2013年4月23日 星期二

Your Next Smartphone Screen May Be Made of Sapphire

 

Why It Matters

 http://www.technologyreview.com/news/512411/your-next-smartphone-screen-may-be-made-of-sapphire/

Gorilla Glass is great, but iPhone screens can still shatter

 

Your Next Smartphone Screen May Be Made of Sapphire

Manufactured sapphire is incredibly strong and scratch resistant. Now falling costs and technology improvements could make it competitive with glass.
Manufactured sapphire—a material that’s used as transparent armor on military vehicles—could become cheap enough to replace the glass display covers on mobile phones. That could mean smartphone screens that don’t crack when you drop them and can’t be scratched with keys, or even by a concrete sidewalk.
Sapphire, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide, probably won’t ever be as cheap as Gorilla Glass, the durable material from Corning that’s used to make screens on iPhones and other smartphones. A Gorilla Glass display costs less than $3, while a sapphire display would cost about $30. But that could fall below $20 in a couple of years thanks to increased competition and improving technology, says Eric Virey, an analyst for the market research firm Yole Développement. And since sapphire performs better than glass, that price could make it cheap enough to compete, he says.
Sapphire is harder than any other natural material except diamond; by some measures, it’s three times stronger than Gorilla Glass, and it is also about three times more scratch resistant. That’s why Apple uses it now to protect the camera on its iPhone 5. Virey says that all major mobile-phone makers are considering using sapphire to replace glass. “I’m convinced that some will start testing the water and release some high-end smartphones using sapphire in 2013,” he says.
An alternative to using pure sapphire is to laminate an ultrathin layer of sapphire with another, cheaper transparent material, maintaining much of the performance advantage of sapphire at a cost comparable to that of the glass typical in mobile-phone displays.
For this purpose, GT Advanced Technologies, based in Nashua, New Hampshire, is developing a method for making sapphire sheets thinner than a human hair—much thinner than the nearly millimeter-thick glass used now on mobile phones. (The technology, originally developed for making very thin solar cells, was acquired from Twin Creeks Technologies. See “Startup Aims to Cut the Cost of Solar Cells in Half.”)
GT is also cutting the cost of sapphire manufacturing by following the strategy that it used over the last several years to reduce the cost of making crystalline silicon for solar cells.
To make the sapphire, aluminum oxide is melted down in a specialized furnace and then allowed to slowly cool to form a large crystal. That crystal is then cut with a diamond-coated wire saw. GT designs its furnaces so that they can be cheaply upgraded to make ever larger crystals as the technology improves, allowing customers to increase production without buying new equipment.
GT is more optimistic about prices than Virey, estimating that sapphire displays might cost only three to four times as much as those made from Gorilla Glass. People at the company say prices will fall further as GT improves its furnaces, and as the manufacturers that buy those furnaces streamline their operations.
Several other companies with proprietary technologies are also lowering the cost of sapphire, including Rubicon Technologies in the United States, Monocrystal in Russia, and Sapphire Technology in South Korea. If costs can get low enough, these manufacturers may have a large market waiting for them. But they’ll have to continue to contend with the incumbent technologies—Gorilla Glass and similar materials offered by other manufacturers. This year Corning introduced a new version of the material that it says is about twice as resistant to scratches. It could be in products later this year.

2013年4月20日 星期六

Google Person Finder


波士頓爆炸案中的科技救助
紐約時報中文網財經評論員鄔靜娜 2013年04月20日








波士頓馬拉松爆炸案後,谷歌公司(Google Inc.)因其快速響應,啟動尋人服務Person Finder而受到高度讚揚。新浪科技(tech.sina.com.cn)援引社交網絡Google+(plus.google.com)上的相應評論 稱,用戶向谷歌致敬,認為這是“科技的力量實時滿足了實際需求”。截至發稿前,新浪科技這條微博被轉發8534條、評論近1400條,大多數人在認可谷歌 的同時,也希望中國科技公司能盡到同樣的社會責任。

科技公司積極介入重大災難事件,谷歌是一個典範。此前在2010年海地地震、2011年的新西蘭基督城地震和日本海嘯中,谷歌Person Finder都曾經被使用過。此次波士頓爆炸案中,根據公開報道,除Person Finder外,谷歌還提供了一張表格,波士頓居民可以填寫這張表格以暫時收留有需要的人住宿;同時谷歌地圖還上傳了爆炸發生地的地圖。由於在2010年 1月宣布退出中國內地,目前谷歌公司的大多數服務在中國境內都不能正常訪問,但谷歌的Person Finder服務近期卻能成功訪問。


按圖放大


Charles Krupa/Associated Press


波士頓馬拉松賽爆炸案發後,醫療工作人員在救助傷員。





北京時間4月16日上午5點多,即爆炸後發生兩個多小時,谷歌推出了波士頓馬拉松爆炸案尋人專頁(Person Finder:Boston Marathon Explosions)。頁面上包含“我要尋人”(I’m looking for someone)和“我有某人的消息”(I have information about someone)兩個按鈕,有不同訴求的人可以分別點擊進入頁面,提交包括姓名在內的資料,然後由谷歌技術平台進行信息匹配。它支持40多種語言,並允許 嵌入到新聞機構、非營利組織等第三方網站中,以便能擴大傳播面。

谷歌Person Finder下設了“波士頓馬拉松爆炸案”專頁,目前這個服務頁面上已經有了5500條信息。這為爆炸發生後一度受到手機通信故障困擾的波士頓人,提供了 另一種找到親友的方式。微博賬號@xiaomansun在4月16日中午12點46分寫道,通過谷歌的這一服務確認了好朋友一家平安,當時“打電話沒接, 短消息、郵件也沒有回復”。

谷歌稱,Person Finder的靈感可以追溯到2005年颶風“卡特里娜”(Hurricane Katrina)過後,當時多個網站實行失蹤人口登記,以便為受災家庭和義工們提供信息服務。谷歌Person Finder是谷歌非營利部門(Google.org)下屬危機響應系統(Google Crisis System)的一個項目。谷歌表示,Person Finder數據庫中的所有數據對所有人開放,但該公司並不為數據準確性負責,並且數據僅保留一年。

谷歌Person Finder並非在波士頓馬拉松爆炸案中唯一發揮作用的科技產品,谷歌也並非積極介入的唯一一家科技公司。爆炸發生後,波士頓警察局的Twitter帳號 (@Boston_Police)一直在更新信息,包括給予逃生和救援指導;Twitter、Facebook及旗下的照片分享應用Instagram, 以及視頻網站YouTube都成為現場對外發佈信息,外界了解現場狀況的重要渠道。

有賴於移動互聯網和手機技術的進步,目擊者現場拍攝的照片和視頻成為了當地警方調查此次爆炸案的重要線索來源。中國女留學生劉寬在她的微博(@kiva寬)上說,她當時正在波士頓馬拉松比賽現場拍攝紀錄片,包含有她全部影像資料的攝像機也被當地警方拿走作為調查資料。

在中國國內的重大災害事件中,也出現了不少本土科技企業的身影,儘管他們在響應速度上和服務完備性上,和谷歌等美國公司相比仍有很大差距。2008 年汶川地震後,國內科技公司包括百度、騰訊、搜狗、天涯社區、豆瓣以及各大門戶網站都推出了類似的服務,主要是尋人和報平安,不過沒有定位服務。當時它們 也成為震後找尋求友、協同救災的重要信息平台。

迄今仍能找到百度於2008年5月14日在類似公告欄的百度貼吧里搭建的“汶川地震尋人——讓我知道你還好”專頁,當時就已經能實現按人名搜索以及發佈尋人信息的功能,這個模塊也可以嵌入到第三方的網站中。 根據專註報道互聯網的網絡媒體鞭牛士(www.bianews.com)的統計,震後10天里,百度貼吧裡面的汶川地震專頁的發帖量每天平均增長52.1%;截至當年5月21日,已經彙集了16.1萬個帖子,其中大多數是尋人帖和報平安帖,還有諸如醫療機構發佈的傷員名單等。

百度也在2011年2月推出了類似谷歌Person Finder的“百度尋人”(xunren.baidu.com)公益開放平台,不過這個項目的對象是失蹤兒童與流浪兒童,百度尋人還有手機版並支持人臉 識別技術。百度官方稱,百度尋人的數據庫及其產品均對社會開放,但這個項目並不為大多數人所熟知。對中國人而言,科技介入災難響應的最近的記憶應該是 2012年7月21日的北京暴雨。新浪微博當時的統計顯示,截至2012年7月22日凌晨,根據微博網友的求助線索,北京消防部門在重災區北京市房山區累 計營救出410名人員。

How Facial Recognition Tech Could Help Trace Terrorism Suspects (Tom Simonite)

How Facial Recognition Tech Could Help Trace Terrorism Suspects

The FBI could use software to help identify suspects, and more advanced techniques are around the corner.
The FBI appealed to the public Thursday for help identifying two men shown in pixilated photos and video footage who are suspected of involvement in Monday’s bomb attacks in Boston.

The two men, now identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, brothers originally from Chechnya, were involved in a dramatic shootout with police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday night. The pair robbed a 7/11 and killed an MIT police officer before hijacking a car and engaging police in pitched battles in the suburb of Watertown. The older of the two men, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed during a shootout with police while his younger brother, Dzhokhar, remains on the run as of Friday morning.

Experts say the FBI could have used images from the scene of Monday’s bombing—together with facial recognition software—to search through identity databases. The approach is likely to become more common in the future as new technology makes using facial recognition on surveillance and bystander imagery more reliable.

Deploying facial recognition software in the Boston investigation isn’t straightforward because the images available are very different from the evenly lit, frontal, passport-style photos stored in law enforcement databases. Such mug shots can be matched with about 99 percent accuracy, says Anil Jain, a professor at Michigan State expert who works on facial recognition, a figure that falls to about 50 percent for images of good quality but with added complications such as a person wearing a hat or glasses.

Attempting facial recognition on images like those released by the FBI Thursday is out of the question, Jain says. However, there may be other images and videos available that contain a better view that could be high quality enough, he says. “You could search all the other images based on clothing,” he says, “[and then] you could locate the same person and collect multiple images.”

Such a search could be done manually, but the FBI also likely has access to software that could speed the process by matching images and video footage that show the same scene or area, says Brian Martin, director of biometric research at MorphoTrust, a company that provides facial recognition technology to the FBI and the U.S. Department of Defense.

An image found amongst the many provided by witnesses and surveillance cameras wouldn’t have to be a perfect mug shot, either, says Martin. “There are numerous techniques to clean up an image,” he says. “You could improve the resolution, correct shadows, or rotate the pose of the face.”

Facial recognition algorithms struggle once a person’s face is turned by more than about 20 degrees, says Martin, but software from his company can correct turns of up to 45 degrees. It does this using built-in knowledge of facial geometry and by filling in the hidden side of a face by copying from the visible side.

Still, even if the FBI is able to find a photo to submit to its facial recognition search system, it won’t return just a single name, even if the person is on file. “With this type of situation you’re trying to generate leads,” says Martin, and agents would expect to manually screen a list of tens or hundreds of possible matches.

The FBI and other law enforcement and security agencies will see a growing opportunity to use facial recognition, as the volume and quality of surveillance camera and bystander imagery from cell phones grows. That trend is encouraging, and sometimes directly funding, companies like MorphoTrust and academics like Jain to work on technologies that could see facial recognition used routinely in criminal investigations both major and minor.
Martin’s team at MorphoTrust is working on making software better able to handle the kind of images that appear in surveillance and bystander data. “In a case like this you don’t typically get a good frontal view that’s well-lit,” says Martin. “We’re trying to push the boundaries so you can compensate for things like a face more than 45 degrees off to the side.”

With funding from the FBI, Jain at Michigan State is working on software for matching faces from low quality surveillance video against existing image databases. Another project is developing a system that can search a database of faces for a match with a sketch drawn by a forensic artist or a partial or outdated photo.

Other researchers are testing more fundamental rethinks of facial recognition algorithms. Marios Savvides, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon and director of its Cylab Biometrics Center, has developed technology that can create an accurate high-resolution image of a face from a poor resolution one, and which can correct for faces turned partly away from the camera.

Savvide’s software matches faces turned to the side by working out what the faces on file would look like when turned by the same angle, and also by tracking features that are still visible. That avoids having to assume the hidden side of a face matches the visible one, as with in MorphoTrust’s technology, says Saviddes.

“Many cases today, like in Boston and other crimes, law enforcement have low-resolution, off-angle images they can’t do anything with,” says Saviddes, “but we can change that.”

2013年4月13日 星期六

Tiny Chiplets: A New Level of Micro Manufacturing

Tiny Chiplets: A New Level of Micro Manufacturing

微型芯片:開啟數碼製造的技術革命

Amy Sullivan/PARC
微小的硅片經放大後的模樣,這種被稱為「微型芯片」的硅片大小不及一粒沙子。An enlarged view of small slivers of silicon, each no larger than a grain of sand, called chiplets. Using laser printers, Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center may one day be able to create desktop manufacturing plants that use chiplets to “print” the circuitry for a wide array of electronic devices.

加利福尼亞州帕洛阿爾托——在顯微鏡下,四個硅片——被稱為微型芯片(chiplets)的電子電路——表演了一支複雜動感的舞蹈,彷彿是受控於一個隱藏的木偶大師。接着,它們按照指令精準地排列出一個電路圖案,每一個硅片都位於正確的接觸點。
在施樂公司(Xerox)的帕洛阿爾托研究中心(Palo Alto Research Center,簡稱PARC)展示的這項技術,是一種新型電子產品製造系統的一部分。該系統借鑒了施樂公司在上世紀70年代的發明:激光打印機。

這項技術一旦完善,就可以成就一個桌面製造廠,為各種的電子設備“打印”電路,這些設備包括有彈性的智能手機,即使你坐在上面也不會破;還有新型機器手的柔軟、敏感皮膚;以及具備智能感應功能的醫用繃帶,能收集你的健康數據,用後即可丟棄。

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Under a microscope, four slivers of silicon — electronic circuits called chiplets — perform an elaborate, jerky dance as if controlled by a hidden puppet master. Then on command, they all settle with pinpoint accuracy, precisely touching a pattern of circuit wires, each at just the right point of contact.
The technology, on display at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center, or PARC, is part of a new system for making electronics, one that takes advantage of a Xerox invention from the 1970s: the laser printer.
今天的芯片是用大片的晶圓(wafer)製造的,每片晶圓上都有數百個指甲蓋大小的晶粒(die),每個晶粒里都有相同的電路。這些晶圓被切割成獨立的晶粒後會分別封裝,然後再在印刷電路板上重新組合,每個電路板都可能容納幾十甚至幾百個芯片。

PARC的研究人員則在設想一種截然不同的模型。在美國國家科學基金(National Science
Foundation)和國防高級研究計劃局(Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,簡稱Darpa)的資助下,他們設計出一個類似激光打印機的機器,能精確地將幾萬乃至幾十萬個微型芯片準確地放在一個平面的正確位置上,每 個微型芯片的大小不超過一粒沙子。

這些芯片可以是微處理器或計算機內存,還可以是製造完整計算機系統所需的其他電路。它們也可以是微機電系統(microelectromechanical systems,簡稱MEMS)一類的模擬器件,用於感應溫度、壓力或運動。

在PARC研究人員的設想里,這種新型製造系統可被用來製造定製的計算機,每次僅製造一台,也可以被用作3D打印系統的一部分,以製造直接內置計算機系統的智能設備。

這仍是一項未來技術。研究人員還需要多年才能在比一秒還要短很多的時間裡同時把數萬或數十萬個電路放在準確的位置。他們也承認,要想製造出可堪商用的系統,這只是第一步。

然而,如果PARC的研究人員獲得成功,他們將顛覆硅谷50年來的傳統智慧。
生產射頻標識(RFID)設備的硅谷企業Alien Technology在另一項類似但相對簡單的技術上佔據着前沿地位。這種被稱為流體自組裝(Fluidic Self Assembly)的基本概念是讓一種稱為“納米塊”的小型集成電路懸浮在液體中,然後在一個平面上流淌,納米塊隨即掉入跟自己的形狀相符的小孔中。

五十年來,計算機生產的傳統思維是以每兩年翻一番的速度把更多的晶體管塞到指甲蓋大小的芯片中,從而讓計算機更快、更強大。而上述的兩種思路都徹底顛覆了這種思維。
這種新生的印刷技術提出了一個離經叛道的理念:為什麼一定要把儘可能多的晶體管塞到一個小空間里,為什麼不把晶體管塗抹在一個更大的平面上呢?

此外,這項研究也許會對經濟產生極其巨大的影響——在製造業開啟一個全新的數碼時代,堪比30年前激光打印技術在出版業掀起的革命。

這種技術可以取代現在需要工廠才能組裝的電路板,對現在這個遍布全球、需要僱傭成千上萬工人的供應鏈進行大幅壓縮。

同時它也是眾多和3D打印相關的技術之一,後者是公眾極為關注的領域,已經有人開始擔心今後一切都可以在家裡製造——從工具到槍支。

去年12月,麻省理工學院(MIT)比特和原子研究中心(Center for Bits and Atoms)負責人、物理學家尼爾·葛申菲爾德(Neil Gershenfeld)在《外交事務》(Foreign Affairs)雜誌上撰文稱:“數碼製造技術可以根據個人需求,在任何地點、任何時間去設計和製造實體物品。”
在原型設計領域,固體、機械物件的3D打印已經開始被大規模應用,這種技術在小規模生產領域也越來越普及,而PARC的科學家們認為,最終將會有一系列的製造技術,將微電子設備和機械元件無縫融合在一起。

“你可以打印機械物件,但是如今的世界裡很多東西不全是機械性的,”PARC主管史蒂芬·胡沃爾(Stephen Hoover)說,“如何以低廉的成本將智能大規模嵌入到世界中,將是‘物聯網’中大有可為的一個領域。”

PARC構想的新製造系統會更易於定製。比如說,就像我們現在可以用軟件來定製一台電腦的用途,未來的電腦可以根據它即將併入的系統來確定每台電腦的形狀。或許在未來電腦只是一個部件而已,成為3D打印系統的部件編目中的一項。

PARC電機工程師尤金·周(Eugene Chow)帶領的團隊設計了一種新技術,他們稱之為“靜電干印微組裝”。周說這種技術把晶圓分成幾萬個微型芯片,像“墨水”一樣裝在瓶子里,然後“打印”,跟施樂激光打印機在紙面上留下色粉差不多。

在計算機輔助下,PARC的這項技術會利用一系列可以產生微電場的電極來控制微小電路的精確定位——不但要在正確的位置上,還要以正確的方向來擺放。
“這是一個瘋狂的革命性新工具,”周博士說。
翻譯:經雷、陶夢縈


If perfected, it could lead to desktop manufacturing plants that “print” the circuitry for a wide array of electronic devices — flexible smartphones that won’t break when you sit on them; a supple, pressure-sensitive skin for a new breed of robot hands; smart-sensing medical bandages that could capture health data and then be thrown away.
Today’s chips are made on large wafers that hold hundreds of fingernail-sized dies, each with the same electronic circuit. The wafers are cut into individual dies and packaged separately, only to be reassembled on printed circuit boards, which may each hold dozens or hundreds of chips.
The PARC researchers have a very different model in mind. With financing from the National Science Foundation and from Darpa, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, they have designed a laser-printer-like machine that will precisely place tens or even hundreds of thousands of chiplets, each no larger than a grain of sand, on a surface in exactly the right location and in the right orientation.
The chiplets can be both microprocessors and computer memory as well as the other circuits needed to create complete computers. They can also be analog devices known as microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, that perform tasks like sensing heat, pressure or motion.
The new manufacturing system the PARC researchers envision could be used to build custom computers one at a time, or as part of a 3-D printing system that makes smart objects with computing woven right into them.
The technology is still in the future. The researchers are years from simultaneously placing tens or hundreds of thousands of circuits accurately in a fraction of a second. And they acknowledge that this would be only the first step in designing a commercially viable system.
Still, if the PARC researchers are successful, they will have thrown out 50 years of Silicon Valley conventional wisdom.
A related but simpler technology was pioneered by Alien Technology, a maker of RFID tags in Silicon Valley. Called Fluidic Self Assembly, it is based on suspending small integrated circuits called “nanoblocks” in a fluid and then flowing them over a surface where they drop into tiny holes of corresponding shapes.
Both approaches reverse a five-decade long tradition of making computers faster and more powerful by doubling every two years the number of transistors squeezed onto fingernail-sized computer chips.
The emerging printing technology poses a heretical idea: Rather than squeezing more transistors into the same small space, why not smear the transistors across a much larger surface?
Moreover, the research could have tremendous economic consequences — feeding the emergence of a new digital era in manufacturing, much as laser printing transformed publishing three decades ago.
By replacing the circuit boards now assembled in factories, the technology would vastly compress a supply chain that spans the globe and employs hundreds of thousands of workers.
It is one of a variety of technologies related to 3-D printers, which have captured the public’s imagination, raising the specter of homemade manufacturing of everything from tools to guns.
“Digital fabrication will allow individuals to design and produce tangible objects on demand, wherever and whenever they need them,” Neil Gershenfeld, a physicist who directs the Center for Bits and Atoms at M.I.T., wrote in December in the journal Foreign Affairs.
While there has already been an explosion in 3-D printing of solid and mechanical objects both for prototyping and increasingly for small production runs, PARC’s scientists believe that there will also ultimately be an ensemble of manufacturing technologies that seamlessly blend microelectronics with mechanical components.
“You can print mechanical objects, but a lot of things in the world today are more than mechanical,” said Stephen Hoover, PARC’s chief executive. “A lot of the opportunities we’re going to find in the ‘Internet of things’ are going to be about how to embed intelligence at very low cost in a distributed way into the world.”
The new manufacturing system the PARC researchers envision would allow easier customization. For example, just as today software customizes computers for each purpose, computers in the future could be individually shaped for each system they were added to. Or in the future the computer could just be another part, to be added to the component inventory of a 3-D printing system.
Eugene Chow is an electrical engineer who leads the PARC team that has designed the new technology that they have dubbed “Xerographic micro-assembly.” The technology breaks silicon wafers into tens of thousands of chiplets, bottles them as “ink” and then “prints” them, much as a Xerox laser printer puts toner on paper, he said.
The PARC technology is based on the ability to use computing and an array of electrodes that generate microscopic electrical fields to control the precise placement of tiny electronic circuits — not just in the correct position, but with the proper orientation as well.
“It’s a crazy new revolutionary tool,” Dr. Chow said.

2013年4月11日 星期四

htc 再起機會: the One - the most beautiful Android phone you've ever seen.

Computer Sales in Free Fall

 

 

The HTC One Deserves Its Place in the Spotlight
By DAVID POGUE
HTC should grab the headlines with its newest phone, the One - the most beautiful Android phone you've ever seen.

HTC Makes the One the Android to Beat

New Phone Has Sharp Display, UltraPixel Camera and Features Such as Special Video Clips, News Feed


HTC is trying to make a comeback in the smartphone world with its new Android phone HTC One. The $200 device that will hit the market on April 19 is "very slick and elegant," Katherine Boehret says in her review.
In the crowded world of Android, it pays to be bold. HTC has spent years pairing its striking hardware designs with memorable software overlays for Android. But Samsung has surged ahead with a few bold moves of its own.
The HTC One has a sharp display, an ultra-pixel camera and features such as special video clips and news feed, Katie Boehret says on digits. Photo: Getty Images.
In an attempt to get some of its mojo back, HTC created a new smartphone with an old name: the HTC One. This $200 device (with two-year contract) will be available on April 19 from AT&T T +0.94% and Sprint. AT&T will also offer a $300 device with twice the memory, and a T-Mobile model is coming later this spring.
I enjoyed using an AT&T model and can recommend it to anyone looking for a new Android phone. It comes loaded with the latest version of Android and HTC's usual Sense software overlay, which makes the One look and behave differently than other Android smartphones. In the future, the HTC One will be able to run Facebook FB +1.62% Home, which puts the social network front and center. And I captured several extraordinary photos with this smartphone's camera.
Still, it wasn't flawless. I found the Back and Home icons didn't always glow when I used the Facebook app, leaving me wondering how to navigate away from the app. And icons on the camera screen didn't change from horizontal to vertical when I held the phone in portrait view. HTC attributed the former to a light sensor that may need tweaking and the latter to a bug it plans to fix via a software update later this year.
HTC
HTC One has a 4.7-inch touch screen that rivals the iPhone 5 and a high-quality camera.

Personal Technology

If looks are important to you, you'll like this smartphone's design. It's elegant and thin with a curved back that's made to fit your palm. With a 4.7-inch touch screen at 468 pixels per inch, this display outshines Apple's iPhone 5 and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4. Its aluminum build gives it a sturdy feel—but makes it slightly heavier than the S4 and iPhone 5. The One's aluminum back felt a bit slippery at times and I dropped it on several occasions.
Voice calls sounded crisp and clear and though I didn't perform a formal battery test, I found myself using the One for a full day without a recharge. AT&T's 4G LTE network proved speedy for email, Web browsing and various apps, including Google GOOG +0.03% Maps for navigation around Washington, D.C. In downtown D.C., my average download speed was 14.5 megabits per second, peaking at 18.78 MBPS, while uploads averaged 9.84 MBPS. This isn't quite as fast as Verizon's LTE, but it wasn't enough to notice any drag.
The HTC One camera aims to dispel the megapixel myth that has flummoxed people—that a higher megapixel count always equals better photos. This smartphone's camera is measured at 2 UltraPixels, which are larger than ordinary pixels and are designed to capture better quality images. HTC uses a better sensor that can capture 300% more light than many 13-megapixel cameras, an improved processor and optical-image stabilization, among other things.
I was skeptical at first. But I captured shots in a dark room with the lights off that looked crisp and clear—not blurry or washed out by a flash. I took a photo of someone in a dimly lit chapel and it looked as if the person was in a room with plenty of light.
Outside on a sunny day, this camera was just showing off. I captured many shots of spring flowers and a cherry blossom tree, sunlight glistening on flower petals and tree branches. Of the three smartphones in my bag, I repeatedly reached for the HTC One to take photos.
If you aren't crazy about capturing videos that take up a lot of storage space on your phone, Zoes might be your speed. These are 3-second videos that are captured by shifting the camera capture button to Zoe. I took several Zoes, but found them unsatisfying. I captured a train whizzing by, flowers blowing in the wind and my husband making a funny face. They showed up in my phone's photo gallery as moving pictures that reminded me of those portraits that hang on the walls in Harry Potter movies. Yet, I didn't know quite what to do with them.
Enter HTC Zoe Share. This is a smart option that shares many photos and Zoes at once. Shares are emailed via a Web link that lasts for 180 days. I shared these links from my phone with friends who used computers, iPhones and iPads to open them.
The Zoes appeared mixed in with the still shots in an on-screen collage. But if you're not using HTC Zoe Share, these three-second Zoe clips are pretty much stuck on your phone. If you try to share them via Facebook or Twitter, they appear as still images that can't be emailed. And why would you really want to share just three seconds of anything?
A new interface called BlinkFeed appears on the HTC One's home screen with a tap on its tile-like icon. BlinkFeed is meant to give you bits of information as you glance down at your phone in line at the coffee shop or while in the elevator.
You set up BlinkFeed to display content from news sources of your choice like the Associated Press, Huffington Post, ESPN and others. These feeds can be mixed in with your Twitter and Facebook news feeds.
The BlinkFeed design is attractive, showing photos and text in a Flipboard-like mesh that you can quickly scroll up or down. To read more about an article, tap on it to see a short summary, then follow a link to read the entire article.
Those looking for a new take on Android, and especially a better smartphone camera, should consider the HTC One.
—Email katie.boehret@wsj.com

2013年4月3日 星期三

太陽能垃圾桶




英國早在2011 年已試用太陽能垃圾桶,不僅降低人工成本,還緩解清運垃圾時堵塞交通的現象。(圖片來源:法新社)
       2013年3月中,紐約市長彭博(Michael Bloomberg)為太陽能垃圾桶啟用典禮剪綵。高調的舉動一來是消滅此區「垃圾坪效」高居全市之冠的難堪事實,二來反映出政府救太陽能產業,應用在生活領域比硬塞給民眾居家安裝更受用。

       這一批太陽能垃圾桶總共30座,由民間的美鋁基金會(Alcoa Foundation)出資贈送市府,一個將近新台幣25萬元。如此「高貴」的垃圾桶當然得肩負超凡的使命:幫時報廣場處理每天50萬人次造訪所產生的1.5噸垃圾。

       不過,對太陽能垃圾桶來說,這可能不是太艱巨的任務,因為它的儲存容量最少是普通垃圾桶的5倍,而且可以分類回收普通垃圾、報紙、塑膠瓶和易開罐。

       最大噱頭是安裝于頂部的接收器,會將太陽能轉化成電力,一邊壓縮垃圾,一邊可消毒殺菌,一旦儲量達8分滿,就會發資訊通知工作人員清空。彭博已宣佈年底前將在全市安置1000個太陽能垃圾桶。

生活小應用比拚綠能實在

       啟用太陽能垃圾桶,是紐約市政府提高垃圾回收率、減少城市污染大計劃的一環,但其實全世界已經有許多國際級城市搶先採用。2007年,澳洲 布裏斯班市就實驗性裝置10個太陽能垃圾桶,試行效果理想;2011年,英國劍橋市也試用太陽能垃圾桶,結果有效減少碳含量,因此打開其他城市跟進應用之 門。

       只要有陽光,就有電力,這個好記易懂的原理是幾年前能源危機爆發時,太陽能產業竄紅的關鍵,全球政府一股腦祭出補貼政策,吸引一大票業者瘋 狂投入。不過,事實證明,關鍵技術難突破、成本難降低,政府的美意最終堆積出滿屋子庫存,民眾根本不願為了轉換率不到兩成的太陽能產品花大錢。

       金融海嘯掃倒許多投機玩家,撐過來的業者則漸漸認清一個迷思:新、舊能源產業更迭是一段速度極緩的過程,尋找無碳能源雖是值得努力的目標,卻不是政府花錢支援業者就能辦到。

       既然發動大規模能源革命還不成氣候,從生活小物做起或許是更實際的做法。近年來,應用太陽能的工具、裝置、設備琳瑯滿目,如太陽能牙刷、太陽能手機套及太陽能割草機等。

       《新聞週刊》(Newsweek)曾報導,綠色家園的未來之路還有數十年要走,鉅額的投資與規模還是得從小事做起。(撰文:邱碧玲,商業週刊)

無線充電

 【日經BP社報導】在日本長野市,由政府委託民間運營的「Gururin號」環線巴士已開始在長野車站、善光寺及縣政府所在的市中心地區等迴圈行駛。其中的一輛巴士是由早稻田大學等開發的既能連接電源充電又能無線充電的電動巴士。這條線路比較短,一週8km,需要40分鐘左右,每天4趟。

       純電動汽車(EV)普及的關鍵在於蓄電池的進步。目前蓄電池面臨的課題是降低成本,以及提高輸出密度以延長續航距離,而EV普及的另一個關鍵是充電技術。其中,「無線充電」備受關注。

       無線充電也叫非接觸充電,是指不通過金屬觸點、連接器及電線等來傳輸電力的技術。現已應用於無線電話及電動牙刷等,應用於EV的動向也活躍起來。

通過減少蓄電池降低車輛成本
早稻田大學的研究小組正在利用長野站周邊的環線巴士路線,對「短距離行駛高頻率充電型」電動巴士的實用性進行評估(圖1)。


 
圖1:電動巴士的無線充電站(左)
供電裝置埋在路面上灰色部分裏,停車時要使安裝在車底的受電裝置對準供電裝置,然後充電。

       對於車重較重的大型巴士,要想實現電動化就必須要有大容量蓄電池,而這很容易使其成本高於乘用車,還會犧牲乘坐空間。

       但如果限定在短距離行駛的話,則可以通過增加充電次數來減少蓄電池配備數量。「短距離行駛高頻率充電」就是想要通過無線充電來減輕頻繁的充電工作。

       擔任實證試驗組長的早稻田大學理工學術院環境能源研究科紙屋雄史教授說:「我們的目的是通過每天在實際巴士線路上的行駛來多角度評估電動化帶來的影響,比如環境負荷的降低、駕駛員的工作負荷、運行計劃的制定方法以及乘坐舒適性等」。

       途經市中心主要設施和觀光景點等的環線巴士路線作為市民和遊客輕鬆出行的工具在地方城市很常見,並且大多由地方政府運營。長野市認為不會排放廢氣和CO2的電動巴士很適合作為市區的公共交通工具,為了將來引進電動巴士,因此同意在此開展實證試驗。

圖2:安在駕駛席上部的無線充電操作面板
只需在車內面板上操作便可完成充電
比插電式「輕鬆得多」

       試驗車配備了蓄電容量為35kWh的鋰(Li)離子蓄電池。跑完一趟8km消耗的電量不到蓄電容量的4成。配備的蓄電池的容量是純電動乘用車的1.5~2倍,但乘坐空間與改造成EV前的參數相同,仍為31人。

       從長野站前出發最後再返回這裡的電動巴士會駛向設置在附近的無線充電器。路面上埋有90cm見方左右的供電裝置,停車時要使安裝在巴士車底 的受電裝置對準供電裝置。駕駛員坐在駕駛席操作面板就能開始充電(圖2),15分鐘左右即可充滿。其間,駕駛員無需走出巴士。

       Gururin號的6名駕駛員全是女性,由他們為汽車充電。在沒有無線充電設備的夜間停車場,也會使用普通的插電方式充電。當被問及充電操 作時,女駕駛員誠懇地評價了無線的便利性,「與將連有又粗又重的電纜的充電介面插入、拔出相比,無線要輕鬆得多。因為在車裏就可以操作,所以即使遇到雨雪 天負擔也很小」。




電磁感應方式存在傳輸距離問題
 不需要插座的無線充電技術有「電磁感應方式」、「磁共振方式」和「微波方式」三種方式。

       其中,最容易進行大功率傳輸的是電磁感應方式,其次是磁共振方式,再次是微波方式。相反,傳輸距離最遠的是微波方式,其次是磁共振方式,再次是電磁感應方式。

       從技術成熟度來看,電磁感應方式已進入實用階段,而磁共振方式處於實證階段,微波方式處於基礎研發階段。

       電磁感應是貫穿線圈的磁場發生變化時、產生電動勢的物理現象。擺放兩個線圈,對其中一個線圈(一次線圈)通電(交流電),就會產生磁場,受 該磁場影響,另一個線圈(二次線圈)中就會產生電流。電磁感應現象是1831年英國科學家法拉第發現的,也是發電機及變壓器等很多電氣設備的工作原理。

       雖然電磁感應方式已在電動牙刷等的充電中採用,但不能直接應用於電動巴士。原因是電磁感應方式存在線圈間的距離增大後難以實現充電。如何實現由鋪設在路面上的供電部分(一次線圈)向電動巴士車底安裝的受電部分(二次線圈)高效供電是目前面臨的課題。

通過增加送電距離使供電裝置能夠埋入路面

       早稻田大學的研究小組最初拿到了一台德國生產的無線充電裝置評估了其實用性,結果發現送電距離只有5cm,因此做出了不能直接應用於電動巴 士的判斷。當時,在義大利杜林等地開展的實證試驗是採用機械方式使受電部分從巴士上下降、靠近供電部分從而實現充電的。但這樣不僅使巴士的機構變得複雜, 還不能充分減輕充電工作。

       於是,早稻田大學的研究小組自己開始加大送電距離的開發。通過模對產生的磁場進行模擬及電磁場分析,對線圈纏繞方式等進行了優化(圖3)。2005年成功將傳輸距離延長到10cm,2010年成功延長到14cm。


圖3:通過電磁場分析模擬發生磁場,從而找到線圈纏繞方式等充電裝置與受電裝置的最佳設計

       日本《交通法》規定,設置在公路上的物件不能影響交通。送電距離為10cm的話,需要在路上設置箱式充電裝置來充電,而送電距離達到 14cm,就可以完全埋入路面裏了。長野市使用的供電裝置能從路面直接向巴士車底的受電部分供應35kW的大功率電力,充電效率在90%以上。輸出功率完 全適用於為電動巴士充電,因此效率達到了與插電式相當的水準。

供電裝置與受電裝置必須對準,這一點比較麻煩   但是,電磁感應方式的操作性方面還存在問題。如果供電裝置與受電裝置的中心軸不對準,效率就會大幅下滑。充電時,巴士要停到使兩者幾乎完全重疊的位置。駕駛技術高超的巴士駕駛員們要一個月才能熟練掌握。普通駕駛員在日常生活中很難熟練操作。

       作為解決該問題的技術備受關注的是磁共振方式。這是2006年美國麻省理工學院(MIT)已宣佈達到實用化的新技術,是一種利用電磁共振現 象傳輸電力的方式。由於是利用相同頻率產生共振的傳輸原理,不受錯位影響,送電距離也比電磁感應方式遠。這雖是眾所週知的物理現象,但目前還幾乎沒有應用 於電力傳輸的實例,技術發佈時展示的隔著2米遠點亮燈泡的實驗令科學家們非常震驚。

       三種無線充電方式中的最後一種是微波方式,是要將通信和廣播電視使用的電波應用於電力傳輸的方式。正在被作為實現太空光伏發電構想(在宇宙 空間設置太陽能面板為地面充電)的送電技術推進研究,但有很多課題需要解決,比如,在廣闊空間傳輸高能量微波對人體的影響等。雖然也在開展設想用於EV充 電的極近距離充電試驗,但充電效率還很低,距離實用化還有很長的路。

MIT的研究小組成立的風險企業與豐田等合作

       現在日本國內外都在積極推進無線充電的開發和普及。

       在美國,從事手機通信技術開發的高通也積極致力於EV用無線充電。該公司從2012年開始在倫敦使用50輛EV開展無線充電實證試驗。使用的無線充電設備為電磁感應方式,允許供電與受電裝置之間40cm的偏移。

       在被視作解決錯位問題「絕招」的磁共振方式方面,已對技術進行了實證的MIT的研究小組成立了從事無線充電開發的公司WiTricity, 正與美國知名汽車零件廠商Delphi等合作開發。日本的豐田及IHI等也在與該公司合作開發磁共振方式無線充電技術。

       雖然磁共振方式存在無法進行大功率傳輸的課題,但WiTricity已成功實現了在20cm的距離內傳輸3kW左右的電力。有人認為,隨著大功率傳輸等技術進步,還有可能實現為行駛中的EV充電。

       無線充電技術的進步有可能彌補蓄電池技術的局限,有可能大大改變人們對EV的評價。(特約撰稿人:中西 清隆,日經BP清潔技術研究所)