For less than $600, you can own a terabyte-class SSD.
Here's an interesting tidbit for those Maximum PC readers who were wondering why the two biggest players in mechanical hard drives have yet to seriously jump into the SSD waters: OCZ's shares are currently spiking after insider rumors claimed that Seagate and Micron are considering buying out the company.
In even more "future tech" news, Micron announced today that it has started mass production of a 45nm phase change memory solution for mobile devices. Phase change memory -- so called because it uses heat from an electrical current to flip between varying physical states -- is considered a possible successor, or at least competitor, to Flash in the non-volatile memory market. Micron's chip is the first phase change memory solution to become widely available in quantity.
What's the future of memory look like? NAND flash? Hybrid memory cubes? The memory makers over at Micron have their hands in both of those technologies, but they're also banking on a third form hitting the streets before too long, bearing a striking resemblance to the DDR3 we all know and love. This weekend, the company announced that "its first fully functional DDR4 DRAM module" is up and running and should make it to market in 2013.
It was being reported last week that Micron Technology issued a bid of $1.5 billion to take over Elpida Memory, which had fallen on tough times after a prolonged slump in the DRAM market, and it now appears as though Micron is the frontrunner to acquire the bankrupt memory maker. Toshiba and Globalfoundries were two other names that had been thrown around as potential suitors, but either they didn't bid, or they were outbid by Micron.
Technology giants Intel and Micron hammered out revised agreements to expand their NAND Flash memory joint venture relationship, the two companies announced this week. As part of the agreements, Micron will buy back Intel's stake in two wafer fabrication plants for $600 million, half of which will be paid in cash and the rest deposited with Micron to be refunded or applied to Intel's future purchases.
At a time when hard drive prices are up, motherboard prices might be going up, and solid state drives (SSDs) are still comparatively expensive (per gigabyte), the DRAM market may have finally bottomed out. That's the feeling from Micron president Mark Adams, who heads the only U.S.-based DRAM maker still in existence. According to Adams, DRAM prices have finally hit rock bottom.
Micron on Friday appointed President and COO Mark Durcan as interim CEO of the company until a successor is named by the Board of the Directors, and it didn't take them long to find their leader. On Saturday, Micron made the promotion permanent. Mr. Durcan, 51, held his previous roles with the company since 2007, and was the logical choice to succeed Steve Appleton, also 51, who 
Micron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Appleton, passed away this morning after a small plane he was piloting crashed at an airport in Boise, Idaho. Appleton, 51, joined Micron not long after his graduation in 1983. He started out on the factory floor and worked his way up to the top when, at age 34, he became the third youngest CEO in the Fortune 500.
The joint collaboration between chip giants Intel and Micron has resulted in a new benchmark in NAND flash technology. Specifically, the two tech gurus announced the world's first 20nm (not just nanometer-class, but an actual 20nm process) 128Gb (gigabit) multilevel-cell (MLC) device they say is ideal for small form factor tablets, smartphones, solid state drives, and high-performance compute devices.
-
Technology
Entertainment
-
Music
-
Creative
Sport & Auto
- About Future
- Jobs
- News
- Advertising
- Digital Future
- Privacy Policy
- Cookies Policy
- Terms & Conditions
- Shop
- Investor Relations
- Contact Future
© Future US, Inc. 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, California, 94080. All Rights Reserved.