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Submission + - Quantum Dots Are Behind New Displays (ieee.org)

Submitted by ArmageddonLord
ArmageddonLord writes: "Liquid crystal displays dominate today’s big, bright world of color TVs. But they’re inefficient and don’t produce the vibrant, richly hued images of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, which are expensive to make in large sizes. Now, a handful of start-up companies aim to improve the LCD by adding quantum dots, the light-emitting semiconductor nanocrystals that shine pure colors when excited by electric current or light. When integrated into the back of LCD panels, the quantum dots promise to cut power consumption in half while generating 50 percent more colors. Quantum-dot developer Nanosys says an LCD film it developed with 3M is now being tested, and a 17-inch notebook incorporating the technology should be on shelves by year’s end." --IEEE Spectrum
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Future of Money (ieee.org)

Submitted by ArmageddonLord
ArmageddonLord writes: "Small, out-of-pocket cash exchanges are still the stuff of everyday life. In 2010, cash transactions in the United States totaled US $1.2 trillion (not including extralegal ones, of course). There will come a day, however, when you’ll be able to transfer funds just by holding your cellphone next to someone else’s and hitting a few keys—and this is just one of the ways we’ll wean ourselves off cash. In “The Last Days of Cash,” a special report on the future of money, we describe the various ways that technology is transforming how we pay for stuff; how it’s boosting security by linking our biometric selves with our accounts; and how it’s helping us achieve, at least in theory, an ancient ideal—money that cannot be counterfeited." — IEEE Spectrum

Comment Re:Old smart phone (Score 1) 142

Yes, this is the way to go. Grab an older Android phone.

Fuck micro-controllers, just write an app. It's got wifi, bluetooth, ethernet (I assume that can be done over USB easily), haptic feedback...what else do you want on a hobby board?

Yes the high level of a standard smart phone is very useful. Especially for human interface. And WiFi/BT/ENet/USB for communication with other high level devices.

However, how many user programmable I/O pins does it have? How man AD converters? What if you want to read temperature probes or other analog devices? Or interface with other low level devices? Sure you could design a custom USB device to do that, but now you've defeated the convenience of using a smart phone.

The hardware depends on the application. If the project is primarily for human interface and network communication go for the smart phone. If the project is an electronics project you'll want a development board. Personally I like Teensy, but there are many good ones out there. Check out these neat projects.

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