Samsung Supports Entrepreneurial Companies Taking Flash Memory Into Promising New Markets
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Samsung Semiconductor, Inc., the world leader in advanced memory
technology, today pointed to four of its NAND flash memory customers
as examples of the entrepreneurial spirit that is moving the consumer
electronics (CE) revolution into new directions. The companies, Pure
Digital Technologies Inc., Livescribe, Inc., Dash Navigation, Inc. and
Eye-Fi, Inc. are marketing innovative products that have either
already achieved a significant market presence or are in the process
of doing so, Samsung officials said.
Fueled by major advancements in NAND Flash, demand for CE
continues to soar with markets opening everywhere that are
capitalizing on the insatiable consumer demand for more efficiency and
greater convenience in their lives.
"As popular NAND flash memory-fueled markets such as multimedia
cell phones and MP3 players continue to flourish, we see a steady
stream of companies moving boldly into the marketing of technologies
that people wouldn't have thought practical only a few years ago,"
said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung
Semiconductor, Inc. "Now investors, retailers and e-tailers are
jumping on board to support the consumer craze for new devices that
are re-interpreting 'what's cool' and redefining 'practical' in
eye-opening ways."
Pure Digital Technologies, Inc., for example, has fundamentally
altered the landscape of the camcorder market with its highly popular
line of compact, convenient and affordable Flip Video family of
camcorders. Its flagship Flip Video Ultra Series, introduced last
year, became the second best selling camcorder on the market in less
than nine months. Incorporating Samsung NAND flash memory, Pure
Digital's critically-acclaimed camcorders feature on-board software
that provides consumers a simple, seamless way to organize, edit and
email videos as well as upload clips directly to popular video-sharing
sites such as You Tube, MySpace and AOL Video.
The 60-minute (2GB) Flip Video Ultra Series, available for $149.99
(MSRP), is sold through leading retailers including Amazon.com, Best
Buy, Circuit City, Sears/Kmart, Target.com, Wal-Mart and TheFlip.com.
For more information, go to www.theflip.com.
Another company, Livescribe, has developed a "smart" writing pen
called the Pulse. It comes with a built-in computer that records
everything the attendee or student is hearing during a presentation,
seminar or class, and automatically links it to what he or she has
written. The notes and accompanying recordings can be easily
transferred to a computer to more quickly search for words within the
user's notes, or for sharing more readily with online colleagues or
friends.
Livescribe's Pulse smartpen has 1GB of Samsung NAND flash memory
embedded in its lower priced version ($149) that can store more than
100 hours of audio recordings, and 2GB of NAND in its premium version
($199), which can store more than 200 hours of audio. Each smartpen
also comes with a rechargeable lithium battery, a tiny OLED display
screen and a Samsung ARM 9 processor. The smartpen can be connected to
a PC through a USB port in the included charging cradle. Currently
only available through its website, the Pulse smartpen will be
available exclusively nationwide at Target beginning in July. For more
information, visit www.livescribe.com.
Redefining the personal navigation marketplace, entrepreneur Dash
Navigation, Inc. is billing Dash Express(TM), the first
Internet-connected GPS device, as the smartest, most advanced traffic
solution available. Each Dash Express GPS device anonymously and
automatically sends its position and speed back to Dash's servers, and
then that information is shared with other drivers in the Dash Driver
Network, enabling users to determine the best traffic routes with
up-to-the minute precision. Additionally, Dash Express receives
information from commercial fleets and other sources. Commuters can
even wirelessly send addresses from their computers to their cars and
also personalize their Dash Express from the companion MyDash website.
Most information on the Dash Express is updated automatically without
requiring users to connect to a computer.
Packed with 3GB of Samsung NAND flash memory and equipped with a
Samsung application processor, the Dash Express, with built-in
Yahoo(R) Local search, also provides nearly instantaneous, up-to-date
information about local businesses, products and services --
reportedly, the most relevant localized information available. The
Dash Express is currently priced at $399.99 plus a small monthly
service fee. For more information, visit www.dash.net.
A fourth consumer electronics start-up, Eye-Fi Inc., recently
introduced the Eye-Fi Card, a wireless SD memory card that
automatically uploads photos from inside a digital camera to the
user's PC or Mac and to the Web. Users can also choose to send their
photos directly to one of many online photo sharing, printing or
social networking sites.
The company's newest model, the Eye-Fi Explore, adds 'geotagging',
which will tag photos with the location at which they were taken, and
provide hotspot access. Through a partnership with Wayport, Eye-Fi
Explore users can also upload images away from home without a
computer, at more than 10,000 U.S. locations. When a digital camera
equipped with an Eye-Fi Explore card offering 2GB of Samsung NAND
flash is turned on within a Wayport hotspot, pictures are
automatically uploaded through the Wayport network within moments. The
Eye-Fi Explore will be available in June at major U.S. online
retailers for an MSRP of $129. Visit www.eye.fi for more information.
Many companies are discovering that the potential for developing
new-featured devices is boosted by NAND's small form factors and the
cost-efficiency provided by some of the most advanced manufacturing
plants in the world. Samsung's state-of-the-art NAND flash plants,
including two in Austin, Texas, have contributed to lowering flash
prices an average of 40-45 percent a year for the past 4-5 years.
Today NAND flash is being produced for dozens of CE applications
with storage capacities of a half gigabyte to 64GBs, in embedded and
removable designs ranging in size from that of a fingernail to that of
a cigarette case. Samsung said that while most of the CE world has
capitalized on the mushrooming densities of NAND flash, look for more
and more companies to specify NAND in applications that depend upon
NAND flash design flexibility rather than increasing densities.
"NAND Flash relentless price declines are driving opportunity for
many start-ups, as well as established leaders. NAND has enabled the
explosion of portable storage markets as the average price of 1GB has
plummeted from about $310 in 2002 to a projected 30 cents in 2012.
Affordable, compact storage is fundamental to the proliferation of new
functionality, which is fueling opportunities for new portable
consumer electronics markets with significant growth potential,"
according to Joseph Unsworth, research director at Gartner. Data
Source: Gartner Semiconductor Forecast Database, 2Q08 Update May 28
2008.
About SAMSUNG Electronics
For more information about Samsung, the world's largest producer
of NAND flash memory, or its flash memory products, visit
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/products/flash/
Products_NANDFlash.html. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be
copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the
extra space if one exists.)
Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.
John Lucas, APR, 408-544-4363
Mobile: 408-712-7856
j.lucas@ssi.samsung.com
or
A&R Edelman
Karin Xie, 650-762-2844
Karin.Xie@AR-Edelman.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
