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Nanotechnology looks set yield some seemingly magical functionality in the near future, and a recent concept product from Nokia puts most of the technologies that will be viable for handhelds within the next decade into one fascinating instrument. The Morph does just that, being flexible so that it can change shape from candy bar phone to bracelet. It’s also transparent, has self-cleaning surfaces, can sense and observe and even harvest energy from the local environment.

The Morph went on display this week alongside the remarkable "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition, on view from February 24 to May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Morph features in both the exhibition catalog and on MoMA's official website. Be sure to check out the online exhibition here – Gizmag’s readers will love the hours of brain stretching concepts to explore – heartily recommended.

Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes. It demonstrates the ultimate functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. Dr. Bob Iannucci, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia, commented: "Nokia Research Center is looking at ways to reinvent the form and function of mobile devices; the Morph concept shows what might be possible".

The Morph is a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) and the University of Cambridge (UK) and Dr. Tapani Ryhanen, Head of the NRC Cambridge UK laboratory, Nokia, commented, "We hope that this combination of art and science will showcase the potential of nanoscience to a wider audience. The research we are carrying out is fundamental to this as we seek a safe and controlled way to develop and use new materials." Professor Mark Welland, Head of the Department of Engineering's Nanoscience Group at the University of Cambridge and University Director of Nokia-Cambridge collaboration added: "Developing the Morph concept with Nokia has provided us with a focus that is both artistically inspirational but, more importantly, sets the technology agenda for our joint nanoscience research that will stimulate our future work together." The partnership between Nokia and the University of Cambridge was announced in March, 2007 - an agreement to work together on an extensive and long term programme of joint research projects. NRC has established a research facility at the University's West Cambridge site and collaborates with several departments - initially the Nanoscience Center and Electrical Division of the Engineering Department - on projects that, to begin with, are centered on nanotechnology.

Elements of Morph might be available to integrate into handheld devices within 7 years, though initially only at the high-end. However, nanotechnology may one day lead to low cost manufacturing solutions, and offers the possibility of integrating complex functionality at a low price.

If you’re fascinated with this technology, the Guardian has a nice piece with a bit more info.

Stray hairs can get quite irritating especially when you’ve got a date coming up or a social event where plenty of the rich and famous will be in attendance. Well, we suppose if you were actually invited to such an event you would definitely be able to afford the best forms of beauty care, but for folks who are part of the rags-to-riches story and prefer to take on a more DIY approach might prefer to remove these stray hairs themselves without the pruning and preening of some prima donna beautician who costs hundreds of dollars per session. The Easy Trim from Andis Company is a spanking new battery powered personal trimmer which aims to eradicate any stray hair spotted. Measuring a mere 4.5″ long, the Easy Trim is highly portable and slips into a travel bag or purse, ready to trim hair from ears, nose, eyebrows, beards - virtually any spot that requires a quick trim before an encounter where errant hairs might cause embarrassment.

Accordin to Fred Koeller, Vice President of Marketing at Andis, “Easy Trim is about the size of a lipstick. It has a protective cap that covers the blades and is a lot safer than carrying a pair scissors, even small ones, especially when traveling.” Easy Trim will feature surgical stainless steel blades that are recessed, rust proof and a snap to rinse clean after each use. Each purchase will be accompanied by a couple of interchangeable heads, where one will be used for hard to reach areas like ears and noses, while the other for detail trimming on areas like beards and mustaches. This translates to the magic ability to shape eyebrows within seconds.

Powered by a solitary AA battery, the Easy Trim will come with a sleek stand and a five year warranty. Looks like this would make a great gift for dad if he tends to be an hirsute person.

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On 20th of April, ISRO successfully launched its first all-weather radar imaging satellite, RISAT -2. The PSLV-C12 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), carrying 300-kg RISAT and 40-kg micro educational satellite ANUSAT (developed by Anna University) lifted off from ISRO's Satish Dhawan space Centre here at 6:45 am and placed into 550 km orbit around earth.

The PSLV, weighing 230 tonnes at the time of launch, soared into a clear sky from the spaceport in Sriharikota, about 90 km north of Chennai. At the end of the 48-hour countdown, the 44-metre tall four-stage PSLV-C12 blasted off from the second launch pad with the ignition of the core first stage.

RISAT has all-weather capability to take images of the Earth and would also be beneficial in mapping and managing natural disasters, such as floods and landslides, besides amplifying defence surveillance capabilities of the nation. It would also help keep track of ships at seat that could pose a threat.

A jubilant ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said "the year 2009 has started off well. The final moments of the launch were more thrilling than a cricket match as we hit a few boundaries and bowled some googlies." Nair said the performance of the PSLV-C12 launch vehicle was "precise and on the dot".

As per specifications, RISAT is different from previous remote sensing satellites as it uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), equipped with many antennas to receive signals that are processed into high-resolution pictures.

Source : http://www.samaylive.com

Are you waiting for the next wireless broadband technology? It will be a few years before we’ve access to broadband Internet services that are truly wire-free. However, the development of Long Term Evolution (LTE), the evolving 4G technology for high-speed data access over cellular networks, will be under the gun in 2009.
Despite a host of uncertainties about the pace of rollout for this flavour of mobile broadband, IC vendors are busy getting their designs ready for this emerging 4G technology.

Players in the consumer electronics sector want to avoid the mistakes encountered during the rollout of 2.5G and 3G networks, when interoperable handsets were not available in a timely fashion for the upgraded networks.


For LTE, the issue is more likely to be ensuring that LTE-capable devices are available for embedding into PCs and mobile computing devices rather than phones, since the initial emphasis is bound to be on high-speed data transfer rather than better and wider voice coverage. Terminal availability has too often been blamed for slow rollouts, due to endless options that have made the poor handset designers' and manufacturers' lives difficult.

This won't be easy since the standardisation process for LTE has some way to go, even though the important Release 8 for the technology, being devised under the auspices of the 3GP standard group, is due to be finalised this month. But as the industry is well aware, this will not be the end of the story.

There is too much uncertainty regarding the frequency ranges at which LTE will operate—anywhere between 900 MHz to 2.6 MHz. Network topology is also a subject of debate among operators: Will it be targeted at hot-spots only? Will LTE be a rapid replacement for 2G or 3G? Will it be for data only, or data and voice from the outset?

For chip designers, this means the need for greater flexibility and compatibility. Why? LTE is not the only game in town for 4G; mobile WiMAX is slightly ahead of the game. Chip, customer premises equipment (CPE) and terminal designers will need to ensure a single solution for broadband wireless, deploying base band and RF that support both environments.

We should not expect major LTE rollouts before 2010 for use with data cards and 2011 for handsets. The bottom line: LTE is specified to support multiple bands in both time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division, duplex (FDD) modes, and will evolve to be the first truly global standard for mobile data.