5-Terabyte Hard Drives
Around the year 2013, the gigabyte will become passé, thanks to a team of researchers at Toshiba and Tohoku University. By then, their recently developed hard-drive technology should lead to 5TB desktop drives and 1TB 2.5-inch notebook drives. Called Nanocontact Magnetic Resistance (NC-MR), the technology greatly boosts a drive head's ability to detect tiny changes in magnetic fields. Down the road, NC-MR should let manufacturers increase storage density from the current 178.8 gigabits per square inch all the way up to 1 terabit per square inch. Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR), being developed by Seagate and others, should eventually push storage density even higher--perhaps to 50 terabits per square inch by 2019.
- Linux on Dell PCs: Ubuntu-equipped Dimensions and Inspirons are shipping, starting at $599.
- iPhone: I'd have one already if I could get a @#$&! AT&T signal.
- Mahalo: Interesting search engine, currently in alpha, adds a human-driven element to the algorithm.
- Parallels 3.0: Run Windows in (ahem) a window on Intel-based Macs. Now with true 3D acceleration for only $80.
- Lumosity: Catch the brain-fitness craze online with this free beta.
You can contact PC World Senior Editor Eric Dahl and read additional Plugged In columns.
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