Samsung launches PRAM to challenge NOR flash memory in mobile phone market.

South Korean tech giants Samsung have announced a new type of memory product for mobile products. Their latest memory product has been named PRAM (phase-change RAM) and it would provide an alternative for popular NOR flash memory used in mobile phones.

Samsung aims to make available this new type of RAM in the market by 2008. It combines the power of faster data transfer speeds of DRAM with the ability to retain data after power is shut off in a device.

This capability is similar to Flash memory and Samsung claims that PRAM is effectively 30-times faster than flash memory, easier to manufacture, and will have a life span 10 times longer.

With this launch, Samsung would be taking on companies like Intel and Spansion which are the dominating players in the NOR memory manufacturing market.