The idea of using holography for high-capacity optical storage first emerged from Bell Labs, known for its futuristic tendencies. Now the real world is catching up.

InPhase Technologies, with roots in Bell Labs, has spent six years working on holographic storage and has come up with the Tapestry 300R drive ($18,000 list) and a media design for a 300GB disk, as well as a roadmap for 800GB and 1.6TB versions to roll out every 18 to 24 months. InPhase says Hitachi Maxell (an InPhase investor) is the first media manufacturer signed up to make the disk cartridges. InPhase also announced an OEM deal with DSM, a German jukebox storage vendor that will incorporate the Tapestry drive into its products.

"Everything's in the process of coming together," says Liz Murphy, VP of marketing at InPhase.

Murphy says high-end tape backup is in their sights. Though the drives might be a bit pricey as a tape replacement, "our target pricing is in that $6,000 to $7,000 range," she says.

--Rich Castagna