As promised last year, executives at
Hitachi Maxell say their first-generation holographic storage media will
begin
shipping in just a few months, in either November or December. The
holographic media is the brainchild of InPhase Technologies. It relies
on a “patented two-chemistry Tapestry photopolymer write-once material”
that’s sandwiched between two plastic substrates 13cm in diameter, or
1cm larger than regular CDs and DVDs. Capacity-wise, the media holds an
impressive 300GB of data, ten times more than a dual-layer HD DVD and
six times more than a dual-layer Blu-ray disc. 300GB is only the
beginning, too; Maxell expects to climb up to 800GB with
second-generation media in 2008, and 1.6TB is the target for 2010.
Impressive as those capacities may be, consumers might have to wait for their
high-capacity holographic media fix. Maxell’s Technical Marketing
Director Rich D’Ambrise says discs will cost $120-180 a pop, with drives
to be priced in the neighborhood of $15,000. Maxell is nonetheless
contemplating catering to the consumer market. According to D’Ambrise,
postage stamp-sized 75-100GB holographic discs for the consumer market
are theoretically possible, and the company is looking at credit
card-sized prototypes. Thanks to DailyTech for the tip.