Comment Re:Who would buy a smart TV? (Score 2) 59
At this point in time it is difficult to purchase a 4K TV without the 'smart' feature.
Comment Re:The youtube of... (Score 1) 70
You can purchase many microcontrollers preprogrammed at the factory. The PIC is one such example. With low cost parts like these assembly is going to be a significant cost. The 555 may have been the best choice in the past but it has a lot of issues of its own. Reduced supply voltages, low power requirements and limited board space is likely to drive a designer to use something else.
Comment Re:Now What? (Score 2, Insightful) 415
Embedded and industrial machines typically have the old interfaces linger much longer then consumer boards. I have finally given up on an ISA instrument board I had used since the 90s. It is still possible to find hardware with ISA slots just not very powerful. PCI will certainly follow the same path.
Comment Binoculars are still restricted (Score 1) 282
There are still similar restrictions on tools such as using binoculars to look into peoples windows. Even if thermal imaging becomes much more common place it is hard to see how it would not be any less restricted.
"See-Through" Touchscreen Solves Fat Finger Problem 170
Urchin sends along a New Scientist writeup on Microsoft Research's nanoTouch prototype, a way of operating a touch screen from the rear (video here). The prototype will be presented at the Computer and Human Interaction conference in Boston, Mass., in April 2009. Coming soon to a wristwatch or neck pendant near you. "Electronic devices have been shrinking for years, but you might be forgiven for thinking that one that's only a centimeter across would be just too difficult to operate. Microsoft Research's new nanoTouch device suggests otherwise. Touch-screens are difficult to control with any precision — the fingers get in the way of the tiny targets you're trying to hit. But putting the touch interface on the rear of the screen instead gives users more precision because they can still see the whole screen as they interact with it. Microsoft Research has produced a prototype device called nanoTouch with a rear-mounted touch interface. User tests show it lets users accurately and reliably hit targets just 2 millimeters across on a screen under a centimeter across."
Comment Re:USB (Score 1) 696
Choose a power supply that has a zero load requirement. There are a few on the market.
Why waste the power if you don't have to.
Most chargers of the wall wart variety are very inefficent. A switcher with properly chosen resistor based regulator is going to be no worse.
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One good reason why computers can do more work than people is that they never have to stop and answer the phone.
