memory

Talk around machine learning and big data usually involve processors, be it CPUs or GPUs, and storage technologies that it's almost too easy to take RAM, a.k.a. memory, for granted. Of course, all these pieces work together to deliver the performance demanded by such applications but, compared to the other two, development in the RAM space seems almost to be at a standstill. SK Hynix, a name you don't usually associate with consumer memory modules, is now breaking the ice with the industry's first DDR5 DRAM which you might not be able to get your hands on until next year.

Continue Reading

The walls are seemingly closing in on Huawei as the beleaguered Chinese company continues to lose suppliers and potential reprieves in light of the US' increasing export restrictions against it. Next week will see the implementation of new rules that would prevent Huawei from having access even to semiconductors and materials needed to manufacture its products and it seems that South Korean companies Samsung and SK Hynix are among those withdrawing their products from a lucrative customer.

Continue Reading

Although Samsung's smartphone business has seen a sharp decline in the past two quarters, its semiconductor and silicon business is still going strong. As if to prove that it's stronger than ever, the company is announcing the mass production of what it boasts to be its most advanced DRAM yet. While the 16Gb (Gigabit, not Gigabyte) capacity alone is already its largest, it's the production of the chip that Samsung is even more proud of.

Continue Reading

It seems like things are looking up for the PC market, with shipment numbers finally showing a rise last quarter. That has mostly been thanks to the rise in demand for desktops, laptops, and even tablets as the world adjusts to remote work and school setups. Ironically, those same global conditions are causing manufacturers NAND and DRAM products like RAM and SSDs some trouble as there is now an oversupply of these memory components and not much demand for them.

Continue Reading

Smartphone makers are echoing the mobile industry's 5G battle cry but it takes more than just a 5G modem to truly experience the benefits of the new network technology. A phone needs a processor powerful enough to keep up with the flood of data and new experiences 5G enables. It also needs enough high-speed memory for apps and processes to move in. The latter is what Samsung is addressing with its new 16GB RAM package, the very same it used on its highest-end Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G.

Continue Reading

As far as major announcements go, Samsung is practically done for the year. In a little over three months, however, it is expected to reveal its 2020 bet in the rat race that is the smartphone market. The Galaxy S11 has already leaked in bits and pieces but Samsung itself may already be providing the bread crumbs that paint the picture of a mighty Next Galaxy that may finally see a long-overdue upgrade in at least one aspect.

Continue Reading

Thanks to the laws of physics and Moore, there is only so much silicon we can fit in a single device. The challenge has always been to cram as many components as possible without increasing the amount of space as much as possible. In addition to improving manufacturing processes, one of the keys to that puzzle is thinking of creative ways to accomplish old techniques and designs. That is what Samsung is boasting off in its new DRAM technology that is able to stack 12 DRAM chips in the same space as 8 chips by ditching the traditional wire-bonding technique for TSV.

Continue Reading

As per Samsung's tradition, it has started the slow dropping of teasers for its upcoming flagship. Its first hint focused on the S Pen and what may either be a camera on the pen or a tiny punch-hole camera on its face. Although this latest piece of news isn't directly linked to the Galaxy Note 10, it could at least give hope that next phablet won't disappoint when it comes to getting the fastest RAM available for mobile devices.

Continue Reading

Intel may be best known for its CPUs but the company has also dabbled in other markets where its silicon prowess could be used. Although it has pretty much failed in producing a noteworthy graphics card, it's making quite an impression in the flash memory department with Optane. Now it is combining two of its best technologies in the Intel Optane Memory H10 with solid-state storage to give laptops, 2-in-1s, all-in-ones, and mini PCs an edge in data storage and access.

Continue Reading

Our smartphones are getting insanely powerful to the point that they're starting to rival mid-range and ultra-thin laptops in terms of specs, performance, and especially battery efficiency. There are, of course, areas where laptops still trump phones in raw performance and software, things seem to be headed in that direction as well. The latest piece to drop comes from Samsung who is boasting the launch of 12 GB LPDDR4X RAM that might be a bit too late for the Galaxy S10+ but not for its 5G version.

Continue Reading

Lexar may have only returned to the flash storage space last year, but it's wasting no time in offering a ridiculously large SD card. The new Lexar Professional 1TB 633x SDXC UHS-I card is one of the largest SD format memory cards you could find for your camera, video camera, or 3D capture rig.

Continue Reading

Samsung has been rather conservative with RAM in smartphones once it hit the 4 GB mark back in 2015. In fact, it was only last year that it added 6 GB of RAM to its flagships. It might be long overdue another upgrade and it may already have the silicon ready. The company just kicked off the mass production of its new 10 nm-class 16 Gb LPDDR4X memory and, considering the timing, it might very well be what’s inside the Galaxy Note 9.

Continue Reading