Magnetic memory cards

BBC reports: (edited)

A microchip which can store information like a hard drive has been unveiled by US company Freescale. The chip, called magnetoresistive random-access memory (Mram), maintains data by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge. Mram chips are faster than 'flash' memory, while sharing its ability to retain information without a power source.

Freescale has been producing the four-megabit Mram chips at an Arizona factory for two months to build up levels of stock. A number of chip makers have been pursuing the technology for a decade or more, including IBM, but Freescale is the first company to offer a chip with practical usage for many of today's electronic devices.

"This is the most significant memory introduction in this decade," said Will Strauss, an analyst with research firm Forward Concepts. "This is radically new technology. People have been dabbling in this for years, but nobody has been able to make it in volume."
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