Consumer

Embedded devices today are performing more frequent updates, including monthly security updates for Android devices. One concern for any update is the potential for failure, with the worst case failure leaving the device a useless brick.

CES showcases amazing innovations, and this year the hot topics were wearable technology, automotive technology, smart home, and drones. As devices gain greater functionality and have to handle more data, the need for power failsafe file systems like Reliance Edge become more important.

In January I attended the International CES with 170,000 of my closest friends, about 25% of whom were from outside of the US. Together we attempted to visit 3500 exhibitors and listen to many, many keynotes, panels and speeches.

I've always carefully considered which cell phone I use. Having had Datalight software in lots of cell phones has given me an extra affinity for them. I started with a Microsoft Windows-based phone long before any one called them a "Smart Phone."

Last week the UK Journal PC Pro published an interesting article about fast SD cards, with a good description of the SD card Class system. With some clever testing, they showed how six cards performed in a continuous shooting situation.

The eMMC standard improved data rates and throughputs for high-density chips, and newer generations continue to do more.

At Datalight, we often think about device longevity, which is why our products extend the lifetime of NAND flash media, while improving performance.

Steve Ballmer did a nice job kicking off the keynotes on Monday night with an impassioned presentation about Windows Phone, Windows 8, and Xbox 360, but when it ended I found myself wondering why he didn't talk about any other Microsoft products. Windows phone looks pretty slick though, and I'm assuming it will run on eMMC flash for data storage. Next year Microsoft will be passing the baton to someone else for their traditional opening keynote and will not be back - not sure what (if anything) that means. We'll also have to wait and see if Ryan Seacrest will be invited back. 

Sony announced a new flash memory card promising even faster performance, which goes to show users are still looking for faster flash-based devices and manufacturers are paying attention. One of the guys in the Sony booth also mentioned a flash card that can read up to1 GB/second that is coming soon. He didn't have any samples available, but he sure enjoyed telling me about it.

There were tons of…

The hot topics in the consumer electronics segments today are Android, installable applications, sexy user interfaces, sensors like GPS receivers, gyroscopes and accelerometers and larger capacity/smaller size storage.

Our CEO Roy Sherrill visited CES last week and made note of a few trends that caught his eye. Here are his thoughts from the show floor: All-in-one Devices - Over the last few years, we self-described technology geeks have seen our phone morph into a camera, an MP3 player, an internet connection/email viewer, and about a hundred other functions spanning the range between the necessary and the ridiculous.

While the software we develop integrates at system level in devices, we do keep an eye open for developments happening at the application level primarily because the heavy data storage use most modern applications make. Understanding what kind of applications are making headway in the market helps us determine the type of data profile to expect at the file system and flash management level.

It's been over 20 years since NAND flash was supposed to take over the world, so why is the 'ultra-portable' laptop I'm writing this on still using HDD? And why, nearly 30 years after the invention of flash, are we still debating its applications vs. the rotating platter?

For the first time in more than a decade, people are saving again. In 2007 and years prior, the savings rate hovered around zero as we maxed our credit cards and lines of credit, driving the savings rate into the red and giving the world's manufacturing base an almost unbelievable boom. In January 2009 though, something unexpected happened; the US savings rate suddenly moved above 5%, the highest in decades.

Recently, LG Electronics created a multimedia-enabled portable navigator for the North American market, featuring a 4.3" LCD screen, Bluetooth hands-free functionality and video-enabled playback. However, the two-minute startup time didn't match LG's reputation for high-performance devices.

WindowsForDevices has an interesting article today that shows the results from a recent ABI research study on high-end handset sales. It is interesting to note that the economy has not slowed down sale of higher-end mobile phones and the overall mobile market has been strong as well. This bodes well for flash memory vendors, especially for NOR flash vendors like Spansion and Numonyx since mobile handset industry has been a NOR stronghold (though lately NAND is making heavy inroads - call it the iPhone effect).

Gartner just announced their latest research on mobile phone sales. What does this mean for you?

Consumer electronics and embedded software devices are using larger amounts of flash memory for nonvolatile storage than ever before. So what kind of flash memory should you use? The choice between using NAND and NOR Flash may not be a simple one for the complex embedded devices being developed today.