Samsung Begins Hybrid HDD Shipments
Samsung has begun shipments of the first hybrid flash memory hard drive to its OEM partners. Retail shipments are expected to begin soon, however the company has not specified a date.
The Korean electronics maker first announced its plans for such drives shortly before WinHEC in May of last year. It said that combining flash memory with a traditional HDD had numerous benefits, including faster boot and resume times, as well as increased reliability.
Samsung Settles DRAM Price Fixing Suit
Samsung and a US subsidiary have agreed to pay $90 million to settle charges that it colluded to keep the price of DRAM memory artificially high.
Money will be used to reimburse consumers as well as the legal costs of state and local governments nationwide. The action settles cases brought by 41 states, and several private class-action suits.
Toshiba Sees Samsung's Bet in 16 Gb NAND Flash
The demand for smaller portable components with higher storage capacity is only growing faster, and as soon as this year, miniature devices residing on keychains may be able to boast the storage capacity of what can now be described as "larger" iPod nanos.
Toshiba announced today it's on schedule to produce 16 Gb flash memory components, in a new 300 mm fabrication facility just completed as a joint project with flash competitor SanDisk. Mass production of 8 Gb flash memory at 1 GB capacity will begin this month, to keep up with #1 producer Samsung's introduction of 8 Gb components last July.
Samsung Reducing Mobile Memory Density
In a move that could lead to the integration of such features as inline linear editing on camcorders conceivably as soon as 2008, Samsung announced today it will begin mass production of a single-chip one-gigabit (1 Gbit) low-power double-data-rate (DDR) DRAM package, for use in mobile handsets and small digital camcorders, as soon as the second quarter of next year.
With production beginning soon, it’s very likely that Samsung will have some type of demonstration planned for the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, preliminary festivities for which begin just a week from Friday.
Fifth Samsung Exec Pleads Guilty in DRAM Price Fixing Probe
Reuters and the Associated Press are both reporting that a fifth senior executive of world #1 DRAM manufacturer Samsung has agreed to plead guilty in connection with the US Justice Dept.'s investigation into memory industry collusion and price fixing.
Former Samsung vice president of sales Young Hwan Park will plead guilty and cooperate with the federal investigation, after which he will reportedly pay a $250,000 fine and spend ten months in prison. Samsung Electronics last month pled guilty for its own part, and was fined $300 million. Park is one of 18 executives from four organizations - Samsung, Hynix Semiconductor, Elpida, and Infineon (which has since spun off its memory unit as Qimonda) - to have been directly charged in the price-fixing probe since it began in 2002.
Opera Mobile to Appear on Samsung Phones
Opera Software said Thursday that it had entered into an agreement with South Korean electronics maker Samsung to provide its namesake Internet browser software for the company's mobile phones. As the contract is per phone, no estimate of the contract's total value was provided. Opera mobile is a standards-based browser that automatically reformats standard-sized web pages for viewing on a small screen.
The company earlier this month had announced that Nokia had agreed to put the Opera Mini browser on 6300 series phones in select markets. "Our strategies in working closely across the board with major handset manufacturers, operators and directly with end users have made Opera Mobile an attractive product," Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner said.
RIM Sues Samsung Over BlackJack
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion filed suit against Samsung in U.S. District Court on Friday, claiming the South Korean electronics manufacturer's choice of the "BlackJack" name is too close to that of its popular BlackBerry device. In the lawsuit, RIM is seeking an injunction that would prevent the sale of the phone, as well as to force Samsung to stop using the name.
RIM's BlackBerry has for quite some time been in a league of it own in the business communications device market. However, its success has prompted companies like Motorola to offer the Q, T-Mobile to produce the Dash, and Samsung the BlackJack. While it seems like RIM has no issue with its other competitors, the company argues the BlackJack name confuses customers. Both RIM and Samsung have declined to comment on the legal matter.
Samsung BlackJack Takes on Moto Q
The battle lines in mobile connectivity devices are clearly being drawn, with the early leader in the coolness category -- Motorola's sleek, miniature Q, available under an exclusive deal with Verizon Wireless -- now facing a serious threat from a similarly-equipped device from Samsung, being offered through Cingular Wireless.
When you place a new Samsung BlackJack device side-by-side against a Motorola Q, at first, there doesn't appear to be much difference. Both have a QWERTY layout keyboard, of the style popularized by BlackBerry devices (don't think we didn't notice the similarity in names). Both run Windows Mobile 5.0.
Pioneer Sues Samsung Over Patents
Pioneer has sued Samsung in the United States over alleged patent infringement involving plasma displays used primarily in television sets. The two companies were in licensing talks that apparently fell through, prompting Pioneer to file a lawsuit.
Japan-based Pioneer says it holds a patent regarding an electrode configuration that improves plasma display quality, as well as a patent covering a manufacturing step that increases the brightness of a display. South Korea-based Samsung SDI is violating both of those parents, Pioneer says.
Samsung PRAM Could Replace Flash Memory
A new, potentially less expensive substitute for flash memory may have taken a step closer to becoming reality today, as Samsung announced it had completed a prototype for a promising new, potentially more efficient non-volatile memory scheme.
Called phase-change random-access memory (PRAM), the patents for this concept date as far back as 1968. While the idea is conceptually simple, the problem for the last four decades has been finding the right balance of chemical materials that will behave as predicted on paper.
Samsung Web Site Infecting Visitors
Security firm Websense warned this week that attackers had apparently broke into the Web site of telecommunications company Samsung, infecting certain portions of the site with a Trojan horse. The firm said it was likely that the site had been infected for some time.
"The most current code, which is still available for download, is a Trojan Horse that attempts to disable anti-virus programs, modify registry keys, download additional files, and log keystrokes when connecting to banking websites," Websense said in an advisory.
Samsung to Build Own Music Store
Samsung on Friday announced plans to develop its own online music store, which would join a growing number of Windows Media-based services that have struggled to compete with Apple's iTunes. The store would complement a new line of MP3 players from the electronics maker.
With Microsoft readying its own Zune portable device and music service to take on Apple, the company's PlaysForSure partners are becoming increasingly wary of being pushed to the side. In turn, Samsung is closing the loop and will promote its own service alongside its devices, much like Apple does with the iPod.
Samsung to Begin Selling 70-Inch LCD
Samsung will introduce this week the world's biggest LCD display for use in consumer TVs, topping current 65-inch models with a 70-inch diameter screen. The LCD supports 1080p high-definition, as well as a 180-degree viewing angle and 120Hz video signal reproduction.
Samsung will begin producing the 70-inch LCD in early 2007, the company said, hoping to better compete against plasma displays and projection TVs. With prices continuing to fall, LCD TVs have become more affordable for consumers, bringing with them superior technology. Samsung did not announce pricing for the 70-inch display, but a 65-inch model from Sharp retails for $15,500 USD.
Samsung's 'Origami' PC Makes Debut
Samsung on Monday announced the U.S. availability of the Q1, the company's first device to fall under the Ultra Mobile PC platform. The unit would retail for $1,099 USD, just above Microsoft's target of $599 to $999 for the "Origami" line of devices. UMPCs largely resemble a small Tablet PC with 7-inch touch screen, and run a full version of Windows XP with special software.
However, the high price limits the appeal to a small segment, say analysts. "Clearly, the goal is a toy for boys," says Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox. "With Q1 the S isn't just for Samsung, it's for "status symbol." Everything about the Samsung Q1 is uptown." Another company, Founder, will release a UMPC model later this quarter, with a device by ASUS expected over the summer.
Samsung to Unveil Origami PC May 1
Samsung will take the wraps off its first Ultra-Mobile PC on May 1, according to an invitation sent to journalists this week. The event, to be held in San Francisco, will mark the launch of the first device based on Microsoft's Origami concept that made waves at CeBIT in March.
Samsung's UMPC, known as Q1, will retail in South Korea for $1264 -- more expensive than Microsoft's target price range of $500 to $1000. Prices for the United States and Europe were not announced, nor were hardware specifications of the device. UMPCs largely resemble a small Tablet PC with 7-inch touch screen, and run a full version of Windows XP with special software.
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