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Intel explains Project Athena laptops, promises nine hours of battery life
It's been five months since Intel teased its Project Athena program, and until now, all we really knew was that it'd be similar to the Ultrabook scheme, which paved the way for slim yet efficient premium laptops. With just three weeks to go until Computex, arguably the biggest PC event in the world, Intel shed more light on what it thinks a Project Athena laptop will offer, and how it's helping build them.
STMicroelectronics details pressure sensor in your Galaxy S III, can tell when you're mountaineering
If you're the sort to tear down your Galaxy S III, you might have noticed a mysterious STMicroelectronics LSP331AP chip lurking on the motherboard. While we've known that it's a pressure sensor, we now know that it's a new generation -- new enough that ST is just getting to explaining the technology to a mainstream audience. The piezoresistor-equipped MEMS chip tracks altitude through atmospheric pressure with an uncanny knack for precision; it can tell when you've crossing between floors, which could be more than handy for future iterations of indoor navigation. Don't worry if you're an extreme sports junkie that might push the limits, either. The sensor can do its job at the kinds of pressure you'd normally see when 32,800 feet high or 5,900 feet below sea level, which should keep it working even if you're checking your phone during a climb up K2 or a HALO skydive. We don't know if anyone beyond Samsung is lined up to use ST's pressure sensor in their devices, but we wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a mainstay for smartphones and outdoor gear in the near future.
iPhone 4 teardown: 512MB RAM confirmed (updated)
With nary hours since the reviews went live, the gang at iFixit -- no doubt blessed by the hands of early deliveries -- have procured an iPhone 4. And as is their modus operandi, they wasted no time tearing that sucker apart screw by screw. The teardown is still ongoing, but here's what we got so far: 512MB RAM (confirming earlier rumors), a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor (same as the Samsung Wave S8500, they say), and chemically-strengthened Gorilla Glass for a more torture-friendly front panel. Those two screws on the bottom of the phone can be removed to excise the real panel, but the site says the front glass "will likely be rather challenging [to remove]." The battery, looking rather large even in the pictures, is a whopping 1420mAh Li-Polymer -- comparatively, the Nexus One is 1400mAh and the HTC Droid Incredible is 1300mAh. There's no SIM eject tool with this phone, but a paper clip should work just fine. As for the much-ballyhooed side panel antennas, the phone apparently now "[utilizes] whichever network band is less congested or has the least interference for the best signal quality, regardless of actual signal strength" -- in other words, better call reliability (hopefully). Also helping with overall voice quality is a dual microphone setup for suppressing background noise. Peruse on over if you're interested in seeing a bare Apple device at its most beautiful. Update: The teardown is complete with a few more interesting bits of information. First, the battery is very easy to remove (and thus, replace) after removing the two screws. The LCD panel is not, however, as it's tighly glued to the glass and digitizer. So if you do manage to break the Gorilla Glass, you'll have to replace it, the digitizer, and the LCD as a single unit. The new AGD1 3-axis gyroscope is thought to be made by ST Micro and Broadcom provides both the BCM4750IUB8 single-chip GPS receiver and BCM4329FKUBG receiver giving the iPhone 4 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and an FM radio. %Gallery-96098%
STMicroelectronics' 3-axis MEMS gyroscope gives a new level of control to your mobile
Man, talk about timely. We heard right around 11 months ago that MEMS gyroscopes would be hitting an array of handsets in 2009, and while it's looking like that estimate will be just a touch off, you won't catch us kvetching with "early 2010." STMicroelectronics has just announced its new 3-axis MEMS gyroscope, which promises 360 degree "angular-rate detection for high-precision 3D gesture and motion recognition in mobile phones, game controllers, personal navigation systems and other portable devices." The gyro is said to provide two separate outputs for each of the three axes at the same time: a 400dps full-scale value for slow motion, and a 1,600dps full-scale value to detect and measure speedy gestures and movements. We're told that samples of the tech are available now with mass production scheduled for Q1 2010; and yeah PSP, it's totally cool if you keep sweating. NGage is about to be back... with a vengeance! [Via FarEastGizmos]
STMicroelectronics and Arkados join up on HomePlug AV SoC
HomePlug AV has been around for what seems like eons, but regardless of how hard it tries, it never seems to really take hold in the market place. That being said, two big names in the industry are teaming up to give it yet another push, as STMicroelectronics and Arkados join hands to "develop and manufacture a 200Mbit-per-second HomePlug AV wideband powerline modem System-on-Chip (SoC)." If all goes to plan, it'll become the world's first HomePlug AV SoC, and it's being designed to "power applications ranging from simple Ethernet-to-powerline bridges to full-featured products as wide ranging as HDTV distribution, digital set-top boxes, IPTV, whole-house audio, networked digital picture frames, surveillance systems, etc." We'll see if anyone notices when it ships in mid-2009.
STMicro touts bird flu-detecting VereFlu "lab-on-a-chip"
We've already seen a couple of devices designed to detect and prevent bird flu (among other viruses), but STMicro says it's got 'em all beat with its new VereFlu "lab-on-a-chip," which it developed in partnership with Veredus Laboratories. That system, the company says, will let you (or the appropriate flu-detecting folks) identify and differentiate human strains of Influenza A and B, including bird flu, in a single test within two hours, as opposed to other systems that can apparently only identify one strain at time and can take days or weeks to deliver a result. The device hasn't seen any service just yet, however, although STMicro says it has received some "very promising" sales orders from hospitals and other customers, adding that it also sees potential for the device to be used to screen travelers at airports and border checkpoints.[Via PC World]
STMicroelectronics unveils three-input active HDMI switch
Chances are, you'll never actually see a STDVE003A unless you just so happen to crack open your HDTV, but STMicroelectronics is hoping that you notice its presence without disassembling anything. The aforementioned chip is being hailed as the first HDMI switch on planet Earth to support a video data-transfer rate of up to 3.4Gbps, which enables TV designers to "provide as many as three input ports while using only a single HDMI receiver chip." Furthermore, it supports full 16-bit color, is compliant with HDMI 1.3 specifications and features an integrated equalizer to "overcome signal degradation when long (greater than 20-meters) and lossy cables are used." The active digital multiplexer also supports DDC (Display Data Channel) and HPD (Hot-Plug Detect) data switching, and while we're not told when these are likely to debut in actual sets, volume production is slated to start this quarter.
Nokia exits chip development, licensing out modem technology
Not too long after Nokia delved deeper into media sharing, the firm is now pulling out of the 3G chip development realm and licensing out its modem technology in order to better utilized R&D resources. Reportedly, STMicroelectronics will grab the reigns to develop 3G chips based on Nokia technology, and while the company "will continue to develop its own modems, the decision to license out the technology will bring in additional revenue and allow new players to enter the technically difficult market." Granted, the move isn't entirely surprising considering that mobile companies are shifting further away from anything that's not a core competency, but 200 Nokia employees will be transferred over to STMicro in Q4 as a part of the move.
