Cover Story
Electronic Books: Opening the Door to Major Participants
Sony-Amazon Competition Paves the Way for Other Major Participants
Part 1: Trend
Samsung and Google Enter e-Book Market as it Strides Forward into Growth Phase
Many major corporations are rushing into the e-book market. Amazon.com, the market leader, and Sony are providing opportunities to the many companies that want to enter the market and spelling out the conditions for success.
Part 2: Terminals
Besides Dedicated Terminals, Many Other Devices Also Available, from Cellphones to Netbooks
Dedicated terminals will not be the only devices in the market capable of reading e-books. Devices equipped with 3+- to 11+-inch displays, such as cellphones and netbooks, are also viable candidates. These various devices will likely coexist, thanks to the need for a variety of usage modes.
Part 3: Electronic paper
E Ink's Monopoly Ending, Challenged by U.S. Venture-Funded Companies with Proprietary LCDs
While most existing e-book terminals use E Ink's electronic paper, the situation is about to change drastically. Multiple competing technologies are entering the commercialization phase, meaning more choices for terminal manufacturers and more opportunities to offer various unique features.
Special Feature
SID 2009 Competition Focused on Flexible Displays, Low Power Consumption, and 3D Displays
Two extraordinary events occurred at the recent SID. The first was a drastic reduction in the number of attendees, which left the venue almost deserted. The second was a nearly complete shift away from the traditional simple drive toward larger size, thinner profile, and higher resolution.Competition was newly focused on flexible displays, low power consumption, and 3D display. Flexible electronic paper and organic EL panels created using a printing method are getting closer to commercialization. In the area of liquid crystal technology, attention was focused on the reflective type, which is extremely low in power consumption. It also became clear that 3D-display manufacturers are all fine-tuning their new technologies in preparation for the introduction of Blu-ray Discs that are compatible with 3D movies, which are scheduled to become available in 2010.
Partnerships Leading to Innovations
The unfortunate fact that internal R&D results often do not lead to real products is a common problem for many companies. Recently, the concept of creating new technical innovations by combining both internal and external R&D results is beginning to draw attention. This is the so-called “open innovation” concept. What do major R&D-intensive corporations such as NEC and IBM think of collaboration with outsiders? Through a group discussion that includes one of the main advocates of this concept, we explore the issue of technical innovation that manufacturers face.
Invited Paper
Red Semiconductor Laser with Output Exceeding 7W Achieved
Smaller, Higher-Quality Projectors Becoming a Reality
In August 2008, Sony announced its newly developed red semiconductor laser, whose light output is as high as 7.2 W. When used in a projector, this laser can output enough power to project images onto a movie-theater size screen. Its oscillation wavelength is 635 nm, capable of providing high luminosity.Compared to the various other lasers in this wavelength band, the light output of the new laser is exceedingly large.Furthermore, considering its output of more than 1W, Sony has managed to produce this new laser in a very small package.
NE Academy
Practical Measurement Seminar ― Part 4: Uncertainty of Spectrum Analyzers
A spectrum analyzer is a type of measurement instrument used for measuring signals in the high-frequency range, such as microwaves and millimeter waves.To calculate the uncertainty of measurements made using this instrument, one must fully understand the measurement method used because of its influence on the factors that must be considered in calculating uncertainty.Measurement methods can be roughly classified into the following two types: the analog IF method and the digital IF method.In this session, we explain how to calculate the uncertainty involved in the digital IF method.
Embedding Tutorial ― Period II, Session 8: Learning the Peer Review Method
Interview
Broadcom Corp., President, Chief Executive Officer Scott McGregor: The Patent System Must be Reformed
Documentary
Programmer Kunihiro Ishiguro’s Creation (Part 1 of 2): Captivated by “Emacs” and Learning from Open Source
ACCESS is a company that develops embedded software such as web browsers. Kunihiro Ishiguro, who became CTO of the company, is a well-known, talented programmer capable of writing tens of thousands of lines of source code in a single month.Ishiguro says, “The Internet is boring.It should be much more interesting.” He is qualified to make such a claim because he believes in the true potential of the Internet and continues doggedly plugging away to help it advance.How was Ishiguro's belief system formed? We attempt to answer this question in a two-part series of articles.
Keyword
Wind Power Generation
Driving Force behind Wind Power Popularization Shifts from Europe to the U.S. and China
Closeup
Cars: Drive Recorder Market Picking Up Speed, Helped by Adoption in Regular Cars
Parts and Materials: Rising Expectations for Pico Projectors
Embedded Software: ET ROBOCON Now a Major Industry Event
NE Reports
- Unexpected Problem in Central Function of DoCoMo’s New Product
- Toyota Industries Corporation Shrinks PCU Cooling Mechanism for New Prius by 1/3
- VLSI Symposium Report: SSDs Achieve Higher Density and Higher Speed
- Samsung Electro-Mechanics Getting Aggressive in MLCC and Substrates with Embedded Parts
- 1Gbps Infrared Communication Introduced; “IrUSB” Specifications Expected by Next Spring
- Taking Apart the SH002, a Mobile Phone with Built-In Solar Cells
