Motorola's QA4 touchscreen slider smartphone is the first commercially available phone to feature virtualisation.

Mobile features hypervisor
The device features Open Kernel Labs' OKL4 embedded hypervisor, which enables Linux and a real time operating system to run concurrently on one ARM processor. Apart from separating GPL and proprietary software code, the move also reduces the phone's bill of materials by $15.

According to OK Labs, the isolation provided by OKL4 when running concurrent operating systems on one processor is the same as running each operating system on a separate processor.


Author
Chris Shaw


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http://www.motorola.com

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Plans for a solar powered racing car – which will cruise at 60mph using the same power as a hairdryer – have been unveiled by students at Cambridge University.

Solar powered car is ultra efficient
The car, codenamed Bethany, is being touted as Britain's brightest hope for the World Solar Challenge; a 3000km race across the Australian Outback.

While energy will be captured by 6m² of high efficiency silicon solar cells, the car will be an ultra efficient electric vehicle, which may provide a model for other forms of green transportation.

"At a time when the automotive industry is being forced to look at a low carbon future, our vehicle demonstrates the enormous potential of energy efficient electric vehicle technologies," said Anthony Law, manager of Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER).

Using computer simulation software, the car's aerodynamics, rolling resistance, weight and electrical efficiency have been optimised to minimise its energy requirements. It will be fitted with an energy efficient hub motor, a control system to provide battery management and an electric braking system which generates energy.

It will weigh just 170kg and its creators estimate that it will require up to 50 times less power than a normal petrol fuelled vehicle.

CUER hopes the innovations in Bethany's design will enable it to put in the best ever performance by a UK manufactured vehicle.

Author
Graham Pitcher


Supporting Information
http://www.cuer.co.uk

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In a bid to strengthen its business during the recession, Axiom Manufacturing Services has invested nearly half a million pounds in management and planning systems.

Investing in electronics despite recession
The Newbridge based CEM plans to use the Sage customer relationship management system for activities such as direct marketing, tender process management and communication activity. The system enables the segmentation and tracking of potential customers and will support the sales and marketing operation for business processes, from enquiry through order creation and service delivery.

The Syspro enterprise resource planning system is designed to assist in the management of inventory, work in progress, sales orders and requirements planning.

Alongside this system, an advanced planning system has also been implemented to provide real time shop floor scheduling and data capture.

Axiom's marketing manager, Jacqui Malpass, said: "I am delighted with the functions the new SAGE and Syspro systems provide. They have really helped enhance our business offering, such as identifying specific marketing opportunities, providing quick and accurate inventory management and rapid data retrieval. Investing now in sophisticated systems like these will help us weather the recession, by maximising resources and reducing our costs. As a busy manufacturer with a diverse client base it is vital that we identify prospects that have a good fit with our business model as the market becomes more challenging."


Author
Chris Shaw


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http://www.axiom-ms.com

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The digital display has been designed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications and, as well as three dimensional sat nav, it presents alerts such as traffic reports, low fuel, engine sppe and velocity.

The 3d images are created by two cameras in the car measuring the position of the driver’s eyes and the distance between them. The realtime images are then superimposed and adapted to the driver’s vision on to the display.

Project manager, Dr René de la Barré, said: “The information most important to the driver at any given time is displayed in the foreground – be it the air pressure, the route or the title of the song currently playing. Before setting off, the driver can choose how he wants the information to be displayed, and can save these preferences.”

A prototype of the 3d dashboard will be exhibited at CeBIT in Hanover, from March 3 2009.


Author
Chris Shaw


Supporting Information
http://www.fraunhofer.de/EN/press/pi/2009/02/ResearchNews022...

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CEVA has announced what it calls a ‘comprehensive’ single core solution for advanced HD audio applications. Called CEVA-HD-Audio, the configurable and programmable platform addresses demanding audio requirements in home entertainment and consumer products.

HD audio supported by single core solution

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Based on the 32bit CEVA-TeakLite-III dsp core running at speeds of up to 550MHz, CEVA-HD-Audio is said to be compact and power efficient.

“Advanced audio capabilities in today’s electronic products require a robust and flexible processing solution,” said Eran Briman, CEVA’s vp of corporate marketing. “CEVA-HD-Audio combines a proven, high performance dsp engine with customised audio implementation capabilities in a single core solution.” CEVA says that, in this way, product developers can implement advanced audio functions more efficiently.

Aimed at products ranging from digital tvs and set top boxes to Blu-ray DVD players with sophisticated post processing functions, the platform includes: a configurable memory subsystem; a set of audio codecs; and a complete software development kit.

Author
Graham Pitcher


Supporting Information
http://www.ceva-dsp.com

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Responding to what it claims is ‘high demand’ in Europe for roof mounted photovoltaic systems, Solyndra has opened a European headquarters.

Up on the roof

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“The commercial rooftops of Europe are an immense opportunity for the generation of solar electricity and are of growing importance with favorable incentive support in many countries,” said Solyndra ceo and founder Dr Chris Gronet. “This move strengthens our ability to serve our customers in the region and allows us to play a greater role in the evolution of the European energy market towards a more sustainable future.”

Solyndra’s thin film PV system is based on proprietary cylindrical modules. The company says these collect more of the available sunlight, allowing ‘significantly more solar electricity’ to be generated from low slope rooftops than conventional flat panel technologies.


Author
Graham Pitcher


Supporting Information
http://www.solyndra.com

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CSR has launched what it describes as ‘the world’s smallest GPS combination device designed for mobile handsets’, the BlueCore BC7830.

Half size

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Measuring 11mm2 in silicon size, the BC7830 includes GPS, Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR, FM transit and receive technologies and support for Bluetooth low energy on a single chip.

The integration is made possible by specifically designing a chip to support multiple radio technologies. In addition, CSR provides small silicon radio designs for any given process geometry node.

CSR’s senior vice president, handset business unit, said: “If we analyse the connectivity growth in handsets, we see the attach rates of Bluetooth, FM and GPS as some of the highest in the mobile handset market. By integrating these three features together in the industry’s smallest device, CSR allows manufacturers to include additional functionality in their devices without sacrificing cost or board space.”

Raj Gawera, CSR’s vice president marketing, handset business unit, added: “Building radio chips on a cmos process is one of the toughest technical challenges in the semiconductor industry. Due to the analogue circuitry, shrinking the size of those chips needs to go beyond the benefits that Moore’s Law can provide. The only way to achieve radical size reduction, and therefore cost reduction, is to have deep innovation at an architectural level – this is what we have achieved through our ‘smart integration’ strategy.”

CSR will be providing the first public demonstrations of BC7830 at Mobile World Congress, February 16th – 19th.

Author
Chris Shaw


Supporting Information
http://www.csr.com

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