Back to the Future with Holographic Storage

GE may have had a breakthrough, but they are not the first to flirt with holographic technology and other mass storage solutions. InPhase Technologies and Maxell in 2006 were showing off holographic storage technology that was supposed to be available in 2007. Those discs only held 300GB of data, and the technology was also supposed to start with business consumers since drives were priced between $15,000 and $20,000, and discs were supposed to cost $150. Last summer, Nintendo was in talks with InPhase to put its holographic storage technology in the Wii. Call/Recall, a research company, in 2007 said it had discovered a way to store 1 TB of data on an optical disc using 2-photon 3D technology.

Another company called Optware was supposed to have 1TB optical discs out by the end of 2002. Considering that GE's competitors were first out of the gate and still haven't made it to store shelves yet, it may be a while before GE's technology makes it out of the lab and into your living room.

Connect with Ian Paul on Twitter (@ianpaul).

* See more like this:
* blu-ray,
* backup,
* cd-r,
* portable video player