Nokia has revealed that it will be launching a black version of the N82 soon. This cellular phone has some pretty good features that might interest regular travellers such as a built in A-GPS unit and HSPDA support. To find out more about this unit, as well as its estimated price, head on over to the full article by clicking on the "read more" link below.

Researchers from investment firm Goldman Sachs have revealed that they believe Apple will be rolling out revisions for both the Apple iPhone and the Apple TV come next year. These include a second-generation iPhone as well as an Apple TV sporting a new LCD display. More at the full article.

Asian consumer electronics giants Samsung and Toshiba are teaming up to give the NAND flash memory market more options. The two have agreed to license their proprietary NAND wares to each other so that the industry can rely on more than just a single producer.

The folks from Redmond are going to hold an event on Tuesday, October 2, 2007, to announce the next iteration of the Zune. Insider sources say that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and design chief J Allard will be attending the said event to commemorate the announcement.

The new Zune would include the first flash memory-based gadget of the initial 2.4 million-unit product line, a strategy that Microsoft eyed significantly for the company. Microsoft currently holds a 10% share of the HDD player market and hopes to turn a profit from its share with the release of the flash-based Zune. 

The "Zune 2," as it's unofficially coined, is claimed to be similar in design, only thinner in profile. BetaNews reports that the new Zune will come in dimensions of 3 inches by 1.25 inches, and will look similar to the iPod nano. Video playback capability seems to be a feature confirmed for the next-generation Zune, though the claims of Wi-Fi inter-connectivity and larger in-house storage still remain unconfirmed.

While over two million units of new Zunes will be in production by the holiday season of 2007, about a third will take the form of the flash-memory based player. The first batch should be available by November, coupled with a Beta launch of a new Zune community site. There are also reports of first-party accessories for the product, though full details

 

Sony and NEC Corporation released, simultaneously but separately, the other day a new line of computers that carry Hybrid HDD. For the uninitiated, these are new kinds of hard disk drives employing large buffer of non-volatile flash memory.

Sony's VAIO Type F was released yesterday while NEC's LaVie C came out the day before that in Japan. Like we said, both carry hybrid HDD that give users the following advantages: speed increase, decrease of power consumption, improved reliability and lifespan, faster boot process, and less noises.

The following features are available for the high-end units of both lines:

• Sony VAIO Type F (FZ71)
• 15.4 inches monitor
• GeForce 8400M GT
• Wi-Fi A/B/G/N
• 200GB of Hybrid HDD (256MB of Flash)
• 1 to 4GB RAM
• Core 2 Duo T7250 at 2GHz (BTO up to 2.8GHz)
• Webcam
• HDMI, Blu-ray drive
  

• NEC LaVie C (LC950/KC)
• Face Pass: face recognition system that lets users log on into the computer once they show up  their face to the computer web camera
• Blu-ray disc drive (read only)
• HDMI output for HD Video
• Hybrid HDD of 160GB with Flash Memory (256MB)

Mobile phone and NDS owners may find common ground in this particular news bit, which pertains to SanDisk and their upcoming 6 and 8GB MicroSD High Capacity (microSDHC) flash cards.

The manufacturer has just sent out word that they have begun sending out samples of both flash memory drives to major phone manufacturers and mobile network operators for testing and evaluation.

Shipping is expected to begin late this year, although SanDisk has yet to announce the news card's expected retailer prices. For the mobile phone owners, the 8GB card will enable you to carry a total of 2,000 songs, or more than 5,000 pictures, or up to 5 hours of MPEG-4 videos.

We also imagine the guys in the portable gaming scene will find this announcement uplifting, given that homebrew-enabling cards like CycloDS Revolution support the format. Games aside, that'll leave plenty of room for your comics, videos, images, and the ton of homebrew you'll need to keep all these files running properly. Keep posted in case the test results for SanDisk's upcoming microSDHC cards get released.

So maybe it's not powerful enough to run Vista the way you would want it to, but the Sony Vaio Type G is among the smallest and lightest notebooks you'll ever see.

Define sleek and here's the answer. Weighing in at only 1.97 pounds and only 12.1 inches long, you can carry this one all day. Even if it only has the standard chipset for graphics and its single core processor runs barely over a gigahertz, it makes up with 32GB of flash memory as its main storage. That means start-up and disk operations are more efficient, as well as better use of power.

Gamers and graphics artists may want to stay away from this styling laptop, but the more casual users will certainly appreciate the portability and convenience of the VAIO G-Type. It's priced at US$ 926 and is now available at its online store and retailers everywhere.

The highest density embedded flash memory developed is now being sampled. Korean company Samsung is now sending samples of moviNANDTM - the 8 GB memory chip - to major mobile electronics manufacturers.

The memory chip consists of four 50-nanometer, 16Gigabit NAND flash memories, a high-speed MMC (multimedia card) controller and associated firmware. With the chip, the user could store as much as 2,000 songs, or even enough map data to implement global positioning system (GPS). Memory expansion is virtually limitless, because one can use removable media cards with the memory chip.

Mass production of this memory chip begins second quarter of this year. Since moviNANDTM allows NAND flash to be instantly accessed through a standardized MMC interface, manufacturers who use the memory solution can develop more phones quickly and at less cost than with raw MLC NAND components soldered into a handset.

  

For those asking, a Mimobot is not a memory flash drive - it is an artistic representation embedded upon a portable file carrying system. Okay, so it is a flash memory drive, but manufacturer Mimoco has been known for their fleet of designer USB flash drives, which is why we let you in on their '07 releases - backstory included.

For starters, we have artist Mori Chack with his current works, Gloomy Bear: The Naughty Adult Bear. The story for this cute blood-spattered piece of art is that it was a cute little bear picked up one day by a little boy. However, one night, Gloomy's dark side emerged, and he ended up ripping the poor little lad to ribbons. Naughty indeed.

Now, if you don't mind keeping this card in your pocket after that sad disturbing little story, it comes in 512 MB (selling for US $ 49.95), 1GB (US $ 69.95), 2GB (US $ 99.95), and 4GB (US $ 149.95). On the lighter side of things, we have the One Love (by HANAZUKI) and Ripple (Sket One) cards out for the guys who prefer a happier tone to their units. Check them out.

IBM, together with the Macronix and Qimonda research team, has demonstrated a device that claims to be the "Flash-killer." Why? Apparently, the prototype storage device is 500 times faster than Flash and uses less than half the power of Flash memory and can be built in super thin form factors.

The prototype would be showing what its got on the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineer's (IEEE) conference in San Francisco which happens this week. For those techies who want details, the IBM thingamajig uses a new Germanium-Antimony semi-conductor alloy in a device with a 3nm by 20nm cross section.

In layman's terms - it is smaller than today's flash and it is something that would take ages to perfect. Aside from that, the 500 time faster than flash memory is also blessed with a less than one-half the power consumption. Commercial availability - 2015

The IBM-Macronix-Qimonda project isn't the only one trying to do this. Samsung is also developing their very own phase-change RAM (PRAM) which is 30 times faster than flash and is targetted for a 2008 release. Intel and ST Microelectronics are doing the same thing and Elpida is targetting for a 2010 start of commercial PRAM production.