Intel logo (Photo : Reuters )
Can you imagine your smartphone with triple the storage? Intel and Micron introduced a new 10TB (terabyte) SSD NAND flash memory storage on Thursday. The new tech for mobile gadgets will include higher 3D chips.
The new SSD (Solid State Drive) is a collaboration between the two companies, in developing NAND (NOT AND) flash technology. The goal of the venture is to build higher chips, rather than wider ones.
Executives at Intel and Micron said that stacking the NAND chip will greatly boost its capacity. This approach is not only more efficient, but also more cost-effective.
The result of the new 3D chips is mobile storage drives that are triple the size of existing ones. Certain drive types will have smaller increases in their capacities.
Brian Shirley, a vice president of Micron Technology, explains that the new 3D NAND technology could create "fundamental market shifts." The applications with smartphones and supercomputing is just "scratching the surface," according to PC World.
Both Intel and Micron are planning to sell the new 3D chips in the second half of 2015. What is unclear is how long the chips will function until they fail.
Intel and Micron follow Samsung's recent V-NAND (vertical NAND), which also stacks memory to increase storage capacities, according to Digital Trends. However, the latest 3D chip is more compact.
The new announcement about 3D SSDs is major as flash drives could become generally more practical than hard drives. Although time will tell if that will actually happen, the days of desktops and laptops could be numbered.
