Now long before we buy the top of the pops on little chips instead of optical disks? Norris Communications Corp, Poway, California has taken a step in that direction with launch of a 3oz, $200 cartridge for sound storage based on Flash memory chips. The company says the device is the first to use Flash chips to store speech in digital form, and can handle up to 30 minutes’ speech – more than competing products. Although the sound quality is too poor for music, Norris says the digital format offers nearly instantaneous rewind and fast forward, playback at high or low speed with no change in pitch, and the ability to insert new material within existing messages without erasing. The cartridges are designed to fit into slots in portable and desktop computers, enabling users to store messages or transfer them to other personal computers or voice-mail systems, the company says. Extra cartridges will start at $50 each, though Norris expects the price to decline rapidly. The device is based around an 8M-bit Intel Corp Flash chip which has a list price of $29 in large quantities. The device will be available in July, and Norris hopes to license it to third parties.
