Posted Dec 11, 2006, 5:32 PM ET New type of memory chip developed by a team lead by IBM sould make flash memory a thing of the past. A team of scientists from IBM, Macronix and Qimonda have unveiled a prototype computer memory with the potential to replace the flash memory chips now widely used in computers, digital cameras, portable music players and other consumer electronics. This research gives credence to the concept of "phase-change" memory, which appears to be much faster and can be made much smaller than flash. The prototype phase-change memory device operated more than 500 times faster than flash while using less than one-half the power to write data into a cell. Plus, the device's cross-section is only 3 by 20 nanometers, far smaller than flash can be built today and equivalent to the industry's chip-making capabilities targeted for 2015. Dr. T. C. Chen, Vice President, Science & Technology, IBM Research said that the re...
life, from my point of view :)