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Penny-Sized Flash Module Holds 16GB

Posted by Zonk on from the okay-now-we're-in-the-future dept.

nerdyH writes "Intel describes its new 2GB to 16GB SSDs (solid state disks) as 'smaller than a penny, and weighing less than a drop of water.' The parts are '400 times smaller in volume than a 1.8-inch hard drive,' Intel boasts, 'and at 0.6 grams, 75 times lighter.' Sampling now, with mass production set for Q1 2008, the Z-P140 is described as an 'optional' part of Intel's Menlow chipset, built in turn as part of Intel's vision for Linux-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs)."

5 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Ultramobile devices by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I could see ultramobile devices using these. Not only are they small, but they consume only about 300 mW of power active, and 1.1 mW in sleep mode.

    We're starting to get to a point where wearable computers will be practical. You'll be able to sew a whole computer right into a jacket or a sweater. Throw in one of those wearable displays, abd forget lugging around that heavy laptop!

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    My blog
  2. Er, so what? by Speare · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Okay, so they made a chip that would fit in a microSDHC form factor. Is it faster? Is it lower-power? Is the interface more convenient? Is the chipset to host it already commonplace? Why would I want yet-another-memory-stick-format product in the already-crowded marketplace?

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    1. Re:Er, so what? by Speare · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Okay, so they don't want to encase it in a piece of plastic with a big slider-pad for contacts. I'm sure SanDisk would be okay with direct integration of their storage chips onto motherboards too. I stand by my comment: this appears no different from existing capacities already available on the market. Why the huge press event?

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    2. Re:Er, so what? by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      microSD caps out at 8GB right now, and even those aren't readily available...

      Doubling capacity isn't press-release worthy anymore?

  3. Re:I want one by jackpot777 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...I should keep putting off buying a new iPod.


    Ah, we've all been there with technology. When I got my 2nd gen. iPod nano, I thought "wow, colour screen" and now I'm thinking "hmmm, no video."

    Time to meander like the old man I am: I found a 3.5" floppy at home last week where I had written on the label: 'put onto new computer, maybe 1.4GHz'. Oooh, with 256 megs of RAM and a nice big 40 Gig hard drive... I just checked eBay, there's a HP WorkStation X2000 P4 going in the US for two hundred dollars with 512MB of RAM, and still with SCSI for my old scanner.

    Or I can wait twenty years and they'll have a nanobot one for free in my Corkflakes (sans SCSI).
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