"The technology is called phase-change memory, or PCM, which is seen as an alternative to flash. Flash has proved popular for use in mobile devices but is considered to have limitations, such as in high-end business infrastructure. IBM on Thursday said it has developed a PCM chip that effectively can double a device's memory capacity--in comparison to other PCM chips--while maintaining a low error rate. PCM chips can experience problems the longer the data are stored..."

"Japan's massive earthquake affected operations at dozens of semiconductor factories, raising fears of shortages or price increases for a number of widely used components—particularly the chips known as flash memory that store data in hit products like smartphones and tablet PCs. The quake struck hundreds of miles from many key chip plants, including most of the factories that account for the bulk of Japan's flash-memory production.

South Korean manufacturer Samsung Electronics announced this week that it has begun mass production of a new kind of memory chip that stores information by melting and freezing tiny crystals. Known as phase-change memory (PCM), the idea was first proposed by physicists in the 1960s. Here, Nature explains how PCM works, why it has taken so long to develop and how it could change your mobile phone forever.