Rohm, a semiconductor manufacturer based in Japan, teamed up with researchers at Osaka University to develop and unveil a new chip that would allow for wireless data speeds of 1.5 gigabits per second, which breaks any records you can find. The magic happens in the utilization of terahertz waves to transmit data. Even with this level of speed, Rohm promises that 30 Gbps isn’t far in the future.
Don’t think the company was only able to accomplish this by producing a large chip because it’s only 2 cm long by 1 cm tall. That’s somewhat tough to squeeze into modern smartphones at the moment, but mobile hotspots and laptops aren’t ruled out. As development progresses, the chip will probably shrink in size. Rohm doesn’t think it will be expensive to produce either — it expects just a few dollars per chip, or “several hundred yen.”
The chip will begin mass production within three or four years.
Just yesterday I was marveling over the insanely bright future of mobile devices. Between the NeverWet coating and its ability to make smartphones waterproof without a case, new batteries that can hold a charge ten times longer than what is currently possible, glare-free invisible glass, and now this chip, I think we are rapidly approaching the transition from smartphones to superphones.