HP Announces Tiny Wireless Memory Chip

Hewlett-Packard researchers have developed a memory chip with wireless networking capabilities that is roughly the same size as a grain of rice, the company said Monday. Prototypes of the Memory Spot chip developed by HP Labs contain 256 kilobits to 4 megabits of memory and can transfer data wirelessly at speeds up to 10Mbps. There are eight bits in a byte. This amount of storage allows the chips to hold a short video clip, digital pictures or "dozens of pages" of text, HP said, adding that the chips do not require a battery. Memory Spot chips get their power using a technique called inductive coupling, which allows power to be transferred from one component to another through a shared electromagnetic field. In the case of Memory Spot, this power is supplied by the device that is used to read and write data on the chip. Data stored on Memory Spot chips could be accessed using a variety of devices, such as specially equipped cell phones or PDAs, making them suitable for a range of applications, such as adhesive attachments applied to a paper document or printed photograph, HP said.

There are 8 bits in a byte.

[GoRK]

There are 8 bits in a byte.

Thanks for the refresher there HP.

OK, but...

[TechDogg]

... does anybody know how much money Uncle Ben's is getting on royalties from HP?

Hewlett-Packard researchers have developed a memory chip with wireless networking capabilities that is roughly the same size as a grain of rice, the company said Monday.

Re:There are 8 bits in a byte.

[`Sean]

Thanks for the refresher there HP.

Damn...you beat me to it! For a minute there I felt like I was back in elementary school computer class on an Apple ][.

Re:If you want to know more about me

[fuyu-no-neko]

check out my webpage, it's on a server embeded under my skin and shares power with my pacemaker.

Do you really want to risk the /.ing of something so close to your heart? ;o)

iPod Flea

[the phantom]

Steve Jobs: Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce the smallest iPod ever, the iPod Flea [google.com].

Re:Memory Spot RFID?

[LiquidCoooled]

All you need to increase the range is to come up with some sort of pringles can for your memory reader.

Re:There are 8 bits in a byte.

[gEvil (beta)]

Eight bits in a byte? When did this happen?

No kidding. When I was a kid a byte was defined as two nibbles...

Great....

[cbiltcliffe]

This amount of storage allows the chips to hold a short video clip, digital pictures....

So now the US government can include a short video or pictures of your last full cavity search on your RFID passport.....

"There are eight bits in a byte."

[Russ Nelson]

"There are eight bits in a byte." Really?? When I started programming, you could select the byte size. Now we're forced into 8 bit bytes. What a horrible loss of freedom. I blame Canada. And terrorists. And global warming.

Re:There are 8 bits in a byte.

[Russ Nelson]

Sure, because in my day we had to put five septets in a word, and waste one bit. Ahhh, those were the good old days. 36 bit computers. Who wouldda thunk that they'd be supplanted by 32 bit computers? Those computers went up to 36.

Re:How long...

[MrSquirrel]

Didn't you see the article summary? It's not coincidence that the chip is "the size of a grain of rice". You know that last batch of chicken fried rice you had? Yes, it has already begun... my theory is that the chip logs information on your stomach contents, then when it gets flushed back to the sewage treatment plant it updates your data -- the government increased the levels of fat and other unhealthy materials in the most eaten foods, that's what Americans are growing fatter and fatter every year. Their plan? To make Americans so fat, they cannot resist when the government comes in with force. Thankfully I only eat paint chips and mountain dew, so I'm unaffected. Ssshhh, I hear the black helicopters coming, I must make my escape.

Perfect!

[tashanna]

All those stamps in my passport were getting annoying. Maybe they can put one of these in my passport, maybe when they get those RFID things [slashdot.org] working, so that I can just download where I've traveled. It'd be handy and I can't see anything that could [slashdot.org] go wrong [slashdot.org].

- Tash
Vrooommm... [tashcorp.net]

Crunchy rice

[Vandilizer]

"roughly the same size as a grain of rice"

Would be interesting if you could raid these thing, need more storage just dump a handful in to the pot next to you computer.

Would be hell to try to find one that had gone faulty but I expect you could just turn it off.

My only concern would be the non-technical collage room mate who drunk and looking for food at 2 am try to cook you rice and then eat it. Brings a whole new side to data recovery.

Giglibyte is the worst [n/t]

[mobby_6kl]

No useful text here whatsoever.

bound to be confusion...

[liuyunn]

when they start mass producing these in China next to the rice paddies