Japanese tech points to massive hard drives
updated 05:45 pm EDT, Mon May 21, 2007
1TB-per-inch hard drives
Although hard drives reaching the 1TB total mark are beginning to hit the market, a new technology may help open the doors to much greater capacities. Researchers from Toshiba and Tohoku University have developed heads that read sectors with a density of 1TB per square inch, resulting in prototype drives (not pictured) that can hold several times the current maximum. The key is a concept called nanocontact magnetic resistance (NC-MR), which should dramatically increase the accuracy of a head. Unfortunately for the public, however, the first commercial drives to use NC-MR are at least five years away. [via Ars Technica]
