HP Memory Spot
p2p news / p2pnet: Hewlett-Packard has developed a tiny Wi-Fi memory chip which could eventually be sold in booklets as self-adhesive dots.
But with potentially greater functionality than RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags, will the HP Memory Spots, as they’re being called, join RFID as new privacy threats?
Some 2- to 4-mm square with a built-in antenna, the experimental chis have a data transfer rate 10 times faster than Bluetooth wireless technology and could be embedded in a sheet of paper or stuck to any surface.
And, “With a storage capacity ranging from 256 kilobits to 4 megabits in working prototypes, it could store a very short video clip, several images or dozens of pages of text. Future versions could have larger capacities,” promises HP.
“Information can be accessed by a read-write device that could be incorporated into a cell phone, PDA, camera, printer or other implement. To access information, the read-write device is positioned closely over the chip, which is then powered so that the stored data is transferred instantly to the display of the phone, camera or PDA or printed out by the printer. Users could also add information to the chip using the various devices.”
Like RFIDs, Memory Spot chips store data and have a built-in radio transmitter, but the similarities end there, a CBS News story points out.
“RFIDs store a very small amount of data – enough to identify and describe an object but not nearly enough for, say, a photograph.,” says the story. “And they are able to transmit up to 15 feet, which makes them ideal for inventory control. Memory Spots, on the other hand, can transmit only about 1 millimeter so the reader has to come into almost touching distance. That limits the applications but increases privacy and security because you don’t have to worry about someone reading your data from across the room."
But perhaps that should read, "can transmit only about 1 millimeter for the moment".
Meanwhile, “The Memory Spot has a fully integrated antenna that’s part of the same silicon as the chip itself while RFIDs have attached antennas. Some RFIDs need a power source but the memory spot will never need any type of battery. The power necessary to transfer data from the spot to the device is embedded into the reader. When the reader gets within a millimeter of the chip, it provides the necessary energy to transfer the data.”
Also See:
self-adhesive dots – HP’s tiny memory chip, July 17, 2006
CBS News – Tiny Chips Could Change Our Lives, July 18, 2006
p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss
Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
July 24th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
I read a comment a few weeks ago by someone with an Eastern European sounding name, which has bearing on HP’s Memory Spot announcement.
I looked up the leads pointed to by that comment and even went as far as checking the USPTO’s website for info.
My suspicion is that HP is trying to leverage off of the inventions of the guy mentioned in that commentary. He specifically invented uses for HP’s just revealed memory spot technology — as far back as at least 1991 ! I identified teachings in that person’s patents describing the use of “auxilliary memories” with photographs, slides, video cassettes, audio cassettes; and even for fax machines in something he seems to call “Multimedia Paper”.
Thus what HP seems to be doing is akin to announcing that they are beginning to sell gasoline, “having never heard” of an automobile or boat or plane (which is to say, having never heard of the uses of gasoline). They are encouraging others to going into business selling those cars and planes and other uses of gasoline which they are poised to supply, knowing that the others will be infringing or stealing some unknown guy’s inventions. HP profits but all those other businesses commit the crime to help HP profit.
This is pretty crooked if you ask me.
But what’s more interesting from my perspective is that out there in the unknown crowd there is this mysterious guy who is inventing the core technolgies all the high tech giants feel compelled to steal: not just the uses for the HP memory spots, but JAVA, core elements of iPods including the phrase docking cradle (and their design), things central to Tivo, object embedding in browsers, and various other stuff.
I saw in a blog a rumour that the mysterious inventor is dead, and that is the reason why we never hear directly from or about him. I don’t know the truth of that comment, but like the European woman said in her commentary: “Something’s rotten in Denmark”.
—————————–pasted reference below————–
Nickname: zsuzsanna
Review: Last year somebody predicted several things, all of which have since come to pass. What’s going on here?
http://p2pnet.net/index.php?page=comment&story=5185&comment=15123
It was mentioned last year that Intel Macs were intended to run Windows software. At the time, Apple denied it. Now, Apple is airing ads on TV confirming this.
Also: This is about “Unified Web browsers,” “Universal Communications Platforms?”
And last week Bill Gates announced his goal to go into Universal Communications Platforms.
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/execmail/2006/06-26unifiedcomm.asp
Further from that blog:
We saw inventions specifically crafted for attacking Apple’s market grip on the iPod?
And now BW reports of plans to challenge the iPod market by Christmas.
Something’s rotten in Denmark.
Date : Jul 8, 2006 9:19 PM
—————————————————————