Archive for May, 2009
Business phone
May 24th
The younger generation may not find this model very interesting, but for people who stick with tradition also find it difficult sometimes to operate their mobiles. The solution is provided by the RIM. It has newly developed a ‘candy bar’ model of the blackberry. After tremendous research the RIM (Research In Motion) have finally developed this hybrid mobile. The blackberry 7100g is a model which combines all the best features of the Blackberry and also combines the SureType keyboard technology. This guy has all the features including email, wireless connection, data sharing and a traditional look which is also sleezy and stylish into one single group. On the whole it is dream phone for users who prefer SureType keypad. And don’t get me started on the battery, this model can stand upto four hours of continuous talk time and eight hours in the standby mode.
I suggest this model for small business men who need constant communication with the corporate entities. The internet facility can support up to 10 personal and corporate email accounts with push mail and one button wireless connection. The model has a flamboyant design and the looks are very ostentatious. What is more, all these features are incorporated into a ‘candy bar’ design. The price is just around $400.
Electrical cars that can recharge while driving
May 20th
What if there is a blackout and you are stuck in the middle of a highway? What if you urgently need to go to a hospital or any place immediately and you are stuck with an electric car. In the present generation where fuels are becoming scarce everyone is looking forward to electric vehicles. But even these electric vehicles which has zero pollution effect has got some disadvantages as mentioned in the above scenarios. The researches at the South Korean university are developing a new way of recharging the car batteries that answers the above questions. One can just drive on the road and also recharge the battery. This can be done by embedding the roads with recharging strips that allows the car to recharge its battery. Of course these are only available for the electric cars, but it is still a great development. These new rechargeable strips are to be laid in the road for about 20 cm to 90 cm wide and to be extended for several hundred meters long. The functions and the working of the rechargeable strips are not yet released by the Korean university. I will keep track of the development and will post as soon as possible.
Free Scale Code Warrior
May 16th
Free scale has recently released a new device which performs a variety of functions which serves as an important aspect for a wide range of applications from games to measuring devices.
The success of this device is because of its flexibility to perform various tasks. The code to perform the function is first compiled in a code warrior software which is released by the same company. The code which is used to perform the function is developed using the c language. Then this is transferred into the device. The beauty of this device is that the code need not be burned in the IC as in other cases, instead it is copied into the device by the universal serial bus port. The burning is process completely removed which makes it more economically efficient.
The board has a accelerometer which is an important part. The accelerometer will be able to sense motions in the board in a three dimensional way, then it shows the resultant acceleration, velocity at a point of time, the direction of motion. This accelerometer is used in a different kind of situations. To display the result the values or results are displayed in the LED matrix which variety according to the user’s choice.
Watches and people
May 13th
Before selecting a watch ask yourself this question, why do I need this watch? If you are looking for a watch to just check your time then you need to go for less sophisticated watch without any extra features which you are not going to use it anyway. One should always choose a watch which will blend with their profession or their hobbies or interest. If you are a CEO of a company and you were a suit to the office then you should choose a watch which looks dignified and one which matches with your clothes. On the other hand if you are a trendy person you should go for a designer watch.
Even there are specialised watches for persons with different interests like mountaineering, deep see diving or even people who travel a lot and they should choose their watches with accordance to their interest. A deep see diver should choose his watch with features to measure the depth, and also it should be water resistant at extreme pressure. A pilot should choose his watch with the maximum complications. If you travel a lot then you need to get a watch with various time zones and with features to withstand climatic changes. If you enjoy sports then you should choose metal watches made from titanium of stainless steel which are resistant to harsh activities and various weather conditions. Selection of a watch is like selecting a dress or jewellery, it should go with your personal taste and it should be well acquitted with your outdoor activities.
Batteries breathe to store ten times more energy
May 11th
Persons who constantly use cell phones and laptops are frequently annoyed by their battery capacity. But the researchers in University of St. Andrews, the UK have come up with a new innovative idea. The idea is no less short than amazing; to exceed the energy capacity of the battery they let the batteries ‘breathe’ oxygen from the air.
The major obstacle to increase the energy density an ordinary lithium ion battery is the anode, lithium cobalt oxide is bulky and heavy. The energy capacity can be increased by pushing the amount of lithium ions in the electrolyte. But how can it be done? The researchers have come up with the answer. The lithium cobalt oxide anode is replaced by the spongy material packed with lithium and porous carbon. When the battery is discharged the oxygen from the air comes in contact with lithium through the porous carbon and reacts with the lithium to form lithium oxide. This lithium oxide is now officially the anode of the battery and due to the non reactive nature of the porous carbon in the reaction, the number of lithium ions released is considerably increased and so is the energy capacity. This new technology is still under research and will be available in the market soon.
Analogue vs Digital watches
May 9th
A watch can be classified as analogue or digital based on the way it shows the time. The traditional two handed way of showing time is the analogue watch and the modern display of time in numbers is the digital watch. A watch which has both these functions is known as the ‘anadig’ watch.
In analogue watches instead of using the traditional mechanical parts, quartz crystal is used these days. The electronic impulse generated from the battery passes through the quartz and records the frequency from the crystal and it transfers to the step motor to which the second hand it connected. The advantage in using the quartz crystal is that it is more accurate unlike its counterpart which uses the mechanical part which has more moving parts and thus there is more friction which leads to less accuracy.
In the case of digital there are no moving parts inside the watch and the same procedure which is used in the analogue is used here, and instead of the step motor, the LEDs or LCD is used to display the numbers. The reason for using the quartz crystal is that it has an amazing accuracy and an unprecedented frequency. These watches can run up to five years with a single battery.
Compaq Presario C700
May 7th
Presario C700 is a model released by Compaq recently and is quite popular with the students as it is cheap, convenient and has the basic configuration for supporting all software.
This model is fitted with a 2 GB RAM and with a hard disk capable of 160 GB. The mother board is built on the Intel Core 2 Duo. The graphics can be fitted additionally if needed. The screen is of a standard size of 17”. This model comes with Vista Home Basic original version. The Recovery DVD consists of the operating system and also with required drivers needed after formatting the hard disk. The model supports most academic softwares like MATLAB, LabView, Pspice etc. It is also fitted with a graphics card from Intel with a graphic capacity of 382 MB. My suggestion is that this model is good for students who can’t afford more expensive laptops. But the Precario C700 has a major disadvantage, it supports games with lesser graphic specifications and it does not support games with more graphic quality. The price is very cheap compared to the other companies.
