Thanks for the Ioptics info. Prototypes out in a few months and OROM reader for 128 mb plastic storage cards with enduser pricing of $200 expected to be available by mid-1999 according to Ioptics website. Primary competition is supposedly flash memory.
I'd like to know how a little company out of Israel (FLSHF) fits into the picture. Recently they put out a press release of a relationship with one of Ioptic's investors, MSFT.
Specifically, say you take a $300 (enduser price) set-top unit. If the Ioptics reader is installed, that leaves $100 for everything else(retail pricing...3 times the cost to OEM?).
What are the dynamics of flash vs. OROM vs. other technology to be available by mid-1999? Is the OROM plastic card intended to be some sort of "key" that gives instructions to an electronic appliance by inserting it into the reader? If there are hundreds of different "keys" involved, I can easily see advantages in many embedded applications. But what about simply instructing the device through software and a keypad or remote device or by voice?
128 mb is not large enough to store much info. these days, esp. compared to other products available by mid-1999. How long will it take for them to read a 1 gb card? How quickly can they get the card reader down to say $50 retail? Are we talking 2-3 years down the road for both of these?
Here's the FLSHF press release that I mentioned:
Monday March 30, 8:20 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Microsoft and M-Systems Sign License Agreement
M-Systems to Provide DiskOnChip and Flash Software Support for Windows CE
DiskOnChip to Become a Plug and Play Device Across Multiple Windows CE-based Platforms
FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 1998-- M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd. (NASDAQ Symbol:FLSHF - news) today announced that it has signed a license agreement with Microsoft Corp. [Nasdaq:MSFT - news] providing for the inclusion of M-Systems' DiskOnChip and linear flash drivers in the Microsoft Windows CE operating system.
As part of the Agreement, Microsoft has agreed to help promote M-Systems' Flash Disk technology solutions.
M-Systems and Microsoft have been cooperating closely for several months to deliver a unique integrated solution for the Flash requirements of the numerous OEMs that use or plan to use Windows CE. This development opens new doors for both companies and enables the Windows CE operating system to boot from M-Systems' DiskOnChip(R)2000 (a single-chip Flash disk which fully emulates a hard disk), as well as to easily store programs and data on Flash. Further, it makes DiskOnChip, M-Systems' flagship product, a Plug and Play solution for all Windows CE-based platforms.
Dov Moran, M-Systems' President, explained: ''The DiskOnChip2000 will now become the optimal data storage solution for applications that use Windows CE as the standard operating system, including -- among the many others in this rapidly-growing field -- set-top boxes, Web-TVs, Internet Access Devices, thin clients, and CarPCs. These applications cannot effectively use hard disks for data storage given the size and power consumption requirements of hard disks; in contrast, DiskOnChip is much smaller, uses much less power, is non-volatile and extremely reliable, and is actually cheaper than a hard disk in capacities of up to 40 Mbytes (with typical Windows CE-based applications requiring only 4 to 16 Mbytes).
''Furthermore, DiskOnChip has advantages over other Flash-based solutions in the areas of price (especially relative to ATA solutions), performance, modularity, integration ease and reliability. In short, DiskOnChip provides the right data storage solution at the right price for all these applications.''
''Microsoft is pleased to have DiskOnChip and linear Flash cards supported in Windows CE,'' said Harel Kodesh, General Manager, consumer appliance group at Microsoft. ''We have encountered increasing demand for Flash support from our customers and therefore selected M-Systems' cutting-edge flash storage technology to broaden our offering. The DiskOnChip enables customers who need efficient, highly reliable, ultra small, data storage devices to use the Windows CE operating system without any integration effort. The combination of Windows CE and M-Systems' technology, allows an easy and cost-effective implementation of new applications and embedded systems designs.''
Chuck Schouw, President of M-Systems Inc., the Company's U.S. subsidiary, added: ''We are thrilled to be collaborating with Microsoft to promote M-Systems' Flash Disk technology in general and DiskOnChip in particular. We are confident that this will open new markets and new horizons for us. This is further evidence that DiskOnChip has become a mainstream product and we are looking forward to making DiskOnChip the standard data storage solution for the countless advanced applications which are due to be based on the much-heralded Windows CE platform. These are the appliances that are expected to be changing all of our lives towards the year 2000 and beyond -- and M-Systems plans to be there.''
The DiskOnChip 2000, introduced last year by M-Systems as part of the ''Best Performance, Best Price'' Series 2000, has already established itself as the standard Flash Disk module in the Embedded PC and Single Board Computer markets. More than 130 Single Board Computers (SBC), have already been designed with a dedicated DiskOnChip socket, making it the de-facto standard for flash data storage in embedded systems. Now, with the inclusion of the DiskOnChip drivers in Windows CE, it can be easily used in the multiple PC and non-PC applications based on Windows CE. It is currently available with capacities of 2 to 72 Mbytes. |
