Thursday, June 28, 2007

Wireless Power

Battery Charging Goes Wireless:

"Non-contact charging systems for mobile phones will go on sale in Europe in the second quarter of 2007...

... Apple Inc of the US applied for a patent relating to a non-contact charger for its iPhone, iPod portable music player and other products in February 2007"

"These technologies are attracting so much attention from manufacturers and researchers lately because of (1) market growth, (2) developments in technology, and (3) delays in competing technologies (Fig 2). Market growth here refers to the enormous surge in the quantity, variety, etc, of battery-driven mobile phones"

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

The long road to invisibility

Light Fantastic: Flirting With Invisibility

Last October, scientists at Duke demonstrated a working cloaking device, hiding whatever was placed inside, although it worked only for microwaves.

...with metamaterials, scientists can now also create indexes of refraction from 0 to 1. In the Duke cloaking device, the index actually varies smoothly from 0, at the inside surface of the cylinder, to 1, at the outside surface. That causes the path of light to curve not just at the boundaries, but also as it passes through the metamaterial.

Metamaterials first took center stage in a scientific spat a few years ago over a startling claim that the index of refraction could be not just less than 1, but also negative, less than 0. Light entering such a material would take a sharp turn, almost as if it had bounced off an invisible mirror as it crossed the boundary.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Steve & Bill

(at endgadget)

Kara: what's the greatest misunderstanding about your relationship with each other? Steve: We've kept our marriage secret for over a decade. Nice Steve, Nice. Bill: Neither of us have anything to complain about. People come and go in this industry, it's nice when someone sticks around!

Steve: When Bill and I started we were the youngest guys in the room. Now I'm the oldest guy in the room. That's why I love being here. Steve quotes the Beatles. "You and I have memories longer than the road ahead."

Does Steve envy Bill's second act? Steve: Bill's goal isn't to be the richest guy in the cemetary. ... I look at us as two of the luckiest guys on the planet... we've found what we loved to do at the right place at the right time.

Q asking about a single piece of advice for a new entrepreneur. Bill is talking about economies of scale, and wanting to do great things, no worry about growth and money so much. Love of the game! Steve: It's really hard. If you don't love it you're gonna give up. It's a lot of hard work, it's a lot of worrying. Love it, have passion. You've got to be a really good talent scout. Build and organization that can build itself.

They're wrapping up... shall we recap? Steve, calculating, articulate, very guarded, playing his hand very close to the chest. Bill, very friendly, very open, surprisingly accessible. Both so clearly in love with what they do. These two guys are one in a million, and it's totally clear they've never respected anyone else quite like they respect each other.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates: At D 2007