LG Arena Multimedia Handset to Include SanDisk i8GB Embedded Flash Drive

SanDisk Corporation announced that LG Electronics’ latest fully loaded LG Arena (LG-KM900) multimedia handset will include SanDisk’s iNAND 8 gigabyte (GB) Embedded Flash Drive (EFD). The iNAND storage device will be utilized by the handset as both a boot and data storage device, eliminating the need for a separate boot device.

Announced at the 2009 Mobile World Congress exhibition, the LG Arena multimedia handset is the company’s flagship model for the first half of 2009, featuring greatly enhanced audio and video technologies as well as LG’s new 3D S-Class user interface. SanDisk’s iNAND EFDs are designed specifically for advanced multimedia handsets such as the LG Arena, providing a fast and reliable storage solution in a small and power efficient package

In addition to high capacity MLC NAND flash based storage, iNAND is fully capable of storing system boot code. Using iNAND as a system boot device means there is no need for the additional boot code storage device used in traditional designs. This conserves precious board space, reduces handset design complexity, lowers handset power consumption and saves the cost of an otherwise needed separate boot device. SanDisk’s flash based EFDs have been catering to personal storage and boot needs based on NAND MLC flash since 2003.

"LG is amongst the leading figures of the mobile industry, quick to embrace new technologies ahead of the game. The advanced storage architecture of the LG Arena handset is no exception and SanDisk is proud to be a part of this ongoing success," said Dan Inbar, senior vice president, OEM group, SanDisk. "SanDisk iNAND embedded flash drives act as two devices in one, with both storage and boot capabilities, reducing the number of storage devices required in the handset. Optimizing storage architecture in this manner gives handset designers like LG an edge in the highly competitive mobile landscape."

"Fast and reliable digital storage is essential to LG’s mobile multimedia user experience," said Mr. Kwak Woo Young, Executive Vice President of LG Electronics Mobile Handset R&D Center. "Because of this, we’ve chosen top-of-the-line SanDisk memory for our new LG Arena multimedia phone."

SanDisk iNAND EFDs come in a wide range of storage capacities, utilizing eSD and eMMC standard interfaces and packages for quick integration into handset designs. With managed physical partitions, customizable attributes and power failure immunity, SanDisk iNAND features a highly reliable code storage and boot device in addition to being a mass storage solution. iNAND offers design flexibility to OEMs through its ability to scale up from 1GB to 32GB and more, in both discrete and multi chip package configurations.