Stories about: Diodes

Companies are finding themselves embroiled in a power crisis as they struggle to find ways to rein in soaring energy costs -- as well as do their part to address global climate change. However, how can you be certain that the power-saving strategies your company has adopted are, in fact, the best ones? After all, there are plenty of myths out there about saving energy that are patently false. In this report, we examine 10 such myths and bring the truth to light.

The technology behind almost every electronics device in the world, the integrated circuit or IC, celebrated its 50th anniversary on Friday. Its enduring success is thanks in part to two "nice guys" who developed it, and their early efforts to convince an industry that at first reviled their idea.

Plasma is dead. Front and rear projection? Fuggeddaboutit. LCD has a few good years left, and then it's sayonara, baby. TV technology's future lies in tiny phosphorescent molecules.

While universities don't tend to shout as loudly about their latest tech innovations as do Google, Cisco and other big vendors, their results are no less impressive in what they could mean for faster, more secure and more useful networking. Here's a roundup, in no particular order, of some of the most amazing and colorful projects in the works.

Talk about bionic eyes and most people hearken back to the Bionic Woman or other sci-fi shows. Engineers at the University of Washington, however, say it's not all movie magic fantasy.

Apple has filed a patent application for a keyboard that could display an infinite number of symbols on the key tops using organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), according to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's Web site.

The National Science Foundation is funding research that could enable computers to respond to your levels of frustration or boredom. In other words, we're talking about "mind-reading" technology.

A Computing & Information Science Professor from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, has developed an-eye tracking device that is set to revolutionise current billboard and screen advertising sales models, and has the potential to pave the way for a future where personalised ads are pitched direct to individuals.

Over the next 10 years, thin-film polymers and other flexible substrates could change how people think about and use displays. In the future, you may "print out" reports to sheets of e-paper: flexible polymer displays about as thick as a sheet of paper that can be spread out on a desk for easy comparison and analysis and then reused when the work is done. Your PDA or cell phone may incorporate a roll-up display that extends to let you view maps or Web pages on a larger screen. Your laptop may have a secondary display on the back of the case that can maintain any image you choose, such as your schedule and to-do list -- and you'll be able to refer to it even when the laptop is turned off. Some displays may be embedded on a shirt sleeve or curve around a watchband.

Intel's first dual-core chip was a hastily concocted design that was rushed out the door in hopes of beating rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to the punch, an Intel engineer told attendees at the Hot Chips conference Tuesday.

You can hardly pick up a business or IT publication these days without finding someone exhorting Hewlett-Packard to "reinvent" itself.