New Technology Firearms Made by Israel

 The military equipment of Israel includes a wide array of arms, armored vehicles, tanks, artillery, missiles, planes, helicopters, and warships. Many of these are purchased overseas and many are indigenous designs. Until the Six-Day War of 1967, the Israel Defense Forces' principal supplier was France; since then, it has been the United States government and defense companies. In the early 21st century, Israeli companies such as Soltam Systems began selling arms to the United States. Much of the military equipment undergoes improvements in Israeli workshops. In addition to weapons purchased overseas and indigenous products, Israel also operates and maintains large stockpiles of Soviet-made equipment captured from Arab armies over the course of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.   

On 8 July 2014, an escalation of the Gaza–Israel conflict began when Israel launched Operation Protective Edge  "Operation Strong Cliff" in the Palestinian unity-governed Gaza Strip. The stated aim was to stop rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, which several non-Hamas affiliated groups had engaged in launching in June in response to an Israeli crackdown on Hamas members in the West Bank. After an Israeli Air Force airstrike killed 7 Hamas members, Hamas itself fired rockets into Israeli several towns including Air bases. In the meantime Israeli Iron Dome system has disposed most of the rockets fired by Hamas.

 On 13 July, the Israeli military reported that more than 1,300 Israeli air strikes had taken place on Gaza, while more than 800 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel. Several attempts to arrange a cease-fire between the two sides failed, and several arranged cease-fires (including one on 5 August which saw all Israeli soldiers withdrew from the Gaza Strip) fell apart or expired, before an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire was accepted by Israeli and Palestinian officials on 10 August.

  As of 5 August 2014 an OCHA report stated that in the Gaza Strip, 520,000 Palestinians (approximately 30% of Gaza's population) may have been displaced, of whom 273,000 were taking shelter in 90 UN-run schools. UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics. These shelters have been hit by Israeli airstrikes on several occasions. 1.5 million people in Gaza have limited or no access to water supplies. 26 health facilities have been damaged, 11,855 homes have been totally destroyed or severely damaged, and 5,595 homes have suffered major damaged but are still inhabitable. More than 485,000 internally displaced persons are in need of emergency food assistance. On the Israeli side, an estimated 5,000-8,000 citizens of Southern Israel have fled their homes as the Iron Dome missile defense system does not prevent short range rocket attacks.

  The conflict is the deadliest military operation to have taken place in Gaza since the Second Intifada, though both the exact number of deaths and the percentage of the dead who were militants as opposed to civilians have been in dispute. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 1,959 Gazans have been killed and 10,196 have been wounded. (80% civilians) Preliminary reports by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that 1,402 (72%) of 1,948 deaths they documented were civilians, of whom 693 (35% of all deaths) were women or children. The Israeli government has maintained that 40%-50% of Gazan fatalities have been combatants. 64 IDF soldiers have been killed, as well as two Israeli civilians. The Israel Defense Forces have stated that Hamas has used civilians as "human shields"; Hamas has stated that it does not use human shields. 44% of the territory of the Gaza Strip has been declared a no-go zone by the Israeli military.  

 The Special Forces elite recce squadron, was chosen to be the first unit to receive the prestigious MTAR 21 Micro-Tavor. Designed and produced by Israel’s Weapons Industries (IWI), it will gradually replace the long-time used Micro Uzi in IDF Special units. The newly issued weapon will considerably enhance close-in urban combat effectiveness of the Givati special operations unit, which spearheads many counter-terror missions. 

Source: http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/israel-adopts-new-special-operations-weapon/

Special Forces elite recce squadron, was chosen to be the first unit to receive the prestigious MTAR 21 Micro-Tavor. Designed and produced by Israel’s Weapons Industries (IWI), it will gradually replace the long-time used Micro Uzi in IDF Special units. The newly issued weapon will considerably enhance close-in urban combat effectiveness of the Givati special operations unit, which spearheads many counter-terror missions. - See more at: http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/israel-adopts-new-special-operations-weapon/#sthash.UtuXutET.dpuf

Special Forces elite recce squadron, was chosen to be the first unit to receive the prestigious MTAR 21 Micro-Tavor. Designed and produced by Israel’s Weapons Industries (IWI), it will gradually replace the long-time used Micro Uzi in IDF Special units. The newly issued weapon will considerably enhance close-in urban combat effectiveness of the Givati special operations unit, which spearheads many counter-terror missions. - See more at: http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/israel-adopts-new-special-operations-weapon/#sthash.UtuXutET.dpuf

Special Forces elite recce squadron, was chosen to be the first unit to receive the prestigious MTAR 21 Micro-Tavor. Designed and produced by Israel’s Weapons Industries (IWI), it will gradually replace the long-time used Micro Uzi in IDF Special units. The newly issued weapon will considerably enhance close-in urban combat effectiveness of the Givati special operations unit, which spearheads many counter-terror missions. - See more at: http://www.darkgovernment.com/

Your Next Smartphone Technology

Future Mobile

 Smartphones don’t get people excited like they used to. Every Apple event these days brings fresh calls for “new product categories” and fresh disappointment when they don’t materialize. Yet bolder companies like Google and Samsung have introduced new types of futuristic mobile gadgets, and it turns out they don’t work very well. As much as the tech press has tried to hype smart glasses and smartwatches, they’re just too small to do very much at this point. They might develop into nifty peripherals for your smartphone, but they’re not going to replace it anytime soon.

We may be stuck with our trusty old pocket-computers for years to come. The good news is that they’re still evolving, probably more rapidly than we tend to give them credit for. I’m not talking about marginally faster processors, better cameras, curved glass, bigger screens, or 3-D displays. I’m talking about new functionalities.

If there was an overarching takeaway from Apple’s annual developer conference this week, it’s that smartphones are becoming more than communications and entertainment devices. They’re becoming the mobile command centers of our lives. And far from pushing them aside, the next wave of consumer technologies is likely to make smartphones more essential than ever.

Today our iPhones and Android phones serve as messaging devices, cameras, Web browsers, music players, gaming and social networking platforms, and yes, sometimes even phones. They’re also starting to become artificial personal assistants. Here are three more things that smartphones are likely to become in the next few years—all of which involve communications between your apps and devices rather than between you and other people.

1. A universal remote control for your appliances:

 Thermostats are just the beginning. Like it or not, everything from door locks to light bulbs to refrigerators is starting to come equipped with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity. The idea is that, as in this AT&T ad, you can monitor and control them remotely with your smartphone.

Smartphone

In some cases, these “smart” appliances are designed to learn from your behavior and adapt on their own. Even so, you’ll almost inevitably find yourself reaching for your smartphone when your thermostat’s rudimentary machine intelligence clashes with your unpredictable human needs.

The major smartphone-makers have already put up big stakes in the fledgling “connected home” sector. Samsung has been making connected appliances for some time now, and earlier this year it launched “Smart Home” software for Android phones that lets you control them all from one app. In January, Google got into the game by splashing $3 billion on Nest. And this week, Apple announced HomeKit, a bid to bring the controls for a wide range of third-party connected devices together in a simple native iOS app.

If it works as advertised, you’ll be able to group related appliances into “suites,” so that you can say something like, “Get ready for bed,” and your phone will know to turn off the downstairs lights, adjust the thermostat, and lock the doors. As my colleague Lily Newman pointed out, interoperability could be a problem, at least in the short term. Ultimately, though, I’m guessing tech rivals like Google, Samsung, and Apple will have to make nice if they want their smartphones to be the control centers for your home (or your car, for that matter). If you have to match all your appliances to your chosen mobile OS, most people just won’t bother.

2. A hub for your personal health data:

Smartphones will remain the best way to store, integrate, and analyze health data.

Third-party developers have been working for a few years now on smartphone apps or add-ons that can monitor and track your well-being in various ways. Early efforts included pedometers, medication reminders, nutrition trackers, and even breathalyzers. And while smartwatches designed for things like email and text messages have been a bust so far, fitness bands that monitor your workouts and sync with your smartphone via Bluetooth are already quite popular.

Choose one of them

As with smart appliances, the smartphone-makers are starting to realize that they can take the health-tracking trend mainstream by building native hardware and software for it. Samsung took the early lead with its S Health suite, and its latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S5, comes with a built-in heart-rate monitor. Last week it announced a prototype of a new wearable health tracker called Simband along with an open software platform. Apple’s answer on the software side is a new platform called HealthKit. On the hardware side, the focus of rumors about the iWatch has shifted from communications apps to biometrics, perhaps including sleep-tracking functions.

Wearable devices, from wristbands to “smart socks,” are better than smartphones at collecting certain types of health data. But smartphones will remain the best way to store, integrate, and analyze the data.

3. A portable computer that you can control with other devices:

 Not only will your smartphone be a remote control for your other appliances, it will be another appliance that you can control remotely. That’s not as confusing as it sounds, I promise. Today, if you want to use your smartphone, you usually have to pull it out of your pocket and control it directly. But there are times when that’s particularly inconvenient—like when you’re cooking, driving, or playing with your kids. In those cases, increasingly, you’ll be able to operate basic functions of your phone through other interfaces.

For instance, Google, Microsoft, BlackBerry, and Apple are all working on software that will let you control your phone from your car’s dashboard, and several major car companies have already developed similar capabilities. You’ll be able to make hands-free calls, check your email, or stream songs on Pandora without touching the phone itself. 

Wearable peripherals are another example. Devices like smart glasses and smartwatches won’t replace smartphones anytime soon, but they could still come in handy when you need to answer a call while carrying a package or double-check a recipe while your hands are covered in cookie dough. It’s your phone that’s doing the actual calling or Web browsing, of course—the wearables are just an extension of it.

 Finally, improvements in Bluetooth low energy technology could turn your phone into a receptor for notifications that are based on your precise physical location. Apple’s iBeacon system, for example, could allow transmitters placed inside a parking garage to ping your phone to guide you to an open spot. Or, more intrusively, a restaurant might be able to shoot you a coupon for half-off drinks as you stroll past its doors. Similar technologies could also allow you to pay for things at a store with your smartphone without having to take it out of your pocket.

Seven years after the first iPhone and 11 years after the BlackBerry, smartphones may no longer be novel—but in many ways, they’re still consumer technology’s next big thing.

Source: http://www.slate.com/

Latest CCTV Technologies

 Founded in the year of 1999, CCTV Technologies group has been a reputable and very much devoted company in vast Surveillance and security market segment. Backed with vast experiences in design, engineering, manufacturing, R&D the world's most sophisticated CCTV equipment brand CCTVTECH makes its name come to fame and known for being one of the top suppliers of CCTV in SE ASIA, INDIA and Middle Eastern countries.
 
CCTV TECHNOLOGIES offers one stop solution in the market for all security and CCTV surveillance products. This is possible because it has completed range of products to suit every situation and any industry and also using the multi national presence. With emerging needs of surveillance and monitoring solution today, CCTVTECH seeks out technology from all corners of the world and form a strategic alliance with technology-driven manufacturing firms of different product categories in CCTV such as the Fiber Optical Transceiver devices, Twisted Pair Transceiver devices, Digital Recording systems, and IP solutions to integrate with its professional expertise.

 CCTVTECH offers personalized pre-sales and after sales support in all the region and works with various SI and dealers to succeed in their respective market. 

An exciting new range of high quality megapixel varifocal lenses has been introduced by leading surveillance solutions provider CBC (Europe) GmbH. These latest Computer lenses enable optical imaging performance from increasingly popular megapixel cameras, maximizing their performance in a variety of operational circumstances.

  The lenses include IR corrected optics, maintaining sharp focus in both day and night modes, and even in otherwise tricky twilight conditions. 

 As well as providing high contrast and sharp images, they ensure precise focus adjustment – an important advantage because setting the focus on megapixel IP cameras can be challenging, especially when facing the limited adjustment ranges and transmission delays that sometimes occur through a network.

These new cameras are simply fitted wherever you need them and record their images within the camera itself. With the addition of internet access all of your cameras can be viewed remotely, even on a mobile phone! Should you need to replay a particular event, simply log in to the camera and play back the file - simple, quick and easy!

 IP CCTV systems can scale almost limitlessly making them perfect for   larger or more complex sites where traditional systems quickly become unwieldy       and expensive. Their ease of operation and self-contained nature also means they are ideally suited to home or small business installations - why not ask us for a demonstration of this revolutionary technology today.
It is co-organized by influential security media and associations in South Korea including SecurityWorld Magazine and Boannews Daily, Korea Defense Industry Trade Support Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, the Korean Association for Industrial Technology Security, Intelligent Transport System of Korea, Knowledge Information Security Industry Association, Korea Association of Chief Security Officer, Korea Digital CCTV Research Association, Korea Safety Security Association of Technology. 

Source: http://www.cctvnewsportal.com/

Necessity of Water Purification for the Rural Areas

Purified water production represents a very demanding technological process. Various methods are available differing in the technology and the process efficiency level. A combination of more methods is commonly used or, variantly, multiple use of a single technology is applied. Such an approach guarantees the best results.

Reverse osmosis – membrane filtration

Reverse osmosis is the most widespread principle used in purified water production equipment today. Reverse osmosis is a filtration method product of which is chemically pure water from virtually any source. This method is capable of separating impurities and particles smaller than nanometre ones. In comparison with traditional distillation apparatuses the systems based on reverse osmosis offer considerably lower water and energy consumption – 2,5 times lower volume of water is used to produce the same amount of treated water. Osmosis principle based on water pressure alone has essentially no demand for electric energy. Maintenance costs are lower, too, especially in areas with hard feed water.

Filtration

Direct filtered water

Is a method based on mixture component separation by material letting through only one of the components. The procedure is suitable for drinking water treatment and pre – treatment of water intended to be later processed to purified water via subsequent cleaning stages. Filters separate unblocked chlorine, chloramine, chloride oxide, phenol, organic solvents and pesticides. Active carbon is most frequently used as the filter. There is a disadvantage, though, to this material- limited life. This brings the necessity of a change or regeneration in certain period. Active carbon filtration method is widely used in industry, breweries, water treatment stations and waterworks.

Distillation is a cleaning or mixture component separation method based on initial boiling point. In a gradual evaporation process taking place in a bosh the substances get separated due to their different initial boiling point. The vapour then condenses after passing through a cooler.

Water Filter

UV radiation is a part of the light spectrum. Radiation in the range of UV-C (100 nm – 280nm) has a gemicidal effect. A sterilizer unit contains one or more UV lamps whose radiated wavelength reaches the effective values to annihilate the microorganisms. 99,99% pathogene annihilation is reached through this method. The volume of sterilised water approaches 15 000 l / h.

Which water cleaning technologies and approaches we use? 

In our equipment we only use new components manufactured from the certified materials and provided with all the necessary tests. The high quality of the equipment is therefore guaranteed by the filtration components, ion – exchangers and other materials used. Moreover, all the components are subjected to tests in our own laboratories to provide the personal guarantee of quality. Before shipment to customers full – scale tests are performed and all the essential features are verified.

Reverse osmosis systems

They represent a cost – effective alternative to the traditional laboratory pure water production methods – distillation and redistillation. These systems are used mainly for the low water production costs and system maintenance costs. Polishing

Our expected Planet

If the requirement is to produce purified water for special laboratory analyses a special final cleaning technology referred to as “polishing” is used. Water finished to such degree (15 – 18,2 MΩ) is to be immediately used and can not be stored in common containers. Prior to polishing water has to be pre – treated using one of the previously mentioned technologies (reverse osmosis, electrodeionization, classic ion exchangers).

For production of water with ultra - low TOC content UV lamp is included as the last pre – treatment step preceding the final polishing. UV radiation oxidates the residual organic compounds contained in the water.

  Microbial filtrationThe method is used to eliminate bacteria at the water inlet. Most laboratory water standards define the quality also with respect to the bacteria content and not only with the chemical purity in mind. To reach the required laboratory purity microbial filters are applied with defined absolute 0,22 micrometre porosity.

 

Future of Solar Technology

 

Solar Panel in Rooftop

Solar manufacturers are eager to implement several new technologies that could make solar power cheaper, and the panels easier to make.

Solar power, for all its recent cost reductions, remains more expensive than fossil fuel power. Solar panel installations continue to grow quickly, but the solar panel manufacturing industry is in the doldrums because supply far exceeds demand (see “Why We Need More Solar Companies to Fail”). The poor market may be slowing innovation, but advances continue; judging by the mood this week at the IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference in Tampa, Florida, people in the industry remain optimistic about its long-term prospects.

The technology that’s surprised almost everyone is conventional crystalline silicon. A few years ago, silicon solar panels cost $4 per watt, and Martin Green, professor at the University of New South Wales and one of the leading silicon solar panel researchers, declared that they’d never go below $1 a watt. “Now it’s down to something like 50 cents of watt, and there’s talk of hitting 36 cents per watt,” he says.

The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal of reaching less than $1 a watt—not just for the solar panels, but for complete, installed systems—by 2020 (see “Why Solar Installations Cost More in the U.S. than in Germany”). Green thinks the solar industry will hit that target even sooner than that. If so, that would bring the direct cost of solar power to six cents per kilowatt-hour, which is cheaper than the average cost expected for power from new natural gas power plants. (The total cost of solar power, which includes the cost to utilities to compensate for its intermittency, would be higher, though precisely how much higher will depend on how much solar power is on the grid, and other factors.)

Solar Panel

 All parts of the silicon solar panel industry have been looking for ways to cut costs and improve the power output of solar panels, and that’s led to steady cost reductions. Green points to something as mundane as the pastes used to screen-print some of the features on solar panels. Green’s lab built a solar cell in the 1990s that set a record efficiency for silicon solar cells—a record that stands to this day. To achieve that record, he had to use expensive lithography techniques to make fine wires for collecting current from the solar cell. But gradual improvements have made it possible to use screen printing to produce ever-finer lines. Recent research suggests that screen-printing techniques can produce lines as thin as 30 micrometers—about the width of the lines Green used for his record solar cells, but at costs far lower than his lithography techniques.
 

Green says this and other techniques will make it cheap and practical to replicate the designs of his record solar cell on production lines. Some companies have developed manufacturing techniques for the front metal contacts. Implementing the design of the back electrical contacts is harder, but he expects companies to roll that out next. Meanwhile, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have made flexible solar cells on a new type of glass from Corning called Willow Glass, which is thin and can be rolled up. The type of solar cell they made is the only current challenger to silicon in terms of large-scale production—thin-film cadmium telluride (see “First Solar Shines as the Solar Industry Falters”). Flexible solar cells could lower the cost of installing solar cells, making solar power cheaper. 

One of Green’s former students and colleagues, Jianhua Zhao, cofounder of solar panel manufacturer China Sunergy, announced this week that he is building a pilot manufacturing line for a two-sided solar cell that can absorb light from both the front and back. The basic idea, which isn’t new, is that during some parts of the day, sunlight falls on the land between rows of solar panels in a solar power plant. That light reflects onto the back of the panels and could be harvested to increase the power output. This works particularly well when the solar panels are built on sand, which is highly reflective. Where a one-sided solar panel might generate 340 watts, a two-sided one might generate up to 400 watts. He expects the panels to generate 10 to 20 percent more electricity over the course of a year.

Solar Car

 Such solar panels could be mounted vertically, like a fence, so that one side collects sunlight in the morning, and the other in the afternoon that means whole day long we can use solar energy like solar car. That would make it possible to install the solar panels on very little land—they could serve as noise barriers along highways, for example. Such an arrangement could also be valuable in dusty areas. Many parts of the Middle East might seem to be good places for solar panels, since they get a lot of sunlight, but frequent dust storms decrease the power output. Vertical panels wouldn’t accumulate as much dust, which could help make such systems economical.

Even longer-term, Green is betting on silicon, aiming to take advantage of the huge reductions in cost already seen with the technology. He hopes to greatly increase the efficiency of silicon solar panels by combining silicon with one or two other semiconductors, each selected to efficiently convert a part of the solar spectrum that silicon doesn’t convert efficiently. Adding one semiconductor could boost efficiencies from the 20 to 25 percent range to around 40 percent. Adding another could make efficiencies as high as 50 percent feasible, which would cut in half the number of solar panels needed for a given installation. The challenge is to produce good connections between these semiconductors, something made challenging by the arrangement of silicon atoms in crystalline silicon.
Source: http://www.technologyreview.com

New Food and Beverage Technology

Latest Drinks

 A recent survey by Leatherhead Food Research asked the food and beverage industry what objectives are currently the most important when considering investment in new technology. Over 55% still considered that, despite big moves within the industry to improve sustainability and resource efficiency, the primary technology innovations needed remain focused on the product - either to deliver better quality or new products. ‘Health and wellness’ was considered as less of a priority, maybe indicating a tide of change in the focus of development teams for the coming years. This also suggests that ‘health and wellness’ is no longer the domain of the ‘innovators’ but is a mainstream trend that is considered the core of any development activity since it is a still a priority agenda item across the industry. 

   However when asked to consider a range of issues or themes and whether an emerging technology was the only way of achieving a step change in that area, an interesting picture emerges. When asked 'Which of these objectives are currently the most important when considering investment in new technology?', Product Innovation and Quality are where the majority of investment considerations are being made.

Necessity is the mother of invention so it is important to identify where emerging technologies could be most effectively implemented to achieve that all important step change. Two main themes emerged - ‘Efficiency, Productivity and Sustainability’ and ‘Salt and Fat Reduction’ (Figure 2). These groupings suggest that it is generally believed that ‘green’ agendas cannot be met by the current manufacturing platforms and that the reductions in salt and fat that are possible by existing strategies are at their maximum, this echoes research conducted by Leatherhead Food Research earlier in 2012 that suggested that maximum salt reductions had been achieved within the current landscape. With ever challenging targets such as salt reduction, it is possible that the industry will have to look at alternatives, such as nano-particles, to achieve new levels of functionality and delivery.  

Figure 1 Commercialisation of emerging technology is the only way of achieving a step change in "..."

The implementation of new and emerging technology is not thought to be key in further improvements to taste texture and market share - the product-centered and market-driven innovations. Yet product-centred objectives were at the heart of investment policy.

Around 60% felt that new and emerging technology would be key in the successful delivery of strategic objectives compared to existing technology; only 4% felt this would not be the case. Putting it into context of whether the greatest financial gains would be made from renovation or innovation, the population was evenly split with only 2% difference reflected between the opinions, interestingly falling in favour of renovation. It could be considered that the reasons behind this reflect the need for speed to market and return on investment - two thirds require a product to market within two years and 87% needing to launch within three years. The return on investment would need to be realised within three years by 62%.

To achieve success with a fledgling technology, less than 10% considered that their exclusive use was important with 36% rating sole rights as very or extremely important. 

About Latest Mobile Technology

 From car phones to iPhones, mobile technology has been advancing at a rapid pace. ­In this article we'll take a look at some of the newest features ready for your next phone. Many of these exciting technologies make it even easier to communicate, do business and learn on your mobile device.

Take a look at the next page to see the first emerging phone technology.  

For years, cell phones have operated on a strict carrier contract basis, but that's beginning to change with Wi-Fi phones. While phone owners may still have a carrier, the phones can connect to home or office Wi-Fi networks. This ability frees you from having to count minutes or worry about other charges. Some phones operate strictly on Wi-Fi VoIP networks, freeing you from a traditional carrier completely.

Many technology enthusiasts dream of an "all-in-one" portable device, which can handle all of their communication and entertainment needs. As smarter and smarter phones like the iPhone come out, add to that list of desired features "mobile augmented reality". This technology will tie together the internet, accelerometers and GPS to superimpose digital information on the real world. Traveling to a new city? Point your phone at a building and it tells you anything from the history of its construction to visiting hours to restaurant reviews. All of the technology necessary is ready for the market. Expect to see these phones of the future sometime soon.

Phones may soon allow you to transfer or pay money instantly from any bank account or credit line. The potential is great for small businesses and individuals who can't accept credit cards or those who prefer an electronic payment to cash or checks. Paypal is leading the way with a mobile service tied to its already robust online payment options. The technology is available now for these services, but with so many institutions involved (including banks, stores and carriers), mainstream adoption has been slow.  See How Cellular Electronic Payments Work to learn more.

Since the success of the Apple iPhone, touch screen phones have gotten more and more popular. However, among people who text and email frequently from their phone, many still prefer the real buttons of a device like the Blackberry. The physical buttons seem to give better feedback and allow more natural typing. New technology could deliver the best of both worlds by creating a touch screen which feels and reacts when you type on it. This technology is being explored by phone developers in order to get the next generation phones to the market.

Phone technology is advancing at an amazing pace, so don't be surprised to see some of these features in your hand soon. Check out some of HowStuffWorks' other articles on mobile technology to learn more.
 

Source: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com

A little bit about the LED technology

OLEDs are made by placing thin films of organic (carbon based) materials between two conductors. When electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. The OLED materials emit light and do not require a backlight (unlike LCDs). Each pixel is a small light-emitting diode, in fact. OLED TV panels offers several advantages over LCDs:

• Faster refresh rate, better contrast and better color reproduction
• Thin and light: LG's 55" EM9700 for example is just 4mm thick and weighs just 3.5 Kg. Some OLED panel prototypes are merely 0.3 mm thick!
• Better viewing angle - almost 180 degrees
• Greener: OLEDs draw less power, and contain no toxic metals (some OLED materials use a tiny amount of Iridium, a non-toxic heavy metal)
• OLED panels can potentially be made flexible and/or transparent...

Samsung's LED TVs

In August 2013, Samsung launched their first OLED TV, the KN55S9C - a 55" curved Full-HD set. The curved panel means that the distance from the viewer to the TV screen is the same from almost any angle - which makes for a better experience according to Samsung (but most people actually prefer flat panels).

Samsung's OLED TV features Multi-view (where two users can watch two different 2D programs using active-shutter 3D glasses) and it's also compatible with the company's Evolution Kit, ensuring that the TV is future-proofed. The TV weighs 27 Kg and is 5.3 inches deep. It is now shipping in the US for $8999, and in South Korea for 9.9 million Won (about $8,900).

Samsung also developed a flat 55" OLED TV, but it seems that these won't be released as commercial products any time soon. First branded as "Super OLED TV", Samsung now calls them "Real OLED TVs" - to note the fact that Samsung are using 'True OLED' RGB subpixels, as opposed to LG's WRGB architecture, and also to differentiate its OLED TVs from LED TVs. The model number of Samsung's TV will be F9500.

LG's 55" OLED TVs

In December 2011 LG officially announced their first commercial OLED TV, the 55" 55EM9700. In January 2013 LG announced that the TV is now on offer in Korea (for the small price of 11 million Won, or about $10,000) and in the UK. This is a Full-HD panel that features 100,000,000:1 contrast ratio and fast response time (1,000 times faster than LCD according to LG). The panel is only 4mm thick, and weighs just 3.5 Kg. LG considers OLED to be the "ultimate display technology".

LG said they expect to launch the flat OLED TV soon in the US, India and Israel, but in the mean time, like Samsung, the company is more focused on their curved OLED TV - the 55EA9800. LG's curved TV is shipping in Korea and in the US for $8,999.

LG's TV is based on LG Display's Oxide-TFT white-OLED with color filters (WOLED, or WRGB, more on this below) OLED panel. LG are quite excited of this new TV - they call it calling it the "Ultimate Display" and they say that this is the "most transformational moment" in the TV industry since the introduction of the color TV 60 years ago.

Older OLED TVs

Actually LG's 55" OLED TV won't be the first OLED TV on the market. Back in December 2007 Sony started to offer the XEL-1 - which was more of a technology prototype than a commercial set - a small TV (11"), expensive (around 2,500$) OLED TV that was only produced in small quantities. LG Themselves also used to offer the 1.7 mm thick 15" EL9500 OLED TV, which was also more of a technology demonstration, as the price was very high for a 15" display (around $2600 in Korea and €1,999 in Europe).

Direct Emission vs WRGB

The basic OLED TV design uses 3 color OLED sub-pixels (RGB: Red, Green and Blue) to create each 'pixel'. This is referred to as a direct emission OLED (or SBS, side-by-side), and is the design Samsung uses in their small displays and in their upcoming Super OLED TVs. Some companies are using a different architecture, called WRGB (or WOLED-CF) which uses four white OLED subpixels with color filters on top (RBG and W).

The WRGB technology was developed by Kodak (and the IP is now owned by LG Display), and it should make the OLED panel easier to make. However it will also be less efficient. LG Display's OLED TVs which will be released in 2013 will be based on this design, and indeed LGD managed to produce these panels before Samsung.

OLED TV status

• Both Samsung and LG are offering 55" curved OLED TVs. Production capacity is low and prices are still very high. Samsung's KN55S9C for example costs $8,997 while LG's 55EA9800 is even more expensive at $9,999. Both panels are 55" in size and offer Full-HD resolution. Reviews of those TVs have been spectacular, with all reviewers saying that OLED TVs offer the best picture quality ever!
• LG are offering several kinds of flat 55" OLED TV, both using the same WRGB Full-HD panel. The Gallery OLED TV is shipping in Europe for €8,999 while the 55EM9700 ships in many countries, including in the US.
• In September 2013, LG unveiled a 77" curved UHD (4K) OLED TV prototype, the largest OLED panel ever shown. 
• Sony and Panasonic are collaborating on OLED TV technology. Both companies unveiled beatiful 56" 4K OLED prototypes at CES. Panasonic is set to convert its LCD fab to OLED.
• AU Optronics has an active OLED TV program with plans to start producing samples soon. Sony's 56" 4K OLED prototype at CES was produced at AUO.
• Seiko Epson are working on inkjet printable OLED TV panels, but we do not know the state of that research either.
• DuPont announced that a leading OLED maker has licensed their nozzle-printing technology in an effort to make cheaper, printable OLED TV panels.

  Source: http://www.oled-info.com

Knitting Machines

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aka knitting looms

 

Home knitting machines allow the knitter to produce beautiful knitted items .... fast! Instead of forming one stitch at a time, imagine knitting 200 stitches with the push of a carriage!

Think of all those "boring" sections of your last (or current) knitting project ... stockinette sleeves, large plain sections of a repetitive stitch pattern. With a knitting machine, you can quickly knit these sections and spend your precious knitting time working the fun parts of a pattern.

Knitting machines come in various gauges to accommodate the wide range of yarns available today.

• Bulky/Chunky - for handspun and bulkier weight yarns or heavy worsted weight
• Mid-Gauge - for sport weight to light worsted yarns
• Standard Gauge - for sock weight, fingering weight and baby weight yarns
• Fine Gauge - for lace weight to fingering weight yarns

You don't need special coned yarn to knit with a knitting machine. Many knitters use yarn on cones so they don't have to work in as many yarn ends as you do with balled/skeined yarn.

What kind of yarn to use?

Machine knitters can knit almost anything a hand knitter can knit ... only faster! Stripes, tuck (knit in the row below), slip, multi-color texture stitches, stranded multi color work, lace ... you name it!

View Knitting Machine Demo

Is this for you?

Deciding what machine to use depends on what you want to knit and what weight of knitting you want to produce. Compare knitting done on US size 8-9 needes and knitting worked on US size 1-2 needles .... big difference! The equivalent is the difference between a bulky and a standard gauge machine.
Machine Knitting is NOT cheating! When was the last time you pieced a quilt or sewed a seam by hand? You use a sewing machine to speed up the creative process in sewing, why not speed up your knitting? MANY machine knitters also hand knit. They enjoy the process of hand knitting and feeling the yarn run through their fingers, but they also have so many projects in mind that they will never complete them all! Some machine knitters don't hand knit. They enjoy having many finished products in the time it would take to hand knit one.

Knit a gauge swatch in LESS THAN 10 MINUTES!
Most knitting machines are portable. Plan a space about 4 feet wide by 2 feet deep. Used knitting machines can be quite inexpensive. As with other crafts, you can purchase all sorts of accessories and "bells and whistles", but all you NEED is a machine in good working order to get started. Many machine knitters start with an Incredible Sweater Machine and quickly realize that a move to a metal bed machine will allow them to expand their creativity.

The "Knitting Machine Tools, Toys and Tips"

Do your homework
There are very few machine knitting stores. Most new machine knitters inherit their machines or purchase them used. The majority of used machines are Japanese machines. Brands like Brother/Knit King, Singer/Silver Reed/Studio/ Toyota are common.
Here are some things to consider:
Knitting machines come in 2 "flavors"

• Plastic Bed machines
  - good starting point, lower price, fewer accessories.
  - generally use heavier yarns (worsted, hand spun)
• Metal Bed machines - used machines are reasonably priced, they offer more features including automatic patterning (punchcard or electronic), more accessories. -There are more choices on gauge (bulky, standard, mid-gauge and fine gauge),allowing you to use a wider range of yarns.

Used machine? Learn how to replace a knitting machine sponge bar

Learning a new craft takes time

Lots of buttons and levers

Many beginning machine knitters get overwhelmed with all the buttons and levers on their machines. It isn't difficult to learn, but it does take time and practice. There are 3 mistakes many "newbies" make

• They don't practice. If you learn technique in January, but don't do it again until July, you won't remember how to set your machine. Yes, you have a manual and there are tutorials on line, but you have to keep using your machine to increase your knowledge and grow your confidence
• They buy too many toys. Choose one gauge of machine and master it. Forget all the Bells and Whistles and work with what you have. Even if a good deal comes along, you won't be able to use a new machine with confidence until you have mastered the basics on ONE machine
• Select ONE method of creating or modifying patterns.
  • If you are comfortable with using computers, select a software package for machine knitters, learn it and stick with it!
  • If you know how to chart by hand ... do it! Why spend time learning software if you are capable of creating your own patterns?
  • Learn to use a charting device that was designed for your machine.

   Source: http://www.learnmachineknitting.com