Industry News
Flat Lens Offers A Perfect Image
August 24, 2012 6:08 am | News | CommentsApplied physicists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created an ultrathin, flat lens that focuses light without imparting the distortions of conventional lenses. Left to right : Francesco Aieta, Federico Capasso, and Patrice Genevet. At a mere 60 nanometers thick, the flat lens is essentially two-dimensional, yet its focusing power approaches the ultimate physical limit set by the laws of diffraction.
Google, Boingo Bring Their Free Wi-Fi Experiment To Mall Rats
August 24, 2012 5:10 am | News | CommentsGoogle and Boingo are building on their free Wi-Fi project in New York City , launching the advertising-paid access model in eight malls across the country. Though the project is still in its infancy, it represents a growing trend to make Wi-Fi a free and readily accessible resource, while depending on ad views to pay the bill.
PayPal’s French McDonald’s Experiment Could Have Big U.S. Implications
August 22, 2012 11:42 am | News | CommentsPayPal is confirming reports that it is test-running a new app-based checkout system in McDonald’s restaurants, a pilot program that could push the online payment broker - and the notion of phone-based payments - much further into the consumer shopping experience. It could also add confusing choices and tools to manage in an increasinly fragmented payment landscape.
Gallium Nitride Nano-Scale Laser Is The World’s Smallest
August 22, 2012 11:28 am | News | CommentsIf Doctor Evil ever lowered his lofty goal of sharks with frickin’ laser beams on their heads to something more manageable, such as lasers on frickin’ tadpoles, the world’s smallest laser might serve him well. Physicists from the University of Texas at Austin working with colleagues in Taiwan and China have created what they claim to be the world’s smallest laser.
How Something You’ve Never Heard Of Is Changing Your World
August 22, 2012 11:17 am | News | CommentsI’ve got a riddle for you. What do Blu-ray disks, military radars and LED light bulbs have in common? Chances are, if you work outside of the defense or electronics sectors, you may not easily make the connection. But the common thread is a little-known technology called Gallium Nitride (GaN for short).
Soraa Wins DOE Project for GaN Substrates
August 22, 2012 11:15 am | News | CommentsThe firm's disruptive gallium nitride technology is to be developed for LEDs, laser diodes, and power electronics Soraa, a developer of GaN on GaN solid-state lighting technology, has been selected by Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to lead a project on the development of bulk GaN substrates.
Researchers Install AIXTRON MOCVD for GaN-on-Si Power Device R&D
August 22, 2012 11:13 am | News | CommentsNational Central University (NCU) in Taiwan will use an AIXTRON metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system to research gallium-nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) power semiconductors . An existing AIXTRON customer, NCU installed a 1 x 6” AIXTRON Close Coupled Showerhead MOCVD system. They will grow GaN epitaxial structures on 6” silicon substrates, which will be used in R&D of power management devices.
As Smart Electric Grid Evolves, Engineers Show How to Include Solar Technologies
August 22, 2012 7:25 am | by An economically feasible way to store solar energy in existing residential power networks is the subject of an award winning paper written by two Virginia Tech electrical engineers and presented at an international conference. | News | CommentsMembers of the conference organizing committee, Wolfgang Hansen, far left, of Technische Universitat Dresden, Germany, and Sama Bilbao y Leon, right, of Virginia Commonwealth University, congratulate Reza Arghandeh, middle, Virginia Tech doctoral candidate in electrical and computer engineering, for winning the international best paper award.
Self-Charging Power Cell Converts And Stores Energy In A Single Unit
August 22, 2012 6:28 am | News | CommentsResearchers have developed a self-charging power cell that directly converts mechanical energy to chemical energy, storing the power until it is released as electrical current. By eliminating the need to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy for charging a battery, the new hybrid generator-storage cell utilizes mechanical energy more efficiently than systems using separate generators and batteries.
Constructive Conflict In The Superconductor
August 22, 2012 6:20 am | News | CommentsWhether a material conducts electricity without losses is not least a question of the right temperature. In future it may be possible to make a more reliable prediction for high-temperature superconductors. These materials lose their resistance if they are cooled with liquid nitrogen, which is relatively easy to handle.
A New Route To Dissipationless Electronics
August 22, 2012 5:48 am | News | CommentsRealization of a new type of magnetic phase in devices opens the door to electronics based on topologically non-trivial materials A team of researchers at RIKEN and the University of Tokyo has demonstrated a new material that promises to eliminate loss in electrical power transmission. The surprise is that their methodology for solving this classic energy problem is based upon the first realization of a highly exotic type of magnetic semiconductor first theorized less than a decade ago - a magnetic topological insulator.
‘Electronic Nose’ Prototype Developed
August 22, 2012 5:43 am | by Sensor developed by Nosang Myung that can detect airborne toxins | News | CommentsResearch by Nosang Myung , a professor at the University of California, Riverside, Bourns College of Engineering , has enabled a Riverside company to develop an “electronic nose” prototype that can detect small quantities of harmful airborne substances. Nano Engineered Applications, Inc. , an Innovation Economy Corporation company, has completed the prototype which is based on intellectual property exclusively licensed from the University of California.
Antenna Boosts App Developers with AMPchroma Enhancements
August 21, 2012 11:03 am | News | CommentsAntenna Software has released a set of enhancements for its cloud-based enterprise mobility suite, AMPchroma . With these enhancements, corporate app developers will be able to build mobile applications for the most demanding enterprise uses quickly and easily, using widely available HTML5, Javascript, and CSS skill-sets, without having to overcome the typical limitations of browser-based development, or recode them for different hardware or software platforms.
Mobile-Phone Users Spending More Dough On Accessories
August 21, 2012 11:02 am | News | CommentsMobile-phone owners are not just spending money on their phones and monthly subscriptions. Sales of mobile-phone accessories shot up 32 percent during the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year, says a new report from NPD Group. Cases proved the most popular accessory, with sales soaring 70 percent over 2011 despite an average 25 percent increase in case prices.
Why No One Has Tamed Email
August 20, 2012 5:42 am | News | CommentsEveryone complains about email. We’re awash in the stuff. We feel inundated. Overwhelmed. Out of control. Lately there’s been quite a lot of talk about what to do about it. Jordan Cook hates it , MG Siegler tried to quit it , and Alan Henry argues you can’t . People want Gmail to speed up , Yahoo! to catch up , or, someone, anyone, to make something better .
NASA Tests Newest Free-Flying Robotic Lander: Mighty Eagle
August 17, 2012 6:03 am | News | CommentsNASA's new robotic lander, the Mighty Eagle When NASA's Mars rover Curiosity began its entry, descent and landing sequence two weeks ago, the success of the mission hinged on what was known as the " 7 minutes of terror " -- a period during which NASA was out of touch with the vehicle, relying on its autonomous landing sequence to successfully touch down on the surface.
Restaurant Offers Cell Phone Bribe
August 17, 2012 5:18 am | News | CommentsA meal isn't a meal without a cell phone. You need to photograph the food and get it onto your Twitter feed, before any of the other diners does the same. It isn't called A Twitter "feed" for nothing, you know. You need to be able to Google "the collected works of Al Green," just in case there's a dispute about who wrote "Let's Stay Together.
Scientists Do The Wet-Dog Shake
August 16, 2012 10:35 am | News | CommentsArmed with a little more than a hose and high-speed video equipment, researchers have cracked one of science’s wettest problems. As dog-owners know all too well, when their canine companions take a dip in a pond this is swiftly followed by a twisting shake-down that involves an ecstasy of flopping ears and flapping jowls.
How Bluetooth 4.0 Will Change Remote Control
August 16, 2012 7:02 am | News | CommentsManage lights, TV, refrigerators and more through your phone or tablet when the latest wireless technology rolls into all your home devices Wireless technologies have been transforming domestic life since the availability of home radios in the 1920s. Since then every new kind of wireless technology and every new application has brought more transformative changes to the home.
German Team Takes IBC Conference Prize with Work on Glasses-Free 3D
August 16, 2012 5:58 am | News | CommentsIBC announces that the IBC2012 Best Conference Paper has been awarded to a group of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications Heinrich Hertz Institute. Their paper looks at a critical issue for broadcasters who want to move 3D television into the mainstream: the ability to create the signals for glasses-free 3D displays from two-camera stereoscopic origination.
Nokia Knows Where You'll Be 24 Hours From Now
August 15, 2012 11:40 am | News | CommentsNot only does your phone know where you are, but it knows where you are going to be. It may even know why you're going there. He calls it the "Interdependence and Predictability of Human Mobility and Social Interactions," but the algorithm researcher Mirco Musolesi and his team recently tested in the UK stirs up thoughts reminiscent of Phillip K.
Big Retailers Team Up on Mobile Payments Plan
August 15, 2012 11:34 am | News | CommentsThe system, known as Merchant Customer Exchange, is a retailer-led initiative that would match similar services from Google Inc, which began operating its own system last year on its Android devices. The group of retailers, which accounts for about $1 trillion in annual sales, wants to make sure it has a say as standards for mobile payments are developed, said Terry Scully, Target's president of financial and retail services.
Up Close With BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha
August 15, 2012 8:25 am | News | CommentsResearch in Motion CEO Thorsten Heins said the company is planning to take its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones on a road show to woo carriers, developers and ultimately consumers. In two separate interviews with CNET News' Roger Cheng and ZDNet, Heins outlined RIM's product cadence, roughly six new devices and smartphones that look and feel better than previous efforts.
3D Printed Meat: It's What's For Dinner
August 15, 2012 8:19 am | News | CommentsSlides prepared by startup Modern Meadow pitch 3D-printed meat as a more environmentally friendly approach to dinner. 3D printing has been used to create running shoes , medical implants , and, to the delight of firearm enthusiasts, a .22 caliber handgun . So why not a 3D-printed steak for the grill? Billionaire investor Peter Thiel's philanthropic foundation plans to announce today a six-figure grant for bioprinted meat, part of an ambitious plan to bring to the world's dinner tables a set of technologies originally developed for creating medical-grade tissues.
If It Rolls or Flies, UC Research Is Working to Keep It Quiet
August 15, 2012 7:11 am | News | CommentsUniversity of Cincinnati research – from noise reduction in sophisticated military jets to quieter car rides – will be presented at INTER-NOISE 2012 , the 41st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering, to be held Aug. 19-22 in New York City. UC is among only a few universities with a specific focus on vehicle noise control.
