How would you like to carry around your entire DVD collection on a single disk? That is the promise of a new holographic digital storage technology being developed by General Electric and coming to a computer near you around 2012. Although not the first commercial holographic storage system-that honor goes to InPhase Technologies' TapestryTM 300r holographic drive-GE's system could be the first one aimed at consumers. (InPhase's holographic drives, which debuted last year, sell for $18,000 and target broadcasters who need to archive television programs.) Holographic media can store huge amounts of data because information is encoded in layers throughout the entire disk, not just on a single reflective surface as in today's optical media. In GE's system, a single CD-size disk made of plastic will be able to store about 1 terabyte of data, equivalent to 110 typical movie DVDs.
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