Samsung Pointed to Four of its Flash Memory Customers

Samsung Semiconductor, Inc., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today pointed to four of its NAND flash memory customers as examples of the entrepreneurial spirit that is moving the consumer electronics (CE) revolution into new directions. The companies, Pure Digital Technologies Inc., Livescribe, Inc., Dash Navigation, Inc. and Eye-Fi, Inc. are marketing innovative products that have either already achieved a significant market presence or are in the process of doing so, Samsung officials said.

Fueled by major advancements in NAND Flash, demand for CE continues to soar with markets opening everywhere that are capitalizing on the insatiable consumer demand for more efficiency and greater convenience in their lives.

"As popular NAND flash memory-fueled markets such as multimedia cell phones and MP3 players continue to flourish, we see a steady stream of companies moving boldly into the marketing of technologies that people wouldn’t have thought practical only a few years ago," said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. "Now investors, retailers and e-tailers are jumping on board to support the consumer craze for new devices that are re-interpreting ‘what’s cool’ and redefining ‘practical’ in eye-opening ways."

Pure Digital Technologies, Inc., for example, has fundamentally altered the landscape of the camcorder market with its highly popular line of compact, convenient and affordable Flip Video family of camcorders. Its flagship Flip Video Ultra Series, introduced last year, became the second best selling camcorder on the market in less than nine months. Incorporating Samsung NAND flash memory, Pure Digital’s critically-acclaimed camcorders feature on-board software that provides consumers a simple, seamless way to organize, edit and email videos as well as upload clips directly to popular video-sharing sites such as You Tube, MySpace and AOL Video.

The 60-minute (2GB) Flip Video Ultra Series, available for $149.99 (MSRP), is sold through leading retailers including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears/Kmart, Target.com, Wal-Mart and TheFlip.com.

Another company, Livescribe, has developed a ‘smart’ writing pen called the Pulse. It comes with a built-in computer that records everything the attendee or student is hearing during a presentation, seminar or class, and automatically links it to what he or she has written. The notes and accompanying recordings can be easily transferred to a computer to more quickly search for words within the user’s notes, or for sharing more readily with online colleagues or friends.

Livescribe’s Pulse smartpen has 1GB of Samsung NAND flash memory embedded in its lower priced version ($149) that can store more than 100 hours of audio recordings, and 2GB of NAND in its premium version ($199), which can store more than 200 hours of audio. Each smartpen also comes with a rechargeable lithium battery, a tiny OLED display screen and a Samsung ARM 9 processor. The smartpen can be connected to a PC through a USB port in the included charging cradle. Currently only available through its website, the Pulse smartpen will be available exclusively nationwide at Target beginning in July.

Redefining the personal navigation marketplace, entrepreneur Dash Navigation, Inc. is billing Dash Express, the first Internet-connected GPS device, as the smartest, most advanced traffic solution available. Each Dash Express GPS device anonymously and automatically sends its position and speed back to Dash’s servers, and then that information is shared with other drivers in the Dash Driver Network, enabling users to determine the best traffic routes with up-to-the minute precision. Additionally, Dash Express receives information from commercial fleets and other sources. Commuters can even wirelessly send addresses from their computers to their cars and also personalize their Dash Express from the companion MyDash website. Most information on the Dash Express is updated automatically without requiring users to connect to a computer.

Packed with 3GB of Samsung NAND flash memory and equipped with a Samsung application processor, the Dash Express, with built-in Yahoo Local search, also provides nearly instantaneous, up-to-date information about local businesses, products and services — reportedly, the most relevant localized information available. The Dash Express is currently priced at $399.99 plus a small monthly service fee.

A fourth consumer electronics start-up, Eye-Fi Inc., recently introduced the Eye-Fi Card, a wireless SD memory card that automatically uploads photos from inside a digital camera to the user’s PC or Mac and to the Web. Users can also choose to send their photos directly to one of many online photo sharing, printing or social networking sites.

The company’s newest model, the Eye-Fi Explore, adds ‘geotagging’, which will tag photos with the location at which they were taken, and provide hotspot access. Through a partnership with Wayport, Eye-Fi Explore users can also upload images away from home without a computer, at more than 10,000 U.S. locations. When a digital camera equipped with an Eye-Fi Explore card offering 2GB of Samsung NAND flash is turned on within a Wayport hotspot, pictures are automatically uploaded through the Wayport network within moments. The Eye-Fi Explore will be available in June at major U.S. online retailers for an MSRP of $129.

Many companies are discovering that the potential for developing new-featured devices is boosted by NAND’s small form factors and the cost-efficiency provided by some of the most advanced manufacturing plants in the world. Samsung’s state-of-the-art NAND flash plants, including two in Austin, Texas, have contributed to lowering flash prices an average of 40-45 percent a year for the past 4-5 years.

Today NAND flash is being produced for dozens of CE applications with storage capacities of a half gigabyte to 64GBs, in embedded and removable designs ranging in size from that of a fingernail to that of a cigarette case. Samsung said that while most of the CE world has capitalized on the mushrooming densities of NAND flash, look for more and more companies to specify NAND in applications that depend upon NAND flash design flexibility rather than increasing densities.

"NAND Flash relentless price declines are driving opportunity for many start-ups, as well as established leaders. NAND has enabled the explosion of portable storage markets as the average price of 1GB has plummeted from about $310 in 2002 to a projected 30 cents in 2012. Affordable, compact storage is fundamental to the proliferation of new functionality, which is fueling opportunities for new portable consumer electronics markets with significant growth potential," according to Joseph Unsworth, research director at Gartner.

For more information about Samsung flash products