Ovonyx? Zeev, Huey, and all...
Allen Benn on the WIND thread just mentioned another company, Ovonyx, with a hot flash technology. Any comments?
Message 15074165
Another technology key to the future of smart connected devices is FLASH on steroids. We need less fragile, cheaper non-volatile memory that scales to greater densities and speed than what is available today. IBM and Infineon recently announced a joint development in which they expect a 25-year effort by IBM to develop viable magnetic RAM to bear fruit around 2004. Ramtron is claiming success for its ferroelectric thin films, in what it calls FRAM. Licensing deals with Infineon and Toshida give credence to FRAM’s potential as improved FLASH memory. However, look for a newly formed private company, Ovonyx, to steal the show and get to market with a scalable, cheap, durable non-volatile memory that remakes the FLASH memory market, enabling increased functionality with lower prices for smart devices.
Ovonyx (see ovonyx.com) is the brainchild of Tyler Lowrey, an ex-CTO of Micron Technology (MU), and a top FAB engineer. A year and a half ago, Tyler made a deal with ECD, the owner of Ovonix, the thin film technology used for making all ( I believe) rewriteable CDs and DVDs, to form the Ovonyx joint venture. With the help of Ward Parkinson, his mentor and founder of MU, Ovonyx secured a project with Lockhead Martin to develop radiation-hardened memory for the Air Force, and enticed Intel to license and help develop Ovonyx Unified Memory. Private capital was raised from Intel and others to help fund the venture, which is why I am particularly hopeful it will prove successful.
Intel seems to like the prospects for OUM: intel.com , apparently with some justification, or else there wouldn’t be a new licensing and development deal with STMicroelectonics: ovonyx.com
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