Intel is planning to add NAND flash memory to notebooks starting next year. This will help Intel decrease the time required for computers to start up. “We need to have devices that boot up very rapidly,” said Sean Maloney, the head of Intel’s mobility group. In a comparison during the Intel Develop Forum, a PC equiped with 256MB of flash memory booted up in about half the time of one without. It also consumed slightly less power. It remains unclear at this time how much flash will be incorporated into the Santa Rosa platform (an updated version of the Centrino line that will feature flash memory).
In the not so distant future, we could see laptops running on only NAND as well. “The technology scales way up,” said Maloney. “It just comes down to what’s the cost curve on NAND.”
Three months ago, Intel announced a joint venture with Micron to produce NAND chips. Their first customer was Apple but it looks like Intel will also become one as well.