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If the anyone out there seeking the next iPhone iteration believed they’d be seeing a complete top-to-bottom change-over to a new generation, today’s leaked images should put all suggestions to rest. What we’re seeing here is a series of photos of the still-unofficial Apple iPhone 5S. Inside we’re seeing a couple of specifications we’d not

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Samsung has already pressing ahead with its own high-density 20nm LPDDR3 modules, but SK Hynix reckons it can go one better. Instead of the stingy, piffling, retro 2GB stack offered by Sammy (pah!), the Korean memory specialist says it’s sampling 20nm 8Gb (1GB) chips that can be stacked to provide 4GB of RAM in high-end mobile devices. This memory will come with all the trimmings and trappings of high-density LPDDR3, including a data transmission speed of 2,133Mbps (vs. 1,600Mbps offered by existing LPDDR3 phones like the GS4), a thinner profile and less power consumption in standby mode compared to LPDDR2. That just leaves the question of “when?,” to which SK Hynix confusingly answers that we’ll see products “noticeably loaded” with more than 2GB of LPDDR3 during the second half of this year, although it doesn’t intend to start mass production of this exact chip until the end of the year. Of course, there’ll come a point in 2014 when even mid-range processors like ARM’s Cortex-A12 will theoretically be able to address more than 4GB, so that amount of RAM may not even seem so outlandish.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

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It would appear that as Apple begins a move away from reliance on Samsung to create the most massive amount of its mobile products’ flash memory, the Korean company is seeking outside help to create enough product for its own Galaxy lineup. Two reports have surfaced today that suggest both Apple and Samsung to be seeking new means and ways of accessing enough product for the innards of their smartphone and tablet lineups. While Apple has bee reported to be teaming up with Taiwan Semiconductor on one hand, Samsung has been tipped to be purchasing memory from Elpida Memory and Toshiba.

The first report comes from EE Times where their “observers of the electronics and computer industries” – aka nameless sources – have said that Apple has “thrown out” their contract with Samsung for microprocessor manufacturing and is teaming up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. for the immediate future. Apple’s next-generation A7 processor has also been rumored to have been taped out by this company already – that’s a few steps behind actual production!

Meanwhile Digitimes – a group we must remind you has been as reliable as unreliable with their sources in the past, but do have some top-level contacts that end up revealing valuable information rather often – suggest that Samsung is currently unable to fill even their own requirements for memory products. With their Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets pumping out sales like no tomorrow, this report suggests that they’ll be looking for help!

Samsung’s own supply of memory products is already falling short of demand, including that for its Galaxy-series smartphones and tablets, industry sources have claimed.

Also interesting is the added suggestion that Samsung isn’t using these purchased parts for their own Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. Instead, this source suggests, Samsung is keeping its own production reserved for its own mobile products while the rest is shipped out to non-Samsung devices.

They noted that Samsung reportedly is buying more chips from Japanese firms while continuing to use its in-house produced chips for its Galaxy-series mobile devices. This is reportedly happening when Samsung has actually implemented a strategy to tightly control its chip output, the observers pointed out.

That’s a rather sizable claim to be making, and unless Samsung comes forth to say it’s true, we suggest you down a bit of salt while you think about it. If Samsung was indeed reserving its whole DRAM and NAND flash memory production for its own mobile products, notebooks, PCs, and the like, they’d have to integrate their whole business and depend solely on those mobile products to win. Samsung is simply too massive to do such a thing without some big-time decision-making being made.

Samsung hunts for memory help as Apple tipped to jump ship is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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RAM remains one of the principal drains on a smartphone’s battery: it’s almost always in use, and it saps power even when its host device is idle in a pocket. Toshiba hasn’t eliminated that demand entirely, but its new SRAM (not yet pictured here) is intelligent enough to cut a lot of the waste. The memory can better predict what power it’s going to need while it’s active, and includes a smarter retention circuit that occasionally wakes up to tweak buffer size while it’s on standby. While these sound all too abstract, they should lead to some very tangible gains. Toshiba estimates that the SRAM chews up 27 percent less power when live, and 85 percent less when it’s just waiting for action. The company doesn’t yet know when the RAM will reach finished devices, but we’re hoping it’s soon when even mainstream phones like the Optimus F7 will ship with 2GB of RAM; that energy draw isn’t going down all by itself.

Filed under: Storage

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Source: Toshiba

We all know that, generally speaking, buying the newest top-end part gets you the most performance. But in most cases, the premium you pay for that part covers a whole lot of other stuff as well that has no bearing on frame rates or video encoding times. We’re talking about the added cost of covering research and development, product marketing, lower production yields, etc. That high price also includes a vanity tax, if you will-the extra charge incurred by folks who simply want to have the latest hardware, hot off the fab, for bragging rights. More »