Toshiba has announced the launch of the industry's first 64GB embedded NAND flash memory module.
The flagship module, pictured below, is fully compliant with the latest eMMC standard and is sampling as of today. Expected to enter mass production in Q1 2010, it's likely to appear in a multitude of consumer electronics early next year.
Using a 32nm process, Toshiba has managed to squeeze sixteen 32Gbit (4GB) NAND flash chips and an integrated controller into the FBGA 14mm x 18mm x 1.4mm package.
Making it possible, the company used "advanced chip thinning and layering technologies" to create flash chips that measure just 30 micrometers thick.
For consumers, the announcement acts as an earlier indication of higher-capacity models of existing products such as Apple's iPhone. The hugely-popular handset is known to have used Toshiba's previous-generation NAND flash memory modules in 16GB and 32GB capacities. One would assume, then, that a 64GB model is now on the cards.
