Micron Technology has shipped its first 2 Gb NAND flash memory products aimed at flash cards, USB devices, mass storage devices and mobile applications. The components are manufactured on a 90-nanometer process and according to the company are verified with major NAND controllers to be drop-in compatible with existing 2 Gb NAND devices utilizing those controllers. Volume production has already begun.
Japanese company Elpida says it has developed a new distortion control technology that improves data retentiveness, an element that is crucial for obtaining high yields of high-performance DRAM products during the mass production phase. Distortion control was developed in partnership with NEC´s System Devices Research Laboratory. The technology is also supposed to allow volume-produced DRAM to achieve the higher performance necessary for future applications while remaining cost-competitive. Elpida plans to apply this innovative technology to all of its current and future DRAM products.
Crucial released a new series of Ballistix memories – called Tracer – sporting two rows of eight "chasing" red and green LEDs that indicate activity by circulating at varying speeds. According to the company, a custom-designed chip in the PCB relays bus information to the LEDs, allowing them to accurately reflect usage of each memory module. In addition, eight blue undercarriage LEDs emit a constant glow near the pins. Ballistix Tracer DDR500/PC4000 are currently available in 512 MB and 1 GB modules with 2.5-4-4-8 latencies.
TwinMOS recently announced the Speed Premium DDR400 series, consisting of DDR400/PC3200 modules with overclocking settings to achieve 450 MHz with no need for BIOS setup changes. The modules are offered in 256 MB and 512 MB capacities with CAS latency of 2.5. According to the company, Advantest T5585/T5593 have been applied before shipping to ensure their stability and compatibility.
Corsair Memory announced a new memory product line called System Select, designed to meet the needs of consumers in the upgrading of desktops, laptops and servers. The idea is avoiding the need to consult compatibility charts. For this, the consumer can use the Corsair Memory Configurator, searching for modules compatible with the brand and model of his system. The online tool includes over 15,000 systems and 1,000 motherboards.
OCZ Technology announced a new PC-3200 Voltage eXtreme Gold series memory, designed to operate at a high voltage in order to increase the speed and stability and provide aggressive timings. Running at the standard 2.6 volts, OCZ PC-3200 Gold VX boasts 2-3-3-8 latencies, but at 3.2 volts the memory is capable of achieving 2-2-2-8. The memory has integrated gold mirrored copper heatspreaders and is available in 512 MB modules and 1 GB dual channel kits.
Thermaltake announced the Hardcano 13, an application for 5.25 inch drive bays that integrates a smart card reader and a fan controller. The six-in-one reader is compatible with CF, Microdrive, SM, SD, MMC and MS. The fan controller and monitoring device contains four sets of temperature display (in Celsius or Fahrenheit), four sets of fan speed display and four sets of fan failure display. The Hardcano 13 has a back light LCD monitor with eight color options.
OCZ released its own OCZ Memtest86 v1.00 memory test program, based on the recently released Memtest86+ v1.27. Some of its additional functionalities are: full timing adjustment for the nForce2, i865/i875 and i915/i925 (DDR1) chipsets; partial timing adjustment for Athlon64 on-die memory controller and the i915/i925 chipset (DDR2); and more specific options for fine-tuning the memory controller on AMD64 chips. The software is distributed under the GNU Public License (GPL).
SanDisk announced new Memory Stick and SD cards with higher capacities. The Memory Stick PRO will now be available with up to 4 GB while the Memory Stick PRO Duo, which has half the size of the standard card and uses an adaptor, will reach 1 GB. The SD cards will be available in up to 2 GB capacities. All the cards feature embedded MagicGate technology for safe transfer of copyrighted content. Prices are the following: 4 GB MS Stick PRO, USD 799; 1 GB MS Stick PRO Duo, USD 204; and 2 GB SD, USD 199.
Corsair announced this week their fastest memory to date: a XMS DDR550/PC4400 module that supports aggressive 2.5-4-4-8 latencies. The product is available in twin 1 GB kits, tested at 2.75 volts, and as individual 512 MB modules. The modules include black or platinum aluminum heat spreaders for improved heat dissipation.
OCZ Technology released a new revision of its PC2-4200 Enhanced Bandwidth DDR2 Platinum Edition series with aggressive 3-2-2 timings. The memory operates at 2.0 volts, has integrated platinum mirrored copper heatspreaders and is available in 512 MB and 1 GB modules or dual channel kits.
TwinMOS launched the Z4, a USB 2.0 mobile disk. With a black and white design, the Z4 comes with write-protect and password protection functions to ensure data integrity. It is driver free on Windows ME/2000/XP, Linux 2.4 and MacOS 8.6.
OCZ and Inphi Corporation (http://www.inphi-corp.com) announced the release of Zero-Buffer DDR (ZB-DDR) technology for unbuffered memory modules.
Using discreet zero-delay clock buffers, ZB-DDR technology combines the robustness of server class memory with the low latency of unbuffered modules, resulting in better data integrity, lower noise, and lower susceptibility to interference over a wider frequency spectrum while still remaining fully compatible with all current motherboards.
“At the module level, only with a clock buffer delay at 50 picoseconds or less, is it possible to generate loss-less memory clock signals that are not subjected to the impact of noise found in a distributed clock tree,” said Dr. Michael Schuette, Director of Technology Development at OCZ Technology.
ZB-DDR technology uses the state of the art Inphi INCU 877 clock buffers with a custom-developed PCB matched to the impedance of the clock buffer. “We are very pleased to have OCZ as a partner in this pioneering hi-tech endeavor,” commented Desi Rhoden, Executive Vice President of Inphi Corporation. “Precision clock signals provided by our clock buffers are the key to signal integrity and minimized error rates.”
Transcend has just released low profile memory modules. Available with DDR266, DDR333 and DDR400 chips, these new low profile modules are only 0.9 inches (2.28 cm) in height, while normal modules are 1.25 inches (3.17 cm) in height. These new modules are target to small form factor applications. Available in 256 MB and 512 MB versions.
Kingmax has just released their new DDR2-533 memory series, called "Mars". Besides the performance, Kingmax claims that this series uses an advanced anti-counterfeiting technology.
Using 1.8 V, the chips use the new 0.10 µm tecnology and is fully compatible with the forthcoming 1.066 MHz FSB from Intel.
