At the IBM Think 2018 conference, the company unveiled what it is calling it the world’s smallest computer. Measuring at just 1mm by 1mm, it is indeed small and it is going to be used for singular tasks, which will get to in just a moment. An update for you guys is that do not expect this small computer to deliver earth-shattering performance because that is not why it has been created in the first place.
IBM Claims the World’s Smallest Computer Will Have as Much Computing Power as an x86 chip from the 90s
The size of the computer also means that there are going to be a lot of limitations when it comes to computing power. This computer is smaller than a grain of salt and it will be able to deliver the same level of performance as an x86 processor that was unveiled in the 90s. However, there are lots of advantages to using it, with one of them being costs.
It will cost less than 10 cents to manufacture this piece of silicon and it will also be sporting several hundred thousand transistors, according to the company. So what is it going to be used for? According to IBM, its world’s smallest computer will be able to do the following:
"Monitor, analyze, communicate, and even act on data.”
It is a complete SoC, or system-on-a-chip, with a processor, memory, storage and communication module. In short, it will be acting as an anti-fraud device and will be designed to be embedded within price tags and product packaging. This will help with the tracking and logging the movement of goods during shipping to improve supply chain security.
These units are still under the prototype stage and will also be used to authenticate products bought online. Items will range from foods, pharmaceuticals, luxury goods and more. Such items can easily be tampered with and these computers will be able to determine if that has happened or not.
IBM never said when its computer would be ready for a wide-range of companies but this will make a lot of processes in various industries more secure in the near future.
