DigiTimes has reported that Apple has tapped Elpida Memory and Toshiba for its orders of NAND flash and DRAM. This move by the company comes after the continued legal dispute between the two tech companies in a number of countries, which include the United States, Australia, and parts of Asia and Europe.

“Apple has moved to reduce its reliance on memory supplies from Samsung Electronics, the sources claimed,” the article states. “The vendor has procured more NAND flash parts from Toshiba, and mobile RAM from Elpida, the sources indicated.”

The site’s sources also suggested that the legal dispute has been the “key to encouraging” Apple to get supplies from other companies. Last week, Apple has closed a deal with Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing Co. to make two generations of the company’s processors, the A6 and A7. The deal takes away the manufacturing rights of Samsung, the company that produced Apple’s A4 and A5 chips.

Apple’s deal with Toshiba and Elpida Memory will significantly affect the revenue of Samsung, as Apple has been one of their biggest clients. Samsung is the largest supplier of NAND flash memory, producing a third of the global market. The company also has a 40 percent share of the DRAM market.

via: MacWorld

Apple turns to Japanese suppliers for NAND flash and DRAM is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The manufacturing process behind the 20 nanometre Flash memory is slightly mind boggling and Toshiba has already been experimenting with 25nm and below for its own range of SD cards.

Samsung says that it will be using the new manufacturing process to develop SD cards with capacities ranging from 4GB to 64GB, although for the time being these will appear as embedded memory solutions rather than stand alone slot-in products as testing continues.

Samsung says that the cost of manufacturing these 20nm Flash cards is lower than for previous generations, which means that the cost of high capacity memory units will fall to new levels of affordability.

The new SD cards will be 30 per cent faster and more reliable than the already rock-solid 30nm technology that they replace. As a result read speeds of 20Mbps and write speeds of 10Mbps will be accessible to a mainstream audience when the new SD cards arrive.

Samsung is set to make the new Flash memory technology available on the commercial market before the end of 2010 and hopefully gadget manufacturers will begin to integrate it into their devices, or bundle the cards separately with retail packages to make sure that consumers everywhere can enjoy faster, cheaper memory.

Samsung promises cheaper Flash storage is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Victorinox proved that it was not joking about the security systems in place within the Knife/Drive by hiring a team of alleged computer hackers to attempt to break into the device during a promotional demonstration. The firm was offering £100,000 of its own money to the team if they could succeed. They didn’t and the reputation of the device remained intact.

According to Victorinox, the USB memory Knife relies on multiple layers of security to keep hackers out, including fingerprinting and advanced encryption. The device will also self-destruct if anyone attempts to illicitly access its storage, rendering it inoperable as the processing chip and the memory is fried.

As well as a USB memory stick, the knife has a nail file and a small pair of retractable scissors and it can be attached to a key ring to make sure that it stays with you at all times. All of the knife’s functions flip out in the standard manner and the whole thing is finished in a pleasingly see-through red.

Victorinox has released the ultimate gadget-lovers Swiss army knife in the UK with a variety of storage capacities. The 8GB drive will set you back about £50, but if you want the top of the line 32GB drive, you will need to find £180.

Swiss Army USB drive is hack-proof is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The Corsair Voyager Port requires no power supply using a very easy ‘plug and play’ operation via USB connection directly to a PC or laptop, and then it is a simple case of using any USB flash drive and full back up operation by pressing only one button on the Flash Voyager port allows for immediate back up all your critical files. The portability of the device makes it ideal for not only the safe keeping of your files but also for safe transportation to use at another PC as the device is both shock and water resistant.

Corsair recommend that use of the Voyager Port as a “total back up solution for notebooks and netbooks”, the device can take a “snapshot” of the system which can be use in the even to a total power failure or system breakdown so that essential data is preserved and easily accessed.

There have been some mixed responses in the industry to the new Corsair Voyager Port, some experts feel that the concept is not required and is just an unnecessary add-on, however we here at Gadgets and Gizmos believe that dependant on cost not being too high (which has not been released as yet) it could possibly be a cost effective and simple method for safe data storage and retrieval for the home PC user.

Corsair Voyager Port – turnkey or turkey? is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

This is not just a gimmick but an actual working 16 in 1 car card reader which will brighten up your computer desk and bring a bit of colour to the place.  This really is your all in one computer card reader and supports all of the popular products available on the market.  Using the simple plug in and play system it is easy to install, no software or complicated instructions, and will be up and running in a matter of seconds.

As well as a 16 in 1 card reader you can also attach your eternal USB connectors to the racing car ensuring that there are no space issues and everything is easily to hand.  In a world of gimmicks and gadgets which look better than they perform it is refreshing to see something a little different, something which looks good and actually does the job you bought it for.

Memory cards are becoming an every more vital element of everyday computing as memory capacities struggle to keep pace with consumer demand.

Racy red motorised 16 in 1 card reader is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The VCR To PC is a convenient little tool designed primarily at sad people like you and I. You simply plug it into your PC, whack the video in and start copying. In no time at al all you could have your entire back copy of Neighbours copied onto the hard drive of your XP or Vista based PC (not Mac though). The Portable Video Files can then be copied from your PC to any compatible mobile or other device.

It costs just under £150 at IWOOT and you’ll need to bag yourself a USB cable because it’s one of those annoying gadgets that you pay £150 for and then you need to shell out another couple of quid to buy a necessary lead.

VCR To PC is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

At £75 it isn’t that unreasonably priced and offers 250GB of storage and USB 2.0 connectivity. Clearly, it’s unlikely that you’re ever really going to have a need for a woodland camouflaged portable hard drive but if you just can’t get enough camo gear, or are sick of those boring, modern silver and black designs then the latest offering in the Iomega eGo line is definitely, possibly, for you.

Protected by an Iomega Power Grip, the drive is said to offer extra ruggedness and durability but it does lead you to question just what Iomega think you are actually going to do with a portable hard drive. There can’t really be any serious and legitimate uses for such covert periperals can there?

Iomega via Gizmodo

The Portable Camo Hard Drive – Don’t Put It Down In The Garden is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

That should have ISPs in a bit of a panick, following news that they want the BBC to pay more because of the popularity of the BBC iPlayer. Imagine the number of downloads that you would need to manage in order to fill an iPod Nano that can hold over 100,000 times more songs.

The change in technology could mean even smaller MP3 players and other portable devices although it may not be worth getting your hopes up just yet. While the technology has been proven, Professor Lee Cronin admits that they have “yet to solve the fabrication and addressing problems.”

If a 5GB MP3 player holds around 2,500 songs, this could mean the advance of an MP3 player that would house an astonishing 250 million tracks. That’s an awful lot of Cliff Richard in anyone’s book.

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500,000 GB MP3 Player On The Horizon is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Photo-bloggers, amateur papparazi, and teenage girls rejoice! Eye-Fi has launched their first version of a wireless add-on for nearly any camera. This incredibly clever SD card has a built-in WiFi transmitter, capable of being programmed to submit your photos to any number of over 20 online photosharing sites. Walmart.com has it listed for $99.84, which is an incredibly great price. Don’t be fooled by the 2 gb card size, after everything is transmitted you can simply clear and start taking pictures again. Picture yourself on your next vacation not having to carry around extra SD cards everywhere you go.

As the website’s Flash montage shows, this product is designed to bring us candid shots even quicker. Facebook, Flickr, and Photobucket availability are all built-in out of the box. I hope future software updates will allow for wireless Youtube video transmissions. As advancements in cell-phone photo, video, and audio in the US has been stagnant over the past 3 years, this product has the ability to bring live photo and video blogging into highquality life.

WiFi SD Card Turns Any Digital Camera Wireless is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

These are themed limited edition USB memory stick characters. Now available in a highly collectable Halo 3 Master Chief version.

Star Wars USB Memory Stick is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos