Tuesday, July 1, 2008
MAGNATORESISTIVE RAM (MRAM)
MRAM, the new breed of semiconductor memory uses magnetic properties to store data. This new kind of chip will compete with other established forms of semiconductor memories such as Flash memory and random access memory (RAM). Most engineers believe that the technology called magnetoresistive random - access memory (MRAM) could reduce the cost and power consumption of electronics for cell phones, music players, laptops and servers.
The feature, that makes MRAM an alluring alternative to other forms of semiconductor memories, is the way it stores data. For example, flash memory and random-access memory (RAM) hold information as electric charge. In contrast, MRAM uses the magnetic orientation of electrons to represent bits. Using MRAM, reading and writing of data can be done unlimitedly with in nanoseconds. MRAM can also hold the data without a power supply.
4G
4G:
The technology called 4G has redefined the whole concept of today’s sophisticated communication. According to the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF), 4G is a combination of wired and wireless networks in computer, consumer electronics and communication technology systems based on the internet technology, that can merge applications like the Wi-Fi and WiMAX capable of transmitting at a speed ranging from 100 Mbps (in cell-phone networks) to 1 Gbps (in local Wi-Fi networks).
This collection of technologies and protocols delivers high quality of service at both ends and high point security. Officially named by IEEE as Beyond 3G (B3G) it provides with the lowest cost wireless network.
CELL PHONE VIRUSES AND SECURITY
CELL PHONE VIRUSES AND SECURITY:
As cell phones become a part and parcel of our life so do the threats imposed to them is also on the increase. Like the internet, today even the cell phones are going online with the technologies like the edge, GPRS etc. This online network of cell phones has exposed them to the high risks caused by malwares viruses, worms and Trojans designed for mobile phone environment. The security threat caused by these malwares are so severe that a time would soon come that the hackers could infect mobile phones with malicious software that will delete any personal data or can run up a victim’s phone bill by making toll calls.
All these can lead to overload in mobile networks, which can eventually lead them to crash and then the financial data stealing which poises risk factors for smart phones. As the mobile technology is comparatively new and still on the developing stages compared to that of internet technology, the antivirus companies along with the vendors of phones and mobile operating systems have intensified the research and development activities on this growing threat, with a more serious perspective.
SYNCML
SyncML:
The popularity of mobile computing and communications devices can be traced to their ability to deliver information to users when needed. Users want ubiquitous access to information and applications from the device at hand, plus they want to access and update this information on the fly.
The ability to use applications and information on one mobile device, then to synchronize any updates with the applications and information back at the office, or on the network, is key to the utility and popularity of this pervasive, disconnected way of computing.
Unfortunately, we cannot achieve these dual visions:
1. Networked data that support synchronization with any mobile device
2. Mobile devices that support synchronization with any networked data
Rather, there is a proliferation of different, proprietary data synchronization protocols for mobile devices. Each of these protocols is only available for selected transports, implemented on a selected subset of devices, and able to access a small set of net-worked data. The absence of a single synchronization standard poses many problems for end users, device manufacturers, application developers, and service providers.
SyncML is a new industry initiative to develop and promote a single, common data synchronization protocol that can be used industry-wide. Driving the initiative are Ericsson, IBM, Lotus, Motorola, Nokia, Palm Inc., Psion, Starfish Software. Additional companies are being recruited to join and participate.
The SyncML initiative recognized the worldwide need for one common data synchronization protocol. With the industry-wide proliferation of mobile devices and the evolution toward mobile devices as the major means of information exchange, remote synchronization of data will be of integral importance. The SyncML initiative, officially supported by well over 200 device manufacturers, service providers and application developers, is currently developing and promoting an open global specification for mobile data synchronization.
SMARTQUILL
Lyndsay Williams of Microsoft Research’s Cambridge UK lab is the inventor of the Smartquill, a pen that can remember the words that it is used to write, and then transform them into computer text. The idea that it would be neat to put all of a handheld-PDA type computer in a pen came to the inventor in her sleep. “It’s the pen for the new millennium,” she says. Encouraged by Nigel Ballard, a leading consultant to the mobile computer industry, Williams took her prototype to the British Telecommunications Research Lab, where she was promptly hired and given money and institutional support for her project. The prototype, called SmartQuil, has been developed by world-leading research laboratories run by BT (formerly British Telecom) at Martlesham, eastern England. It is claimed to be the biggest revolution in handwriting since the invention of the pen.
The sleek and stylish prototype pen is different from other electronic pens on the market today in that users don’t have to write on a special pad in order to record what they write. User could use any surface for writing such as paper, tablet, screen or even air. The SmartQuill isn’t all space-age, though -- it contains an ink cartridge so that users can see what they write down on paper. SmartQuill contains sensors that record movement by using the earth’s gravity system, irrespective of the platform used. The pen records the information inserted by the user. Your words of wisdom can also be uploaded to your PC through the “digital inkwell”, while the files that you might want to view on the pen are downloaded to SmartQuill as well.
It is an interesting idea, and it even comes with one attribute that makes entire history of pens pale by comparison—if someone else picks your SmartQuill and tries to write with it- it won’t. Because user can train the pen to recognize a particular handwriting. Hence SmartQuill recognizes only the owner’s handwriting. SmartQuill is a computer housed within a pen which allows you to do what a normal personal organizer does. It’s really mobile because of its smaller size and one handed use. People could use the pen in the office to replace a keyboard, but the main attraction will be for users who usually take notes by hand on the road and type them up when returning to the office. SmartQuill will let them skip the step of typing up their notes.