IBM's 'racetrack' technology could increase iPhone storage tenfold

[AppleInsider]

A new form of digital storage technology under development at IBM could deliver more than tenfold increases in both the storage capacity and battery life of handheld gadgets like Apple's iPod and iPhone, according to the company's claims.

A paper published in the current issue of Science and covered by the United Kingdom's Times Online describes the technology along the lines of NAND flash memory, only faster and with considerably longer expected lifespan.

Dubbed 'racetrack' memory, it's said to store information inside the walls that exist between magnetic domains, such as those arranged on the surface of a silicon wafer. Thus, information moves around the columns at extremely high speeds compared to traditional storage mediums -- hence the racetrack name.

Scientists at IBM say the technology could pave the way for devices such as digital media players that can hold about a half million songs, cost far less to produce than today's models, and run on a single battery charge for weeks at a time.

"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," said Stuart Parkin, who leads the team of research for IBM out at the company's research centre in San Jose, Calif.

He added that racetrack memory could lead to the development of "'three-dimensional micro-electronics', breaking with the tradition of scientists trying to fit an ever greater number on transistors on an ultra-thin piece of silicon shaped like a wafer."

Although still exploratory in its current form, IBM expects racetrack memory to begin cropping up in electronic devices within the next ten years.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[ThunkDifferent.com]

This is cool news, I guess well have wikipesia in our pocket soon! (as if we don't already!)

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

A new form of digital storage technology under development at IBM could deliver more than tenfold increases in both the storage capacity and battery life of handheld gadgets like Apple's iPod and iPhone, according to the company's claims.

A paper published in the current issue of Science and covered by the United Kingdom's Times Online describes the technology along the lines of NAND flash memory, only faster and with considerably longer expected lifespan.

Dubbed 'racetrack' memory, it's said to store information inside the walls that exist between magnetic domains, such as those arranged on the surface of a silicon wafer. Thus, information moves around the columns at extremely high speeds compared to traditional storage mediums -- hence the racetrack name.

Scientists at IBM say the technology could pave the way for devices such as digital media players that can hold about a half million songs, cost far less to produce than today's models, and run on a single battery charge for weeks at a time.

"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," said Stuart Parkin, who leads the team of research for IBM out at the company's research centre in San Jose, Calif.

He added that racetrack memory could lead to the development of "'three-dimensional micro-electronics', breaking with the tradition of scientists trying to fit an ever greater number on transistors on an ultra-thin piece of silicon shaped like a wafer."

Although still exploratory in its current form, IBM expects racetrack memory to begin cropping up in electronic devices within the next ten years.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[CREB]

Excellent!

[Postulant]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Although still exploratory in its current form, IBM expects racetrack memory to begin cropping up in electronic devices within the next ten years.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

I was on the edge of my seat until I read the last bit.

[boss1]

OR, Apple could dump a ton of it's cash reserves to speed up the development of this technology claiming exclusive, somewhat exclusive or non exclusive... rights from IBM to it's use.

Put the new drives in the 3rd gen iPhone (post 3G) , release it in June 2009 , effectively and severely crippling, and practically wiping every cell manufacture from existence in a single year..........all but Nokia because there will always be a market for junk

[8CoreWhore]

[Gustav]

Originally Posted by boss1

OR, Apple could dump a ton of it's cash reserves to speed up the development of this technology claiming exclusive, somewhat exclusive or non exclusive... rights from IBM to it's use.

That wouldn't be very smart. Who knows what other advances in memory storage will crop up in the next few years?

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

10 years

I remember when the concept of storing a catalogue of songs on a memory chip was something that would be possible in a decade or two... Now there are kids running around who can't conceive of a world without iPods.

10 years might seem like a long time...but then you turn around and there it is.

[DaveGee]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

10 years might seem like a long time...but then you turn around and there it is.

Yeap! and as the 10's of years roll by it seems to get quicker and quicker each time...

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by boss1

OR, Apple could dump a ton of it's cash reserves to speed up the development of this technology claiming exclusive, somewhat exclusive or non exclusive... rights from IBM to it's use.

Put the new drives in the 3rd gen iPhone (post 3G) , release it in June 2009

I'm not sure if even an infinite amount of money is going to make it happen that quickly. If a new fab or new equipment needs to be made to mass produce this type of circuit, that blows the timeline right there.

It doesn't even sound like they've actually fabbed a single sample of a functioning chip yet, it's a concept under research.

[Eduardo]

Woohoo! Apple and IBM together again!!!


...in ten years time.

[OptionTrader]

Originally Posted by boss1

.........all but Nokia because there will always be a market for junk

If you are referring to the lower end phones that you get for cheap when signing a contract with a service provider, I might agree with you.

I have traveled worldwide with their E-Series phones and they are the best I've ever used - including the iPhone.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by ThunkDifferent.com

This is cool news, I guess well have wikipesia in our pocket soon! (as if we don't already!)

You don't need to quote the entire article to say that.

By the way, I think it's possible. Maybe the Wikipedia database is about 20GB in total, the data isn't up to date.

http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesDatabaseSize.htm

[Jimzip]

Awesome! Sounds like cool technology.. They could shorten the name to an acronym like RTM for speed's sake, but I'm guessing just before it's released Intel will come up with HDRTM (High Density Racetrack Memory) and the format wars will begin, ending in a cataclysmic battle between the Oprahlites and the Stevians which will eventually spiral out of control and destroy middle-earth...
Hey it's 10 years from now, if you can come up with a better prediction I'd like to hear it!

Jimzip

[zunx]

Here you go:

Racetrack memory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racetrack_memory

[Denton]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Although still exploratory in its current form, IBM expects racetrack memory to begin cropping up in electronic devices within the next ten years.

10 years? This is unlikely to see the market. It's only a research project at this point. Mention it to us again when it's 18 months out.

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

A new form of digital storage technology under development at IBM could deliver more than tenfold increases in both the storage capacity and battery life of handheld gadgets like Apple's iPod and iPhone, according to the company's claims.

Scientists at IBM say the technology could pave the way for devices such as digital media players that can hold about a half million songs, cost far less to produce than today's models, and run on a single battery charge for weeks at a time.

The iPhone wasn't all it could be without 3G. I say the iPhone isn't all it could be without tenfold increase in storage and run on a single battery charge for weeks at a time. Hmmmpppfff. Some can wait for the 3G iPhone, but I'm waiting for the "Racetrack" iPhone! And waiting, and waiting...

[Dazabrit]

Please DO NOT start with the iPhone Racetrack Next Tuesday posts!!!! That's a hell of a lot of Tuesdays to endure

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by Denton

10 years? This is unlikely to see the market. It's only a research project at this point. Mention it to us again when it's 18 months out.

I was about to mention this timeline, which would have lead right into my laughter about the spin on this story. IBM has no connection with iPhone, making this the silliest headline of the day.

[gmon750]

Great!
Give the whiners something else to add to their list of things the iPhone has to have before they would even consider EVER purchasing an iPhone:

10g
7.3TB racetrack memory
Neural "Handsfree" Interface
Will play Crysis at 170fps
Makes coffee in the morning
Might let them get lucky with a human female...
...
Oh... and it has to be available in Canada..

[macinthe408]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

IBM out at the company's research centre in San Jose, Calif.]

Haha. I just rode my mountain bike by there today at lunchtime. I didn't see anything going on from the outside that would indicate that miraculous things are happening in this standard looking office complex nestled in the hills south of San Jose.

(I'm just carping on people who visit Silicon Valley--especially the Apple campus--and expect to see dollar bills floating in the air, engineers jumping from branch to branch in trees, rainbows sprouting from office doors, VCs running around in BMWs handing out cash at the Jack in the Box drive-thrus.)

Invariably, they return home and report to their friends that "Silicon Valley sucks, it's just a bunch of buildings." Honestly, what does one expect?

Go ahead: Chime in with your response of what you would expect to see in a place dubbed Silicon Valley.

[zeasar]

Originally Posted by gmon750

10g
7.3TB racetrack memory
Neural "Handsfree" Interface
Will play Crysis at 170fps
Makes coffee in the morning
Might let them get lucky with a human female...

You forgot to mention that it needs to run Windows 7 too.

[winterspan]

Originally Posted by gmon750

Great!
Give the whiners something else to add to their list of things the iPhone has to have before they would even consider EVER purchasing an iPhone: ....
Oh... and it has to be available in Canada..

Hey, don't ridicule our poor friends to the north. They deserve an official unlimited- data iPhone as much as anyone in the USA or Europe. Besides, they have Vancouver BC, which is like a much-improved, cleaner, prettier, friendlier, and more progressive Seattle.

[suhail]

Oh great... another IBM promise, whatever!

[palegolas]

"Within the next 10 years" vs "in 10 years"...

In 10 years I guess NAND flash memories will be 10 fold and this won't seem immediately fantastic when it comes out. But everything that has 3D and micro electronics mentioned in the same sentence gotta be good, right? I wonder what Apple would say if they announced products 10 years in advance...

[wilco]

Originally Posted by macinthe408

Haha. I just rode my mountain bike by there today at lunchtime. I didn't see anything going on from the outside that would indicate that miraculous things are happening in this standard looking office complex nestled in the hills south of San Jose.

(I'm just carping on people who visit Silicon Valley--especially the Apple campus--and expect to see dollar bills floating in the air, engineers jumping from branch to branch in trees, rainbows sprouting from office doors, VCs running around in BMWs handing out cash at the Jack in the Box drive-thrus.)

Invariably, they return home and report to their friends that "Silicon Valley sucks, it's just a bunch of buildings." Honestly, what does one expect?

Go ahead: Chime in with your response of what you would expect to see in a place dubbed Silicon Valley.

Great story!

[gmon750]

Originally Posted by zeasar

You forgot to mention that it needs to run Windows 7 too.

Right... Running Crysis at 170fps is far more obtainable that trying to run Windows 7. You need to have realistic expectations buddy...

[Monkeyoe]

Originally Posted by ThunkDifferent.com

This is cool news, I guess well have wikipesia in our pocket soon! (as if we don't already!)

http://collison.ie/wikipedia-iphone/

Ba dum pish!

It's great, rarely crashes too

[Walter Slocombe]

Originally Posted by gmon750

Great!
Give the whiners something else to add to their list of things the iPhone has to have before they would even consider EVER purchasing an iPhone:

10g
7.3TB racetrack memory
Neural "Handsfree" Interface
Will play Crysis at 170fps
Makes coffee in the morning
Might let them get lucky with a human female...

yeah yeah, no problem

Originally Posted by gmon750

Oh... and it has to be available in Canada..

OH for goodness sake thats just SO unrealistic in a ten year time frame!

[Esteban]

Either you're staved for click-throughs or you're trying to pump your Apple stock so that you can cash out before the market collapse. I feel ripped off by the headline; there are any number of "in the next 10 years" technologies that would have fit the topic but would have been equally misleading. As if ten years from now we wouldn't expect a tenfold increase.
I went from a desktop to a laptop in about 5 years and got a 20-fold increase.
You're a little late for April fool's day.

[ksec]

The problem is when we read this sort of future tech you can at least double their estimate of availability.
We have been saying OLED for nearly a decade and yet we are still no where near being mass produced.
So RaceTrack, or PRAM... what ever.... will properly be another 10 + years....

[kim kap sol]

In the next 10 years, storage will have increased tenfold anyway. This 'new' idea isn't so hot.

[Spiffy1]

Originally Posted by kim kap sol

In the next 10 years, storage will have increased tenfold anyway. This 'new' idea isn't so hot.

And this IBM technology is HOW it will be done, dingus.

As for this story... I guess AppleInsider is trying to get the inside scoop... ten years in advance. Real useful. I bet the iPhone won't even exist at that point.

[acslater017]

wow, that's an extremely speculative article title.

[mania]

hey guys I was just gonna upgrade my iThingy but now I wonder should I hold out for the racetracks?

/sarcasm

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by mania

hey guys I was just gonna upgrade my iThingy but now I wonder should I hold out for the racetracks?

/sarcasm

If you really like racetracks, go to a NASCAR event.

[NasserAE]

Massive storage sounds good. However, currently massive storage will face problems on content management/access, processors speed, etc. Within the next ten years, other advances in technology will make this technology viable.

[timothyjay2004]

The timeframe is a little disappointing ... but it still is a very neat future. Though, 10 years in a digital age is a very long time, something will probably replace it by the time it is ready for a debut. Everyone is saying iPhone and iPods ... But what about notebooks?? That is where I think this kind of technology really could help more so that on an iPod or iPhone. Ultra low power consumption, high data transfer and write rates ... very good combinations for a notebook. It'd be better than an SSD drive and probably a lot smaller. If IBM hopes it to work, they better step up their efforts and bring it within 4-6 years max, otherwise, it might be doomed for replacement by another company.

[malax]

Check out the googles ads that this story attracted:
1: Military Armor Protection
New functional composite nanofibers
Conference May 20-21, Alexandria

2: Wafer Carriers
Wafer handling solutions
Moving wafers around the world

3: Windows Mobile Games
Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and more
for Windows Mobile at Winplay.com

I can't decide which would be fun to learn about, the military use of composite nanofibers or "moving wafers around the world." I bet this story generates a TON of click-thrus for both.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by timothyjay2004

The timeframe is a little disappointing ... but it still is a very neat future. Though, 10 years in a digital age is a very long time, something will probably replace it by the time it is ready for a debut. Everyone is saying iPhone and iPods ... But what about notebooks?? That is where I think this kind of technology really could help more so that on an iPod or iPhone. Ultra low power consumption, high data transfer and write rates ... very good combinations for a notebook. It'd be better than an SSD drive and probably a lot smaller. If IBM hopes it to work, they better step up their efforts and bring it within 4-6 years max, otherwise, it might be doomed for replacement by another company.

I wonder if it means 10x as much memory per memory cell. Then that would be interesting. I really don't understand the concept though.