Intel, Micron's Next-Gen NAND for USB 3.0

USB 3.0 with its 4.8Gbit/s bandwidth maybe an overkill for current NAND flash chips, but IM Flash - a Intel-Micro joint venture - has recently debuted a single-level cell chip that that will leverage the potential of the upcoming interface standard by boosting read & write speed five times faster than today's NAND.

Designed with 50nm process technologies, IM Flash's latest 8Gbit chip can max out at 200MB/s read and 100MB/s write. Intel touted the new flash is also built with USB 3.0 in mind, while other platforms will undoubtedly benefit from this breakthrough as well. Samples are now in the hands of OEMs and controller manufacturers; mass production is expected in second half of 2008.