Maxell focuses on holographic storage

Information storage media company Maxell has said it will launch its first holographic storage products in September 2006. The first removable drive will have a capacity of 300GB and a throughput of 160mbps.

Holographic storage works by storing information using light-sensitive crystals. Because it uses the whole volume of the drive--whose prototype looks somewhat like a floppy disk--not just the surface, it's possible to store much more information than is possible on a DVD.

Prototype for Maxell's
holygraphic removable drive

With a single holographic removable drive, or disk, able to store 1.6 million high-resolution color photos or more than 240 hours of TV broadcast, holographic storage is starting to draw the attention of many in the IT industry.

"Holographic media makes it possible for millions of pages of information and high-definition images to be held on one small, relatively inexpensive disk," said Steven Pofcher, senior marketing manager at Maxell.

"Imagine having a person's entire medical history, complete with MRI images, or storing a broadcast network's entire HD library on a single disk," Pofcher said. "These are both possible with holographic technology, which has such large capacity that approximately half a million 300-page books can be stored on a single disk."

Holographic recording technology uses intersecting signal and reference laser beams to store data in a number of 3D holographic images.

According to Maxell, one 13-centimeter optical disk can store up to 150 million pages--more than 63 times the capacity of a DVD.

Earlier this month, Turner Entertainment's vice president of broadcast technology, Ron Tarasoff, said his company is planning to sell holographic disks that will retail for $100 and which, in five years, will have a capacity of 1.6 terabytes each.

"That's pretty inexpensive," Tarasoff said. "Even the first versions can store 300GB per disk, and it has 160mbps data throughput rates. That's burning. Then combine it with random access, and it's the best of all worlds."

The technology also has an impressive lineage. Hitachi-owned Maxell is working with InPhase Technologies, a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies, which has led development of holographic media.

Colin Barker of ZDNet UK reported from London.

[Yog Sothoth]

We'll See

I'll believe it when I see it. There's been so much vaporware in regard to "wow brand new storage technology" products I've seen over the years.

It certainly sounds good. I'd love a removable disk at 300GBs. It will replace my dvd burner and make backups of my hard drive so easy! But I'm skeptical that we'll ever see this.

[grey_eminence]

Maxell misses the mark, and then some

http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=12682

[AimsAlpha]

Too good to be true?

lol, that's insane... it would be terrific though! But think of the work involved. Not only must they create this device, but is it compatable with a 3 % 1/2 floppy drive (which most computer companies have abandoned)? or does it need a new reading device? This could easily go from "wow!" to "ehhh... maybe not". Just like the Blu-Ray article.

[Valkyr]

Anyone remember FMD?

Flourescent Multilayer Disks promised just about the same thing, but then in late 2003 (I believe it was) the company behind the technology , C-3D, vanished. This holographic medium is nothing new, I just wonder how it compares to what FMD promised, since they conceptually sound about the same and offer very similiar storage capacities.

[Valkyr]

Follow-up

Constellation 3D was the company and they vanished in late 2002 (not 2003), becoming a classic example of "vaporware". After doing a little wiki research I found the company went under due to a scandal and loss of funding, but a subsequent company D Data Inc. was formed and renamed FMD to DMD (Digital Multilayer Disc). You can read all about the technology (which to me makes a WHOLE lot more sense than Blu-Ray) at http://www.ddatainc.com/. Promising as it may seem, however, the company hasn't updated its site in over a year with any new news, so who knows? ... Could be another vaporware.

[tony_z]

...

Of course they need a new device. They are just saying the size of the disc is like floppy, not the technology.

[Terry Gay]

Whoo Hooo!

1.6 Terabytes for only $100? Andale pues Hitachi and Maxtor.

[Terry Gay]

Whoo Hooo!

1.6 Terabytes for only $100? Andale pues Hitachi and Maxell.