Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NTT Develops Stamp-Size 1GB Hologram Memory

Posted by simoniker on from the small-and-gorgeous dept.

sandalwood writes "NTT has developed a new high-capacity memory storage device based on thin-film holography called Info-MICA. The official site is here but it's only in Japanese for now. According to the article, 'NTT is planning to bring the first commercial Info-MICA products to market in 2005 with a postage stamp-size ROM and a memory capacity of 1GB.' My first thought was that it would be perfect for a future handheld game device!"

6 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. my first thought by WormholeFiend · · Score: 3, Interesting

    was that Apple would get its hands on that tech for a future iPod...

    1. Re:my first thought by WormholeFiend · · Score: 3, Interesting

      what if you can buy an iPod that comes pre-loaded with an entire catalogue of music? or with one of those MICA card readers, so you can buy music catalogues on MICA cards and switch between them?

      with the increasing amount of storage available for portable music devices, it's only a matter of time before end-users grow tired of digitizing one CD at a time.

  2. Re:rovers by Gherald · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From TFA: "NTT will also continue its research and development of a writable media and drive configuration so that the Info-MICA storage method can be used for re-writable applications."

    So yes, it is still in the ROM stage.

    --
    The unofficial /. digest
  3. Hard Drives going the way of the tape drive? by newdamage · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Stories like this make me wonder, how much longer until it becomes common to buy PCs that come with a large bank of non-volatile memory instead of hard drives? The faster access time would be nice, but what I'd really be excited about is the dramatically reduced failure rate.

    I recently had to send in my laptop to get the IBM 2.5" HD replaced (it was grinding slowly in oblivion), and luckily I was able to convince it keep running (a few "gentle" thumps on the table) long enough to burn some backup CDs.

    I would love to have 30 GBs of flash memory to use instead of a comparatively huge unwieldly hard drive full of delicate moving parts. This would be great for laptops considering there'd be less heat produced, less energy consumed, less spaced used, and improved durability.

    Maybe 5 years down the road we'll all have 1" thin laptops with low power comsumption that are both durable and powerful?

    --
    ce n'est pas un Sig.
  4. Record companies like tying by tepples · · Score: 4, Interesting

    what if you can buy an iPod that comes pre-loaded with an entire catalogue of music? or with one of those MICA card readers, so you can buy music catalogues on MICA cards and switch between them?

    At one dollar per four megabytes of AAC audio, do you think people are really going to want to spend $250 extra paying the record labels for 25 good songs and 225 filler?

  5. A great stepping stone by TheTranceFan · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Everything changes when we have high-density solid state storage, especially read-write storage.

    But even solid-state ROM replacement will be great. GPSs you don't have to load up with where you're going, car nav systems that don't freak out when you drive over a pot-hole, language translators with all the languages in them. All with decent battery life and upgradability.

    High-density solid-state memory, along with improvements in battery technology, chip substrates, and the availability of ubiquitous wireless internet access, truly have the potential to create an all-new mobile computing revolution. The kind where after five or ten years, you ask yourself, "how was it that I lived without this stuff?"

    Indeed we live in interesting times.