Reality TV

May 21, 2013
One thing is certain: consumers are destined to have gorgeous displays with resolution that matches the acuity of their vision. Even though I have seen many 4K and 8K demos, I am still astounded by the way Ultra High-Definition TV (Ultra HDTV) can mimic reality. Looking at a demo from Japanese broadcaster NHK at the NAB show, I had a moment when I experienced what experts mean when they say Ultra HD can “feel” like 3D because the resolution is so good. I thought I was looking at one of the classic scenes used to show off studio quality cameras, a model sitting at “home” with plenty of colorful objects. I had actually glanced up at an 8K display that was showing the...

A Transformative Wave

May 21, 2013
Wearable technologies are emerging from the lab onto the street, into the gym and onto the ski slopes. Today’s smartphones and tablets are like having a genie in a bottle. We pull from our pockets a mini, powerful computer and with a swipe or voice command get all of the information we need. We are at the beginning of this new form of “control and command.” Google Glass is a new disruptive technology. These high tech glasses have the potential to take interaction to the next level by replacing swiping with voice commands, head gestures and simple tap controls to display and capture information...

Empowering Consumers with Technology

May 13, 2013
From this day forward you will have—within reach or through the sound of your voice—an agent to answer your questions, bring you entertainment, coach and connect you with those you care about. When Bill Gates used to paint a picture of a “rich user experience” during his keynotes at the International CES®, the premise was that the user was sitting in front of a PC. With the phenomenal uptake of smartphones and tablets, that user  experience is now available any time we choose. In the same way that the Internet broke old business models and unleashed entirely new...

How iTunes Shuffled the Audio Industry

April 25, 2013
iTunes, the world’s largest music retailer, turns 10 this week, and Apple is celebrating by highlighting some milestones in the digital music market over the last decade. As of February, more than 25 billion songs had been purchased on iTunes, and 40 billion apps had been downloaded from the iTunes App Store.   On-the-go access to media is reshaping music, TV, movie and entertainment retail sales. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says nearly 1.4 billion digital music singles, and 117 million digital albums were downloaded in 2012.  Revenues from digital music files and royalties topped $4 billion in 2012. Overall, digital music revenue, including...

UNews: March/April 2013

April 05, 2013
The Implications of More PEVs on the Road  With funding and support from the National Science Foundation’s Cyber- Physical Systems Program, researchers at the University of Notre Dame are working on solutions to ease the burden on the nation’s power grid brought on by an increase in the popularity of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The team is focusing on problems that might arise for PEV owners as well as for commercial charging station owners, power companies and power distributors. “Electrification of the transportation market offers revenue growth for utility companies and automobile manufacturers, lower operational costs for consumers and benefits to...

Innovative Opportunities

March 29, 2013
3D printing, the ground-breaking technology that again made a splash at CES, is producing a growing number of ‘printed’ products, from mugs and jewelry to guns. Nike just introduced football cleats built using a 3D printed plate. 3D printing also has given manufacturers new creativity with materials that can be incorporated into a design. Prototypes are now easier and less expensive to build, and time to market is shortened. When the “factory” comes to your desktop at home, experimentation will explode even further. See page 10 for a short primer on 3D printing and how Panasonic and Sony teamed up to create the world&rsquo...

International Focus: MENA

March 29, 2013
A Look at the Middle East and North Africa The MENA region covers 22 countries and roughly 381 million people—about six percent of the total world population. It also accounts for 60 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 45 percent of the world’s natural gas reserves. There is not a standard list of countries included in the MENA region, but generally the term includes the following: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen. Ethiopia and Sudan are sometimes included. Saudi Arabia...

Building New Foundations

March 25, 2013
The theme from this year’s meeting of global thought-leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, “resilient dynamism,” encompasses imperatives for ensuring growth in an era of accelerating change: Recognition that a new status quo is emerging, and leaders must realize that today’s challenges such as adversity, complexity and disruption are here to stay. Innovative ways need to be explored to restore economic dynamism and maintain an edge in the face of competition. Growth strategies must reinforce societal resilience, for example, through the smart, sustainable management of ...

3D: The Re-Birth of Printing

March 25, 2013
Not every 3D-related display at the 2013 International CES® involved a TV panel and movies like Avatar. More than a half dozen exhibitors showed 3D printers or 3D printing-related products and services in Las Vegas. 3D printing entails creating a solid object by laying down successive layers of materials. If one can imagine an inkjet printer getting stuck generating a particular letter, with that letter being produced over and over again on the same space, eventually the ink would build up into a three-dimensional form. Essentially that is what happens in 3D printing, except that instead of ink, polymers...
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