HP's develops grain-sized memory chip
Hewlett-Packard researches announced that they have developed a tiny memory chip that could bring data storage capabilities to virtually and product. According to HP, the CMOS-based device is about the size of a rice grain and provides a capacity ranging from 64 kB to 512 kB - which isn't exciting by today's standards and storage hungry multimedia applications, but it's enough to store lots of text, a few decent digital images or a (very) short video clip.
What makes the "Memory Spot" especially interesting is its wireless capability. HP says that it uses an integrated antenna and can transfer data at a 10 Mb/s, which is ten 10 times faster than Bluetooth and about what you can expect from your Wi-Fi network within your house. Also, the chip does not need an external battery. It receives power through inductive coupling from another read-write device, which can then extract content from the memory on the chip. Inductive coupling is a process in which energy can be transferred from on device to another by sharing an electromagnetic field.
You won't find Memory Spots in supercomputers; the technology however could be very useful in portable electronics such as cellphones or digital cameras or even products that do not integrate memory chips yet - such as a wristband you wear during a hospital stay. HP also envisions digital postcards, audio photos, security passes, an electronic attachment to your prescription, electronic notes attached to a sheet of paper, or electronic "photocopies" of documents that do not degrade in quality.
Stay on the Cutting Edge
Join the experts who read Tom's Hardware for the inside track on enthusiast PC tech news — and have for over 25 years. We'll send breaking news and in-depth reviews of CPUs, GPUs, AI, maker hardware and more straight to your inbox.