4 gigs on a Tiny Flash

SanDisk has announced the iNAND, a small, easily integrated high-speed NAND flash storage device that is available in capacities and price points that make it an attractive alternative to micro hard drives.

The novelty is squeezed into a tiny package, which measures 12 x 18 x 1.4 mm in size, or roughly 4 % of the volume occupied by the Microdrive. The storage device also features 5 megabytes per second (MB/sec.) write and 9 MB/sec. read speeds.

What’s more, in write mode the iNAND uses just 75 milliAmps, compared to 305 milliAmps of the Microdrive. When in standby, the new technology consumes approximately 11 times more power than the Microdrive (150 microAmps and 16 microAmps, respectively), but the difference shouldn’t be that noticeable in practices.

The iNAND is designed to run on the same bus as the SD card and does not require flash host driver software, making it straightforward to design into new products while also allowing easy design of products that support both embedded storage and removable card slots.

Wes Brewer, vice president of product marketing at SanDisk, said, “ Integrating SanDisk iNAND provides the fastest time to market for OEMs who wish to benefit from the advantages of low cost, high-density NAND/MLC and its highly attractive performance specifications . The added value of being able to specify iNAND with our new TrustedFlash content protection technology essentially eliminates the need for handset companies to certify their designs to be tamper-resistant as well as the liability that usually comes from designing-in that capability.”

The SanDisk iNAND will be available in capacities ranging from 256 MB to 4 GB. Product samples are available now with production scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2005.