Posted on 09/07/2005 12:42:27 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
We're unsure* as to how we should take the claims of Atom Chip Corporation, which maintains it will show off a 2TB diskless notebook based on a 6.8GHz "quantum-optical" microprocessor at next January's Consumer Electronics Show.
An image of said notebook, the Atom Chip SG220-2, popped up on a number of websites this week. According to Atom Chip's own description (http://atomchip.com/_wsn/page4.html), the machine has no hard drive, relying instead on the company's "non-volatile Quantum-Optical RAM" of which it's packed with 2TB.
This is what Atom Chip's other website, Compu-technics.com, says about the memory: "In this non-volatile integrated Quantum-Optical synchronous random accessible memory (NvIOpSRAM) the information is recorded and read by a laser beam. This memory does not have any moving mechanical parts. Complete lack of mechanical parts combined with ultra-high density, ultra-high speed and extremely compact size distinguish this memory from all existing memories."
The NviOpSRAM comes in a "three-pin" package, pictured (http://atomchip.com/_wsn/page3.html) on the site. Yes, it looks like a 3.5mm earphone jack to us, too, but then we're not quantum-optical scientists. In the notebook, the memory appears configured in a standard SO-DIMM format. The HDD replacement is based on the same technology, it appears, fitted into a pair of back-to-back CompactFlash microdrive form-factor units.
The computer also contains said "high speed with very low consumption of electrical energy" CPU, the Quantum II, which contains 256MB of on-package memory. Since Atom Chip provides a number of Windows screenshots purporting to prove its claims, we assume the Quantum II is x86 compatible and supports 64-bit addressing, though Atom Chip itself doesn't make such claims.
The CPU is mounted inside a sealed unit, but a piccy of the open package reveals nothing so much as a pair of optical drive laser lenses. Oddly, they're mounted in such a way that they would appear to shine only on the inside of the metallic package cover. Alongside the chip is a standard fan and heat-pipe, though the picture caption has the latter down as a "fibers optical cable".
Atom Chip also claims this miracle machine has "voice command". It's a wireless device, too, with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPRS. If you don't want a Quantum II on board, it will also run with four 1.7GHz Intel Pentium M processors, Atom Chip says. The downside with the Intel solution is that you only get three hours' battery life, the company claims. With a Quantum II inside, you get eight hours' operation from a single charge. Coo. It can also get Windows XP Server 2002 to display more than 64GB of RAM, apparently.
The Quantum II is the brainchild of Westbury, New York-based Shimon Gendlin, who runs Atom Chip and Compu-technics, and whose "magneto quantum-optical" discoveries are enshrined in US patent 5,841,689 (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5,841,689.WKU.&OS=PN/5,841,689&RS=PN/5,841,689) filed in November 1996 and granted in November 1998.
According to the Compu-technics website, Gendlin has won numerous awards for his work in his specialism, including a "gold oskar" from Bulgaria, a World Intellectual Property Organisation "East-West Euro Intellect" gold medal, an International Salon of Industrial Property, Moscow Archimedes medal, a Japanese "World Genius Convention" plaudit and many more.
We must admit, we're a trifle sceptical, but Gendlin has his patent - and more pending, apparently - and so we look forward to seeing Atom Chip's kit in the flesh at CES. The company is scheduled to demonstrate its wares on Booth 36604. ®
Seems a bit slow to me.
Maybe it's from a press release from the year 2025?
Can I get it at Best Buy?...........
I loved that movie! They should have a sequel now that Eric Braeden is much older...........
You have to pay extra for the write-only memory, though.
And you might be right.
The MOTHER of all CHIPS!........
"Flip a coin to tell whether an article on the Inquirer is real or bogus."
Ah, but this article was on The Register (i.e. even lower journalistic standards)!
ROFL! This device is exceptionally capable of separating the technologically ignorant from their investment money. That's the only function for which it was developed.
Not too revolutionary, because it's not true.
It's kind of a scifi, wishful thinking speculation of what a product would be like in a few years.
Lots of debunking going on over at OSNews, but the final straw was the screen shots.
It's showing a 32-bit version of Windows. That version won't access more than 4GB of RAM, much less 1TB, yet the screen shot shows it seeing the 1TB.
interesting article ping
To hell with building a laptop, just build a solid-state 2TB "drive" that fits the current 2.5" laptop IDE spec.
The owner would be an overnight billionaire.
One thing is for sure, the screen shot of system properties has been doctored.
Bump for later.
We don't even have 2TB hard drives yet and these bozos are trying to tell me they fit 3TB of memory (1 volatile and 2 non-volatile) in a notebook case?!
For raw speed they would be selling prototypes to research labs and universities.
Where does one fabricate 2TB memory SODIMMS?!
This reminds me of the infamous "Chang Circuit" that rigged 66Mhz PCs to read that they were operating at over 300Mhz (when that would have been a VERY big deal).
This has fraud written all over it.
I took a look at the website ... that's a cool piece of hardware. 2 TERRA bytes of disk space that's "not a disk"? What's next? 2.2 JIGGAWATTS of power!!!!!
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