Samsung Debuts High Capacity Flash

Samsung has developed a new line of Flash memory that will not only allow manufacturers to shrink devices even further, but also provide more space and higher speed than was previously thought possible.

The new technology will allow for up to 8GB of data to be stored on a single Flash chip, meaning devices will stay the same size while their storage capacities will be vastly increased. The 4-gigabit Flash memory chip will allow for 40 percent more chips to be put on each wafer of silicon.

Also, the new Flash memory writes and reads data faster than previous incarnations - at 16 megabytes per second. This would make the storage of real-time high-definition video possible on a Flash memory chip, Samsung says.

Samsung also recently announced a Flash-based disk drive based on these chips. Flash could eventually replace hard drives in laptops since they can operate faster, quieter and cooler than modern mobile drives.

Production on these chips began this week, a month ahead of schedule. The first Flash memory devices with the new technology will begin to appear in June, the company says. Samsung currently holds close to 56 percent of the global market for NAND Flash memory.