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Samsung's logo. Click here to visit the Samsung website! Samsung: 7.2mpix CMOS, 16Gb NAND flash
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(Monday, September 12, 2005 - 16:47 EDT)

A press release from Samsung Electronics today announces two new products of significance to the digital camera market.

At a press conference in Seoul, Korea, the company unveiled a new 1/2" CMOS image sensor with a resolution of 7.2 megapixels. The company says the sensor will have "overall performance ... comparable to, or even [exceeding], CCD quality". Pixel size of the sensor is 2.25um, and the fill factor (the area of the sensor that is sensitive to light) is said to be over 55%. Samsung says the chip uses 1/10th the power of an equivalent CCD, and is targetting it at use in camera phones, digital cameras, and camcorders.

Also announced at the press conference is a new 16 gigabit NAND flash memory device, which the company says was made possible with " the industry's first use of 50-nanometer (nm) technology directly applicable to mass production processes and by using Samsung's proprietary 3D-transistor architecture". Using 16 of the devices in a single card, flash memory manufacturers should be able to create 32GB cards. The company notes that cell size in the new flash memory device has been reduced 25% from last year's 60nm 8Gb NAND module, and claims that at 0.00625 square microns per bit, it has achieved the industry's smallest cell size. Each 16Gb NAND device contains 16.4 billion functional transistors. The 16Gb NAND flash device will be mass-produced from the second half of 2006...

Original Source Press Release:

Samsung Electronics Underscores Mobile Technology Leadership at Annual Press Conference

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 2005--Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, announced three new technologies targeted at the expanding, multi-facetted mobile application industry. At a press conference held today in Seoul, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business president and CEO, Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang, introduced the following new devices:

  • a 16Gb NAND flash memory using 50-nm technology for increased mobile storage;
  • a 7.2 Megapixel CMOS image sensor for high-end digital pictures; and
  • Fusion semiconductors for
    • Next-generation smartphones and PDAs,
    • MP3 music players, and
    • Subscriber identity module card applications.

"Consumers are looking for ever smaller, more stylish mobile devices," said Dr. Hwang. "This poses a challenge for the semiconductor industry to create chips that meet the high-performance, high-density and minimum space requirements but don't become a power drain. We're uniquely positioned to address the market with high value products as we are the only company that manufactures all the discrete components that go into these new solutions."

Increased Mobile Storage
Samsung has developed the world's highest density NAND flash -- a 16Gb multi-level cell (MLC) NAND memory. The 16Gb NAND density was achieved with the industry first use of 50-nanometer (nm) technology directly applicable to mass production processes and by using Samsung's proprietary 3D-transistor architecture. The finer geometry substantially reduces the noise level between cells and enables continued migration of storage platforms.

Higher Resolution Reflects Industry Attention
Samsung has developed a 7.2 Megapixel CMOS image sensor (CIS) for many different types of compact digital cameras. Higher resolution CIS chips reflect an industry-wide attention on CIS technology as a promising new imaging technology as well as a feasible replacement of charge-coupled device (CCD), especially in mobile applications such as camera phones, digital still cameras and digital camcorders.

Fusion Semiconductor Technology for Mobile Applications
Leading the mobile convergence trend, Samsung has developed multi-featured Fusion Semiconductor solutions that provide space and power-sensitive packaging solutions for mobile applications. Fusion Semiconductor solutions combine memory and system LSI semiconductor devices into a single solution.

Samsung's new package-on-package (PoP), the SC32442 MSP, stacks together a high-performance, low-power mobile application processor with a memory multi-chip package (MCP), which contains NAND flash and low-power mobile SDRAM. With dimensions of 14x14x1.6mm, Samsung's new PoP can offer up to a 60 percent space saving on mobile handheld printed circuit boards (PCBs), compared to using discrete processor and memory devices.

The new SiP for MP3 players carries a low power MP3 decoder, audio CODEC chipset, NOR flash for code execution, and NAND flash for MP3 file storage. The SiP has a flexible design with NAND density of 512MB can easily be brought up to 1GB. The CODEC and NOR flash can also be selectively removed. The base design can then be utilized to meet the diverse features of MP3 players. Samsung's SiP can also resolve the large area coverage of the individual components and enable set designers to introduce even smaller or slimmer new MP3 players.

The new S-SIM for high-density SIM cards mounts a collective choice of in-house memory and system LSI technologies in a single package: a 128MB NAND Flash, a NAND Flash controller, and a SIM card IC. Samsung's S-SIM SiP solution provides a diverse set of high-speed interfaces including MMC, USB and several hundred-mega bits-per-second data transfer level that matches that of a PC.

Further information about all four of these new technologies is available at www.samsungsemi.com.

About Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2004 parent company sales of US$55.2 billion and net income of US$10.3 billion. Employing approximately 113,000 people in over 90 offices in 48 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing brands, Samsung Electronics is the world's largest producer of color monitors, color TVs, memory chips and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com

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