Zune Phone Expected in 2 Months? [Rumors]

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All of that Project Pink/Zune Phone rumor madness is back with one statement by Jefferies analyst Katherine Egbert:

"Our recent industry checks indicate Microsoft will be debuting its own phone sometime in the next two months...We expect the new phone to debut soon, at either the Feb 15-18 Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona Spain, or possibly at CTIA in Las Vegas one month later."

Egbert believes that the Zune Phone will be birthed from a Microsoft/OEM partnership similar to what we've seen between Google and HTC with the Nexus One. She also believes the phone will feature a 5MP camera and 720P video support—neither of which are huge stretches of the imagination. [AllThingsD]


Stuck "A" Key on Dell Laptop

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We have a Dell laptop with a stuck "A" key. We plugged in an external keyboard, but the A key on the laptop periodically (every few minutes) goes berserk and inserts a string of "AAAAAAAAAAA" until we jab the A key a zillion times to get it to stop.

Whilst we await the arrival of a replacem

FEA aqauculture net pen

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Need someone that can show the analysis of a net, Suspended at the surface by floats and bouys, anchored to the bottom continously, 1000 yards in diameter,circular in shape. Mesh is 1/2", material is extruded poly.

Zero Sequence Impedance of Transformers

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hello, I am trying to do a model of a very old transformer and autotransformers using the Etap computer program and I need to know how to get the zero sequenze impedance to do some shortcircuit test. those are YYn transformer 7,5 MVa 67,56/0,575 Kv Z=7.5pu are there some Ieee book or som

LTC1290CCN Chip Failure

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Hi

We use this chip which is a 12 bit A/D converter on one of our circuit boards. We purchased a large quantity of these chips in 2007. Recently we have been experiencing random intermittent failures. Sometimes the chip fails at startup other times after a month. A few have failed in the f

Rumor: Apple iPhone OS 4.0 Features Detailed [Iphone4.0]

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That's right, y'all. We're back at it, and this time we've received some exclusive iPhone OS 4.0 details from one of our trusty Apple connects.

Here are some iPhone OS 4.0 features, according to our guy:

• There will be multi-touch gestures OS-wide. (Would make sense for that as the rumored OS for the iTablet is close if not the same as the iPhone)
• "A few new ways" to run applications in the background - multitasking.
• Many graphical and UI changes to make navigating through the OS easier and more efficient. We haven't had this broken down, but we can only hope for improved notifications, a refreshed homescreen, etc.
• The update will supposedly be available for only the iPhone 3G and 3GS, but will "put them ahead in the smartphone market because it will make them more like full-fledged computers" more than any other phone to date. Everyone is "really excited."
• The last piece of information is the most vague, but apparently there will be some brand new syncing ability for the contacts and calendar applications.

That's all we have for now! Who can't wait for next Wednesday?

Thanks, Lindsey!

BGR features the latest tech news, mobile-related content and of course, exclusive scoops.


Morphy Richards Intellisteam Is Steamy Hot [Kitchen]

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Amidst my personal quest for a simple steam basket, I came across a serious steamer fit for any Giz reader, the Morphy Richards Intellisteam.

Yes, that's a backlit blue LCD you see, allowing you to control three separate steaming pods, each with their own steam controls (loaded with plenty of presets that make steaming various different foods simple).

Aside from all that practicality, the Intellisteam sounds like it performs dutifully, with instant steam, a visible water gauge, auto-off when water runs out and up to 40 minutes of food warming.

Making a meal for up to 4 people, the Morphy Richards Intellisteam is available now for about $160. Oh kitchen gadgets, how I neither need nor resist you. [Morphy Richards via Appliancist]


DisplayPort 1.2 Standard Makes HDMI Look Positively Analog [Guts]

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The Video Electronics Standards Association has codified the standard for the next version of DisplayPort, and the small, Apple-loving HDMI competitor, and it just got a lot more interesting. Like, multiple-monitors-on-one-plug interesting.

The concept of daisy-chaining multiple monitors on one DisplayPort connection has been part of the vision all along, but version 1.2 will be the first to actually support the technology—at this stage, up to four at a time, at a resolution of 1920 x 1200. On top of that, it'll bring full HD, 120fps-per-channel 3D support, a 21.6Gbps data rate, and bi-directional USB data, meaning that anything connected to a DisplayPort 1.2 cable could serve as a high-bandwidth USB hub.

And of course, VESA's already accepted Apple's miniaturized version of the port into the DisplayPort family and audio support is still present—albeit not in Apple's variant. In other words, no, the battle isn't settled, and HDMI hasn't won—even forthcoming HDMI 1.4 hardware can't hang with the next generation of DisplayPort hardware, if anyone decides to actually make it. [PC Authority]

Milpitas, Calif., Jan. 18, 2010 — The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today formally unveiled the industry's most innovative and flexible digital communication interface standard for transporting display, audio and other data.

VESA's DisplayPort Version 1.2 is a comprehensive extension to the original DisplayPort standard offering many new benefits to the end user. Benefits include: double the data rate of the previous DisplayPort v1.1a standard (enabling higher performance 3D stereo displays, higher resolutions and color depths, and fastest refresh rates); multiple monitor support from a desktop or notebook computer using only one DisplayPort connector; the ability to transport USB data between a PC and Display, supporting Display USB functions such as a webcam and USB hub. DisplayPort v1.2 is backward compatible with existing DisplayPort v1.1a systems, including existing cables and the Mini DisplayPort connector.

DisplayPort v1.2 increases performance by doubling the maximum data transfer rate from 10.8 Gbps (Giga-bits-per-second) to 21.6 Gbps, greatly increasing display resolution, color depths, refresh rates, and multiple display capabilities.

DisplayPort v1.2 supports "multi-streaming" — the ability to transport multiple independent uncompressed display and audio streams over a single cable, supporting protected content and high performance applications such as 3D gaming. This enables the use of multiple monitors connected by cable in a daisy chain or hub configuration. Whereas the current Display v1.1a standard can support one 2560 x 1600 monitor at 60Hz, DisplayPort v1.2 can support two such monitors with one cable, or four 1920 x 1200 monitors. Many other combinations are possible, including multiple video sources, multiple displays (even at different resolutions) and multiple audio speakers.

Another new feature is the ability to support high-speed, bi-directional data transfer, allowing USB 2.0 or Ethernet data to be carried within a standard DisplayPort cable. For DisplayPort v1.2, the maximum data rate of this "AUX" channel has been increased from 1 Mbps (Mega-bit-per-second) to 720 Mbps, providing suitable bandwidth for USB 2.0. The DisplayPort cable can therefore support USB data to/from the display to support Display USB functions, in addition to sending the video and audio information. Standard Ethernet can also be transported in the DisplayPort cable.

DisplayPort v1.2 was designed to be compatible with existing DisplayPort systems and cables. To take advantage of the new capabilities, a PC will need to be DisplayPort v1.2 enabled, however existing standard cables can still be used, including those with the new Mini-DisplayPort connector. To achieve the 21.6 Gbps rate, the per-lane data rate is doubled from 2.7 Gbps to 5.4 Gbps, over the four lanes that exist in the standard cable. For a single display, this enables up to 3840 x 2400 resolution at 60Hz, or a 3D display (120Hz) at 2560 x 1600.

DisplayPort v1.2 also adds new audio enhancements including the following:
— Audio Copy Protection and category codes
— High definition audio formats such as Dolby MAT, DTS HD, all Blu-Ray
formats, and the DRA standard from China
— Synchronization assist between audio and video, multiple audio channels, and
multiple audio sink devices using Global Time Code (GTC)

DisplayPort v1.2 also includes improved support for Full HD 3D Stereoscopic displays:
— Life-like motion using up to 240 frames-per-second in full HD, providing 120
frames-per-second for each eye
— 3D Stereo transmission format support
Field sequential, side by side, pixel interleaved, dual interface, and stacked
— 3D Stereo display capability declaration
Mono, Stereo, 3D Glasses

"DisplayPort is a truly open, flexible, extensible multimedia interconnect standard that is ubiquitous in the PC, notebook and display markets and is rapidly gaining traction in consumer electronics applications," said Bill Lempesis, VESA's executive director. "DisplayPort Version v1.2 offers a complete set of benefits and capabilities that no other standard can provide. It is completely backward compatible with DisplayPort v1.1a and requires no new cables or other equipment, making it the standard of choice across the industry.


Piezoelectric Switches – Product Design Help

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Hi all,

I'm a design student in the UK working on a personal attack alarm. I've designed mine to be in the form of a wristband and will integrate a sound alarm and bluetooth technology so that it can be connected up to the users mobile phone to make contact with the emergency services.

Gear Ratios

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In a design I'm working on, I want to increase the speed of the input by a 4:1 ratio and keep the rotational direction of the output shaft the same (clockwise). I can use either one of two sets of gears to achieve this. The first is with a 60T on the input, a 30T as an intermediate and a 15T on the

Herschel Lives! | Cosmic Variance

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Last week ended with the encouraging cosmological news that the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HiFi), on the Herschel Space Observatory, is once again working. How stars are born, and the influence of the environments in which this takes place is, as you might imagine, an important astrophysical question. Part of Herschel’s mission is to address this issue by using HiFi, which is a high-resolution spectrometer, to provide detailed measurements of the composition of stellar nurseries. This question is also important for cosmology, where we are increasingly interested in the details of how galaxies formed and evolved over cosmic time, in order to be able to separate out the astrophysics from the features of large scale structure that are sensitively dependent on the background cosmology.

Herschel, which was launched along with the Planck satellite, but a few months into operation, HiFi developed an electronics problem and was switched off. This week, after a careful study of the incident, HiFi’s reserve electronics were switched on, and appear to be working correctly. While HiFi was down, Herschel’s other two instruments – Pacs and Spire were able to hog the observing time and do some lovely far-infrared and sub-millimeter science. To make up for this, the plan is now to give HiFi a larger slice of the observing pie for a while, in order to make sure it can accomplish its mission.

All in all this is wonderful news for cosmology and I’m delighted that another of our suite of outstanding experiments is once again up and running. One thing did make me giggle a little though. Speaking to the BBC, Frank Helmich, who leads HiFi, pulls one of my favorite academic tricks, saying

“I don’t watch much television but I know Crime Scene Investigation and this was just such an investigation – but in space! We found out what happened and then we designed all the mitigating measures,”

The CSI angle is a mild attempt to connect with popular culture for the benefit of the large and diverse readership of a BBC story, and I think that isn’t a bad idea at all. But what I find hilarious is the initial qualification. Although irrelevant to the point, it has to be said anyway, to satisfy what I’ve referred to before as the unspoken academic code, which I’ve paraphrased as

“Do not engage in any activity that is part of popular culture. Such activities include, but are not limited to; playing video games, playing card games (bridge excepted), watching movies without a serious social message and watching television (PBS, in particular NOVA, occasionally excepted). Any violation of the above may lead to a stubborn stain on your intellectual reputation, which may only be removed by repeatedly attending highly experimental theater.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to some interpretive dance.


The Role of a Machinist…

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I am hoping this isn't too far off topic, but I want to ask a question of those currently in the Mfg field. Is there still a need for machinists in this industry. I am completeing my AAS in Machining Technologies, and am currently searching for work in the industry. I have experience in manufactu

21 Years After Spill, Exxon Valdez Oil Is *Still* Stuck in Alaska’s Beaches | 80beats

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OilPoolFromValdezSpill.jpegMore than two decades have passed since the Exxon Valdez spilled 38,000 tons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound, but despite cleanup efforts and time, thousands of gallons of oil remain stuck in the region’s beaches. A new Nature Geoscience study offers an explanation for why the oil has been so slow to disperse: it’s the composition of the beaches themselves.

According to study leader Michel C. Boufadel, natural forces have created beaches in Prince William Sound with two distinct layers, and water moves 1,000 times slower through the bottom layer than the top. Once the oil entered the lower level, conditions were right to keep it there, he said. Tidal forces worked to compact the finer-grained gravel even more, creating a nearly oxygen-free environment with low nutrient levels that slowed the ability of the oil to biodegrade [AP].

Boufadel began his study to explain why the oil from Valdez spill, which happened in March 1989, was lingering longer than most scientists expected. Most clean-up operations in the area ended in 1992 because the remaining oil was expected to disperse within a few years. A later study discovered that the oil was disappearing at a rate of just 4% each year, and that an estimated 20,000 gallons remained in the beaches [BBC News]. The researchers dug pits several feet deep all around Eleanor Island to investigate, and found that the two-tiered beaches has allowed plenty of crude to sink down and get stuck. In their field studies, Dr. Boufadel said, when they would dig into deeper sediments, “the whole place would smell of oil” [The New York Times]. If environmental agencies want to finish the cleanup, Boufadel suggests that chemicals could be injected into the lower sediment layer to speed up the oil’s biodegradation.

This study of a 21-year-old oil shipping disaster coincides with a current scare in the same locale; an Exxon ship briefly lost power in Alaskan waters Sunday, but two tugs towed it to safety. This tanker has quickly become a poster child for pending federal legislation to beef up protection for Prince William Sound oil shipments [Anchorage Daily News].

Related Content:
80beats: 20 Years After Valdez Spill, Eagles Are Healthy; 7 Other Species Still Hurting
80beats: “Nanosponge” Could Soak Up Oil Spills
Discoblog: Whither the Valdez? ExxonMobil Cuts Cash for Global Warming Deniers
DISCOVER: Whatever Happened To… The Exxon Valdez?

Image: NOAA


Tour of Tec-Smart

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Last Friday, I went on a tour of Tec-Smart , a new education and training facility in upstate New York (Malta, NY), which is just finishing construction. Tec-Smart stands for the Training and Education Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Alternative and Renewable Technologies.

TEC