Freescale Semiconductor Has New Processor to Improve eReaders and Lower Costs by over Half

Freescale Semiconductor is introducing a new processor which will improve the performance and lower the cost of eReaders (like the Amazon Kindle) to $150 or less. It will also increase display resolution, enable color, increase battery life and enable faster page turning.

Freescale Semiconductor is helping drive down the cost of next-generation eReaders with its i.MX508 applications processor, the first system-on-chip (SoC) to integrate advanced ARM Cortex-A8 technology together with the newest hardware-based display controller from E Ink. Freescale’s highly integrated i.MX508 processor is designed to deliver the performance, energy efficiency and system cost savings necessary to help OEMs evolve and grow the dynamic eReader product category.

* With the ARM core running at 800 MHz, the i.MX508 provides twice the rendering performance of Freescale’s previous eReader processors

* The i.MX508 is notable for its support of next-generation eReader panels, which are expected to feature larger dimensions, faster page turns and significantly better resolution. The processor supports panel resolutions up to 2048 x1536 pixels at 106 hertz. Leveraging the ARM Cortex™-A8 engine, the i.MX508 processor has the potential performance to quickly handle complex image manipulations and color processing.

* By integrating the E Ink display controller, the i.MX508 reduces part counts and lowers costs associated with electronic paper display control functionality by as much as 50 percent compared to systems without an integrated controller. Freescale’s i.MX508 processor

* The i.MX508 applications processor is expected to be priced at less than $10 (USD) in quantities greater than 250K units. Freescale plans to begin providing samples to select customers early in the third quarter of 2010.

Separate Freescale Flash Memory

Freescale Semiconductor today announced 90 nanometer (nm) thin film storage (TFS) flash memory technology for its next-generation microcontroller (MCU) platforms.

Freescale also introduced FlexMemory, a key feature of TFS flash. FlexMemory provides simple, cost-effective, on-chip, enhanced electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) with the added benefits of industry leading flexibility, performance and endurance. FlexMemory can be configured by the user as additional flash memory or as a combination of EEPROM and flash memory.

Freescale Flash can deliver the following benefits:

* industry leading bit-level reliability through revolutionary silicon nanocrystal technology;
* fast, low-voltage transistors that provide low-power read capability and help satisfy the increasing demands of power-sensitive applications with full flash operation specified down to 1.71 volts;
* flash access times of