SanDisk Corporation has announced that NEC Electronics Corporation
has selected the SanDisk iNAND embedded flash drive (EFD) as the
solid-state mobile storage solution for a new music phone platform that
is based on its latest music playback chip, the AP131 audio processor.
The two companies say this marriage of advanced technologies could
give music lovers greatly increased playback times by lowering power
consumption up to 85%.SanDisk is demonstrating the AP131-based
music phone platform running off the SanDisk iNAND EFD on its stand at
3GSM (Hall 7, stand 7C62). SanDisk is also showing its storage
technologies and solutions for the mobile world in Hall 8, stand 8C74.The
AP131 audio processor is a very small (6mm x 6mm) music playback chip
that allows mobile phones to play and share multiple formats of music
files, including SD audio. The companies say that compared to
conventional mobile phones relying on the host CPU for music playback,
NECs AP131 chip lowers power consumption during music playback by as
much as 85%, delivering up to 60 hours of continuous use from a
standard 750mAh mobile battery. (AAC format audio using Secure Digital
Music Institute (SDMI) standard with a bitrate of 128kbps and sampling
frequency of 44.1kHz.) iNAND is a high-capacity, high-performance
NAND flash storage device that facilitates lower integration efforts
and seamless access to the most cost-effective high-capacity
multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash technology available. EE Times
recently named the iNAND EFD as an Ultimate Product of the Year
finalist for its third Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) Award. SanDisk
iNAND is designed to support mobile TV, multimedia downloading and
other storage-hungry applications on portable systems such as mobile
handsets, digital audio/MP3 players, gaming applications, personal
media players, PDAs and music phones. The AP131 chip with SanDisk iNAND
embedded flash drive (EFD) will be offered to handset manufacturers for
inclusion in future mobile phones.Combining NECs AP131 with
SanDisks high-capacity iNAND allows users to store and listen to more
music on their handsets due to the higher capacity iNAND and the
extended battery life of the chipset, says Masakazu Yamashina, General
Manager of NECs Mobile Systems Division. SanDisk iNAND, with its
high-capacity, industry-standard SD interface and ease of integration,
aided us in the design of our AP131-based platform.