HP memory spot on the mark

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 18 July 2006 21:27

Your IT - Home IT

Imagine being able to store the story of your life, complete with pictures, on a microscopic chip the size of a grain. Right now, you can't get the complete story - just 100 pages - but in the near future the new HP Memory Spot will be able to store a Harry Potter book.

The new Hewlett-Packard developed chip is the most advanced integrated circuit of its size on the planet. It includes a processor, storage of up to 4 megabits, and an antenna on a dot about the size of a grain of rice.

In addition to its amazing storage capacities, the tiny read-write device can transfer data wirelessly at an amazing 10 megabits per second. That's 10 times the speed of Blue Tooth technology and much faster than RFID devices.

What's more, according to HP, the Memory Spot is much more secure than other wireless devices because the chip has be touching or no further than 1 to 2 mm away from its accompanying read-write scanner.

Applications for the Memory Spot appear endless, including far more comprehensive security ID cards, medical bracelets containing entire patient history, postcards embedded with rich media information, and the list continues on.

Some analysts are already tipping that the Memory Spot could very soon make RFID tags obsolete.