Thin Film Electronics ASA (Thinfilm) announced that the Thinfilm Memory Controller is available.

“Toy manufacturers have been working on concepts for new interactive games that include Thinfilm Memory, and have done extensive testing of our technology,” says Davor Sutija, CEO for Thinfilm. “With the release of our new Memory Controller, this will allow them to design smaller, more cost effective reader/writer units that we believe will accelerate market launch of smart toys powered by Thinfilm.”

By storing user and game flow information, Thinfilm Memory enables evolution of characters and skill levels, and makes cards and toys ‘intelligent’. The information is written and read by a reader/writer built into the game or available as a separate hand-held device. The central component of the reader is the Thinfilm Memory Controller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Fully printed systems and devices have an absolute cost advantage compared to conventional electronics, such as flash and eeprom. The manufacturing process is substantially cheaper, and material costs are typically lower.

“Thinfilm is cheaper on a system level – the total cost of memories plus the reader/writer electronics – when the number of memories to be read is more than a couple,” explained Sutija.