Shrinking memory device makes sense

TECHNOLOGY & YOU

If you are an executive on the move and hate floppy disks, but are yet concerned about the storage that your laptop affords - help is at hand. Welcome to the world of flash memory or 'keychain' memory.

Imagine being able to store close to 250 megabytes (mb) of data on a device which is probably the size of your pen-cap.

Imagine being able to carry your entire Microsoft Office on a device like that instead of running the application from your laptop, freeing up amazing amounts of space on your laptop.

Better still imagine being able to ensure that heavy graphic presentations or power point presentations not using the precious hard disk space of your laptop. Imagine being able to store every bit of data or back up every bit of data on your desktop or laptop on ten such devices.

Flash memory ensures all this. In fact Sun Microsystems is giving out its entire Star Office suite - a challenger to Microsoft Office - on a 128 mb flash memory enabled key chain on a promotional basis. The cost is about Singapore $100.

Sony has also introduced its second-generation flash memory based storage device called "Micro Vault" in India which enables its users to 'plug and play' at high speeds and high performance. The company expects to sell about 600 micro vaults in this calendar year.

So what is flash memory? For the uninitiated, electronic memory comes in a variety of forms to serve a variety of purposes.

Flash memory is used for easy and fast information storage in such devices as digital cameras and home video game consoles. It is used more as a hard drive than as RAM.

In fact, flash memory is considered a solid state storage device. Solid state means that there are no moving parts "" everything is electronic instead of mechanical.

A few examples of flash memory that you would have been exposed to are CompactFlash (most often found in digital cameras), SmartMedia (most often found in digital cameras) and the Memory Stick (most often found in digital cameras).

The flash memory is replacing the floppy disk as the new emperor of portable storage. World markets are now flush with flash memory storage devices that are instantly recognised when plugged into PCs and Macintosh computers' now-ubiquitous USB ports.

While these devices cost a lot more than floppies they are smart enough to merit a place in your life-style. For example, the Iomega Mini USB drive 256 MB model has an Activedisk function that allows you to run programmes right off the drive.

The better mini-drives, from manufacturers including IBM and Sony, offer password protection and are worth the premium.

If you misplace them, your secrets are safe. The IBM drive supports the USB 2.0 standard. Iomega came out with a USB 2.0 key drive in September.

What is the USB? Just about any computer that you buy today comes with one or more universal aerial bus connectors on the back.

These USB connectors let you attach everything from mouse to printers to your computer quickly and easily. The operating system supports USB as well, so the installation of the device drivers is quick and easy, too.

Compared to other ways of connecting devices to your computer (including parallel ports, serial ports and special cards that you install inside the computer's case), USB devices are incredibly simple!

Spreading the cheer is further news that companies such as Iomega and Pockey Drives predict that you will soon be able to take your hard drive with you from one computer to the next, carrying your entire customised set-up wherever you go.