Cover Story
Making Products that Can’t Help but Be Liked
When we touch and operate actual products, we involuntarily come to want them. It is the consumer electronics devices which play on user emotions against all logic that become major hits. Conventional development methods that pursue easily quantifiable goals such as the number of functions or high performance are not effective in creating products that generate such involuntary preference. This is because it is difficult to quantify the feelings that lead to users liking a particular product. Japanese manufacturers need to review their existing research and development structures and invest time and money into prototypes and fine-tuning.
Prologue
Why can’t we create an iPhone?
Interview
“90% done” means zero value—Naoto Fukasawa
Searching for the optimal relationship between people and things—Tomoaki Murata
Suggestion
Learning methods from the iPhone and Wii for making consumers naturally like products
Case Studies
This is how sharp features are created—development structures should make reference to existing products
Essay
The dilemma of device development suggested by the iPhone
Special Feature
Remote Controls Progress from Infrared to RF
The market for LCD and plasma display panel televisions continues to grow as TV screens increase in size, and the remote controls used to operate televisions are also being driven forward. The era of domination by infrared operation is about to come to an end. RF remote controls that are as functional as infrared units will appear in large numbers. Some manufacturers are already selling compatible units. As the transition to RF controls progresses, the interior layout of living rooms will change.
Special Feature
Database Software Creates Waves in Embedded Devices
Database management systems (DBMS) have long been used around the world for corporate and Web systems. They are now about to expand into embedded device fields. As storage capacities increase and use of networks grows, the volume of data handled by devices is increasing to previously unseen levels and the proprietary DBMS constructed by device manufacturers are approaching the limits of their functions and maintenance.
Special Feature
Countermeasures for ESD for Mobile Phones with Multiple Functions
In conjunction with the increasing functions incorporated into mobile phones and the use of lower voltages to drive mobile phone LSI, the potential for problems resulting from electrostatic discharge (ESD) is growing. Varistors and diodes are typical examples of ESD protective elements. The number of these protective elements used in mobile phones, including use in combination with EMI filters, is increasing rapidly. Component manufacturers are frantically developing various compound components designed for smaller and thinner handsets.
Guest Paper
Printer Manufacturers’ Inks Last Longer than Replacement Inks
Currently, one of the threats confronting Japanese inkjet printer manufacturers is the emergence of low-price ink refills.The more popular ink refills become, printer manufacturers will be able to rely less on a business model of ensuring profit through sales of their own ink products.Printer manufacturers are trying to differentiate their own designated products from refills by stressing the merits, including a longer storage life for photo prints.Allion Test Labs, Inc., which carries out a variety of quality assurance tests, evaluated the products and found there really is a large difference between maker-designated ink products and refill products in terms of the storage life of printed output.However, printers are not limited to printing just photos.Manufacturers will need to explore other features to clearly distinguish their products from refills.
Documentary
Confessions of a Veteran Engineer (Part 1): “Your Enemy Is Jealousy”
Keyword
Full High Definition
Key Person
SAWA Corp., R&D, Yuichi Tanaka: “One Year after Entering the Company, This Is What I’ve Been Able to Do”
NE Interview
SiRF Technology, Inc., President & CEO, Michael L. Canning: “We Can Put GPS in All Sorts of Devices”
The market for GPS receiver ICs continues to grow. Among the drivers behind this growth are mobile phones and personal/portable navigation devices (PNDs). SiRF Technology, Inc., a United States based semiconductor manufacturer, has ridden the wave of PND demand to increase shipments. Survey results indicate that in 2006, shipments in the automotive semiconductor market grew rapidly by about 70% on a value basis. We asked SiRF Technology’s CEO about future developments.
Tutorial
Introduction to Mobile Power Electronics (Part 10): The Fundamentals of Inverter Circuits (2nd Part)
Following the last installment of this series, we explain the fundamentals of inverter circuits. This time, we examine methods of preventing short circuits in power supplies and three-phase inverter pulse width modulation (PWM) drive methods. We also provide additional explanation concerning brushless DC motors driven by inverters..
Tutorial
1seg Systems (Final): Looking at Communications and Broadcasting Related Examples
Integration of communication and broadcasting can be observed in the form of tie-ups between the two services. 1seg is a collaborative system created jointly by the communications and broadcasting industries. In this final installment of this series, we discuss various structures using examples of collaborative services.
World Report
From Russia: The Hard to See Model of Consumers Is Revealed in Large Scale Interviews
Watcher / Samsung
Samsung Will Resume Large Scale Investment for a Counter-offensive in Memory
News
- Opening Up the New PSP
- Defect Is Detected in the EMC Countermeasures of the Same Type of Elevator Involved in an Accident
- Digital Camera Manufacturer Moves to Use Chip Packaging with Benefits Similar to SiP and SoC
- Seiko Epson Develops COG Technology Able to Implement Narrow Pitch Packaging
