ECN Editors
What happened to transflective displays?
June 29, 2012 9:40 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsThe most notable feature of this year’s SID Display Week was what wasn’t there: transflective displays. Sure, they were somewhere, tucked away in a corner or hidden in plain sight. But no one was talking about them anymore. Their conspicuous absence was underscored by their ubiquitous presence at the last two Display Weeks. So why did transflective displays abruptly disappear?
Why Canon should kill its mixed reality glasses product
June 27, 2012 8:48 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsCanon is debuting their Mixed Reality Glasses—just in case you suddenly have the desire to totally throw off your entire vestibular system and sense of reality. You know, like at a fun weekend party. The goggles fall somewhere between Google Glass and RED Classic ViewMaster 3D Viewer and Collector Reel. If you’re still not experiencing a vivid mental image, they look awful, heavy, and awkward...
Fitness monitors: Moving beyond glorified pedometers to maximize performance
June 25, 2012 4:28 pm | by Clara Ennist, Editorial Intern | Blogs | CommentsMost people overestimate the calories they burn during workouts and underestimate the calories they consume. Even as a longtime ballet dancer and avid devotee of Bikram yoga and Pilates, I too have been guilty of the occasional post-workout overindulgence. Online information, while helpful for a rough estimate of calories burned, is often incorrect or misleading.
6 must-have apps for a stress-free summer
June 22, 2012 8:51 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsBetween the heat, the busy weekends, and the school-free kids, summer can be more stressful than stress-free. Don’t worry, like every problem these days, there’s an app for that. For the sake of sanity, we’ve compiled a list of the best apps to keep your summer from feeling like a punishment. Nothing kills a day at the beach like an unexpected, hostile Facebook message from your mom...
Why I won’t trade my iPad for a Windows tablet
June 21, 2012 9:13 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsWhen Microsoft announced their not-so-secret news that they were releasing a tablet on Monday, it didn’t really take anyone by surprise. It was only a matter of time before the big-name competitor delivered a platform for Windows 8. For the sake of full disclosure, I am an Apple fan(atic). I haven’t owned a non-mac computer in years—after watching every single Dell laptop crash in college...
Kickstarter: Helpful website or project killer?
June 18, 2012 10:46 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsIt seems innovative technology often gets stuck in the dark chasm that exists between a great idea and a final product. Between skyrocketing production costs, the difficulties of marketing on a limited budget, and unexpected hiccups, some projects never get off the ground. Kickstarter, a crowd-sourced funding website where inventors raise enough to manufacture their product, seems like the perfect solution to technological limbo.
Rugbeer: Tackling technology in advertising
June 15, 2012 8:45 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsHave you ever had a vending machine eat your dollar while you stand, helpless, as it destroys your dream of a tasty afternoon snack? Honestly, who hasn’t wanted to tackle a vending machine at least once? Here’s your chance. Following in the footsteps of Coca-Cola’s Hug Machine, Ogilvy+Mather public relations has taken creative advertising to an entirely different level.
Does advertising kill technology?
June 13, 2012 8:48 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsIt’s something we hear a lot: “The [xyz] technology sounds amazing; too bad the advertisers are going to ruin it.” For example, Google Glass. A seemingly exciting and ambitious piece of technology -- until you realize it means having involuntary, interactive advertising experiences one inch from your eye all day.
Less time commuting, less time polluting
June 6, 2012 4:20 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsIf you’ve ever commuted, at some point you’ve probably felt like you’re spending more time stuck in traffic than at your desk. A team of students in Germany is trying to shorten your commute, and limit the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere by your car while you’re stuck in traffic. The project, called Greenway, is a GPS with the ability to access a cloud containing real-time traffic information.
When life gives you lemons, make a touchpad
June 4, 2012 10:33 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsThe MaKey MaKey, designed by MIT Media Lab PhD students Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum, is a circuit board that turns everyday objects into touchpads which can interact with your computer. The idea was to create an easy-to-use inventor’s kit that would let from a creative child to savvy grandma be an inventor. First, pick two objects that you want to use as the touchpad.
Elimination of handset subsidies would represent tectonic shift
June 1, 2012 4:36 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsMobile-phone subsidies may go the way of the rotary dial if an audacious plan by Telefonica and Vodafone bears fruit. The telecom giants are using Spain as the testing grounds for an experiment that could irrevocably change the relationship between consumers and mobile-service providers.
Is Google Glass too ambitious?
May 31, 2012 3:00 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsGoogle recently announced a new product called “Project Glass” out of super-secret Google[x] Lab. The idea behind the project is creating light-weight augmented—reality glasses that allow the user to access apps, information, messages, texts and basically anything else available on a smart phone without the bulky interface.
Technology for technology’s sake
May 29, 2012 12:33 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsIt has been done a thousand times, in museums, government buildings and schools: ancient, lumbering institutions using technology in an attempt to become cutting-edge—and falling flat in the process. We’re not talking about the smart-grid, which shows great potential for consumers and governments alike, or even smart boards, which take education to a different level.
A look inside The Idea Factory
May 18, 2012 4:44 pm | Articles | CommentsHave you ever wondered what it would be like to work in an environment where new ideas are allowed to develop and flow freely — not just as some empty policy or even a company with a “20 percent time” program as made famous by Google — but a real wellspring where ideas and innovation is the raison d'être?
The ZigBee impact
May 16, 2012 3:44 pm | by Janine E. Mooney, Editor | Articles | CommentsYour home and office contain a host of technologies working to improve the way you live. From monitoring energy intake and usage, to controlling your appliances and lighting, ZigBee is a protocol that is changing the way we live – and in some cases, we don’t even realize it.
Losing the space race ex post facto
April 26, 2012 11:27 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Blogs | CommentsThe United States is conceding the space race...43 years after winning it. The Space Shuttle's ignominious retirement closes the door on an engineering marvel and an American institution. And the public didn’t bat an eyelash. How did we get to this point? How did space travel become blasé? When Neil Armstrong took one small step for (a) man, half a billion people tuned in around the world.
The human price point for electronics
April 16, 2012 9:51 am | by Chris Warner, Executive Editor | Articles | Comments“Americans will buy American products when they’re willing to pay for American work.” Those words came from one of my PR contacts a couple of years ago as we discussed bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. While a return to those standards seems light years away, a more pertinent question we should ask ourselves is “what price are we willing to pay to reclaim our humanity?”
New rumors of smaller Apple tablet continue to surface
April 5, 2012 5:42 am | by Ron M. Seidel, Editorial Intern | Articles | CommentsStories about an “iPad mini” started receiving attention March 13 when 9to5Mac posted a link to a Korea Times report in which an unnamed Samsung official told the newspaper that Apple will be building a 7.85-inch version of the iPad utilizing Samsung displays.
Design with your eyes on the road
March 21, 2012 6:57 am | by Chris Warner, Executive Editor | Articles | CommentsThe other day, I received a press release from a company that announced plans to apply its technology to the automotive space. The memo cited research from Strategic Analytics which predicts a 10 percent compound annual growth rate in the market for the next five years.
It’s been fun
February 17, 2012 9:49 am | by Alix Paultre | Articles | CommentsThis is the last column I’ll write as an editor and journalist...at least for now, as I’m moving on to another job where I will continue to serve the electronic design industry. Since joining this publishing group five years ago, I have had a fantastic time working with a great team...
CES 2012: Microsoft goes out with a whimper
January 16, 2012 8:29 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor, Special thanks to ECN's photographer, Andrew Maiman | Articles | CommentsFor a company that changed the world with its PC operating systems and dominated CES for over a decade, Microsoft left a mute impression in its swan song at the world’s largest consumer electronics show. Even the star power of American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest
Deconstruct to Construct
January 5, 2012 3:58 am | by Alix Paultre, Editor in Chief | Articles | CommentsReverse-engineering something may be used mostly to copy someone else’s work, but it can also be used as a thought exercise to aid original design. The exercise of taking a system apart to see how it works also applies to the creative process to better serve application areas, improve subsystem design, and create new processes.
Missives to the Future
December 19, 2011 4:29 am | by Alix Paultre, Editorial Director | Articles | CommentsWhat legacy do you believe your work will leave? A lot of Jazz from the 20’s and 30’s gets played in my office, and I often reflect on its ability to entertain and inspire though the ages. Non-amplified transducer-based analog wax-cylinder playback became amplified, multi-tracked, digitally-based media presentation,
Gifts for Geeks
December 14, 2011 5:08 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsSo you waited until the last minute to complete your shopping list...luckily, your trusty friends at ECN are here to help. And praise the lord for that, because geeks are a tough crowd: They don’t bow to the fashion gods, patronize expensive beauty salons, or play anything that involves cardiovascular activity.
Looking behind, leaping ahead
December 9, 2011 10:52 am | by Alix Paultre, Editor in Chief | Articles | CommentsElectronic Component News has served the electronic design engineering community with tireless dedication through times of disruptive market and technology change since 1956, providing the electronic design engineer with the latest news in technology, devices, subsystems, software, and components to help them with their design efforts.
