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Taiwanese Firms To Launch a 2 Terabyte Memory Card

Posted by Hemos on from the making-them-smaller-and-smaller dept.

Krafty Koder writes "The Register is reporting that a consortium of Taiwanese firms are to launch a 2 Terabyte memory card at the Taipei International Electronics Show (Taitronics) on the 8th of October, with mass production expected to start next year. The card will measure 3.2 x 2.4 x 0.1cm according to this DigiTimes.com report" The reports say that this is supposed to be a "new type" of card, so the details are still quite sketchy. Offical unveiling will happen in early October.

10 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. IDE interface ? by spiny · · Score: 5, Interesting

    or even SCSI - it would be nice to replace all my bulky (by comapison) 3 1/2 inch IDE drives.

    --

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    1. Re:IDE interface ? by swordboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you read the article, you'll find that the new format "supports up to 2TB" of storage. They mention nothing about initial densities.

      Move along. Nothing to see here.

      --

      Life is the leading cause of death in America.
    2. Re:IDE interface ? by ezzzD55J · · Score: 5, Informative
      Small yet important nitpick..
      "Supports 2 TB" could mean "uses 41-bit addressing" (2^41 B = 2TB). Current IDE interfaces with 48 bit addressing "support" up to 256TB of storage but you're not going to see that kind of density on a single device any time soon.
      It is 48 bit addressing, but we're not addressing bytes, we're addressing 512-byte blocks. So the 48-bit ATA standard can address 144 petabytes.

      So those 2TB are probably addressing blocks using 32 bits, a much more sensible number than 41 bits.

  2. Overstated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    They are not launching a 2TB memory card, they a launching a format they claim should support up to 2TB--big difference. The real news for the initial product seems to be a much faster transfer rate than the current SD format.

  3. Solid state reliability? by nz_mincemeat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My only objection with solid state memory like this is how many rewrites can the media sustain before failure?

    I use my USB drive + MP3 player a lot but sometimes wonder how long the gadget would last...

    Are there any existing tests available for perusal?

    1. Re:Solid state reliability? by Threni · · Score: 5, Interesting

      > My only objection with solid state memory like this is how many rewrites can
      > the media sustain before failure?

      Depends. IBM use flash ram in their printers (ie the model 4610), and it's supposed to last 100,000 writes, so I guess if the USB things use the same stuff then that means it'll last over 100 years if you wrote to it twice a day. Lets face it - you're going to lose it or replace it with a model with enough..uh, I mean more memory before that.

      I'd love a usb/mp3 player but I'm not going to pay more than £50 for one and it'd have to have a few gigs of storage so it looks like I'll be sticking with my £45 diskman which plays cds/mp3s for a little while yet.

  4. The *format* supports up to 2 TB by Bastiaan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The title appears to be exagerating a bit in announcing 2TB cards: the article itself only mentions that the format supports 2TB, not that actual 2TB cards will be available.

    Not that a 2TB memory card wouldn't be nice though :-)

  5. Here's hoping by T-Kir · · Score: 5, Informative

    That this solid state memory doesn't suffer from the non-sequential write issues that current flash media has (AFAIK).

    Added to that, I remember reading about a Cambridge university division developing their own solid state memory (don't have the details to hand, but AFAIK IBM invested money into them), point is they were estimating 2TB for a credit card sized media.

    When the ucard (or whatever they call it) goes into "Mass Production", I wonder what the price ranges are and just how much they will produce. If the media is affordable (and it works as promised), they have a chance to wipe the floor with the entire industry!

    Mind, the problem with this media, no matter who much of a data hoarder you are (like me), you'll find ways to fill it. But if the media is reliable enough, I wonder what backup solutions coming out of this?

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  6. Memory card FORMAT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's a new memory card FORMAT, not a new card. It's like saying hard drive manufacturers are making 256TB drives because they use the 48-bit LBA standard. If this standard is implemented correctly, you'll be able to purchase a uCard MP3 player next year and a 12GB uCard 6 years later, and have that card work in the MP3 player.

  7. Please read your own post by gosand · · Score: 5, Funny
    Please read your own post:

    Nothing to see here, are you insane. Depending on what the price of the card is, this could potentially replace hard drives in many applications. If its cheap enough, perhaps even in Laptops. Its transfer speed is fast enough to replace a hard drive, plus, being solid state, it won't develop mechanical problems. It'll take up substantially less space and consume less power. In this age of miniaturization, and subsequent problems with power consumption and heat output, it seems a great solution.

    Perhaps there is nothing to see here, you might want to move along. Is that better?

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