With both Motorola and IBM firmly lined up behind a single contender, the five-year search for a “universal RAM” technology offering a combination of non-volatility and high-speed random access appears to be all but over.

MRAM (magnetoresistive random access memory) uses magnetism instead of electrical charges to store data, unlike conventional high-speed memory devices. Benefits could include reduced data loss, shorter waits for data to load, increased battery run time, and faster startup times for computers, PDAs and cell phones.