integrate

The University of Texas at Dallas has entered the race to produce a more powerful semiconductor using a $1.75 million grant from DARPA to develop a microchip that is "faster than anything" on the market today.

The new technology will still be silicon-based but will use photons rather than electrons to speed things up, according to a UT press release.

"This research is intended to produce a completely new class of components that could have a revolutionary impact on information engineering," Professor Duncan MacFarlane said. "The photonic integrated circuit (PIC) we're developing will … Read more

Maybe bleeding to death is the last thing you think about in the morning as you pull on your pants, but it could happen.

That's why a Norfolk, VA based manufacturer of military and law enforcement equipment has developed a uniform with built-in tourniquets, which it says will save lives on the battlefield.

The Warrior Wear Integrated Tourniquet System by Blackhawk Products Group has eight tourniquets; four in the pants and four in the shirt (two in the short sleeve version), which may, in case of injury, be constricted immediately with one hand by the wearer, their buddy or … Read more

Can you call a concept a cultural phenomenon if different people conceive of it at the same time? Within the past few months, three publications have come to similar conclusions. The digital media agency Avenue A | Razorfish released a study called "Fast Forward: Designing for Constant Change." It consists of thirteen essays as well as research exploring how consumers' digital media habits are changing, and how this affects the design of user experiences and brands. The key take-away is: Today's online users are forced to adjust to constant change in increasingly volatile rich media environments, and they … Read more

The new combat helmet now being tested may become an integral part of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, replacing the traditional jet fighter head-up display with computerized "symbology" projected directly onto the pilot's visor.

In addition to keeping pilots on top of navigation, weapons and other aircraft, the Helmet Mounted Display System will superimpose a binocular-wide field-of-view, infrared image of the world below, allowing the pilot to "look through" the cockpit floor at night. This will let a pilot turn in any direction and still be able to see a virtual heads-up display, replacing … Read more

Call it building-integrated solar power for cookie-cutter housing.

DRI Energy has developed roofing tiles with solar cells built in them. For commercial customers, it has solar panels that literally glue onto flat roofs. The products, branded under the Lumeta name, will be available in the second quarter.

The green tech company sells to builders of commercial constructions, like retail outlets and office buildings, and developers of tract housing, large developments of new homes.

The problem with installing solar electricity in these types of developments is that builders don't want to work solar panels and the racking systems, said Stephen … Read more

Everything is open source these days. Literally. Everything.

I'm not even sure what it means to be an "open-source data quality solution for structured and unstructured data," but that's precisely what Infosolve Technologies has (apparently) released with its OpenDQ Version 2.0.

Except, I'm not sure how it's open source. I can't find the source code anywhere on its website. A search of Sourceforge doesn't find it either.

Maybe it's only open to friends and family? :-)

I do like the premise behind its distribution philosophy:… Read more

It appears that Intel still has some work to do in getting its act together on PC graphics.

New drivers for the company's 965GM chipset, found in many notebooks and midrange desktops, still don't deliver the uniform performance increases promised earlier this year, according to testing by CNET Labs. My colleague Julie Rivera benchmarked three games on a PC with both the older drivers and the newer ones, and concluded that while some improvements could be detected, the new drivers don't do nearly enough to improve performance across multiple games.

Integrated graphics are the budget-friendly way of … Read more

CHICAGO--The crux of Adobe Systems' platform strategy is in AIR.

AIR, or Adobe Integrated Runtime, is a download that lets Web applications run on a desktop. With AIR applications, people can work offline and drag and drop items like graphics or text between Web and desktop applications.

AIR is still in beta, but Adobe and many other software developers are already building applications on it. For Adobe's platform business, AIR gives the company a way to extend its investments in Web documents and Web development tools onto desktops across different operating systems.

Rather than compete head-on against Microsoft and Java vendors for developer interest, Adobe's focus is on Web technologies and services, chief software architect Kevin Lynch said Monday at the company's Max conference here.

… Read more

Lumeta on Tuesday announced a manufacturing deal with Chinese solar panel producer Suntech for Lumeta's solar roof tiles.

Under the deal, Suntech will supply solar modules for Lumeta's building-integrated photovoltaic roof tiles.

Lumeta's Solar S Tile, launched earlier this year, looks just like terracotta concrete roof tiles but are covered with a solar cell that generates electricity. Lumeta, a subsidiary of DRI Companies, announced the supply deal at the Solar World 2007 industry conference.

The solar industry is pursuing building-integrated photovoltaics as a way to reduce the cost of solar electric installations.

One advantage of solar roof … Read more