Mini-Hard Drives in Phones: The Next Big Thing?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040615/tc_nm/tech_japan_hdd_dc' target='_blank'>http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040615/tc_nm/tech_japan_hdd_dc</a><br /><br /></div><i>"An inspired combination of two of the most popular gadgets in recent years, mobile phones and digital cameras, resulted in an even hotter product, the camera phone, generating replacement demand across the globe. Next comes an attempt to add the newest marvel, the miniature hard disk drive (HDD), to the cellphone. If technological hurdles are overcome, a phone that can act as a miniature video player and store some 1,000 songs could hit the market within a year, analysts and industry sources say."</i><br /><br />Spinning media in a phone - good or bad? I've dropped my E200 a couple of times, and I shudder to think what might have happened if there was a moving hard drive in there when I did. The other big concern is battery life...yet the idea of having 2 GB of storage in my phone (without it costing an arm and a leg as with SD) is quite exciting indeed. What do you think?

[lorienferris]

I own a 2.2 GB micro drive and rarely use it with my pocket PC. I say rarely because it uses so much juice that I have to use my 4000 mAh battery which is big; it won't work at all with the standard 1000 mAh battery. Unless they reduce the power consumption of these micro drives or increase battery output significantly, I don't see this happening in phones which are already stretched for power.

Another important consideration which I haven't seen discussed is that of appropriate screen size. While a phone would be the perfect size for a music device, the screen size is a bit small for watching video, especially if it is wide screen format. I think a pocket PC sized screen or larger is better suited to the task like the ones you can find on the new portable media devices.

With all the speculation (and reality) of pocket PCs becoming phones and phones becoming pocket PCs (e.g. Smartphones) it seems to me that the whole question of appropriate screen size is being ignored. Personally, I want something small for a phone and something medium sized for a pocket PC / portable media device. In fact, I would like to see larger screens on the latter devices.

[Mike Temporale]

I had one of the original IBM Microdrives - 340 meg. Sold it inside of 6 months because it sucked too much batter power. So unless mobile phones can greatly increase their battery, I can't see this being all that feasible. Although, the cheap and large capacity sure does sound appealing.

[yslee]

Pardon me, but what do you put in a phone that needs 2 gig? I never touched 512mb with my PPC even!

[lorienferris]

Pardon me, but what do you put in a phone that needs 2 gig? I never touched 512mb with my PPC even!
I used the micro drive on my pocket pc for mp3s and video. Also micro drives are the most cost effective memory out there for PPCs. I would gladly have 2gigs on my phone for mp3s if I could...

[Mike Temporale]

Pardon me, but what do you put in a phone that needs 2 gig? I never touched 512mb with my PPC even!

I'll tell ya: Maps, Pictures, Music, Programs, and personal documents.

I had to remove the maps on my current card becuase I needed more space for pictures and music. :(

[Kris Kumar]

Spinning media in a phone - good or bad? I've dropped my E200 a couple of times, and I shudder to think what might have happened if there was a moving hard drive in there when I did.

I believe the shock protection and fall sensing technology is getting better. IBM laptops, OQO and Sony U50 etc have it, I am sure soon that technology will be used in the smaller drives also.

[RenesisX]

I know one of the big manufacturers definitely has this on their roadmap for one of their 2006 models.

[Mike Temporale]

I know one of the big manufacturers definitely has this on their roadmap for one of their 2006 models.

Do we get a hint? Will the device be a Windows Mobile-Smartphone?