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Next > Cool Wall Warts Lots of new technology is being applied
to old applications these days. One such example is a more tolerable replacement
for the cursed "wall wart" (AC/DC power adapter) that is on the way. Penn State
researchers have invented a piezoelectric technology that does away with the traditional
iron and copper transformer, and promises to reduce the overall size to a quarter
of the existing volume. As a bonus, these piezo devices produce no appreciable heat
and do not generate the EMI fields of electromagnetic transformers. This new form
factor will even allow the entire AC/DC conversion to reside inside your notebook
computer, printer, scanner, camcorder and more. Taiheiyo, of Japan, will begin production
in 2005. |
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