Copper end use trends

So long as the user writes on paper printed with a special pattern, the smartpen transforms what is written into interactive text. For example, the pen has a recording function, called paper replay, that can record sound and connect it to what the user writes while the sounds are being recorded. Later, the user can tap the pen over what she wrote and replay the associated sounds. "We're starting to make the whole world of printable surfaces accessible and functional,

As you probably are aware, future communications networks will certainly be based on optics. A research team led by Duke University physicists has done an important discovery which might lead to these future super-fast optical communications networks. The team has found a way to store information coming from a beam of light by converting it to sound waves. More importantly, it was able to retrieve it again as light waves. These reversible data transfers from light to sound are today limited to labs. Several years will pass before commercial companies can use this technique because there are still some technical issues to solve. But read more…

Rinspeed’s concept car, sQuba, is set to make its debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show (March 6th thru 16th, 2008). The car is similar to past concepts from Rinspeed in that it also operates in water but, this time, it will be motoring under the surface - acting like a submarine. The sQuba will have two propellers and dual jet drives, thrusting it through water up to 10 meters deep.

The Virtual Cable is the next generation of in-car navigation devices. This gadget uses lasers and mirrors to produce a seemingly real ‘cable’ outside the vehicle’s window to show drivers where to turn.

In a measure to protect their cyclists, the Danish city of Grenå is funding a large-scale project called “See Mi” that will make navigating the city’s busiest streets easier for both cyclists and drivers.  The initiative will see the installation of battery-powered RFIDs in the steering columns of 300 bikes as well as receivers at seven of the city’s most dangerous intersections.

The appeal of online virtual worlds such as Second Life is such that it may trigger an exodus of people seeking to "disappear from reality," an expert on large-scale online games has said.

8. Energy efficiency and demand response generate smart grid savings

Unlike most major auto manufacturer, Porsche doesn’t think the market for hybrids will be very big and has decided against producing the hybrid Panamera executive sports sedan according to Fast Lane Daily.

n interesting article from Japan Market News explores the country’s love for blogging - mobile blogging in particular.  According to the Technorati 2007 “State of the Blogsphere” report, Japanese is the #1 blogging language in the world, accounting for 37% of all blog posts, narrowly edging out English at 36%.

unveiled their Friends List feature today, making awkward introductions between your boss and old fraternity (drinking) buddies at your holiday soiree a thing of the past. Now users can separate their friends into different groups, allowing them to send mass messages and event invitations to specific sets depending on context.  Friends Lists are kept private (so no one’s feelings get hurt), and Facebook says that in 2008 more privacy settings will be added so users can keep some friends and not others from seeing certain profile updates and information.

King’s larger point — that we should act individually to start a cultural shift that re-prioritizes gas guzzlers at the bottom of the desirability list — is probably valid. But broad assumptions about women liking hot cars (and the men who drive them) aside, the idea that one person’s decisions should be unrelated to his or her personal interests runs contrary to free-market models for achieving both personal and societally optimal results. In other words, trying to influence someone else’s consumer choices is far less effective than simply making those choices yourself.

village in India without electricity, residents have to walk 12 miles to a neighbouring town to charge their mobile phones. Poverty and isolation mean that the phones are key to communicating with the outside world in the event of emergencies

the telecom revolution has touched a Dalit village. However, as they get no electricity, some 40 villagers who now have mobile phones, travel at least 20 kilometers everyday just to get their phones charged.

JWT, the world’s fourth largest advertising agency, was originally founded by William James Carlton in 1864 and renamed by James Walter Thompson in 1877 to The James Walter Thompson Company (JWT). It is one of the key companies of Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP Group, headquartered in New York, and has just released its list of 80 things to watch in 2008.

2007 was a pretty eventful year for technology. We saw much to provide us with a warm glow of optimism, not least some incredible tech stock valuations and VC plays. On the downside we also saw some gremlins in the mix, most notably the Facebook Beacon fiasco. What will 2008 have in store?

The London Underground, with its dingy walls and dark, gloomy corridors have been a fantastic location for brands to entertain and uplift their audience with emotive or interesting advertising imagery. But now the digital age is transforming these communication channels with amazing new DEP (digital escalator panels), XTP (cross-track projection), LCD corridor panels and even moving LED panels on buses once people get above ground.

We can use any kind of waste, such as sewage or pig manure, and the microbial fuel cell will generate electrical energy,

Last month, Stanford University materials scientists unveiled a nanowire electrode that could more than triple lithium batteries' energy storage capacity and improve their safety.

Whirlpool is showing its new Plug-and-Play fridge.