Intel just told us about a new flash memory chip that it says is designed to enhance the performance of cell phones, PDAs, and other wireless devices. The 3 Volt Synchronous Intel StrataFlash Memory, which Intel says is up to four times faster than traditional flash memory, is manufactured on 0.18-micron process technology, and is said to allow twice the amount of data to be stored in a single memory cell compared to traditional asynchronous flash memory. According to Intel, the chip's fast-read feature lets applications execute code directly out of flash, rather than downloading to a device's RAM for execution. It also adds a 66 MHz burst mode, which increases memory throughput up to 92 MB/s. For devices that aren't able to use synchronous burst mode, the chip has an eight-word page mode. StrataFlash memory uses three volts for the core device, and is available in either 3- or 1.8-volt I/O versions. The 3 Volt Synchronous StrataFlash Memory is available in densities from 64 Mbit to 256 Mbit. The 128 Mbit memory is sampling now, with production for all densities starting in April 2002. In 10,000-unit quantities, prices range from $10 for 64 Mbit chips to $35 for 256 Mbit chips.