Smartphones to have computing power of desktops

Battery operated mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are still lagging behind laptops and desktops in sheer computing power, thanks to their negligible RAM (random access memory).

An Israeli researcher, however, is tweaking their RAM to bring them on par with their bigger cousins, so that they can run various programmes just as smoothly and simultaneously, even with a tiny battery.

Elad Mentovich, doctoral candidate at the Tel Aviv University, is relying on carbon molecule called C60, to build a sophisticated memory transistor that can both transfer and store energy, eliminating the need for a capacitor (energy storage device), the journal Advanced Materials and Applied Physics Letters reports.

"When this new technology is integrated into future devices, you will have much more memory on your smartphones and tablets, approaching the level of a laptop. With that kind of memory, you'll be able to run applications simultaneously, and because it is low voltage, power consumption will fall and battery life will be longer," said Mentovich, according to a Tel Aviv statement.

This molecular memory transistor stores and disseminates information at high speed - and it's ready to be produced at existing high-tech fabrication facilities. Major companies have already expressed interest in the technology, says Mentovich, working under Shachar Richter's supervision at Tel Aviv.

Mentovich believes that this technology is sorely needed in today's mobile world. The year 2012 was the first in which big technology companies sold more tablets and smartphones than laptops and notebooks combined, he notes.