I want a link for proof.

 

[munkle]

They do? I'm not convinced just yet - I want a link for proof.

Here's a little article for proof and an autopsy report if you're still not sure!

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Here's a little article for proof and an autopsy report if you're still not sure!

You've convinced me now. Maybe Apple uses Hitachi instead of Toshiba for the iPod mini because Toshiba doesn't provide the mini HD that Hitachi does and that Apple needs. Either way, greater supplier diversity for Apple is probably a good thing, right?

 

[johnnyjibbs]

I don't see any problems with Samsung. These drives could go into the iPod mini in the future, they may not. (Personally I think it would be later than January due to time-to-market problems.) If they go in, it'll be because they are the best value for money for Apple and are the best choice for performance and price. If not, then whatever is better will be used instead.

 

[ftaok]

You've convinced me now. Maybe Apple uses Hitachi instead of Toshiba for the iPod mini because Toshiba doesn't provide the mini HD that Hitachi does and that Apple needs. Either way, greater supplier diversity for Apple is probably a good thing, right?

Just a little background info. Hitachi bought IBM's hard drive division a little while back. In doing so, they acquired IBM's microdrive technology. They've also developed it to a point where they are both big and reliable. The old microdrives from IBM were maxed at 340MB (I think they bumped it up later) and were notoriously fragile.

Hitachi has gotten the microdrive up to 4GB and I guess they're robust enough to use on mp3 players.

Anyways, enough history. I have an idea for a mini music player that could work. Instead of using tiny hard drives or expensive Flash memory for mp3 players, why doesn't someone use regular computer RAM? You could use the player's battery to keep the RAM going (like the old Nintendo cartridges). Regular RAM is faster and cheaper than Flash memory. At large quantities, 1GB of RAM could be gotten for $100 (just a guess). And it wouldn't have to be one chip. You could use 2 512 sticks.

Does anyone know if there are any technical reasons this couldn't be done?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Just a little background info. Hitachi bought IBM's hard drive division a little while back. In doing so, they acquired IBM's microdrive technology. They've also developed it to a point where they are both big and reliable. The old microdrives from IBM were maxed at 340MB (I think they bumped it up later) and were notoriously fragile.

Hitachi has gotten the microdrive up to 4GB and I guess they're robust enough to use on mp3 players.

Anyways, enough history. I have an idea for a mini music player that could work. Instead of using tiny hard drives or expensive Flash memory for mp3 players, why doesn't someone use regular computer RAM? You could use the player's battery to keep the RAM going (like the old Nintendo cartridges). Regular RAM is faster and cheaper than Flash memory. At large quantities, 1GB of RAM could be gotten for $100 (just a guess). And it wouldn't have to be one chip. You could use 2 512 sticks.

Does anyone know if there are any technical reasons this couldn't be done?

I think the power drain would be way too high to use regular RAM. However, when MRAM comes out, this will be technically feasible and preferable to Flash, hard drives, and regular RAM. MRAM has the solid-state-ness of Flash, the speed of regular RAM, and the potential capacity of a hard drive.

 

[dongmin]

Flash technology has no moving parts, though - making it nigh-immune to skipping and head crashes. For small-capacity devices where being solid-state is an advantage, flash is the way to go..

Not a huge advantage, in my opinion. My mini almost never skips. I've noticed it maybe once or twice in three months of use. Then again, I don't exactly taebo with my mini, just running occasionally.

 

[earthtoandy]

Hitachi supplies the hard drives for the iPod mini.

thats what i thought. they just upgraded a whole facility a month or so back to handle it. they developed the postage stamp 4gb drive correct?
edit: ok yeah i read the thread more. duh