Acer Inc has gone to M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd for a single-chip flash disk it plans to use in new Windows-based terminals. Acer – the world’s third largest PC manufacturer – plans to use the M-Systems DiskOnChip Millennium, said to be the first monolithic flash disk to reach the market, in a future range of products. The technology provides full hard disk emulation, and is described as drop-in replacement for a hard disk and can be used to replace any other storage media. Up to four can be connected in parallel to form a 16 to 32Mb flash disk at 256Mbit speeds. Samples of 8Mb, 64Mbit DiskOnChip parts are available now, with volumes due in the first quarter of next year. M-Systems, a Tel-Aviv, Israel-based company with offices in Fremont, California, has been selling DiskOnChip components since 1995, and aims to sell them into set-top boxes, web phones and thin clients. Microsoft Corp agreed to include the company’s DiskOnChip and linear flash card drivers within Windows CE operating system earlier this year (CI No 3,379) which will enable the chip to be used as a plug and play devices across multiple devices running CE. Acer’s Windows terminals will boot and run Windows CE from the Millennium chip, enabling Acer to eliminate the IDE interface and reduce costs. Additional features such as terminal emulation, management software, and new printer drivers can be added or updated through the network by copying files to the chip.
