IBM announces phase-changing flash competitor

Flash memory just seems downright unstoppable these days, doesn't it? The stuff just keeps getting smaller and cheaper, leading to shrinking devices with increasing capacity and faster access times. And if the prices ever come down enough, we may start to see laptops from the major manufacturers that eschew a traditional hard drive in favor of flash memory (Samsung already has one on the market). There's one company that could change all of this, however: IBM. Big Blue has announced a working prototype of what they call Phase Change Memory (PCM)--which is apparently 500 times faster than NAND flash, uses half the power and is smaller to boot. The technology uses electronic pulses to change the state and resistance of semiconductor material--which remains in that state until another pulse changes it back. Thus, the memory unit consists of a myriad of on/off switches or, if you prefer, ones and zeros. IBM isn't the only company researching the storage capabilities of phase change: Samsung announced a PCM product a few months ago that's slated for production in 2008 and Intel is also reportedly engaged in similar research.

For more on PCM:
- see this Ars Technica article