8GB IDE Flash Memory Module
Strip away the USB connector, slap on some plastic with IDE pins and create yourself an 8GB IDE flash drive.
Author Archive
Mark McCrosky
Kicking around in technology since 2002. I like to write about technology products and ideas, but at the consumer level understanding. Some tech, but not too techie.
Posting on Quora.com as well.
SATA Interface for Compact Flash
With the recent announcement from The CompactFlash Association (CFA) to develop an SATA interface for CF memory is another positive sign that solid state memory for laptops and computers will become the normal. Despite the fact of Mr. Shigeto, chairman of the CFA board, indicates this move is to further solidify CompactFlash memory as the primary memory storage for non-consumer, embedded and single board products, I think the writing is on the wall for gaining a larger market share of the PC market.
First Open Source Linux Cell Phone On Sale
Update: More info here The other day (literally) a fellow blogger and I where talking about why cell phones are so damn proprietary and if someone could develop a phone with the same open-source mindset as say WordPress (this blogging platform) than our world would be much better off. Well apparently I’ve been living under a rock.
We selected chips that have complete documentation publicly available, such as the ARM-based Samsung S3C2410 SOC. We added a debug port with complete access to JTAG and a serial console. This phone is designed for open-source development.With a sporty 640×480 LCD that holds a beautiful 283 dpi the visual from the Neo 1973 should be amazing. Unlike the first version of the iPhone the Neo 1973 will have 128MB RAM with 64MB NAND flash and an expandable microSD slot (bonus 512MB card ships with the phone). So hackers, gadget hounds and side project guru’s I think this is worth a closer look. At just $300 – what a deal. This first run of release units is more geared towards developers so don’t expect any retail phones to hit BestBuy just yet. OpenMoko Neo 1973 home page Continue Reading
Flash Memory Inside the Apple iPhone
We tried to escape the iPhone buzz, but recent information came to light after some folks unscrewed the iPhone to see what’s inside. This is what flash memory they found.
The Apple iPhone flash memory is comprised of two technologies. NAND flash and NOR flash. Without knowing how Apple used these technologies we can easily conclude (without certainty) how the flash memory is being used.
Since NAND flash memory is best suited for re-write and allows an operating system to view the flash memory as a hard drive type storage space, the iPhone most likely uses NAND memory to store MP3 files, photo’s, video and other ‘come-n-go’ files.
The NOR flash memory is best suited for storing code where re-writes aren’t as frequent. NOR would be used for storing application information, such as web browser, OS, Viewer files and other ‘stable’ code which wouldn’t change too often.
It was also reveled that Samsung is supplying Apple’s iPhone with the main microprocessor chip and NAND flash memory. Intel is supplying the NOR flash memory to the iPhone.
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70 Mini-Games for PSP from HotPXL
- Download the zip file “HotPixel_70OnlineGames_PSP” (15.1 MB)
- Connect the PSP via USB cable to your PC and select USB Mode on your PSP Menu
- Check that you have a memory stick with enough space available (15.1 MB)
- Unzip the file “HotPixel_70OnlineGames_PSP.zip”, it contains the folder “ULES00642DOWNLOAD”
- Copy the folder “ULES00642DOWNLOAD” in the folder “PSP/SAVEDATA” of the PSPâ„¢ memory stick
- Launch HOT PIXEL and in the main menu select “WWW PLAYLISTS” or “WWW GAMES”
Blackberry File Explore Utility – Free
Having trouble accessing files on your microSD card from the Blackberry 8800 or 8100 Series? The MultiPlay utility can help.
- Media Player module – can play media files, create and play playlists.
- vNotes module – can create voice memos and save to memory.
- txtNotes module – can create ASCII text files and save to card storage. Also can save/retrieve notes to/from memopad application
- File Explorer module – can manage the blackberry file system by copy, move, rename and deleting files, view properties, create folders.
Intel Heads Nonvolatile Memory Org
The Non-Volatile Memory Host Controller Interface (NVMHCI) Working Group, as it’s being called, will be chaired by Intel and will provide a standard software programming interface for nonvolatile memory subsystems.
The group says the interface will be used by operating system drivers to access NAND flash memory storage in the applications such as hard drive caching and solid-state drives. Today, PCs already use this technology; “ReadyBoost” is what Microsoft calls its Vista disk caching technology that makes computers running the OS more responsive by using flash memory on a USB 2.0 drive, SD card, or other forms of flash memory.
There are two main types of flash memory today, NAND and NOR gate chips. The former was developed by Toshiba a year after Intel debuted its NOR flash. NOR is typically used for code storage inside of cell phones and other devices, while NAND flash is used to store data inside of MP3 players and other devices.
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What is HDD Flash Technology?
One year ago, almost to the day, IOCell introduced the self proclaimed “World’s largest capacity flash drive†at the CeBIT 2006 show. Today, you can find 16GB flash drives from Transcend, US Modular and Pretec, so why is the Buffalo 16GB announcement of interest? Well, it uses Silicon HDD Technology. Silicon hard drives are different then normal hard drives in that no magnetic discs are present, rather the data is stored in silicon memory. How the silicon (HDD) hard drive works is by heating up the silicon via a microscopic probe, this probe maneuvers around the silicon area by an actuator and instantly heats the silicon to 600 degrees Celsius. So if an area is heated that is a zero, if the area is cool and crystallized it’s a one; thus binary code. Sounds complicated but put into perspective a CD uses 500 nanometers of red laser to read and write, and thus holds about 800MBs of data. Compare that to a microscopic probe at about 20 nanometers (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter) and you can store a Terabit of data in about one-square-inch. Now, we begin to understand the importance of Buffalo’s announcement. This is the first drive using Silicon technology to achieve 16GBs. If you think this is crazy technology then you might be interested in the 50 Terabyte flash drive made of protein. Continue Reading12% of HHDs in Laptops Will Be Flash Memory by 2009
Analysts at iSuppli Corp indicate that 12 percent of hard drives in laptops will be flash memory come 2009. I think that’s low. Notebook PC shipments rose to 21.8 million units during the first quarter of 2007 – that was a 23% jump, much higher then expected. With computer manufacturers trying to keep margins high laptop sales have become the major push. As laptops become more common as the primary computer driving down energy expense while increasing battery life makes flash memory the chosen technology for HHD storage.
“The penetration of HHDs in notebooks will rise more quickly in the near term than for solid-state drives, given that HDD vendors are increasing both the capacity and real density of their notebooks in 2007 and beyond,” Chander added. “Furthermore, HHDs cost less to produce and offer a level of data integrity that can only be delivered by tried-and-true HDD technology.”Continue Reading
More On The miCard
As things unfold for the miCard today we find a picture of the first [actual] product.