HP launches Memory-Spot to store photos and audio

HP has launched Memory-Spot, a tiny chip for storing electronic data such as photographs, music or audio.

The aim is to use Memory-Spot in stickers to make it easy to apply to photographs or albums. The content can then be read with a special reader held close to the chip.

HP said the technology is likely to take another two years of development before appearing on the shelves.

Memory-Spot works in a similar fashion to RFID tags. There is no battery required as all the power required to operate the device comes from the reader.

Unlike RFID, the range is very low; so much so that the reader needs to be almost touching the Memory-Spot. HP hopes this will help it avoid the privacy worries that have plagued RFID.

Initial samples will have a storage capacity of around 512Kb, but this will increase with new versions. RFID can only hold a few Kb; enough for storing pricing information in shops but not enough for pictures and sound.

During the HP Labs University in June, an HP representative responded to questions about the resilience of Memory-Spot chips by saying one had been boiled in printer ink for a week without ill effect.

Part of the size advantage over RFID is that the aerial is built into the Memory-Spot chip. RFID requires a spiral of wire around it to communicate with the reader device.

HP believes the technology could be included on all kinds of devices, including mobile phones and even the tamper proof seals used on medicine packaging.