Samsung intros smartphone on a chip

SAMSUNG HAS ANNOUNCED A MAJOR FIRST that will mean smaller and more powerful mobile phones with built in PDAs. It has managed to create what it calls a System-in-Package chip that could well start a revolution.

The new chip combines a 203MHz ARM-based processor with 256Mb of NAND flash memory and 256Mb of SDRAM. It also boasts USB host and device support allowing connection to PCs, printers and other handhelds. Not content with that, the processor includes SDIO support, the up and coming protocol for accessories like digital cameras.

It doesn't take much imagination to pick out the possibilities. Currently, smartphones only pack a small amount of memory. The new processor should give a huge boost to mobile applications while at the same time making for smaller, lighter devices.

Samsung announced that the new chip will support all of the major operating systems including Microsoft Windows CE, Palm OS, Symbian, and Linux. It will be showing it off at the GSM World Congress Conference, held in Cannes, France, on Feb. 18th - 21st. µ

Update
This story originally claimed that the new Samsung chips would have 256MB of both types of memory. This is not correct, the chips will have 256Mb of both types. Note the big and small "b". It means the chips have 32megabytes each of flash and SDRAM. That's still nearly three times as much as its nearest competitor.