Engineering & Technical Headline News Archive - August 2006 8-31-2006 Short-Range Wireless Technologies Finding a Role in Cellular Chair With iPod Docking Station Hits Market Samsung Demos 4G Technology, Plans Late 2008 Launch Companies Risk RoHS Fines to Avoid Cost of Compliance Glonass to Be Deployed in Full by 2010 Iridium and Raytheon Provide First Responders Fully Interoperable Communications July Chip Sales Rose 10% Year-to-Year Over 565 Million High-Frequency RFID Tag ICs Shipped in 2005 Nanocantilevers Exhibit Surprising Behavior Greenpeace Blasts Apple (Al Gore a board member) as Laggard in Green Rankings mPhase Technologies to Release Ultra-Sensitive Detection Device for Homeland Security Hydrogen Fuel Cells Power Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Solar Power May Soon Bring the Web to Remote Areas 8-30-2006 RadioShack Lays Off Nearly 400 Employees Via E-Mail Development Under Way May Slash SDR Radio Costs by 98% Novel RF device Integrates Switch Within Connector Sanyo to Delist from Nasdaq Power Line Based Network to Support Worldwide Navy and Marine Corps Intranet U R Naughty - Go 2 Bed. Parents Texting Punishments Is High-Definition TV Across Broadband Wireless Networks Realistic? Japanese Mobile Carrier Aims to Beat iPods Seller Beware: Cell Phones' Secrets Can Betray Former Users 'Nanocantilevers' Yield Surprises Critical for Designing New Detectors Europe's first Lunar Mission Set to Land Philips Shows Off Technology That Displays Electronic Images on Clothes 8-29-2006 Broadband Over Powerline Making Progress Satellite Broadband Providers Proving Unsuccessful in AWS Spectrum Auction Wi-Fi Alliance Breaks Ranks on 802.11n Testing Extensive Antenna Work May Disrupt W1AW Schedule Google Goes for the Suite Spot Hams Use Rain Clouds in 40-km Laser Link New Space and Missile Defense Report Gives Detail Latest Technologies Government Reports Show Significant H-1B Wage Violations NASA Sends Shuttle Back to Launch Pad The Robots Are Coming Researchers Aim to Close 'Green Gap' in LED Technology Jaguar Supercomputer Surpasses 50 Teraflops UK Survey Shows Fast Growth in WLAN Popularity 8-28-2006 Finn Takes the Gold at Mobile Phone Throwing Contest Chip, Heal Thyself Offshoring Data to Get Recrunched Professor: BlackBerry Addiction Lawsuits Likely in Future U.S. Court Denies Samsung Infringed Matsushita's Patents The World's Longest-Running Experiments Japan Makes Plans for Greener Cars, Batteries Deflated Expectations in China's IC Biz Tiny Ion Pump Sets New Standard In Cooling Hot Computer Chips Sprint WiMaxes Out Putting the Spin on Spintronics Atlantis Launch Delayed Until at Least Tuesday 8-27-2006 Pluto Demotion Irks NASA Scientist Long-Silent SuitSat-1 Keeps Going and Going Turning Fuel Ethanol Into Beverage Alcohol (Drink & Drive?) Amateur Radio Antenna Law Leads Virginia County to Revise Ordinance Microsoft Releases Near-Finished IE7 Atlantis Shuttle Launch Postponed by 24 Hours Man Gets 3 Years for 'BotNet' Attack 8-25-2006 Wristwatches Being Abandoned for Cell Phones, PDAs Spectrum Auction Will Prompt Satellite Operators' WiMAX Partnerships NEC Electronics Launches Image Chips for Car Collision Avoidance Apple to Recall 1.8M Sony Laptop Batteries Worldwide for Overheating Lithium-Ion Technology in the Spotlight Economist Explains Why Heat Waves Spur Electricity Blackouts EDA Poised to Grow Faster Than IC Market RFID, Satellites and Internet Combined for Global Livestock Monitoring Net Stolen Briefcase Held News of Vodafone Deal Global Plasma TV Sales Jump 95% Plastic Meltdown Technology a Real Lifesaver Weather Looks Favorable for Sunday Atlantis Shuttle Launch Johns Hopkins Astronomers React to Pluto's Planetary Demotion 8-24-2006 Internet Addicts Halfway House Opens in Shanghai U.S. Missile Defense Agency to Award $2.5B Contract for Kinetic Energy Interceptor Over 100 Million Femtocell Users by 2011 Airlines Prepare for Mobile Phone Use in Flight Half of UK Phones Have Cameras Innovative Wireless Medical Devices Based on NFC Latin American Mobile Telephony Penetration Reaches 70% Innovative Generator Could Spark Energy Savings Atmel CEO Resigns in Heated Letter (The guy really needs a grammar lesson.) Apple to Pay $100 Million to Settle iPod Patent Lawsuits Fortress Technologies Provides Secure Wireless Communications to DOD Exercise China and Russia to Launch Joint Mission to Mars Pluto Loses Planet Status 8-23-2006 Massive Lockheed Martin Solar Arrays to Be Launched to International Space Station Nano-Battery Technology Could Eliminate Fire Risks Successful Launch of Koreasat 5 Hybrid Communications Satellite Copper Prices Soar (bad for IC fabs yes, but have you priced Romex in Home Depot lately?) Pizza Dominates Mobile Directory Enquiries Fasten Your Seatbelts and No Cell Phones Please India's Go-Getters Stand in Contrast to U.S. Engineers Embarrassed by YouTube Splitting Light With Artificial Muscles Could Bring New Generation of Color Displays Cheap Vista for Christmas? Cosmonaut to Hit Golf Ball Into Orbit from ISS As PR Stunt 8-22-2006 Mysterious Russian Mathematician Solves Problem, Refuses Award The SIM Card Turns Fifteen Years Old The Near Field Communications (NFC) Specs Have Arrived Carmakers Must Tell Buyers About Big Brother "Black Boxes" Designers, Not Just Dell, Under Fire (pun intended) Iraqis Go Nuts Over Cell Phones, Ringtones, Text Messaging U.S. Begins Rollout of RFID Passports Jenoptik to Develop Diode Laser Stacks for Space LIDAR Samsung Offers Mobile Phone With 8-Gig Hard Disk Parents Embarrassed by Kids' Blogs Spacecraft Designed to Capture 3-D Views of Sun Set for Launch Japanese Space Tourist Grounded After Failing Medical Test 8-21-2006 State of the Engineer: The Young and the Restless Silicon Bipolar Transistor Reaches 110 GHz 'Techno Addicts' Pose Employer Infineon Gets Order for US Passport Security Chip Dell Turns to Damage Control Mobile Phone VAT Raid is Tip of the Iceberg Say Legal Experts SpaceX, Rocket Plane Win Spaceship Contest 'Star Trek' Fans Get a New Bible Japan Adopts Indoor UWB Rules Logarithmic Detector/Controller Covers 50 to 4000 MHz Construction on Space Station Resumes Research Paper Illuminates How Light Pushes Atoms 8-18-2006 In-Flight Web Surfing Takes a Step Back RF Power Semiconductor Market Will Near $1 Billion in 2011 FCC Wireless Spectrum Auction Hits $10 Billion UK to Get First City With High-Speed WiMax Coverage EPCGlobal is de Facto RFID Spec in China Speedy Silicon Sets World Record Qualcomm Pays $18 Million for Qualphone Dell Reveals SEC Accounting Probe Astronomers Set Up Killer Asteroid Task Force Radical 'Ballistic Computing' Chip Bounces Electrons Around Like Billiards New Mobile Robot Balances, Moves on Ball Instead of Wheels or Legs 8-17-2006 Satellite TV Giants Retire from U.S. Wireless Auction Dell Laptop Battery Recall Bad for Sony, Good for Rivals Stock Options Scandal Keeping Nasdaq Busy Xilinx Clears Stock Investigation U.S. Police Act, Then Back Off On Cell Phone Terror Arrests In Terrorism War, Phone Sales Raise Alarm MtronPTI Announces Line of SAW Filter & Resonators Online Fantasy Football Sacks Real Work Production Physicist Finds Exotic Superconductivity YouTube Crashes as It Gets Even More Popular Scientist Says Dolphins are Dim-Wits NASA Gives 'Go' for Space Shuttle Atlantis' Launch 8-16-2006 Shakeout Ahead in Consumer Electronics US Agency Reviewing All Sony Laptop Batteries Driving While Using 'Hands-Free' Cell Phone Still Dangerous USA Mobile Phone Sales Reached $4.4 Billion in the First Half of 2006 Diamond MEMS Integrated With CMOS Cadence Bars Competitors from Users' Group Meeting Atoms Looser Than Expected: Single-Electron Merry-Go-Round Measures Universal Atomic Force TSA Says Shoe X-Rays at Airports CAN Detect Explosives Google is Everywhere in Headquarters Town Hard Disks to Pass 1 Tbit per Square Inch Coffee May Cause a Heart Attack Danger (or, it may not) Consumers More Critical of Cell Carriers Than Handset Makers 8-15-2006 Chip IP Market Set to Rise 25% in 2006 Near Field Communications Forum Rolls New Data Specs Texting Study to Identify Criminals Phonons May Drive High-Tc Superconduction Dell Recalls 4.1M Notebook Batteries L-3 Communications to Acquire Nova Engineering Shuttle Ku Band Antenna Sparks Launch Question Physics Professor Teaches Thermodynamics by Walking on Fire Automotive Nanoapplications Driving Future Russia to Launch Orbital Laboratories 8-14-2006 Old Rotary Phones Converted to Cellular IP Revenue to Climb 25% in 2006 College: Is It Worth It? Russia Boosts Tech Venture Funds Pluto Reclassification Could Change Number of Solar System's Planets Next Generation Segway Scooters Unveiled Sleuths Search for Apollo 11's Mystery Tapes Revving a Porsche Engine - Now A Ringtone U.S. Satellite Protection Scheme Could Affect Global Communications Space Travel Will Take Off in Five Years Utah Nanotech Company Planes North Carolina Plant Ex-Microsoft Whizz-Kid Passes Space Flight Medical 8-13-2006 Radio Waves Announces Free RWTI September 14th 2006 in Phoenix IRS Wants Another $324 Million from Cadence New Cell Phone Technology Touted to Improve CDMA Download Speed and Capacity Stock Options Scandal Heats Up Intel's Worst Nightmare Coffee, Tea or Broadband Computer Scientists Lay Out Vision for a 'Science of the Web' TSMC Reports 32% Rise in July Chip Sales ABI Reduces Revenue Expectations for RFID Software and Services New Light Microscope Sharpens Scientists' Focus Consortium Builds Next-Generation Net 8-11-2006 GE Matches Gifts to IEEE Foundation Worldwide DSL Prices Drop by Highest Percentage in Four Years Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman JV Awarded $125M for Longbow Fire Control Radar RFID Market to Slow IEEE Releases New Electrical Safety Code EJL Wireless Research Reports Significant Growth in Point-to-Point Radio Market GM to Show Off Fuel Cell-Powered Car Proba-3 Guides ESA's First Steps Towards Formation Flying Encoded Metallic Nanowires Reveal Bioweapons Robot Shopping Carts Follow You Around LM Space Systems Celebrates 50th Anniversary Researchers Chase Goal of Non-Hijackable Plane 8-10-2006 James Van Allen, Discoverer of Radiation Belts, Dies at 91 FCC Wireless-Spectrum Auction Begins; Seen Lasting Weeks Education Panel: No Time to Wait for Fixes Sailor Charged with Espionage in Laptop Theft Homeland Security Issues Worm Alert for Windows Operating System Q2 Silicon Wafer Shipments Rise Nabaztag Wi-Fi Robot Bunny Wants to Take Over America Space Mirrors? Piezoelectric Films To Be Tested In NASA Space Station Experiment University of California Joins Google's Book-Scan Project 8-9-2006 U.S. Wireless Spectrum Sale Draws a New Crowd Sprint to Use WiMAX for 4G Network Nokia Fights Back Against Qualcomm at U.S. Court Sony Ericsson Tops Retailer Music Phone Charts Nonprofits Team Up on Solar Wi-Fi Cuba Targets Illegal TV Dishes as U.S. Weapon (sound like the old USSR?) Terror Alert: Egyptian Students Disappear in U.S. 446 Million Cellphone TV Viewers by 2011 $8 Billion Lost to Cybercrime in Past Two Years Officials Lower Predictions for Atlantic Hurricane Season Purdue Research Helps Advance New Rocket Technology Purdue Engineers Lay Groundwork for Vertically Oriented Nanoelectronics 8-8-2006 The Return of Perks at Work Is This the Beginning of the "Cellular Phone War" Cable, Satellite, Cell-Phone Companies Eye FCC Auction on Wednesday U.K. Worker Fired by Text Message Nanotech Spending Down NASA, Air Force Form Aeronautics Project Atomic Scientists Revealing Archimedes' Hidden Writings Intel Goes Back to School Photo Messaging Climbs as Cameraphones Snap Up Market Share Wireless, Portable Devices Escape Lockdown Apple Finalizes Transition to Intel Processors Sony Introduces Wi-Fi IM, "mylo" 8-7-2006 Transmitting Radio Signals Through the Earth GE is Targeting Terrorism for Homeland Security USAF Awards Digital Angel Contract for Aircraft Survival Radio System Philips Semi CEO Goes Equity Route to Save Company RFID Maker Nixes $120 Million IPO Hospitals Now Offer High-Speed Internet Internet TV Use Expected to Soar AP, Google Confirm Online News Deal Two Teens Accused in Theft of Computer Containing Data of Veterans Magnetic Ties May Explain High-Temp Superconductors A Cosmic Rain Lasting 30,000 Years Has SETI Been Barking up the Wrong Tree (Mostly) 8-6-2006 FCC Denies Reconsideration Petitions, Adopts Minor Changes to BPL Rules Atom Camera? Helium Atoms Sent by Nozzle May Light Way for New Imaging Approach New Technique Can Manipulate Light Beams 8-4-2006 WiFi While You Ski GM, Ford Embrace iPod; Satellite Radio Dead Taking Stock: The Unfolding Stock Option Investigation Can High Wi-Fi Boost Space Elevator? Philips Sells Semiconductor Unit to Equity Firms A Bit of History for Global Warmers: Look at 1930 Flexilis Claims New RFID Passports are Security Risk Senate Ratifies Treaty on Cybercrime 'Framing Effect' Influences Decisions New X-Ray Microbeam Answers 20-Year-Old Metals Question UAVs Performing Well In Strategic Plans 8-3-2006 Los Alamos Lab Develops Radio That Works Underground Semi Sales Up; Record Year on Track Bluetooth Chips Get Big Boost from Mobile Phone Market Hypres Receives $800,000 to Develop A/D Converter for Defense Communications Apple, PC Notebooks Vulnerable to Wireless Attack Getting Closer to a GPS in Every Handset German Ministry of Science Purchases a $6M ROV from Schilling Robotics Connecting PC's to 3G Phones Rare Snowfall Across South Africa (see all the global warming on the ground!) U.S. to Create Bioenergy Centers Mobile Music Market to Shift From Ringtones to Full Track Downloads Researchers Make Strained Silicon Stick Autonomous Lenses May Bring Microworld Into Focus 8-2-2006 108 Year-Old Telcom Tax Repealed Hamming It Up Aboard Space Station Earns Ransom Top Astronaut Award Users Find SmartPhones More Valuable than PDAs and Laptops Engineers Plan Vertical Nanoelectronics Raytheon Booms on Missile Defense Contracts Technology is a Girl's Best Friend New Radar Technique Locates Storm-fueling Moisture Some Motorists Turn to Creative Tire Inflation to Save Gas Boeing Laser Communications Demonstration Validates Critical Element of TSAT Network Cleaning Event Boosts Power On Opportunity Manfred von Richthofen Not Such a Hot Shot? (Snoopy is vindicated) 8-1-2006 Lockheed Martin Set to Make Seed-Sized Spy Plane Cingular to Raise Prices for Users of Older Phones Shifts Coming for Top 15 Semi Supplier Rankings Chinese Air Pollution Reaching U.S. Mainland Nonprofit May Run Boston Wi-Fi Network Modularity Enables Military Fuel Cell Systems Fingerprints Replacing Credit Cards at Retail Stores History Without Books Gets a Test in CA Schools (easier to re-write that way) Rare Cloud Formation Seen in Antarctica Missile Defense Element Successfully Flight Tested Oil Recovery Process May Reduce Foreign Dependence