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| UPDATED: 2006-07-11 |
 Freescale Announces MRAM 
By: David Utter 2006-07-11 Magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) is the next-generation in computer memory, and Freescale sees MRAM as one that can replace many of the memory technologies in use today.  Freescale (FSL) has moved its MRAM devices into volume production. The new technology is non-volatile, and retains data in the event of a power loss.
News of the development spurred enthusiasm among Freescale's investors. The stock finished up 22 cents to 28.48 in trading yesterday. In after hours trading, ECN showed shares moved up another 32 cents to 28.80. MRAM has promise for the computer industry, as well as particular memory-intensive applications. Freescale described MRAM as combining "the speed of eSRAM and the non-volatility of Flash onto a single chip." The chips can retain data for those applications in the manner of Flash chips, commonly found in devices like media players. The MRAM chips in production will permit faster data access than the flash technology that features prominently in those made by SanDisk (SNDK). But Freescale has to pump up the volume of that MRAM pretty fast. Its first batch of chips will have 4Mbit capacity, which works out to 512KB. Compared to what SanDisk and others have created and continue to develop with flash, that is not a lot of capacity. This is a first-to-market effort, and certainly does not spell the end of the flash memory market. Ideally, Freescale will be able to increase that capacity, just as flash memory makers have with their chips. As they do, devices like smartphones equipped with MRAM will become more powerful. Other embedded applications will benefit as well. It's likely to be some time before the PC world can consider MRAM as an option. When it can, we think the gaming market will be where MRAM first becomes available, particularly with high-end boutiques that build pricey custom PCs for the most avid gamers. --- Tags: Freescale, MRAM, SanDisk Add to  Del.icio.us |  Digg |  Yahoo! My Web |  Furl
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View All Articles by David Utter About the Author: David Utter is a staff writer for InternetFinancialNews and WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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