Plastic logic e-newspaper

Plastic Logic, a spin-off company from the Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory, has recently released its design of a future electronic newspaper reader. This lightweight plastic screen copies the appearance, but not the feel, of a printed newspaper. This electronic paper technology was pioneered by the E-Ink Corporation and is used in the current generation Sony eReader and Amazon.com’s Kindle. Plastic Logic’s device, yet to be named, has a highly legible black-and-white display and a screen more than twice as large compared to current versions available on the market.

Plastic Logic’s new device has an A4 sized display, can be continually updated via a wireless link, and can store and display hundreds of pages of newspapers, books, and documents. Richard Archuleta, the chief executive of Plastic Logic, said the display was Amazon Kindle sufficiently large enough to match a newspaper’s layout. “Even though we have positioned this for business documents, newspapers are what everyone asks for,” said Archuleta.

Another company vying to control the e-newspaper market is the Hearst Corporation. They own 16 daily newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst was also an early investor in E-Ink, using this technology and to distribute electronic versions of some papers on Amazon’s Kindle.

The advancement of colour displays with moving images and interactive clickable advertisements would be available within a few more years. However, the ideal format of the flexible display which could be rolled or folded like a newspaper still has many years of development ahead.

At E-lnk’s headquarters recently, a demonstration was held showing prototypes of flexible displays that exhibit rudimentary colors and animated images. “By 2010, we will have a production version of a display that offers newspaper like colour,” said Peruvemba. He also expects technology allowing users to write on the screen and view videos to be available within the next few years.

E-lnk’s technology, commonly known as electronic paper (e-paper), is different from liquid-crystal display (LCD) used in modern computer monitors and televisions. This e-paper technology does not use a backlight and consumes power only when the content of the display changes. Contrasting to current display panels, which are barely visible in strong light, the e-paper’s display will look even brighter in daylight.

Compared to Amazon’s Kindle, Plastic Logic’s first display is 2.5 times larger and is only one-third of the Kindle’s thickness. However, it weighs two ounces more than Kindle, even though it uses a flexible, lightweight plastic as its cover. The display is expected to be on sale in the first half of 2009, according to the company.

Notes

Spin-off company - фирма, отделившаяся от материнской компании (с целью коммерческой реализации нового научно-технического достижения); Amazon Kindle is a software and hardware platform for reading electronic books (e-books), first launched in the United States on November 19, 2007. newspaper’s layout – формат газеты; another company vying - еще одна компания претендует; liquid-crystal display - жидкокристаллический дисплей

Embedded computers

The most common form of computer in use today is the embedded computer. Embedded computers are small, simple devices that are used to control other devices — for example, they may be found in machines ranging from fighter aircraft to industrial robots, digital cameras, and children’s toys.

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets by dropping bombs. Fighters are comparatively small, fast, and maneuverable. Many fighters have secondary ground-attack capabilities, and some are dual-rolled as fighter-bombers; the term “fighter” is also sometimes used colloquially for dedicated ground-attack aircraft. Fighter aircraft are the primary means by which armed forces gain air superiority over their opponents above a particular battle space. Since at least World War II, achieving and maintaining air superiority has been a key component of victory in most modern warfare, particularly conventional warfare between regular armies (as opposed to guerrilla warfare), and the acquisition, training and maintenance of a fighter fleet represent a very substantial proportion of defense budgets for modern militaries.

Today is the age of the fifth-generation fighters which are characterized by being designed from the start to operate in a network-centric combat environment, and to feature extremely low, all-aspect, multi-spectral signatures employing advanced materials and shaping techniques. They have multifunction AESA radars¹ with high-bandwidth, low-probability of intercept (LPI) data transmission capabilities. IRST sensors² are incorporated for air-to-air combat as well as for air-to-ground weapons delivery. These sensors, along with advanced avionics, glass cockpits, helmet-mounted sights, and improved secure, jamming-resistant LPI datalinks³ are highly integrated to provide multi-platform, multi-sensor data fusion for vastly improved situational awareness while easing the pilot's workload. Avionics suites rely on extensive use of very high-speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) technology, common modules, and high-speed data bases. Other technologies common to this latest generation of fighters includes integrated electronic warfare system (INEWS) technology, integrated communications, navigation, and identification avionics technology, centralized “vehicle health monitoring” systems for ease of maintenance, and fiber optics data transmission. Overall, the integration of all these elements is claimed to provide fifth-generation fighters with a “first-look, first-shot, first-kill capability”.

Notes

¹AESA radars ― An Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), also known as active phased radar is a type of radar whose transmitter and receiver functions are composed of numerous small transmit/receive (T/R) modules. AESA radars feature short to instantaneous (millisecond) scanning rates and have a desirable low probability of intercept.

²IRST sensors ― An infra-red search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infra-red sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation such as jet aircraft and helicopters.

³LPI datalinks ― Low-Probability-of-Intercept datalinks

Avionics – авиационная радиоэлектроника; embedded computer – встроенный компьютер; fighter aircraft – самолет-истребитель; combat – бой; bomber – бомбардировщик; colloquially – в просторечии; to maintain – поддерживать; warfare – война; guerrilla warfare – партизанская война; acquisition – приобретение; glass cockpit – стеклянная кабина; jam – заклинивание, заедание; fusion – сплав, слияние; awareness – понимание; workload – рабочая нагрузка; to feature – показывать