Samsung shrinks flash memory card

In a joint project with Toshiba, Samsung Electronics has developed a super-small flash memory card that is one-third the size of a credit card for use in portable multimedia products.

The Solid-State Floppy-Disk Card (SSFDC) employs a flash memory chip embedded in a plastic card that has a memory capacity of 1MB to 8MB and can read data ten times faster than conventional devices. Small, light, and inexpensive to produce, the new memory card will be used in consumer electronics products such as digital cameras, handheld communications devices, voice recorders, and games.

Samsung officials say they plan to begin mass production of the 2MB SSFDC at the end of this year and are working on 1MB, 4MB, and 8MB versions.

The Samsung/Toshiba project is just one of several alliances formed to produce flash memory devices. Others include Hitachi and Mitsubishi, as well as an alliance of Sharp and Intel announced in April to develop the Smartvoltage family of flash memory chips.

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