Consumer
LED Array Products Feature Outputs up to 4500 Operational Lumens
February 25, 2010 6:44 am | Product Releases | CommentsBridgelux Inc. unveiled three LED array product families that are presented to high-quality, energy-efficient light sources cost-optimized for the burgeoning solid-state lighting market. These new products are designed to replace incandescent, halogen, high intensity discharge (HID) and compact fluorescent lighting.
E-waste to hit developing world hard
February 24, 2010 11:57 am | News | CommentsWaste from discarded electronics will rise dramatically in the developing world within a decade, with computer waste in India alone to grow by 500 percent from 2007 levels by 2020, a U.N. study released Monday said.
FCC seeking more spectrum for wireless broadband
February 24, 2010 11:24 am | News | CommentsFederal regulators are hoping to find more wireless spectrum for mobile broadband services by reallocating some airwaves now assigned to television broadcasters and others. Under a long-awaited proposal outlined by the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday, broadcasters and other existing spectrum holders would voluntarily give back some spectrum and share in proceeds raised by government auctions of those airwaves to wireless companies.
Nintendo DSi XL to launch March 28
February 24, 2010 11:16 am | News | CommentsNintendo plans to launch the latest version of its popular handheld video game system, the DSi XL, on March 28 in North America. The XL will cost $190. It will have two screens like its predecessors, but as the name suggests, the device and screens will be much larger than the currently available versions. The XL is already available in Japan.
Debut of promising fuel-cell tech light on details
February 24, 2010 11:06 am | News | CommentsA richly funded Silicon Valley clean-energy startup is keeping critical parts of its business plan secret as it launches its first product to international attention. The company, Bloom Energy, didn't offer many new details Wednesday about how it plans to make its promising fuel-cell technology affordable enough for regular people to buy for their homes.
MIT commissions Peratech to develop next generation tactile robotic skin
February 23, 2010 11:27 am | News | CommentsPeratech Limited, the leader in new materials designed for touch technology solutions, has announced that they have been commissioned by the MIT Media Lab to develop a new type of electronic 'skin' that enables robotic devices to detect not only that they have been touched but also where and how hard the touch was.
Samsung unveils new smart phone with own software
February 23, 2010 9:52 am | News | CommentsSamsung Electronics Co., the largest maker of cell phones for the U.S. market, on Sunday revealed the first phone running Samsung's own "smart" software system, bada. With bada, Korea-based Samsung is taking the TouchWiz system used on its touch-screen non-smart phones and making it the basis of a smart phone platform to take on Apple Inc.'s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry.
Skype allowed over Verizon wireless network
February 23, 2010 9:39 am | News | CommentsVerizon Wireless will let customers use the Internet phone service Skype to make free calls on some phones, an application that wireless carriers have been slow to allow. Under a deal announced Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress trade show, users of some Verizon phones who have a voice and data plan will be able to download a free Skype application in late March. That will let them call or instant-message other Skype users for free or call regular phone numbers outside the United States for a fee paid to Skype.
CEO: Google's Mobile Moment Has Come
February 23, 2010 9:27 am | News | CommentsGoogle's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt declared the age of the mobile phone had come as volume, growth and new capabilities had come together in an unprecedented way. Speaking for the first time at Mobile World Congress, the telecom industry's biggest annual fair, Schmidt said the point has come where the best developers wanted to create applications for mobile devices first, before thinking about desktop PCs.
Smartphones offer problems for networks
February 23, 2010 9:23 am | News | CommentsGoogle must not be allowed to dominate and block cash from flowing more widely through the mobile telecoms system or else the network operators will not be able to invest to cope with the growing demand for data traffic, Vodafone said on Tuesday. Vittorio Colao, chief executive of the world's largest cellphone networks operator, told the Mobile World Congress trade fair in Barcelona that instead new business models needed to be created to cope with the demand for data services.
Kopin, Stonestreet Team Up For Golden-i Headset
February 23, 2010 9:18 am | News | CommentsStonestreet One, a leading provider of Bluetooth software solutions since 2000, has partnered with Kopin® Corporation , the largest U.S. manufacturer of micro displays for consumer, industrial and military applications, on the development of Kopin’s Golden-i Headset and Developer Kits. The Golden-i Developer Kits officially launched at the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona, Spain. Stonestreet One was selected by Kopin to provide the Bluetooth protocol stack software for the Golden-i platform.
IMAPS Gives Details of MicroTech Conference
February 23, 2010 9:10 am | News | CommentsThe International Microelectronics And Packaging Society is pleased to announce details of the forthcoming MicroTech-2010 Conference featuring “Disruptive Technologies” APM featuring “Advanced Polymer, Organic & Inorganic Materials” being held at the well known Cambridge University Møller Centre. The location is ideally placed near many of the forward thrusting new and established companies as well as at a great historic city.
Mobile phone subscriptions to top 5 bln this year
February 23, 2010 8:55 am | News | CommentsMobile phone subscriptions will buck the economic crisis and top five billion this year, but the high speed Internet remains a "digital divide" between rich and developing countries, a U.N. agency said on Tuesday.
Looks can't kill but might control your phone
February 23, 2010 8:49 am | News | CommentsThe advent of wireless headsets has led to the sometimes confusing sight of people who look like they're talking to themselves, until you realize they're on a phone call. If a technology demonstration by NTT DoCoMo goes anywhere, we may have to get ready for another odd sight: people who quickly flick their gaze sideways and roll their eyes for no apparent reason.
Magnalight.com Upgrades RCL360 to a 50 Watt HID Remote Controlled HID Spotlight
February 23, 2010 8:46 am | Larson Electronics Llc | Product Releases | CommentsLarson Electronics’ magnalight.com announced that is now produces the RCL360-HID-RF-M http://www.magnalight.com/p-46415-wireless-remote-controlled-50-watt-hid... [wireless remote controlled spotlight with magnetic base with a 50 watt High Intensity Discharge (HID)] ballast and bulb combination.
Google demonstrates phone that translates text
February 23, 2010 8:21 am | News | CommentsStumped by foreign languages when you're traveling? Google Inc. is working on software that translates text captured by a phone camera. At a demonstration Tuesday at Mobile World Congress, a cell phone trade show in Barcelona, an engineer shot a picture of a German dinner menu with a phone running Google Inc.'s Android software.
New Transceiver is Fully-Reconfigurable
February 23, 2010 8:15 am | News | CommentsThe fully reconfigurable transceiver is compatible with various wireless standards and applications, including the upcoming mobile broadband 3GPP-LTE standard. The trend in wireless communication where terminals give their users ubiquitous access to a multitude of services drives the development of reconfigurable radios in deep-submicron CMOS. This is enhanced with the advent of 3GPP-LTE, a standard that is inherently so flexible that a reconfigurable radio is its most economical implementation. The single-chip reconfigurable transceiver developed by imec, Renesas and M4S provides an answer to this need.
AdaCore Releases GNAT Pro 6.3
February 22, 2010 11:38 am | News | CommentsAdaCore, a leading supplier of Ada development tools and support services, today announced the latest major release of its GNAT Pro Ada development environment. GNAT Pro 6.3 is now available on several new platforms including 64-bit Windows, Windows 7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, VxWorks MILS, and PikeOS (ARINC 653). The product incorporates performance improvements and a variety of enhancements, many based on customer feedback, and it offers the first implementation of new Ada 2012 features. GNAT Pro 6.3 works with a number of complementary tools, sold separately, including the CodePeer automated code review and validation tool.
Imec and Holst Centre achieve breakthrough in battery-less radios
February 22, 2010 11:24 am | News | CommentsAt the International Solid State Circuit Conference, imec and Holst Centre reported a 2.4GHz/915MHz wake-up receiver which consumes only 51µW power.
Bluetooth low energy module employs Nordic µBlue chip
February 22, 2010 11:10 am | News | CommentsUltra low power (ULP) RF specialist Nordic Semiconductor ASA announced that further to the Bluetooth SIG's official adoption of Bluetooth® low energy (as part of the latest Bluetooth Version 4.0 Core Specification), French multi-die system-in-package (SiP) design specialists, Insight SiP, has released the world's first drop-in single mode Bluetooth low energy SiP module.
Verizon FiOS customers to get online access to HBO
February 22, 2010 9:55 am | News | CommentsPremium cable TV channel HBO is offering online viewing of its movies and TV shows to its subscribers through a new Web site. The cable network said Wednesday that it has partnered with Verizon to offer its FiOS video and Internet customers access to the site, starting Thursday. The service will be expanded to include other subscription TV operators.
LED Backlight Costs Falling Faster than Conventional LCD Backlights
February 22, 2010 9:35 am | News | CommentsMost LCD panel and set makers are focusing on development of LED (light emitting diode) backlight units for improved visual performance, thinner form factor, and lower power consumption. The key issue has been reducing cost, in absolute terms and relative to the conventional CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent) backlights. The newly-released DisplaySearch Quarterly LED & CCFL Backlight Cost Report, which is the only report to analyze and forecast the cost structure of CCFL and LED backlight costs, disclosed that the average cost of 40” edge LED backlight unit in Q1’10 is $118, and will fall to $100 by Q4’10 (see Figure 1). Cost reduction is driven by increasing production volumes, which affects LED and material costs, and by improvement in LED luminous intensity, which enables the use of fewer LED chips.
Zigbee Offers More Options
February 22, 2010 9:22 am | News | CommentsThe ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, residential, commercial and consumer electronics applications, today announced it is now offering certification for ZigBee platforms designed to operate in the regional sub-1 GHz unlicensed frequencies. The move ensures original equipment manufacturers a source of tested platforms for use in sub-1 GHz applications.
SMD white LEDs feature two binning versions
February 19, 2010 11:56 am | Product Releases | CommentsVishay Intertechnology released power surface-mount white LEDs in two binning versions. For a wider range of pin compatibility with similar devices, the VLMW321xx LEDs feature three anodes and one cathode, while the VLMW322xx LEDs offer three cathodes and one anode. The devices feature a
New algorithm to improve video game quality
February 19, 2010 10:16 am | News | CommentsMcGuire and Luebke have developed a new method for computerizing lighting and light sources that will allow video game graphics to approach film quality.
