Micron Technology

Memory chipmaker Micron Technology is being buffeted by price swings in the low-margin computer memory market. So the company is turning to a healthier sector of the tech field for future growth -- tiny projectors that may one day enlarge the text and graphics more users consume on ever-more sophisticated smartphones.

A joint venture between Intel and Micron Technology is preparing to mass-produce a 32-gigabit memory chip featuring Intel's multi-level cell memory technology. The new NAND chips to be manufactured by IM Flash Technologies will go up against similar products from rivals Samsung and Toshiba, beginning next year.

Developed and manufactured using low-power 34-nanometer technology, the industry's only monolithic 32Gbit NAND chip fits into the industry's standard 48-lead packaging and represents the smallest NAND geometry on the market, the companies said.

Rambus has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California accusing Nvidia of infringing on its high-speed memory designs. Rambus claims that graphics processors and chipsets in six different Nvidia product lines infringe on 17 Rambus memory technology patents.

Intel and Micron Technology announced Thursday that they have developed the first under-40-nanometer NAND flash-memory device, which could make possible smaller, higher-capacity solid-state drives.

At 34nm, the 32-gigabit multilevel chip is the smallest NAND available. The companies said the new NAND chip is the only monolithic device of this density that will fit into a standard 48-lead thin, small-outline package (TSOP), which means it could provide higher densities for existing devices.

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