Applications
Electronic Arts shares dive on weak outlook
February 9, 2010 8:18 am | News | CommentsA disappointing outlook from Electronic Arts Inc. sent shares of the video game publisher sharply lower Monday, a sign that significant cost-cuts and layoffs have not ended the company's slump. The company, whose games include the popular "Madden" series and "Mass Effect 2," said Monday it narrowed its net loss in the last quarter even as game sales declined. It blamed the revenue falloff on having fewer titles than it did in the 2008 holiday period. EA also cited weak sales in Europe, which accounts for about a third of its revenue.
Google reduces fee to break Nexus One contract
February 9, 2010 7:02 am | News | CommentsGoogle Inc. is shaving $200 off the fee that it charges customers of its new Nexus One phone to break a service contract with T-Mobile, as federal regulators continue to probe such fees and the rationale for them. Google's "equipment recovery fee" applies to customers who break their two-year T-Mobile contract after a 14-day trial period and before 120 days.
The role of wideband transceiver technology in enabling LTE
February 9, 2010 6:37 am | by Ebrahim Bushehri, CEO, Lime Microsystems | Articles | CommentsLong term evolution (LTE) is firmly on course to be the dominant wireless communications standard in the next decade. There is overwhelming operator commitment to adopting the LTE standard and capitalising on the unquestionable benefits it will bring to their subscribers, even more so than was demonstrated for its 3G predecessors.
Relays Offer Short Lead Times
February 9, 2010 6:02 am | Product Releases | CommentsThe CIT Relay & Switch J107E1 Series is the industry standard 10 A in 12 V and 24 V coil. The rugged relay offers a lead time of six to eight weeks. Small in size and robust, this high performance relay is UL certified and RoHS compliant. The contact arrangement is
Amphenol USB 3.0 Connectors available from Mouser
February 9, 2010 5:44 am | Mouser Electronics | Product Releases | CommentsThe connectors are fully compliant with the USB 2.0 and 3.0 specification and offer a significant leap forward in transfer speeds (5 Gbps signaling rate) and a 10x performance increase over Hi-Speed USB capabilities.
Stepper Motor Drive Features Graphic User Interface
February 9, 2010 5:37 am | Product Releases | CommentsHaydon Kerk Motion Solutions introduced its IDEA programmable stepper motor drive. This compact electronic drive and fully programmable control unit features a patent pending graphic user interface. Programming the drive is
Pack mule robot could aid soldiers, marines
February 9, 2010 5:19 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Blogs | CommentsThe military is constantly seeking the right balance between preparedness and maneuverability. Theoretically, we could turn foot soldiers into walking arsenals with nearly-impenetrable armor, but they wouldn’t be very mobile. Boston Dynamics may have a solution...
Speeding Things Along
February 9, 2010 3:59 am | by M Simon | Blogs | CommentsIBM has announced a really fast power transistor. Of course power is a relative thing. At the frequencies involved power is a relative thing. I'd say they would be doing good if they could get between 1 and 10 watts out of the device.
Energy-Storing Soccer Ball Scores Big in Off-Grid Villages
February 9, 2010 3:37 am | by Jeff Salton | News | CommentsWhat kid doesn’t like kicking around a soccer ball? Imagine if this fun activity could also provide enough energy to power something useful in a modest off-grid African village...
Security chip that does encryption in PCs hacked
February 8, 2010 11:30 am | News | CommentsDeep inside millions of computers is a digital Fort Knox, a special chip with the locks to highly guarded secrets, including classified government reports and confidential business plans. Now a former U.S. Army computer-security specialist has devised a way to break those locks.
NetEase suspends new user registration for hit game
February 8, 2010 9:58 am | News | CommentsChina's third-largest online game operator NetEase.com said it has suspended new user registration for World of Warcraft (WoW) in China and will reapply for a license to operate the expansion pack of Activision Blizzard's hit game. New user registrations would be halted for a week from Monday in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holiday, the company said in a statement posted on its WoW China website, www.warcraftchina.com on Sunday.
Federal Register: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Postmarket Surveillance
February 8, 2010 9:51 am | by FDA (The Center for Devices and Radiological Health) | News | CommentsThe FDA is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency.
Disney, Google eye stake in China bus media firm
February 8, 2010 9:44 am | News | CommentsA consortium led by Walt Disney Co is in advanced talks to buy into China's largest in-bus digital media and advertising company, a deal that could offer the U.S. entertainment giant a new platform to promote Mickey Mouse in China, three sources told Reuters. Google Inc, the world's No.1 Internet search company, which threatened to quit China last month over censorship and hacking concerns, was among investors in the Disney-led consortium, the sources said on Monday.
Barnes & Noble's Nook e-reader to hit stores
February 8, 2010 9:15 am | News | CommentsBookseller Barnes & Noble Inc said on Monday that its Nook electronic reader would be available in most of its physical stores as of Wednesday, ahead of Valentine's Day, ending weeks of delays. The Nook e-reader, which Barnes & Noble launched in October and competes with devices such as Amazon.com Inc's Kindle, had previously only been available for order on the retailer's website or at in-store kiosks as the No. 1 U.S. bookstore chain struggled to meet what it said in late 2009 was strong demand for the e-reader.
IBM begins Power server upgrade to battle HP, Sun
February 8, 2010 9:04 am | News | CommentsIBM is beginning a long-awaited upgrade to a range of servers and other hardware to make them more energy-efficient and competitive than rival products by Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems Inc. International Business Machines Corp said on Monday its new POWER7 system, including new microprocessors, storage and middleware, will be able to process more data than its predecessor POWER6, making them useful for utilities with electrical grids or banks conducting electronic trading.
New Federal Climate Change Agency Forming
February 8, 2010 8:47 am | News | CommentsThe Obama administration on Monday proposed a new agency to study and report on the changing climate. Also known as global warming, climate change has drawn widespread concern in recent years as temperatures around the world rise, threatening to harm crops, spread disease, increase sea levels, change storm and drought patterns and cause polar melting.
Facebooks Redesigns Site, Turns 6
February 8, 2010 8:36 am | News | CommentsFacebook is redesigning its site yet again, this time to better emphasize applications, games and search. Links and items have moved around the home page as Facebook tries to streamline navigation and make games and apps stand out more. The latest evolution continued Friday after Facebook started rolling the changes out late Thursday, the company's sixth birthday.
Macmillan Books Coming Back to Amazon
February 8, 2010 8:30 am | News | CommentsAfter a weeklong absence, new copies of Andrew Young's "The Politician," Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" and other books published by Macmillan are available for purchase on Amazon.com. Since last Friday, Amazon had limited the availability of Macmillan releases in a dispute over e-books, with Macmillan calling for a new pricing system that would end the $9.99 rate Amazon had been setting for best-sellers on its Kindle e-reader. Macmillan and other publishers believe $9.99 is too low and threatens the value of books overall.
Paypal halts certain transactions in India
February 8, 2010 8:23 am | News | CommentsThe online payments service PayPal has taken the unusual step of suspending many transactions in India for more than a week. A spokesman for the service said Saturday that "personal payments" to and from India are being blocked. Transfers to banks in India are being suspended as well.
China Shuts Down Hacker Training Site
February 8, 2010 8:17 am | News | CommentsPolice in central China have shut down a hacker training operation that openly recruited thousands of members online and provided them with cyberattack lessons and malicious software, state media said Monday. The crackdown comes amid growing concern that China is a center for Internet crime and industrial espionage. Search giant Google said last month its e-mail accounts were hacked from China in an assault that also hit at least 20 other companies.
Humidity & Temperature Transmitter suits Industrial Apps
February 8, 2010 5:00 am | Product Releases | CommentsThe TH200 Humidity and Temperature transmitter from E Instruments is a highly sensitive and accurate instrument that includes functions for relative & absolute humidity, dew point, wet & dry temperature, and enthalpy.
Space Shuttle blasts off on last night flight
February 8, 2010 4:06 am | by MARCIA DUNN | News | CommentsEndeavour and six astronauts rocketed into orbit Monday on what's likely the last nighttime launch for the shuttle program, hauling a new room and observation deck for the International Space Station.
Utilities To Bolster Smart Grid Cybersecurity
February 8, 2010 3:48 am | by Elizabeth Montalbano | News | CommentsUtility companies will invest more than $21 billion on cybersecurity over the next five years to protect the world's electrical grids, according to a new report.
Synchronous 2.5 A Step-Down Regulator Comes in a 3 mm x 3 mm QFN
February 5, 2010 1:56 pm | 3M Electronics Solutions Division | Product Releases | CommentsLinear Technology’s LTC3604 high efficiency, 4 MHz synchronous buck regulator incorporates a unique constant frequency/controlled on-time, current mode architecture. It can deliver up to 2.5 A of continuous output current at output voltages as low as 0.6 V from a 3mm x 3 mm QFN or MSOP-16E package. Its current mode operation offers
Automated 3-Phase CDN Touts Reliable High Power Consumption EUT Testing
February 5, 2010 1:50 pm | Product Releases | CommentsTeseq Inc. released an automated 3-phase coupling/decoupling network (CDN) for EFT and surge testing. The CDN 3063 provides safe, reliable operation in a wide range of test setups, including higher current level and 3-phase EUT (equipment under test) testing. To prevent
