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Intel to Sample Flash-killer PRAM This Year

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the on-the-horizon dept.

Station writes "Intel's new phase-change memory technology (PRAM) will begin sampling this year. Samsung, IBM, and Hitachi are all working on phase-change memory as a successor to flash as it has a lower (~20ns) read latency than flash (50-90ns). 'Intel says they plan to ship the first PRAM modules as a straight-ahead NOR flash replacement so that they can work the kinks out of the design before trying to move it up the memory hierarchy. The company claims a much higher number of read-write cycles (100 million) than flash, as well as a potential 10 years' worth of data retention. NOR flash is typically used as program storage memory for mobile devices like cell phones, while more durable but slower NAND flash is used for mass storage in devices like the iPod nano.'"

4 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. more acronym confusion...(at least for mac users) by plasmacutter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    one of the later steps in fixing technical glitches in mac systems is to zap the pram..

    imagine the confusion between 2 friends when one says "i zapped my pram" .. one fixes your computer, the other breaks your flash device..

    --
    VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
  2. If you think that's confusing... by CarpetShark · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In the UK, "pram" means a baby stroller.

  3. How does this compare to NOR flash in other ways? by jonwil · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Will it be cheaper per megabyte than current NOR flash?
    Will it mean that devices like mobile phones (or devices like the Lego Mindstorms which also stores programs/data on NOR flash) can have more memory space in them?

  4. 3D stacking by Kim0 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I really wish they would stack it in 3D to get humonguous memories, f.ex. like this:
    http://memory.oyhus.no/