Posted 11/06/09 at 06:23:03 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Samsung has announced a new breakthrough that could lead to  mobile devices with greater storage space than before. The company says it has developed a new multi-chip memory package that is 40% thinner and lighter than a normal memory package. The 0.6mm-thick package is said to contain eight 30-nanometer NAND Flash chips.

The new package owes its lean figure to a “bare” die that is just half as thick as a conventional die. The ultra-thin package contains a “bare” die that is only 15 micrometers thick. This is quite an achievement on Samsung’s part as it has managed to overcome “the conventional technology limits of a chip's resistance to external pressure when under 30um in height.” Chips based on this new technology seem tailor-made for SSDs and mobile devices.

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Posted 11/03/09 at 09:00:54 AM by Paul Lilly

Want to get in Mother Nature's good graces and maybe save a buck or two while doing so? Combine Samsung's memory chips with Microsoft's operating system. That's the message in a nutshell the two companies will work together to promote.

"There is not doubt that the combination of Windows 7 and 40nm DDR3 in new PCs will make users very happy," said Dong-Soo Jun, executive senior vice president of memory marketing at Samsung Electronics. "If you opt for 4GB of memory in a Windows 7-based system, over typical 2GB-based systems used today, you'll see an increase in performance, while using less power thanks to the efficiency of Samsung's 40nm DDR3 DRAM."

If this all sounds a little bit hokey, you may just have to get used to it. Depending on how this marketing campaign plays out, Samsung suggested it might further collaborate with Microsoft on more green IT efforts on a global scale.

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Posted 10/26/09 at 02:00:12 PM by Paul Lilly

There's slender, and then there's Samsung's disgustingly thin 40-inch LED TV panel measuring just 3.9mm thick, or a third the size of the company's previous panel. We say "disgusting" only because some of us are still bitter over dropping a couple grand on a bulky rear-projection earlier in the decade.

The super-slim backlit LED display boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, full HD resolution support, and a 5000:1 contrast ratio. It's also the world's thinnest LCD panel, measuring 7mm slimmer than Samsung's full production LED TV panel and about 45mm thinner than conventional LCD displays. Prior to today, LG held the title with its 5.9mm LED TV.

So when and where can you buy one? Good question - Samsung hasn't released the 3.9mm panel yet, but according to Akihabaranews.com, the company hopes to do so very soon.

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Posted 10/22/09 at 08:13:17 PM by Paul Lilly

AT&T has a bone to pick with several big-name LCD makers, and it will do it in court. The telco has sued a number of display manufacturers over allegedly fixing the price of more than 300 million mobile LCD screens.

Those on the receiving end of the lawsuit include Samsung, LG Display, Optronics, Sharp, and Chungwa. According to the lawsuit, the display makers "formed an international cartel illegally to restrict competition in the United States in the market for LCD panels."

AT&T called the whole situation a "conspiracy," accusing the defendants of agreeing to eliminate competition and fix LCD panel prices that they knew would be incorporated in LCD products and sold in the U.S.

This isn't the first price fixing scandal to hit the LCD industry, nor is it the first time LG, Chunghwa, and Sharp have been tied to price fixing allegations. All three agreed to plead guilty to similar charges in November 2008 and to pay $585 million in criminal fines.

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Posted 10/16/09 at 04:54:00 PM by Bart Salisbury

Display technology seems to be reading for some pretty amazing leaps if the flexible display prototypes from Hewlett-Packard, Philips and Samsung pan out. Besides being incredibly thin, these displays can be bent, stretched, even folded. But just how durable are they?

In an interesting twist on the game whack-a-mole, a video posted by luxury1004 on YouTube suggests pretty darn durable. The video shows a hammer being taken to a Samsung AMOLED display. The 2.8-inch, 20 micrometer thin display, playing a clip from Gran Turismo 5, comes out unscathed.

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Posted 10/16/09 at 09:00:20 AM by Paul Lilly

Proof positive that laser printing is alive and well, Samsung on Thursday announced half a dozen new laser printer models for immediate availability in Taiwan.

Included in the lineup are two monochrome laser printers, the ML-1915 and ML-2580N, and four monochrome laser MFPs (multi-function peripherals), the SCX-4600, SCX-4623F, SF-650, and SF-650P. All six units boast Samsung's AnyWeb and Print Screen Button technologies, the company said.

The new models fit in with Samsung's plan to compete with Hewlett-Packard to become the largest laser MFP vendor in Taiwan, and to become the third largest vendor overall, DigiTimes reports.

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Posted 10/12/09 at 11:35:39 AM by Paul Lilly

Luxury always comes at a price, and for the new Samsung phone designed by Giorgio Armana, that price is equal to 10 one-hundred dollar bills.

"Today more than ever, elegant dressing is part of daily business life. When Samsung asked me to desgin the new business and lifestype smartphone, I decided to use my fashion aesthetic to create it," Armani said.

The $1,000 smartphone features a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 5.7Mbps HSUPA, WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth, FM radio, TV-out, GPS navigation, a 5MP camera, and 8GB of internal memory, which can be expanded to 32GB via a MicroSD slot.

Samsung apparently isn't feeling the love for the U.S. market and instead says the Giorgio Armani-Samsung smartphone will be available in Italy, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia, China, and the UAE. Would you have bought one anyway?

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Posted 10/08/09 at 02:48:13 PM by Bart Salisbury

Samsung Electronics, well known for its wide variety of computer peripherals, flat screen televisions, and digital cameras, appears poised to enter the memory card market.

DigiTimes is reporting that Samsung has struck an agreement with memory card maker Transcend to jointly market the cards for the Taiwan market. Samsung’s offerings will be targeted to the high-end market. Further details were not provided.

Neither Samsung or Transcend commented on the report. A formal announcement of the agreement is expected on October 20.

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