vnunet.com is carrying a story detailing plans Samsung has to start 16GB Nand Flash chip production later this year. This could definitely have an impact on ultraportables, probably starting in 2007 or thereabouts, although from the sound of things, it’s easily adapted, so it might even allow for retrofitting into existing laptops. Imagine being able to replace your current harddrive with Flash memory and increase your battery life substantially as well as adding some durability.
For mobile PCs – particularly thin-and-light models that do not require the larger hard drive capacities – the technology could extend battery life because solid-state Flash designs would be far more efficient than hard disks. Hardware design, durability and performance – particularly the boot-up sequence – would also be improved.