Cover Story
The Future of TV and YouTube
Video content from the Internet, until now viewed mainly on computer displays, has at last made it into the living room and on to your TV screen. Just what kind of televisions show these videos, the sort you would typically find on YouTube? We delved into this question, bearing in mind the possibility of collaboration between televisions and PCs.
Strategy for Digital Home Appliances
No future without change—major shift from “watching” to “using”
Collaboration and Implementation
Realizing the seamless experience—discovering new opportunities in home networks
Leading Trends
Sony's Decision: LSI Manufacturing Isn't Necessary
The logic LSI industry is undergoing fundamental changes. Major semiconductor manufacturers in Japan and overseas have in droves started pulling out of independent development and mass production related to process technology for advanced logic LSI. Sony Corp.’s change of course, in particular, came as a shock to many.
Leading Trends
Toyota’s Technology for Soldering Using Laser Light Moves into the Electronics Industry
Laser soldering attracted a great deal of attention inside the electronics industry in the early 1990s, but never really took off. Now it is making a comeback thanks to growing usage in the automotive industry, which in turn is instigating competition among solder and equipment manufacturers to develop products. The aim is to find a replacement for manual techniques that use a soldering iron.
Keyword
NGN (Next Generation Network)
Tech Tale
An Air Conditioner with a Self-Cleaning Filter (Part 2): “That Feature Isn't Mainstream, You Know”
Embedded Systems Academy
Tutorial of Embedded System (Part 5): Carefully Search for the Cause of Problems You Find
Buyers’ Guide
Low Cost Digital Oscilloscopes
An immense range of stationary digital oscilloscopes priced under \200,000 is now available. While all of them have had their functions pruned in order to cut costs, it is their basic capabilities that distinguish them—their frequency bandwidth, sampling rates and memory size for example. Many oscilloscopes boast high printer and PC connectivity, operability or visibility. Some are attractive for their term of warranty. The range of applications for these low-cost stationary digital oscilloscopes is vast. Of particular note is their recent rise in popularity in the automotive field. The affordable price range is attracting not only industrial users but also individuals, such as electronic enthusiasts, wanting them for personal use.
Guest Paper
White Color LEDs for Lighting Driven by Directly-Connected AC
Moves are underway to raise the overall efficiency of lighting equipment, with attention focusing on the power supply efficiency of lamps employing high-power white light emitting diodes (white power LEDs). The “Acriche” white power LED developed by Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. is a fine example. Ordinarily, white LEDs are powered by direct current (DC), which means an AC-DC converter is required to illuminate them off an alternating current (AC). In comparison, the Acriche is illuminated directly by an AC source. Removing the need for an AC-DC converter eliminates loss in the power supply, where normally 20% of the power supplied or thereabouts would be lost. In terms of luminous efficiency, the Acriche measures 40 lm/W, still lower than normal white power LEDs. But that figure is expected to double to 80 lm/W during 2007, placing it on an equal footing. The Acriche’s improved efficiency could take it past normal white power LEDs when looking at the overall luminous efficiency of a lighting product.
NETs Seminar
How to Provide Internet Services to a TV (Part 2)
The Yahoo! Digital Home Engine is software that enables use of Yahoo! services via appliances, such as DLNA-certified devices, that have the ability to connect to a network, but which are not equipped with an Internet browser. The software includes functions for managing the geographical location of services and adjusting the display of content to suit individual appliances.
NETs Seminar
Accurately Managing the Amount of Lead Impurities in Solder with a Fluorescent X-Ray Analysis Device
TDK Corp., together with Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd., has developed a method for accurately managing the amount of lead impurities in solders using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Many manufacturers are installing such equipment for use in receiving inspection as part of efforts to comply with the RoHS Directive. If accurate analysis can be achieved with this equipment, it will lead to a number of merits.
NETs Seminar
What NTT DoCoMo Thinks about the Evolution of the Mobile Phone (Part 2)
The progression from third generation (3G) to fourth generation (4G) mobile phones is not going to happen overnight. Players in the communications industry are portraying a smooth and gradual transition. The second installment in this three-part series provides an overview of Super 3G communications technology that will form a link between 3G and 4G.
Interview
Sony's Executive Deputy President and Corporate Executive Officer of Semiconductor & Component Group, Yutaka Nakagawa: Even if We Were to Work Hard on Process Technology, the Final Product Won't Be Any Stronger
What's New
- “It Is No Less than a Management Crisis;” NEC Electronics Puts Forth a Restructure Proposal
- Toyota Automatically Changes Map Data for Car Navigation Systems
- The World’s First “Commercial Quantum Computer” Appears Using a New Approach Realizing 16 Qubits
- Seiko NPC Develops a Chip Incorporating 256 Far-Infrared Sensor Elements
- TDK and NEOMAX Each Separately Develop Ferrite Magnets with Increased Magnetism
- Kodak Goes After the Inkjet Printer Market with Pure Ink at Half the Cost
