Apple betting heavily on flash RAM
Share:
Apple doesn’t make many acquisitions, so when they buy a company it’s worth taking a closer look to get a peek at where Apple is headed. Last week we reported that Apple bought Anobit, maker of a unique type of flash Ram.
For those of you who don’t keep up with the different types of RAM, flash RAM is able to act as permanent storage - think of it as a hard-drive without moving parts - because it stores information even when the device is powered down. DRAM, the type you buy in sticks to upgrade your PC with, can only store information when the device is actively powering the RAM. This makes DRAM very fast at getting information into and out of its temporary storage as the CPU needs it, but also explains why you need a hard-drive or other storage device in addition to DRAM in your computer.
Due to its small size and lower power consumption, flash RAM is heavily favored in mobile devices over platter-based hard-drives, and Apple’s mobile devices all make use of it. Moreover, many of Apple’s laptops (including all of the MacBook Air models) use flash RAM as a solid state drive (SSD) that replaces the spinning-platter hard-drives more normally seen in computers.
It’s easy to see why Apple is interested in flash RAM production, but why Anobit? Possibly to get a lock on Anobit’s Memory Signal Processing (MSP) technology. MSP is intended to increase reliability and performance while lowering power consumption, all qualities that Apple would like to see as distinguishing features of their mobile devices going forward.
By purchasing Anobit, they can make sure MSP-based flash RAM is always available to their iDevices, and restrict its use in competitors’ devices. And they think highly enough of that technology to spend close to half a billion dollars in a rare purchase of another hardware company.
source: AppleInsider
For those of you who don’t keep up with the different types of RAM, flash RAM is able to act as permanent storage - think of it as a hard-drive without moving parts - because it stores information even when the device is powered down. DRAM, the type you buy in sticks to upgrade your PC with, can only store information when the device is actively powering the RAM. This makes DRAM very fast at getting information into and out of its temporary storage as the CPU needs it, but also explains why you need a hard-drive or other storage device in addition to DRAM in your computer.
Due to its small size and lower power consumption, flash RAM is heavily favored in mobile devices over platter-based hard-drives, and Apple’s mobile devices all make use of it. Moreover, many of Apple’s laptops (including all of the MacBook Air models) use flash RAM as a solid state drive (SSD) that replaces the spinning-platter hard-drives more normally seen in computers.
It’s easy to see why Apple is interested in flash RAM production, but why Anobit? Possibly to get a lock on Anobit’s Memory Signal Processing (MSP) technology. MSP is intended to increase reliability and performance while lowering power consumption, all qualities that Apple would like to see as distinguishing features of their mobile devices going forward.
By purchasing Anobit, they can make sure MSP-based flash RAM is always available to their iDevices, and restrict its use in competitors’ devices. And they think highly enough of that technology to spend close to half a billion dollars in a rare purchase of another hardware company.
source: AppleInsider
Share:
Sony Ericsson crowd-sourcing ICS preview ROMs 
Lizard shows off "Ant Crusher" chops on an Android tablet 
10 Comments
2. tacohunter posted on 15 Dec 2011, 12:29 8 1
me too and I like Top Gear. The stig is awesome.
3. bolaG posted on 15 Dec 2011, 12:29 1 0
I love SSDs cant wait till I can afford putting one in my laptop, FRAM seems to be a perfect companion to that.
4. 530gemini posted on 15 Dec 2011, 13:25 3 5
....and now in fandroid land. Google has been working on this for years now :)
5. iamcc posted on 15 Dec 2011, 13:44 5 2
Dude do you ever shut up? God... you're almost as bad as c.hack
6. jbash posted on 15 Dec 2011, 14:47 0 0
lol Gemini made a funny. Thanks for the chuckle
iamcc loosen the waistband on your panties, it was a joke
10. FAW-Q posted on 15 Dec 2011, 21:31 0 0
I think Apple is planning to add Anobit's patents into their suing arsenal.
-
1.
Samsung officials confirm 5.9-inch Note III will come at IFA in September, Galaxy S4 to hit 10 million sales next week
-
2.
What happens when the HTC One is overclocked to 2.0GHz?
-
3.
Rumored specs for the "rugged" Samsung Galaxy S4 reveal a different processor under the hood
-
4.
Alleged Samsung Galaxy S4 Active photos show rugged yet slim chassis
