Technical Headline News Archive - July 2012

7/31/2012

CIA Partners with UK RF Firm

Engineers Unveil First Casimir Chip That Exploits the Vacuum Energy

Second India Blackout in Two Days Cuts Power to 670 Million (that means 1/10 world population w/o electricity due to mining restrictions)

Report Forecasts 8.5 Billion Mobile Subscriptions by 2017

Technique Confirms Graphene Can Be Used in Computer Chips

Qualcomm May Buy 10% of UMC

DARPA Awards $15.3M in Basic Research Grants to Spur the Next Generation of Defense Innovators

Two Companies to Tackle SIGINT Technologies to Pinpoint HF Radar and Communications Emitters Worldwide

Over 80% of Canadians Still Choose to Have a Home Phone Line (I do, too)

Raytheon's Space Fence Technology Ready to Track Space Debris

Twitter Suspends Journalist Who Was Critical of NBC

Shared Data Plans Highlight Competitiveness in Wireless Industry

7/30/2012

JCPenney to Replace Checkout Clerks with Automated RFID System by 2014

Wireless is Bright Sector in Slow Chip Market

Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Complete Preliminary Design Review for U.S. Air Force Space Fence

How to Avoid Traps in Plastic Electronics

Facebook's Zuckerberg Dismisses Idea of Building Own Phone (that means its almost a certainty)

10-Year-Old Problem in Theoretical Computer Science Solved

New Dimension of Physics Research: Cutting the Graphene Cake

Wireless System Enhances Road Safety on Congested Streets

3-D Transistors (makes me want some Chic-fil-A waffle fries)

Philippines Regulator to Auction Off Surrendered 3G Spectrum

Samsung and Apple's Patent Clash Heads to Trial by Jury (will they disqualify device owners on jury?)

In Sliding Internet Stocks, Some Hear Echo of 2000

Qubits That Never Interact Could Exhibit Past-Future Entanglement

7/29/2012

Laser Exceeds Quadrillion-Watt Power Record

Smallest Semiconductor Laser Emits CW Green Light Below 3D Diffraction Limit

USPTO Publishes Proposed Rules Governing First-Inventor-to-File

Samsung Widens Lead over Apple in Smartphone Market Share

Photovoltaics from Any Semiconductor

7/27/2012

Android Phones Hijacked via NFC

Mathematicians Encrypt Images Using Mathematics of Sudoku

Strong Demand for Smartphones Driving the Worldwide Mobile Phone Market

IEEE Forecasts 10x Data Growth by 2015

NASA X-Ray Concept Inspired from a Roll of Scotch® Tape

Semi Industry Starting New Growth Cycle

World's Smallest Semiconductor Laser Created

Comms Payload Passes On-Orbit Tests on MUOS Satellite

Google Says Fiber Will Give Kansas City Fastest Connection in Country

Huawei Completes Industry's First Simultaneous Mobile and WiFi Service

Sprint Boosts Femtocell Count to 950,000

GM Working on Wi-Fi Direct Application to Prevent Vehicle/Pedestrian Accidents

Global CO2 Emissions up 3% in 2011 (why is China still listed as a developing country?)

7/26/2012

Tin Whiskers Again Cited as Potential Problem for Toyotas

Researchers Create Working Mott Transistor Prototype

Google: Motorola's Patents Worth $5.5B

Special Event Stations in London and Wales on the Air for 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Alcatel-Lucent to Cut 5,000 Jobs As It Drops Back into Quarterly Losses

A Cluster of Twenty Atoms of Gold Visualized for the First Time

Terahertz Radiation Can Induce Insulator-to-Metal Change of State in Some Materials

In the USA, 62% of First-Time Smartphone Owners Buy Android

Laser Beam Finally Converted into Stream of Single Photons

Brazil Tees up Billion Dollar Telecom Bonanza

Google Announces 2012 Science Fair Winners

Amazon Launches Career Choice Program to Fund Tuition for Fulfillment Center Employees

7/25/2012

Mobile Phone Coverage Now Available in the EuroTunnel

Expert, Lawmakers at Odds over GPS Security

New Hybrid Material Simplifies Organic Transistor Design

How Swearing at Work Could Ruin Your @#*! Career

Graphene-SiC Transistor Shows Way to New Integrated Circuits

LG Posts Q2 Loss in Handset Unit as Sales Drop

Imaging the Quantum Motion of Electrons Using Light

Technology Analyst Expected to Plead Guilty in Insider Case

Court Bans Samsung Tablet from Sale in Europe

Sunspot Maximum Coming in 2013

UK Economy Contracts by 0.7%

The Most Contagious Airports in the U.S.

7/24/2012

Heathkit Declares Bankruptcy, Closes for Good -Again

Ofcom Reveals 4G Mobile Auction Plans

Cisco Systems to Shed 1,300 Jobs Amid Cost Cuts

Silicon Valley Says Step Away from the Device

House of Lords Call for Engineering Graduates (HoL - a cool, Elizabethan title)

AT&T and Verizon Shine as iPhone Sales Sink

HD Video Camera Tracks Rapidly Moving Objects in Real Time

Qualcomm, Renault Team on Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging

Renesas to Cut 5,000 Jobs (missed this one a couple weeks ago)

8.9 Million on Disability in U.S. at Average $974 per Month (> population of 39 states)

Russian Supply Ship Fails to Dock at Space Station

How Apple's Phantom Taxes Hide Billion$ in Profit

7/23/2012

Study Reveals Harmful Effects of CFL Bulbs to Skin

Chirp App Sends Smartphone Data Via 'Digital Birdsong'

Global Semiconductor Sales Up in May

Can Quantum Theory Be Improved?

Vanity Call Sign Fee to Go Up to $15

Four Companies Prep Wave of 60 GHz Chips

Not If or When, Cyber War is Happening Now

Meritocracy in Silicon Valley a Worthy Goal But Not a Reality

Printed Photonic Crystal Mirrors Shrink On-Chip Lasers Down to Size

HTML5 Work Splits into "Living" and "Snapshot" Standards

Low Frequency, 'First Light' for the Jansky Very Large Array

Poverty on Track to Reach Highest Level Since 1960s

7/22/2012

Tech Layoffs Hit 3-Year High of 51,529 in 1st Half of 2012

USPTO Expands Patent Law School Pilot Program

Fitch Downgrades Nokia Credit Rating (first Rome crumbles, then the USA, now Nokia?)

Microsoft Reports First-Ever Quarterly Loss

Syria Disappears from Internet for 40 Minutes

7/20/2012

Drop Out, Start Up

Chairman's Remarks on White Spaces for Wireless Broadband

Australian Regulator to Release 100 Million New Phone Numbers

VCs Bolstered Silicon Investments in Q2

TSMC's Chang Cuts Forecast, Sees Stall Coming

Diamond in the Rough: Half-Century Puzzle Solved

Average U.S. Mobile Subscriber Uses 450 MB per Month

Vodafone Group Revenues Fall on Weak Southern European Markets

Ultracapacitor Could Find Use As Battery Replacement in Handheld Electronics

50% of Worldwide Spam is Gone

Microsoft Fixes 'Big Boobs' Coding Gaffe

Test Decodes Dolphins' Math Skills

Apple's Change of Heart on Green Certification

7/19/2012

For the First Time, Canadians Now Richer Than Americans! (change you can believe in)

Nokia Losses Deepen to $1.87B As Sales Continue to Slide

French Government May Step in to Block Telecom Job Cuts

FCC Fines Alaska Man for Interfering with Air Traffic Using CB Radio

Rural Chinese Get Online as Mobile Overtakes Desktop

Microchips Built Using Self-Assembling Polymers

New Ultracapacitor Delivers a Jolt of Energy at Constant Voltage

Qualcomm's Smartphone Chip Shortage Continues

Mobile Ads Can Hijack Your Phone and Steal Your Contacts

Researchers Create Memory with One Bit Per Molecule

Cablevision Launches 'OMGFAST' Fixed Wireless Broadband Service in Florida (great name)

EBay Profit Soars 144% as E-Commerce Rebounds

Historic U.S. Post Office Default on August 1 (blaming it on having to actually fund their massive pensions)

7/18/2012

Noted Authority Says Women Now Have Higher IQ Than Men

Texting Overtakes Talking in UK

Mobile Data Traffic Offloaded to WiFi Networks to 16x Times from 2011 to 2016

3D Imager Shows How Particles Interact with Energy Fields

Canada Gets New Semi Company

Ericsson Profits Plunge by 63% on Flat Revenues

Graphene Transistors in High-Performance Demonstration

Contract Manufacturers Position Themselves for a Rebound

The Puzzling Problem of Proportionate Growth

New Technique Allows Production of Complex Microchip Structures in One Self-Assembling Step

Scientists Use X-Ray Imaging to Observe Running Batteries in Action

Only 6 Majors Increasing Capex This Year

DOE Hybrid Battery Program Company Loses $500k Worth of Equipment (probably sold on black market)

7/17/2012

Unique Properties of Graphene Lead to a New Paradigm for Low-Power Telecommunications

DARPA Issues Solicitation for EW Program to Counter Digitally Programmable Adaptive Radar

Samsung Buys CSR's WiFi and Bluetooth Mobile Chip Tech

Mobile Networks Stockpiling Nano-SIM Cards Ahead of New iPhone Launch

Astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT, Chats with ARRL

Lightest Material in the World Produced

Tektronix Opens Repair and Calibration Lab in France

Researchers Produce Silicon 'Sponge' Battery Components

DARPA: Student Competitors Sought for Cool Design Challenge

LG Charged with Stealing Advanced TV Technology from Samsung

TV Schedules Influence Kids' Waist Sizes

Universities Reshaping Education on the Web

300+ Flash Mob Ravaging Walmart (the New America)

7/16/2012

Migrant Tech Workers in China Face Competition from Robots

U.S. Astronaut's Ride to ISS Outsourced to Russia

China's ZTE Rumored to Be Laying Off Staff

Wi-Fi Hotspots to Revive NYC Payphones

Data Speed More Critical Than Voice Coverage for Smartphone Users

European Holidaymakers Demand Seamless Internet Connectivity

Shrinking Defense Budgets Force L-Mart Mission Systems & Sensors to Cut 740 Jobs

Cambridge Firm Connects Android in Cars

Rifleman Radio Moves into Higher Production

Microsoft Expected to Announce New Version of Office

France Considers Internet Tax (getting what they just voted for, that's all)

Denver Software Company Pays Employees $7,500 to Go on Vacation, Totally Unplug

Stocks Might Be 50% Lower Without Fed (devaluing your dollars via dilution)

iPhone 5 Leaked Photos Show Tall White Frame with Center Camera

7/15/2012

Russian Hacker Targets Apple’s App Store

U.S., France Mark 50th Anniversary of First TV Satellite

ZTE Expects up to 80% Fall in 1H Profit (profit is such an outdated concept anyway in our Socialist new world)

RIM Loses Patent Suit over Software

Solar Eruption Caught on Camera

7/13/2012

X-Class Solar Flare Erupts from Giant Sunspot (some radio blackouts possible)

Analyst Lowers 2012 Chip Market Growth Forecast

Lobster-Inspired Tech Helps Smartphones Navigate Indoors

University of Utah Physicists Invent 'Spintronic' LED

New Carbon Nanotube Structure Aerographite is Lightest Material Champ

Virgin Galactic Set to Offer Satellite Launch Services

Lawmaker Fumes over DOD Effort to Trim Report Length

CERN Particle Could Be a Higgs Boson Impostor

Future Horizons CEO: Europe's Decade of Shame

Vodafone and Hutchison Confirm Plans to Merge Irish Network Assets

FBI Probes ZTE Trade Deals with Iran

Synchrotrons Help Bring Superconductors out of the Cold

Car Maker Peugeot to Cut 8,000 Jobs, Close Plant (Gov't Motors bought 7% stake w/your tax money in February)

7/12/2012

New Laser Scanners Know Everything About You from 50 Meters Away (maybe I should be scared, but I think it's incredibly cool)

Researchers Create Highly Conductive and Elastic Conductors Using Silver Nanowires

O2 Suffering UK-Wide Network Outage Affecting Some Customers

2012 Semi Growth to Be 4% Says Penn

Think Hardware: Ireland’s Master Plan to Generate 20,000 New Jobs

Presidential Election Will Not Stave-off Declines in U.S. Defense Spending

China Mobile Preps NFC Payments Phone

Shoot It with a Laser and It Flies Longer

A Metamaterial That Expands Under Pressure and Contracts in Tension

AT&T to Bolster 700 MHz War Chest with New Licenses

New Executive Order Creates New Emergency Communications Bureaucracy (why even bother with a Legislative branch, aka Congress?)

Viacom Channels Blacked Out for 20 Million DirecTV Customers

U.S. Crackdown on Illegal Computer-Operated Robocalls

NASA Launches iPhone Spaceship App in 3D Space

7/11/2012

Tech's Invincible Aura Fades

Are Social Media Making the Resume Obsolete?

World Record Neutron Beam at Los Alamos National Laboratory

FDA Issues Proposed Rules for Unique RFID System for Medical Devices

Making Wiring That Doesn't Trip Up Computer Chips

Nanoparticles: Big Potential or Big Threat? (haven't heard this argument for while)

The Importance of Partnering for Continued Growth in Telecoms Wholesale Market

The Long-Shot Technologies and Services in Wireless for 2012

Graphene Transistor Method Could Enable Fast Devices

Toward Achieving 1000000x Increase in Computing Efficiency

San Francisco to Ban Officials from Buying Apple Macs After Green Exodus (whatever shall the ponytail types do?)

Android Maintains Euro Dominance

In Modern Scandal, an E-Mail Is Forever

7/10/2012

Apple Removes Green Electronics Certification from Products

TV Reality Series Finds Silicon Valley Cringing

Mobile Ads Can Hijack Your Phone and Steal Your Contacts

Graphene Repairs Holes by Knitting Itself Back Together

New Space Program to Service Satellites Proposed

Near-Field Counters Aid in Device Frequency ID

Researchers Develop Low-Cost Transparent Conducting Film

AT&T to Prevent Stolen Phones from Accessing Its Network

Three Hams Scheduled to Head to ISS This Weekend

European Semi Sales Up in May

White LEDs Lighting Directly on Paper

Seven Mobile Networks Form New M2M Alliance

Solar Flares Increasing in Record-Setting Intensity & Frequency

Researchers Develop Optically Switchable Chiral Terahertz Metamolecules (that's a mouthful)

7/9/2012

Cell Carriers See Uptick in Requests to Aid Surveillance

Android Malware Spreading Fast in China

Entanglement Study Makes a Quantum Leap

EU Set to Approve Project Oscar UK NFC Venture

FBI Internet Shutoff Has 'Limited' Impact on Victims

FCC: Supporting Calling Plan Rights for Military Service Members

60% of New Cars Will Be Connected by 2017

DARPA: Hypersonics Is the New Stealth

Global Tech Market Growth Stabilizing (stabilizing = petering out)

First Galileo Navigational Satellite Retires

A Phone That Knows Where You're Going

Sun Erupts with Strongest Summer Solar Flare Yet

Cooling Trend in Northern Europe Precisely Reconstructed for the Past 2,000 Years

7/8/2012

Man Steals 1,000' of Power Cable from Storm Ravaged Area

4 New Regional U.S. Patent Offices Opening to Speed Up Patent Process

Satellite Aims to Bridge Canada's Digital Divide

Europe Washes Hands of ACTA

China Beats Russia on Space Launches

7/6/2012

High Inventory and Low Burn Rate Stalls Femtocell Market in 2012

Why Your Wireless Service Sucks at Sports Games

No Web for Hundreds of Thousands on Monday

EU Cars Should Automatically Call for Help After Crashes

UK Team Delivers Shortest Light Pulses

Disruptions Possible as ARRL Reconfigures Internet Services

Samsung Profits Surge 79% Boosted by Smartphone Sales

China Mobile Customer Accidentally Tops Up PrePay Account with $107,000

In Silicon Valley, Chieftains Rule with Few Checks and Balances

'Fog Computing' Seeks to Snare Those Who Would Leak Classified Docs

New Nanodevice Builds Electricity from Tiny Pieces

Swedish Carriers Launch Mobile Wallet Service

Another Stimulus-Funded Alternative Energy Firm About to Go Belly-Up

7/5/2012

Patent Trawler Bids to Determine Emerging Technologies

China Starts Stockpiling Rare Earths

Online Classes Cut Costs, But Do They Dilute School Brands?

Colorado Hams Provide Disaster Communications During Wildfires

Smart Headlights Let Drivers See Between Raindrops (watch demonstration)

Chip Market Still Shrinking Versus 2011

HP Patents See-Through Screen

Printable, Electrically Conductive Gel with Unprecedented Electrical Performance

Cops Foil Would-Be Light Pole Thieves

Chinese Air Passengers Beat Would-Be Hijackers to Death (score!)

Microsoft to Offer $39.99 Upgrade to Windows 8

France Slaps 7B€ in Taxes on Rich and Big Firms (coming to the U.S. soon)

Government Motors Shares Near Record Low, Taxpayer Loss on Bailout Rises to $35 Billion

7/3/2012

Team Commandeers GPS Signals of UAV from Outside (good reason not to rely solely on it for air navigation)

Doing Apps and Start-Ups While Still in High School

3-City Patent Court Gets Nod from EU Leaders

Higher Energies for Laser-Accelerated Particles Possible

Apple Fails to Block Imports of HTC Smartphones into the USA (they build their stuff in China but don't want Chinese competition)

Team Develops Wearable Antenna for Tumor Detection

USAF Extends Airborne Comms Relay Program in Afghanistan

The IARU HF Championship Heats Up the Summer

Physicists Identify New Quantum State Allowing 3 (but not 2) Atoms to Stick Together

Manufacturing Slowdown Reaches U.S.

Navy's New "Green Fleet" Uses $26/Gallon Fuel (holy crap!!!)

RIM CEO Heins: We're Not in a 'Death Spiral'

T-Mobile USA Suffers Nationwide Mobile Data Outage

Eurozone Unemployment Hits Record High (U.S. trying its best to catch up with you)

7/2/2012

Graphene Gives Thomas Edison's Battery a New Life

FCC Announces Forum on Future of Wireless Band Plans

China, U.S. Lead Innovation, Europe Nowhere (don't get mad at me, I just report the news)

Plasma Startup Creates High-Energy Light to Make Smaller Microchips

Quantum Levitation Could Prevent Nano Systems from Crashing Together

Apple Pays $60M to Settle IPad Trademark Dispute (pocket change)

Researchers Try Vacuum Transistors at Low Voltage

Navy E-6B Airborne Command Post to Receive New Communications and Networking from Northrop Grumman

Smartphone Guides Blind People Without GPS

New Technique Controls Graphite to Graphene Transition

China Manufacturing Weakens for 8th Month

Scientists to Unveil Evidence of 'God Particle'

Coffee Consumption May Cut Skin Cancer Risk (I'm going to live forever)

7/1/2012

Hijacked WiFi Causes SWAT Team to Raid Wrong House

Higgs Boson Announcements Coming July 4th

Telefonica Takes Mexico to Arbitration for $1B

BAE Systems Develops GPS Alternative

NFC is Great, But Mobile Payments Solve a Problem That Doesn’t Exist