The Soapbox
The future of mobile computers is rugged
July 12, 2012 9:12 am | by Jerker Hellström, CEO, Handheld Group | Blogs | CommentsWe are going through a radical shift in the way people work and use computers. Increasing availability and affordability of wireless broadband is giving the global workforce true mobility, for the first time in history. Many of them will use smartly designed mobile rugged computers for their everyday computing and communication needs, instead of traditional laptops.
A plea from the trenches: Common sense in the supply chain
July 10, 2012 9:54 am | by George "Jr" Thompson, Strategic Supply Chain Manager | Blogs | CommentsI recently read a report that the Department of Defense received over 80,000 counterfeit components from a now-defunct Shenzhen-based broker named "Hong Dark Electronics." After reading this, I felt two things: amusement and terror. I felt amusement that the DoD has been authorizing purchases from a Shenzhen-based broker (and in turn receiving various types of counterfeit components)...
The seven deadly counterfeit cable sins
June 7, 2012 10:32 am | by David Fallon & David Gallagher, L-com | Blogs | CommentsCounterfeit cables are bulk cables or cable assemblies sold under false pretenses to undercut legitimate manufacturers. Unscrupulous sellers have found many ways to cut costs, but at a price. If you get a low bid for your next cable buy, check these factors to make sure you are getting what you are paying for.
Seven rookie mistakes made by med dev companies
May 30, 2012 10:41 am | by Paul Brooks, SVP for BSI Healthcare Solutions | Blogs | CommentsFor U.S.-based medical device start-ups, speed to global markets is often the most pressing concern, but trying to move too fast often leads to preventable mistakes that could take the CE Marking process back to the drawing board, according to healthcare experts at BSI Group America, a leading Notified Body that helps companies comply with the essential regulatory requirements of the European Union.
Processing on the edge
May 24, 2012 9:46 am | by Arnon Friedmann, Texas Instruments | Blogs | CommentsOne of the interesting things about looking into a new market with an existing product is trying to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of your product as you enter that new arena. If you’ve been following my last few posts you know that I’ve been looking into the high performance computing market and trying to understand the role that our DSPs can play there.
Bearing damage: A lurking problem in electric cars
May 23, 2012 11:51 am | by Matthew Roman, Engineering Manager, Electro Static Technology | Blogs | CommentsElectric cars are news. Every major automaker has introduced some electric vehicle, and the trend seems to be toward greater reliance on electric motors. The “Holy Grail” is a battery electric vehicle (BEV, a car powered solely by electricity) with an extended driving range, at a reasonable price.
The evolution of automotive electronics
May 21, 2012 3:07 pm | by Anthony Le, Winbond Electronics, www.windbond.com | Blogs | CommentsI grew up in the 1970s. Our family car was a Ford Pinto station wagon. Everything in it was manual – manual windows, manual steering. The only consumer electronics was the radio. Fast forward to today, cars have
The future of video inspection system products looks bright
May 8, 2012 4:04 pm | by Jim Norton, President, Custom Products & Services | Blogs | CommentsIn recent years, many electronics manufacturers have been adopting the use of video inspection systems. These systems utilize digital cameras to perform many of the visual inspection functions formerly performed with optical microscopes. Digital camera technology has improved to the point where the image quality now rivals that of optical instruments for many applications.
Picking robotics stocks is complicated; some are a waste of time
May 2, 2012 2:32 pm | by Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report, www.therobotreport.com | Blogs | Comments"Pure play" is an investment term that refers to a company which is exclusively focused on a particular product or service. An investor buys stock in pure play companies in order to obtain a market share in the industry as well as in the company. Robotics, to many, are just a tool to accomplish business tasks in an efficient way.
Enabling simplicity: How sophisticated MCU solutions can help reduce the complexity of consumer electronics designs
April 30, 2012 11:10 am | by Mike Salas, Vice President and General Manager, Microcontroller Products, Silicon Labs | Blogs | CommentsInnovation continues to flourish at the individual product-level as consumer electronics companies continue to find ways to add more appealing features and functions for end users in everything from thermostats and washing machines to wireless headsets and wristwatches. Clearly the push is on to “IP-enable” the entire consumer electronics industry...
Can you multi-task like a multicore processor?
April 25, 2012 8:55 am | by Zhihong Lin, multicore processors business unit, Texas Instruments | Blogs | CommentsMulti-tasking seems to be an essential skill nowadays, whether it’s at work or home. There are just not enough hours in the day, so we try to do everything we need to do at the same time. Inevitably, the quality of the output will suffer when we try to juggle many things at once.
Seatbelts, embedded firewalls, and complacency
April 23, 2012 1:11 pm | by Alan Grau, President of Icon Labs | Blogs | CommentsWhat do embedded firewalls and seatbelts have in common, you ask? Quite a bit, as I see it. Both are simple, elegant, and effective solutions to important problems; protecting people in car crashes, and protecting embedded devices from hackers. Both an embedded firewall and seat belt are relatively inexpensive.
Can Neil Young's studio-quality audio format curtail music piracy?
April 19, 2012 4:52 pm | by Ron M. Seidel, Editorial Intern | Articles | CommentsYoung, who has been releasing albums since the 1960s, has his own ideas about innovating the way we consume music. In June, he filed six trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for names involving a new high-fidelity audio format. It appears the 66-year-old is on a crusade to bring the full sonic capacity of studio master recordings to the digital frontier.
Improvement needed for controversial full-body scanners
April 12, 2012 4:46 pm | by Ron M. Seidel, Editorial Intern | Articles | CommentsRecent developments have put into question the true capabilities and benefits of full-body scanners, the controversial devices that use what the Transportation Security Administration calls “advanced imaging technology.” One wonders if officials in Washington, having adamantly defended the scanners for years, might just be too stubborn to concede the equipment’s ineffectiveness.
Touch screen market to reach $14 billion in 2012
March 23, 2012 6:00 am | by Cathleen Thiele, Technology Analyst, IDTechEx | Blogs | CommentsIDTechEx forecasts the touch screen market to reach $14 billion in 2012. The biggest application for touch screens in general, and projected capacitive screens in particular, is mobile phones and, right behind, tablets.
Tips Help Engineers Write Well -- Part 1
February 24, 2012 6:45 am | by Jon Titus, Senior Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsMany engineers see engineering and writing as mutually exclusive skills. They think people can do one or the other, but not both. Engineers can write well, although it takes some practice.
Congress Opens Market for Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Systems
February 22, 2012 11:52 am | by Paul Dempsey, Senior Correspondent, Footwasher Media | Articles | CommentsBuried deep in this month’s controversial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding bill, passed by the Senate in an unusually bipartisan 75-20 vote were provisions to boost commercial potential for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Assuming President Obama’s signature, the four-year $63B budget bill mandates the FAA to
Don’t be alarmed - SIMS keeps you protected
February 15, 2012 11:02 am | by Steve Ryckman, VP Technical Services, SIMS | Articles | CommentsIt’s no secret that alarm systems provide crucial functions for homes and business, but what would happen if the technology that keeps an alarm system up and running failed? There’s about a million different scenarios that come to my mind alone...
Five Reasons You Need Effective WAN Optimization For Cloud Storage
February 15, 2012 5:25 am | by Robert MacIntyre, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing, NetEx | Blogs | CommentsCloud storage is positioned to be one of the hottest IT trends of 2012. At the same time network WAN performance has been identified as a key inhibitor to cloud storage adoption, according to NetEx...
Jim Williams Remembered
February 1, 2012 7:36 am | by Jon Titus, senior technical editor | Articles | CommentsAnalog guru Jim Williams died in mid 2011, but his work lives on in circuits, magazine articles, books and photographs. Part of his lab lives on, too, in the exhibit, "An Analog Life: Remembering Jim Williams," at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.
Remote Testing: the Achilles Heel of Cloud Services
January 30, 2012 4:52 am | by Daniel Joseph Barry, Napatech (www.napatech.com) | Blogs | CommentsThe availability of smartphones and the expectation of immediate and simple access are driving demand for centralization of IT services and the related competence required to support these effectively.
Build a Great Company to Build Great Products
January 20, 2012 4:42 am | by Aaron Partridge, Chief Science Officer, SiTime (www.sitime.com) | Blogs | CommentsProducts do not stand on their own, but rather are only valuable in the context of their supplier.
Four Things to Watch for on Smartphones
January 13, 2012 5:18 am | by Majeed Ahmad | Blogs | CommentsThe year 2011 has unmistakably been the year of smartphone and ecosystems housing this magic gizmo.
What Smartphones Need Now
January 9, 2012 7:49 am | by Charles A. Riggle, VP Marketing and Business Development, SkyCross (www.skycross.com) | Blogs | CommentsNews reports indicate that the iPhone 4S has stimulated users to increase mobile data usage by 1.6 times over that of the older iPhone 3G.
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.
