Consumer
Top 5 free apps for the holiday season
November 20, 2012 9:22 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsBack in the dog days of summer, we offered up a list of the 6 must-have apps for a stress-free summer. It was all about keeping kids distracted, watching your spending, and utilizing apps that got you to the relaxation phase faster.Now we’ve entered a season that can feel entirely the opposite of relaxing: holiday season
This watch could save your kid’s life
November 19, 2012 11:35 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsIf you’ve ever felt that heart-in-throat, hyperventilating, out-of-body feeling of not being able to find your kid in a park or after school, only to have her reappear after a few seconds of mind-numbing panic, you can understand why someone would want to invent a Lojack for children.
In defense of the Tesla Model S
November 19, 2012 9:10 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsWhen Motor Trend announced an electric car was their pick for Car of the Year, something tells me you could have heard a pin drop in the car world. An electric car? They must have rigged the vote.Well, my friends, I hate to break it to you, but Consumer Reports just agreed with Motor Trend,
Nintendo's Wii U launches in an ocean of gadgets. Will it sink or swim?
November 19, 2012 8:30 am | by BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsIn the six years since the last major video game system launched, Apple unveiled the iPhone and the iPad, "Angry Birds" invaded smartphones and Facebook reached a billion users. In the process, scores of video game consoles were left to languish in living rooms alongside dusty VCRs and disc players.
France considers broad tax clampdown on web companies
November 18, 2012 8:24 pm | News | CommentsThe French government is discussing how to tax internet companies such as Google and Amazon both at the national and international levels, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Stacked MLC capacitor series accommodates a broad range of applications
November 16, 2012 11:45 am | Avx Corporation | Product Releases | CommentsAVX Corporation has expanded its range of surface mount switch mode power supply (SMPS) capacitors to include the new SMM Series (switch mode max capacitance) stacked MLC capacitors, which incorporate the “High K” Super X7R dielectric. Featuring high dielectric constant (K), the capacitors provide
Fundamentals of battery fuel-gauging
November 16, 2012 10:49 am | by Karthik Kadirvel, Texas Instruments, www.ti.com | Articles | CommentsThe battery fuel gauging system is the component responsible for determining the energy remaining in the battery. In this article, a battery fuel gauging system used in single-cell applications is described. This is followed by a discussion of the various algorithms used by the fuel-gauging system to determine battery capacity along with the pros and cons of the algorithms.
Greatest advertising technique of all time (Hint: Involves urinals)
November 15, 2012 4:18 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsHere at ECN, we often talk about alternative energy options. Sometimes it’s solar power, other times wind power, and occasionally we dabble in the world of electric cars. But there is one energy option we’ve been sorely remiss in covering: pee-power.
Military drones zero in on $400 billion civilian market
November 15, 2012 9:10 am | by Chris Wickham, Reuters | News | CommentsMilitary drone technology, which has revolutionized warfare over the last decade, will be ready for civilian use within four years and could create a market worth more than $400 billion.That's the prediction from a UK research project backed by the government and top aerospace companies hoping
A look at how new Google Nexus 10 device compares with other large-size tablets
November 15, 2012 9:08 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsGoogle has started shipping a larger version of its Nexus tablet computer, one that comes closer to competing with Apple's full-size iPad and other tablets. Here's a look at how the Nexus 10 compares with other tablets with similar screens.
California lawyer sues Microsoft claiming storage space on Surface tablet less than advertised
November 15, 2012 9:07 am | by RYAN NAKASHIMA AP Business Writer | News | CommentsA California lawyer is suing Microsoft Corp., claiming the Surface tablet he bought doesn't have all the storage space the company advertised. Andrew Sokolowski, a lawyer in Los Angeles, claims that he bought a Surface with 32 gigabytes of storage last week. But he quickly ran out of space after loading it with music and Microsoft Word documents.
South Korean presidential candidate promises freer web browsing
November 15, 2012 9:05 am | by YOUKYUNG LEE AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsA South Korean presidential candidate has promised to get rid of encryption technology that has tied South Korean Internet users to a single web browser - Microsoft's Internet Explorer -for online financial transactions. Ahn Cheol-soo, a popular independent presidential candidate,
This “smart” traffic light could cut commutes by 60 percent
November 14, 2012 11:08 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsWere you aware of the fact that you waste one week per year sitting in traffic? One week per year. That is 7 days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, stuck in traffic. Not only is it a huge waste of time, breathing in the exhaust fumes while you sit and mentally-fume can actually be dangerous to your health
Engineering Newswire 12: Saving lives with robotic bees
November 14, 2012 10:21 am | Videos | CommentsToday on Engineering Newswire, brought to you by PD&D TV, we're putting employees on time out, playing Tetris in a pumpkin and saving lives with robotic bees. Harvard University electrical engineers Rob Wood and Goo-Yon Wee are working on RoboBee, a miniature flying robot inspired by the biology of a bee and the insect's hive behavior.
Ultra-low noise mixed-signal chip improves performance in Siemens X-ray computed tomography scanner
November 14, 2012 10:13 am | Product Releases | Commentsams announced that it is supplying a highly integrated ASIC which enables a new Siemens photo-detector module for computer tomography (CT) to deliver higher resolution images at lower X-ray dosages. The ams ASIC, which is part of Siemens’ new Stellar CT photo-detector module, captures and digitizes images of a patient’s body.
All-female team ties for first at National Engineering Management contest
November 14, 2012 9:18 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsA team of undergraduate students from the University of Arizona student chapter of the American Society for Engineering Management traveled across country to the annual meeting of industry professionals in Virginia Beach, Va., and captured first place in the national engineering student competition.
Quantenna 802.11ac Wi-Fi wins 2013 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award
November 13, 2012 4:20 pm | News | CommentsQuantenna Communications announced it has been named a 2013 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards Honoree in the Embedded Technologies product category for its QAC2300 802.11ac Wi-Fi solution. The QAC2300 is the world’s first 802.11ac Wi-Fi chipset designed to guarantee ultra reliable delivery of video over wireless to anywhere in the home.
Technology enables mobile-friendly 3D gesture interfaces
November 13, 2012 10:23 am | Microchip Technology Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsMicrochip Technology Inc. announced its patented GestIC technology, which enables the next dimension in intuitive, gesture-based, non-contact user interfaces for a broad range of end products. The MGC3130 is presented as the world’s first electrical-field (E-field)-based, configurable 3D gesture controller, offering
Donating in the wake of Sandy gets social with apps
November 12, 2012 2:18 pm | by Natasha Baker, Reuters | News | CommentsPeople eager to support relief efforts following Hurricane Sandy can use apps that provide creative ways of donating to charity and nudge friends to do the same.Budge, an iPhone app released last week, aims to make donating to charity social. Friends can challenge each other in games and activities such as chess or
Aluminum instrument enclosures are highly versatile
November 12, 2012 2:11 pm | Product Releases | CommentsMETCASE has extended its UNICASE range of aluminum instrument enclosures with ten new models in black. These highly versatile enclosures are ideal for desktop or portable electronics. Typical applications will include test and measurement equipment, machine controllers, peripheral devices, switchboxes, medical and wellness systems, and laboratory equipment.
Pedometers play up every step you take
November 12, 2012 9:04 am | by Dorene Internicola, Reuters | News | CommentsPedometers have ticked off many miles since Leonardo da Vinci sketched his version, essentially a pendulum for walkers, in the 15th century.While step counting will never be a magic fitness pill, experts say this most pedestrian of gadgets can put extra spring in an ambulatory routine. "Just as a watch can't make a person be on time,
Google says search engine, other services cut off in China as ruling party picks new leaders
November 12, 2012 9:01 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsGoogle says its search engine and other Internet services have been cut off from much of China just as the country's ruling party picks new leaders. Data posted on Google's website shows its services in China became largely inaccessible beginning around 1 a.m. PST Friday. That would be about 5 p.m. Friday in Beijing.
Predicting presidents, storms and life by computer
November 12, 2012 8:58 am | by SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer | News | CommentsForget political pundits, gut instincts, and psychics. The mightier-than-ever silicon chip seems to reveal the future. In just two weeks this fall, computer models displayed an impressive prediction prowess.It started when the first computer model alerted meteorologists to the pre-Halloween disaster headed
Do you have what it takes to be a Roundtable expert?
November 8, 2012 11:11 am | Articles | CommentsIn October, we asked you for your words of wisdom for a brand-new design engineer and boy, did you guys have advice in spades. The responses we received were so good in fact, we’ve decided to open up our December Roundtable to our faithful readers in hopes that you can offer more words of wisdom.
Engineering Newswire 11: Nissan builds a Batmobile
November 8, 2012 10:02 am | Videos | CommentsToday on engineering newswire, brought to you by Memory Protection Devices, we're painting dreams with robots, monitoring our neural activity, and carving pumpkins with CNCs. In this episode we feature: The Muse headband is a new wearable device that lets users monitor neural activity in real time via their mobile devices.
