Mobile Phones Charged with Speech

Posted by Dennis White on Sep 21st, 2010 | no comments

Korean researchers from Samsung has developed a piezoelectric miniature device that can convert speech, music or sound into electrical energy. Soon it may be possible to charge the phone whith speech power. Michael McAlpine from Princeton University considers the Korean research very interesting, but has also a small reservation to Discovery News:

“The question is whether there is enough noise in the environment to recharge a cell phone. A user would hardly having to go to a rock concert or put themselves up near a fast-moving trains to recharge his phone. “

Top 5 Launches at IFA Berlin

Posted by Dennis White on Sep 17th, 2010 | one comment

The 50th IFA exhibition looks to deliver lots of interesting product releases. Here are five of the most exciting:

1. CPUs – AMD plans to demonstrate the company’s upcoming Fusion processors with dual processor cores and integrated graphics. There are two known variants in the pipeline from the company, Ontario and Llano. The manufacturer is also expected to demonstrate portables based on the company’s Vision technology.
2. Google – At the penultimate day of the fair, visitors can learn more about what Google has in store via the company’s CEO Eric Schmidt. Google TV, and possibly also the new Chrome OS could be topics of discussion.
3. Tablets – After the iPad launch there’s a tablet revolution in the making. Archos is expected to launch no less than five, Samsung and Toshiba released the iPad-challengers Galaxy and Folio and Viewsonic plans to launch “Viewpads”. Also, the company Hannspree is expected to show a 10-inch tablet PC running open source Android 2.2.
4. 3D – The trend started at CES 2009 continues: All the major manufacturers are moving to TVs and other gadgets with 3D support.
5. OLED – OLED technology is about to grow thanks to Samsung and LG Electronics. Larger products are being showcased and the manufacturers are launching new production facilities.