Philips is reportedly developing a miniature optical disc that will enable your mobile device to store five full-length movies, 25,000 digital images, or 48 hours of MP3 tunes. Known as Small Form Factor Optical (SFFO), the technology was developed at a UK research facility and demo'd last week in Japan. Article excerpt:
SFFO spun off from Philips's work on Blu-ray, the emerging standard for a system that will use blue lasers to record high-definition TV pictures on DVD-sized discs. Blu-ray is backed by a group of leading firms, including Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp and Sony… The three-centimetre disc will be the same thickness as a DVD, but the phase-change material that records the data will be a mere 0.1 millimetres thick, compared to 0.6 millimetres for DVDs. Philips says this should mean there is less risk of beam distortion if the disc tilts when the portable device gets jogged. Portable DVD players will not play smoothly if jogged.
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Philips says it was "just coincidence" that DataPlay of Colorado, US, a firm offering a rival micro disc technology, hit a cash crisis just as Philips decided to come clean about its SFFO technology. DataPlay is designed to record just 250 megabytes per side of a 3.2-centimetre disc, but so far without the option to erase and reuse the disc.
