This report from CNET is about a new type of memory chip that is smaller than a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip and it holds much more information. The new chip is called a Memory Spot and has the potential to bring the age of pervasive computing into full bloom. According to the report:
The Memory Spot has a 10 megabits-per-second data-transfer rate and can store up to 4 megabits of data, although the demonstration chips stored only 256 kilobits. The chip has an integrated antenna, which is why it is so much smaller than an RFID chip, which gets most of its size from the separately attached antennae. It receives power through inductive coupling from a special read-write device that extracts data from the memory on the chip. [...] Taub demonstrated picture albums with the nearly-invisible chip attached to the borders. When a reader touched the chip, audio from the picture was played. Taub next waved the reader over the chip on a medicine bottle and the attached computer received the dosage, direction, and all other pertinent information from the prescription.It's important to note here that this technology is new, there are no applicaitons yet for it and no infrastructure, but it has the potential to bring a rich digital dimension to almost any object or person.
