New Chip Will Allow iPod to Store 500,000 Songs
Scientists at IBM have developed a new digital storage technology that will be capable of storing much more data than current storage technologies. The so called "racetrack" memory could allow MP3 players, mobile phones and a host of other devices to store up to half a million songs or close to 3,500 movies.
The technology stores data in columns of magnetic material arranged on the surface of a silicon chip. The information is actually stored in the spin of electrons in the material, and moves around the columns at very high speeds, hence "racetrack." This allows racetrack memory to operate much more quickly than traditional hard drives. The technology is also inexpensive to produce and very energy efficient - researchers at an IBM facility in San Jose said the technology would run on a single charge for "weeks at a time." Like flash memory racetrack technology has no moving parts, which makes it much less likely to encounter mechanical problems. Unlike flash memory it does not wear out after a few thousand uses, but it also can not write data as quickly as flash.
IBM lead researcher Stuart Parkin believes "the promise of racetrack memory - for example, the ability to carry massive amounts of information in your pocket - could unleash creativity leading to devices and applications that nobody has imagined yet." In fact, the breakthrough could potentially call for rethinking Moore's Law, one of the fundamental laws of computing. The law basically says that the number of transistors that can fit on an integrated circuit increases exponentially, doubling every two years. If that is the case, chip makers would run into problems with basic laws of physics sometime around 2020.
IBM says the technology is still in an exploratory state, but expects devices to incorporate it within 10 years. Disappointing, I know. With such a competitive market I would expect to see racetrack memory in much sooner than 10 years. In fact it will probably be obsolete in ten years.
[via TimesOnline]
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 