What good is a smartphone with only mediocre memory? Not much, says Samsung, as the Korean firm announced it has a smarter way to extend the battery life of devices by a full 20% using phase change material in the same form factor as current memory modules.
Samsung used the mobile technology forum in Taipei to announce its latest innovation, a memory module built from phase change material, a mixture of germanium, antimony and titanium alloys, which forms a glass-like material able to record or erase data when heated.
Apparently, when zapped with voltage, phase change material transforms into two separate states with different resistances to electricity, which can easily be adapted to represent the binary 0s and 1s used by electronic devices.
According to the BBC, the 512 megabit modules use much less power than existing memory offerings, have a simpler structure and, because they are of the same form factor, Samsung expects to not only to produce, but also to integrate the new memory technology in devices by later this year.
The modules will also supposedly be compatible with the more traditional flash memory currently used in most devices and can allegedly read and write data up to 10 times faster than their flash counterparts, although more realistically, Samsung expects a 3 times speed increase.
If Samsung hits its target, the Korean outfit will be the first to use PCM in phones, and many expect the material to replace flash in a number of other consumer electronics soon thereafter.
Samsung to recreate smartphone memory
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