One-Glass Solution to Touch-Screen Technology

Consumers are demanding smartphones and other mobile devices to be as thin and lightweight as possible. The traditional structure of adding pro-cap touch to display to LCD, starts with separate LCD panel that is made up of two glass layers that contain liquid crystal material, top glass sheet covered with polarizer. Above that goes the pro-cap touch module. A protective cover glass is then placed on the top of touch panel so that the top electrodes are not exposed. This stacking up of the glass layer limited the designer from making slimmer and lighter displays.

A method that gaining momentum to solve this problem is “one-glass solution” (OGS). The basic idea is to replace the touch module glass by a thin layer of insulating material.

Sensor on Lens

Sensor on Lens

One approach to achieve OGS is “sensor on lens”. In this case, ITO layer is deposited on the back of the cover glass and pattern it to create the electrodes. Thin layer of insulator added to the bottom of that and then second ITO layer is deposited on the back of that, patterning it to create electrodes running at right angles to the first layer. This module then laminated to standard LCD panel.

The touch technology deposited in the cover glass using the sensor on lens approach, results in a separate touch module that can be sold to the LCD display assemblers.

On-cell Pro-cap

On-cell Approach

The other approach is called “on-cell” pro-cap. In this case, conductive layer of ITO is deposited directly onto the top of glass layer of LCD panel and then patterned into electrodes. A thin insulating layer is applied and then second ITO is deposited, electrodes patterned right angle to first layer. Finally top polarizing layer is applied on the top and display is completed by adding cover glass.

The on-cell enable LCD manufacturer to add these touch layers onto their own LCD panels during manufacturing process. The display assembler just have to purchase a cover glass to complete the display.

In-cell pro-cap

In-cell Approach

Some of the panel makers developing “in-cell” touch panels, where one of the conductive layer actually shares the same layer as the thin film transistors (TFTs) used to switch the display’s sub pixels on and off. Tis approach not only reduces the electromagnetic noise in the system, but also uses a single integrated controller for both the display and the touch system. This reduces part counts and can make the display component thinner, lighter, more energy efficient and more reliable.

What are AMOLED Displays?

OLED display stack is somewhat different from a LCD stack. It only requires one substrate (glass) layer as opposed to LCD’s two. OLED material is much thinner than LCD layer. As a result, the finished display can be half as thick as an LCD panel, saving weight and thickness which is important in smartphone design. A number of smartphones today use a form of active-matrix OLED display called super AMOLED.

Other than above differences OLEDs have same stack configuration as that of LCDs and both tend to have cover glasses for protection.

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How Capacitive Touch Screen Works?

Projected Capacitance (Also known as P-cap or Pro-cap) is a solid-state technology. Instead of being based on electric resistance, it relies on electrical capacitance.

If the charge is applied to the conductor, it will hold the charge. And then second conductor is brought near it, second conductor will “steal” some of the charge from first one. Stealing a charge is same as when walk on carpet and try to touch any metallic thing you feel some spark at the tip of your finger. Here, metallic thing that you are trying to touch steals charge, which was built during walking on carpet. Pro-cap technology works on this basic principle.

Like resistive design, Pro- cap sensors uses two layers of transparent ITO conductors, separated by an insulator. The conductors on one layer run right angle to the conductors on other layer. The separated conductors are scanned in rapid sequence, so that all the possible intersections are measured many times per second.

When you touch the screen with your finger, it steals a little bit of the charge from each layer of the conductors at that point. The electrical charge involved is very tiny, which is why you don’t feel any shock or spark. This little change in the charge is enough to be detected by electronic devices. Because each conductor is checked separately, it is possible to identify multiple simultaneous touch points.

Pro-cap Touch Technology

Today’s projective capacitance technology relies on the fact that an electromagnetic field project above the plane of the conductive sensor layer. It allows to cover the touch module with sheet of thin glass or specially toughened Gorilla Glass, without losing the sensitivity of screen. It also increase the reliability of mobile.

No technology is without its challenges, so as the Pro-cap. The system of conductors used is susceptible to electrical noise from electromagnetic interference (EMI). Also touch screen won’t respond to non-conducting materials like finger nails.

In spite of all these shortcomings, Pro-cap technology has become dominant choice for the mobile devices.

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How Resistive Touch Screen Work?

The traditional touch screen technology is analog resistive. These panel work by detecting how much the resistance to current changes when a point is touched. It is accomplished by having two separate layers. Typically, the bottom layer is made of glass and the top layer is a plastic film. When you push down on film it makes contact with glass and completes a circuit.

The glass and plastic film are each covered with grid of electric conductor made up of transparent material, mostly of indium tin oxide (ITO). These conductors runs parallel on each of these sheets. Sheets are arranged such a way that conductors on glass should be right angled to those on the plastic film.

Resistive Touch Technology

When you press down the touch screen, contact is made between grid on the glass and grid on the film. The voltage of the circuit is calculated. X and Y coordinates of the touch position is calculated based on the amount of resistance at the point of contact. This analog signal is converted to Digital form using ADC so as to use by processor as user input.

This technology has lot of disadvantages, however. First, the analog system is susceptible to drift, so the user have to recalibrate the touch panel time to time.

The ITO material used for conductor is brittle. Repetitive use can cause ITO to crack over time and can result in dead spot on the touch screen.

The screen uses this technology usually thicker so as to maintain gap between to sensor planes. The gap between glass and plastic layer of resistive touch panel filled with air. The different refractive index of different layers creates visible artefacts that impact the display quality.

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Technology of Touch Screens

What is the technology which revolutionised smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices in last 10 years? Is it VLSI technology, which scaled down complete electronics design and made processors more powerful and increased the storage capacity? Yes indeed but there is one more unnoticed technology which modernised our user experience with mobile devices – Multi Touch Screen, which have sparked the explosive growth of the mobile device market.

It was not so long that we would tap away on a Palm Pilot with tiny stylus or exercise our thumb on QWERTY keyboard phones. Then in 2007, Apple launched iPhone and people were wiping their fingers across the screen, pinching images and performing other manoeuvres that had not previously been part of smartphone interface.

Now we not only take touch input for granted, we expect to be able to use multi-touch and gesture as well. What made this touch screen revolution possible, and where is it likely to take us?

To begin with, not all touch is created equal. There are around 18 distinctly different touch technologies available to design engineers. Some rely on visible or infrared light, some use sound waves while some others use force sensors. They all have individual combinations of advantages and disadvantages, including size, accuracy, reliability, durability, number of touches sensed and of course cost.

Two of these technologies dominated the market for transparent touch technology applies to display in the mobile screen and both have distinct differences.

• Resistive Touch Panels
• Pro-cap Touch Panels

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Science and Technology in India

Indian Scientists and scholars have been contributing in the field Science and technology from ancient time. Many discoveries are made by Indian scientist in field of science, Astronomy, Mathematics, Metallurgy, Medical, etc. Concept of Zero, Cataract surgery, are some of the highlights.

Modern India has had a strong focus on science and technology, realising that it is a key element of economic growth. India is among the topmost countries in the world in the field of scientific research, positioned as one of the top five nations in the field of space exploration.

India is among the world’s top 10 nations in the number of scientific publications. Position-wise, it is ranked 17th in the number of citations received and 34th in the number of citations per paper across the field of science and technology (among nations publishing 50,000 or more papers). The country is ranked ninth globally in the number of scientific publications and 12th in the number of patents filed.

With support from the government, considerable investment and development has incurred in different sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, space research, and nuclear power through scientific research. On the occasion of India’s 67th republic day of India, let’s know about some of major scientific projects of modern India.

Space Applications

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) founded in 1969 under Dr. Vikram Sarabhai with vision to "harness space technology for national development, while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration" and organisation is continuously operating towards the betterment of common people in India. ISRO is pioneer in Space Applications. India has one of the largest fleet of remote sensing satellite operational, contributing in weather forecasting, disaster planning, ground resource management, etc. It also has large number of communication satellite. 

IRNSS is an indigenously developed Navigation Satellite System that is used to provide accurate real-time positioning and timing services over India.The constellation of seven satellites is expected to operate from March 2016 onwards.

At present, ISRO team is actively working on its next generation of GSLV, a heavy liftoff vehicle, GSLV mk-III, which will power India’s Moon Lander Mission, Chandrayaan-2 and Human Spaceflight Program in future.

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

Mars Orbiter Mission is India's first interplanetary mission to planet Mars with an orbiter craft designed to orbit Mars in an elliptical orbit. Mars Orbiter Mission, also called Mangalyaan is orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. With success of mission in its maiden attempt India has become fourth country to reach Mars and first Asian nation to do so.

The mission was planned to test and prove ISRO’s capability to reach out in outer space which will propel future interplanetary missions of India. The Mission is primarily technological mission considering the critical mission operations and stringent requirements on propulsion and other bus systems of spacecraft. It has been configured to carry out observation of physical features of Mars and carry out limited study of Martian atmosphere with following five payloads:

• Mars Colour Camera (MCC)
• Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS)
• Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM)
• Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA)
• Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP)

ASTROSAT

ASTROSAT is India’s first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory, launched on 28th September, 2015. This scientific satellite mission endeavours for a more detailed understanding of our universe. One of the unique features of ASTROSAT mission is that it enables the simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of various astronomical objects with a single satellite.

ASTROSAT observes the universe in the optical, ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, whereas most other scientific satellites are capable of observing a narrow range of wavelength band. Multi-wavelength observations of ASTROSAT can be further extended with co-ordinated observations using other spacecraft and ground based observations. All major astronomy Institutions and some Universities in India will participate in these observations.

The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission are:

• To understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes
• Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars
• Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our galaxy
• Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky
• Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the Ultraviolet region

The Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO)

IAO is located near Leh in Ladakh, India, has one of the world's highest sites for optical, infrared and gamma-ray telescopes. The cloudless skies and low atmospheric water vapour make it one of the best sites in the world for optical, infrared, sub-millimetre, and millimetre wavelengths. It is currently the second highest optical telescope in the world, situated at an elevation of 4,500 meters (14,764 ft).

This telescope is remotely operated from CREST at Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Hosakote, Bangalore. using dedicated satellite links. In addition, IIA is collaborating with University of Washington, St. Louis, in operating a 0.5m photometry telescope for continuous monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei. The two telescopes, 180 deg apart in longitude, would together constitute the Antipodal Transient Observatory. A 0.3-m Differential Image Motion Monitor, a 220-GHz radiometer and an Automated Weather Station have been installed to facilitate continuation of site characterisation. In addition to night observations, the site is also being characterised for solar observations.

Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT)

In trying to answer big questions about the origins of universe and where we all come from, one could start from here in GMRT. The Facility is situated in Khodad, a rural area at the north of Pune, in Maharashtra, free from any radio interferences.

It is home to unique facility picking up signals from the farthest point in space. As a facility there is only one of its kinds in the world. 30 Antennas, each 45 meter on diameter, spread over 20 km stretch and all focus on, trying to unlock the secrets of universe. Panels of the antennas are designed with SMART (Stretched mesh attached to rope trusses), which provide larger reflective area with extremely light structure. 

The complete facility is supported by powerful computer not only for image processing, also for pinpoint focusing of all antennas at a point in vast space. Scientist working 24X7, searching the early formed hydrogen gas clouds in deep space for better understanding of how the universe came in to being. Apart from it GMRT is making new discoveries involving pulsars, binary star system, etc. Working at relatively low frequency (100 MHz – 1000 MHz) GMRT became famous among Radio astronomers around the world and performing better than its counterpart in New Mexico, USA.

India’s Thorium Reactor.

India has one of the largest supplies of thorium in the world (around 319,000 Tons), with comparatively poor quantities of uranium. India has projected meeting as much as 30% of its electrical demands through thorium by 2050. It is the "only country in the world with a detailed, funded, government-approved plan" to focus on thorium-based nuclear power.

In February 2014, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in Mumbai, India, presented their latest design for a "next-generation nuclear reactor" that will burn thorium as its fuel ore. Once built, with a target date of 2016, they estimate that the reactor could function without an operator for 120 days.

India's first commercial fast breeder reactor the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is approaching completion at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu; making India the most advanced country in thorium research, while other countries planned their programme in the end of last decade.

LCA Tejas, India’s Light Combat Aircraft.

Tejas is the smallest, light weight, single engine, single seat, supersonic, multirole, combat aircraft, consider to be best in its class in the world.

This fourth generation combat aircraft has Carbon Composites, light weight/high strength material for primary structures, quadruplex Digital Flight Control System, glass Cockpit and digital Avionics to give multirole capabilities with carefree maneuvering. These capabilities are further enhanced by several on-board Sensors, Communication and Navigation Systems that are supported by powerful Mission Computers and Cockpit Display System.

The LCA programme was launched in the early eighties for two primary purposes. The principal and most obvious goal was the development of a replacement aircraft for India's ageing MiG-21 fighters. The other main objective was to give an impetus for an across-the-board advancement of India's domestic aviation capability. Many complex technologies like Composite Material, Avionics, and sophisticated test facilities like wind tunnel, Iron bird test facility, simulators for training fighter pilots, etc. has been set up during development of aircraft first time in country. The programme has successfully able to create and sustainable environment for aircraft manufacturing industry in the country.

ALH Dhruv is Advance Light Helicopter developed by HAL, introduced in 2002 has already proved its capability for military and civilian use.

ORV Sagar Kanya

Sagar Kanya is a Ocean Research Vessel (ORV) owned and operated by India's National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR). The ship has helped in India's studies of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean.

In the year 1983, under Indo-German collaboration, a multidisciplinary research vessel was built in Germany and delivered in India to Ministry of Earth Sciences (then Department of Ocean Development). The vessel is a versatile ocean observing platform equipped with technologically advanced scientific equipment and related facilities. The ship is continuously monitoring the nutrients dissolve in water salinity, temperature, etc. The on board sampler takes samples from ocean surface water as well as from deep ocean bed and testing it in its 14 Laboratories on the ship. Along with ocean research Sagar kanya is contributing a lot in locating of Poly metallic Nodules on ocean bed. These nodules are rich source of many strategic metals such as copper, nickel and cobalt. Large area of Indian Ocean is identified as a rich source of future development and India has been granted United Nations status as a pioneer investor.

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)

TMT is a planned, eighteen stories, astronomical observatory and extremely large telescope to be built on the summit of Mauna Kea in the state of Hawaii. The TMT is designed for near-ultraviolet to mid-infrared (0.31 to 28 μmwavelengths) observations, featuring adaptive optics to assist in correcting image blur. The TMT will be at the highest altitude of all the proposed ELTs. India has government-level support in R&D along with China, Japan and Canada. The observatory and telescope are expected to be operational on Mauna Kea by 2024.

These are glimpses of Science and technology projects in modern India. Many more scientific projects and invisible innovations are going on in India. India is aggressively working towards establishing itself as a leader in industrialisation and technological development and to become centre of science and technology in world.

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY !!!

What’s so special about Gorilla Glass?

Many vendors are quick to trumpet the use of Corning's Gorilla Glass in their products. The glass is used as a protective outer layer for many devices, from smartphones to large flat panel televisions. But what makes Gorilla Glass different?

The answer lies in the composition of the glass itself. Most display glass is an alumina silicate formulation, which is made up of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. The glass also contains sodium ions spread throughout the material. And this is where the difference starts.

The glass is put in a bath of molten potassium at about 400 degrees. The sodium ions are replaced by potassium ions in a process that's a bit like soaking a pickle in salty brine. It's a diminishing process: More of the sodium ions are replaced by potassium at the surface of the glass, and then fewer and fewer are exchanged as you go further into the glass.

Why change from sodium to potassium? Sodium (Na) has an atomic number of 11, while potassium (K) has an atomic number of 19. If you remember your high school chemistry, this indicates that the potassium atoms are significantly larger than the sodium atoms. (The atomic radius of a neutral sodium atom measures out as 180 pico-meters and potassium at 220 pico-meters, so potassium measures out as more than 20% larger.)

Imagine that you have a box packed tightly with tennis balls. What would happen if you took out the top layer of tennis balls and replaced them -- one for one -- with larger softballs? The softball layer would be squeezed together much more tightly and it would be harder to get one out.

That's what happens with glass when the potassium ions take the place of the sodium ions. The potassium ions take up more space and create compression in the glass. This makes it more difficult for a crack to start, and even if one does start, it is much less likely to grow through the glass.

The concept of strengthening glass through ion exchange is not new; it has been known since at least the 1960s. And other companies offer glass that has been strengthened by this type of process. Corning's Gorilla brand of strengthened glass has gained considerable market share, however, and has a very visible presence in the marketplace.

The company Corning working on this technology and come up with innovations like Gorilla Glass Windshield for Automobiles (Ford GT) and "A Day made up of Glass" Concept.

Race for Reusable Spacecraft Started to Heat-up

On 22 January, Blue Origin again launched New Shepard Rocket and brought it back to Earth. It is the same rocket which was launch and landed to test reusability in November for fist time. It is not just the same design, the same physical rocket and Blue Origin has become first to do two successive landing of rocket with reusable capability. Blue Origin has planned more landing tests of same rocket in future. Each successive landing will be another big step toward the future of reusable rockets.

Blue Origin’s accomplishment comes just a month after its competitor SpaceX successfully landed one of its own rockets, the Falcon 9, on a landing pad at Cape Canaveral and less than a week after it failed to land a second Falcon 9 on an autonomous floating platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Both companies are working on same technology, but there’s an important distinction between their feats: SpaceX landed its rocket from low Earth orbit, while both of Blue Origin’s landings came back from a lower apogee of about 100 km, the so-called Karman line that divides space from the Earth’s atmosphere.

SpaceX has said that it will likely never reuse the Falcon 9 that made its first landing—it’s somewhat of a historical artifact now but they have been testing the rocket to see how it might have fared during a re-launch. Both companies are working toward true reusability in a bid to make space launches and travel more affordable.

If you can reuse a rocket, each trip from Earth only costs you the fuel it takes to leave, not the tens of millions it takes to build a new ship. In the short term, that makes launches to places like the International Space Station much more economical. But Blue Origin states the long-term plan well at the end of their sizzle reel: “Our vision: millions of people living and working in space. You can’t get there by throwing the hardware away.”

CGI Technology Transforming Film Making

     The technological development in the film making made the process much easier. Multiple cameras can run on the same shot, so that it is easy to get the desired angle. Film makers spend less time re-shooting the same scene due to technologically advanced systems. Motion capture and Computer generated imagery (CGI) captured the attraction of the film makers. CGI is traditionally done by placing reflective markers all over, an actors face and body, which are then interpreted by computer technology to create digitized expressions for the CG character. Now this technology is growing at faster rate.

     The best example for the technological integrated film-making could be a film "Avatar". A team of talented artist transferred basic renderings into photo real images, particularly using new breakthrough in lighting, shading and  rendering. In this movie 3D and CG technology were tied together for visualizing the film by virtue of which two new Cameron intermediary inventions made that are Virtual camera and Simulcam. The virtual camera used by the Cameron in the volume motion capture stage, wasn't actually a camera at all, it was like video game controller, it simulated on camera that was fed CG images by supercomputers surrounding the volume. This allowed amplification of each small adjustment on the virtual production stage, from camera movement to actor interaction, to gauge the overall effect on the final big-screen cut. The Simulcam is term associated with camera system by virtue of which integration of CG characters and environments into our live action are possible.

    Multiple cameras can run on the same shot, so that it is easy to get the desired angle. Technology greatly simplified and reduced the cost of making films, as expensive film has been replaced by the digital storage methods that last longer. Now new technologies are readily invented,tested, and perfected. Technology has opened up greater possibilities and opportunities for film-maker.

IRNSS - Indian Navigation System on The Edge of Complition

By the time you read this post, ISRO, Indian Space Agency would have launched its fifth regional navigation satellite IRNSS 1E into the space, today. [Press Release] 

IRNSS Service Area

IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. The Extended Service Area lies between primary service area and area enclosed by the rectangle from Latitude 30 deg South to 50 deg North, Longitude 30 deg East to 130 deg East.

The requirement of such a navigation system is driven because access to foreign government-controlled global navigation satellite systems is not guaranteed in hostile situations, as happened to the Indian military depending on American GPS during the Kargil War.

The fully deployed IRNSS system consists of a constellation of seven satellites, approximately 36,000 km altitude above earth surface and a support ground segment. Three of the satellites in the constellation will be located in geostationary orbit at 32.5° East, 83° East, and 131.5° East longitude. Two of the GSOs will cross the equator at 55° East and two at 111.75° East. Such an arrangement would mean all seven satellites would have continuous radio visibility with Indian control stations. The satellite payloads would consist of atomic clocks and electronic equipment to generate the navigation signals

IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorized users. Both will be carried on L5 (1176.45 MHz) and S band (2492.028 MHz). The SPS signal will be modulated by a 1 MHz BPSK signal. The Precision Service will use BOC (5, 2). The navigation signals themselves would be transmitted in the S-band frequency (2–4 GHz) and broadcast through a phased array antenna to maintain required coverage and signal strength.

The system is intended to provide an absolute position accuracy of better than 10 meters throughout Indian landmass and better than 20 meters in the Indian Ocean as well as a region extending approximately 1,500 km around India.

Four out of Seven Satellite Constellations are already in space, the fifth satellite is launched today from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shriharikotta (SHAR) in Andhra Pradesh. Remaining two satellites are scheduled to launch in February and March of this year. So, very soon consumer in India will find option of IRNSS on their Smartphone.

Some applications of IRNSS are:

• Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation
• Disaster Management
• Vehicle tracking and fleet management
• Integration with mobile phones
• Precise Timing
• Mapping and Geodetic data capture
• Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travelers
• Visual and voice navigation for drivers

The IRNSS Signal-in-Space Interface Control Document (ICD) for Standard Positioning Service (SPS) is released to the public to provide the essential information on the IRNSS signal-in-space, to facilitate research & development and aid the commercial use of the IRNSS signals for navigation-based applications. Click here to Register and Download the Document.

6 Best Linux Based Mobile Operating Systems

Android 

You cannot find anyone who simply does not know Android. Since, the android mobile operating system is now commanding the smartphone industry. Being it a Google product, the android OS is widely using in numerous mobiles.Using the Google’s Android OS, one can develop dashing smartphones at reasonable rates. Android is an open source OS and it is based on the Linux Kernel. Android codes are easily accessible by anyone and they can modify the codes according to their needs and demands. You no need to have special training or knowledge to access or customize the android code. Rather, you can make alterations on the code just like that. This is why the android operating system is familiar. 

Firefox OS 

Very recently, Mozilla was shifted to Firefox OS from Boot to Gecko OS. As you all know that, the Linux based mobile OS is absolutely open source and connects all the open standards. This operating system operates and executes by the assistance of HTML5 application. In the coming days, Mozilla is planned to introduce the smartphones with Firefox OS. The Mozilla Company is still in discussion about their plan with companies like LG, Orange, ZTE, Panasonic, Deutsche Telekom and several other companies. Obviously, you can anticipate the smartphones with Firefox OS in future days.

Sailfish OS 

The credit goes to Nokia developers for creating this Sailfish operating system. It is also an open source operating system. Due to some reasons, the Nokia Companywas planned to close all the open source projects. This operating system is derived from MeeGo.Itis utterly based on Mer Open Source Technology. 

Ubuntu Touch

Canonical company reports to the media that, they are going to launch a mobile phone with the Ubuntu operating system. Normally, Ubuntu is an open source and desktop operating system. The Ubuntu has flawless features and specifications in it. Also, a user can easily customize this OS in accordance with his needs. This company is very much interested in creating the combined open source platform for all such computing devices. The company is now planning to introduce their first Ubuntu phone and Ubuntu touch device by the end of this fiscal year. 

Plasma Mobile 

It is a recently launched Linux based mobile operating system. But the operating system is actually based on Kubuntu. This OS has the ability to be on the top of the list of open source mobile operating system. The KDE community contributes dynamically to the development of plasma mobile operating system. You can expect more devices with plasma mobile OS in the near future. 

Samsung Tizen

Tizen is an open-source platform generally associated with Samsung. Tizen is actually the umbrella of the Linux Foundation, and both Samsung and Intel are on its steering committee. Samsung’s own Android “Galaxy” devices run the TouchWiz skin with Samsung’s own look, and Tizen looks very similar to TouchWiz. This is clearly a backup operating system for Samsung. If they wanted to leave Google Android and go in their own direction, they could start pushing Tizen on the next Galaxy S phone

BE DISRUPTIVE or BE DISRUPTED - 2

As we have discussed earlier in my previous post about Disruptive Technology, of how it works and how it affects the companies in the market, we can conclude that the company is an CRUCIAL state.

We can say this because, now the company is having a competition that has made them loose their hold on the market and leave them with very less time to understand the new product & present some better product to get back in the race.

This state is the position at which they try to by pass many standard procedures followed during product development to get a product out, ending up making something that is of low quality, further putting themselves at risk of complete shutdown.

How to avoid the damage caused Disruptive Technology (DT)?

The point that I would like to mention here is that, by NO means can any company avoid facing the DT's HEAT ,as SOME ONE in this highly competitive world, during the process of making his/ her mark will come with more cost effective methods to manufacture the same product, which will obviously become a threat to many companies who have been enjoying the trust and faith of their customers.

So, the only way to avoid the damage caused by the DT is, to BECOME ONE.

The simple logic is that, come out with some OUT OF THE BOX idea or product before SOME ONE else does it. Now the question stands, ideas are for many things, nothing in specific. But there is a catch, there always be JUST ONE idea that will meet the customer demands in its optimum form. Get that one, ride on it, nurture it & make it come to life (basically what I mean is to get the product manufactured).

To effectively do this, companies have to change the strategy or the way they get the product into the market. The complete business model needs to change right from the top level to the bottom level (which is actually a very very tough job). So try fumble, go down, but that is not the case with small companies or even for that matter an entrepreneur, as they have comparatively very less on stake to loose.

So if you have an idea that you think can be a solution to a day-today problem in this world people are facing then, just go for it. Get the stats of the market, generate funds, make your thing come to life and let it free in the market. Who knows, your product might become the next most DISRUPTIVE THING that brought down a trillion dollar company to its knees.

World's First Passenger Drone unveiled at CES 2016

The 184, built by Chinese consumer drone maker EHang, is a 440 pound quadcopter with an enclosed seating area for a human passenger. It can carry a person up to 10 miles or up to 23 minutes, at a speeds around 60 miles per hour. And just like small drone it is capable of flying at heights of up to 2.15 miles, though the drone regulation would likely to keep it at just several hundred feet.

The 184 is not the first rideable quadcopter. The 18-rotor Volocopter has been able to carry people since 2011, though it must be piloted manually. In August, a Dutch engineer revealed an open air quadcopter that could carry a person for up to 10 seconds.

The 184 flies with four arms and places the bulk of weight at its centre. Made of lightweight carbon fibre, the drone takes off and lands vertically and it is battery powered. The navigation of the drone is autonomous and made as simple as putting way points in the google maps. A fresh set of flight control algorithms oversee the speed of the drone’s huge rotors, is the largest feature of the system, claimed by Mr. Derrick Xiong, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of EHang.

According to Xiong, the commercialized product comes with failsafe system, even air-conditioner system. The quadcopter could be used as tourist attraction or ferry between difficult to reach locations, such as islands. I could serve many of the same uses cases as small consumer drones and helicopters, such as delivering people and supplies to remote locations or airlifting injured people to safety.

The 184 quadcopter likely to cost between $200,000 and $300,000, keeping them out of reach of the average individual for now. Ehang does plan to ship them this year, and is preparing to begin accepting pre-orders.

It is unclear exactly how a vehicle like the 184 would be regulated in China or elsewhere, but Xiong said EHang is working with mayors of the cities in several countries to consider the technology. Like self-driving cars and consumer drone, it would likely require fresh legislation.

Some Heavy Stuff: Four New Elements Added to Periodic Table

Elements with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117, and 118 have been added to the periodic table. The new elements were added after the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) reviewed scientific studies published by teams of researchers in the United States, Japan, and Russia. 

Though the periodic table was created in 1869, scientists haven’t yet filled it in completely, or answered many of the lingering questions surrounding these building blocks of the universe; as these superheavy elements decay, they become other elements that scientists cannot yet identify.

These newly added elements are among the heaviest in the periodic table and aren’t known to exist outside the lab. They’re highly unstable—just to formulate them in the lab, the researchers had to crash lighter nuclei into one another. The new elements existed for less than a second before breaking down into other elements.

These elements, which complete the seventh row of the periodic table, are the first to be added since 2011, when flerovium (element 114) and livermorium (element 116), also super heavy metals, were added. 

The new elements have been temporarily named temporarily named ununtrium, (Uut or element 113), ununpentium (Uup, element 115), ununseptium (Uus, element 117), and ununoctium (Uuo, element 118). In the next few months, the teams that discovered these elements will propose new names for them. That's no easy task, but hopefully they will choose names that roll off the tongue a bit better than the placeholders.

Start Charging While Jogging

A little exercise not only does your body good, it can charge up your smartphone. Evanston, Illinois-based Ampy showed off its Ampy Move, a wearable battery pack that charges with up and down motion that makes a couple of magnets bounce up and down inside coils.

That's an electricity-creating process invented by Nikola Tesla in the late 1800s. And on a small scale, it's good for a quick boost of energy that can get you to the end of the day with power.

One hour of jogging while wearing the pack will get you roughly an hour of power for your phone (under normal use). The crowd-funded company has been selling them for $99. Director of marketing Ethan Krupp says a new product is in the works that is slimmer, more efficient, and has more indicator lights that give you a better sense that even 15 minutes of bouncing is creating some juice.

Critics are saying, the power generated is quite less (1 hour battery backup after 1 hour of jogging), and needs to jogging for charging the battery. But that's good move in technology to harvest human muscles energy from daily life workout.

Technology and Spirituality

      We live in the digital world today. The advances in technology can be observed in everything from electric current to global communications.The rapid growth in the technology boosting our demand considerably. Navigation system in cars, mobiles and lots of applications on a touch of button on the internet makes our life much easier. As I mentioned in my previous blog , in the modern medical science, use of prognostic and diagnostic systems have enriched the medical field.

     The technology is very much useful but it is like a double-edged sword. It changes the life of an individual but it may be better or worse. Using internet, mobiles we can now communicate very easily with faster rate. But there is always a feeling of "Somewhere something is missing". No doubt that we are developing by virtue of technological growth, it is much easier now  to learn about anything by connecting to the internet, but excitement, enthusiasm of having actual experience is missed out. It's sometimes gives the experience of pseudo world. We can see the pictures of nature on the internet but we cannot experience the breeze, real atmosphere.

    The downside of the technology is such as people are loosing patience, thinking more than their ability and tendency of having giant things in affordable cost is increasing day by day. The disturbance caused to the mindset due to lack of consistency, patience makes the life uncertain and unrealistic. Spirituality has the good solution to these issues.

   Spirituality separate a person from dependence on material things and establish a great purpose. Spirituality is the only thing as a way out to cope up with the change or uncertainty due to downsides of technology. Because spirituality is more an individual practice and has to do with having sense of peace and purpose. It can often be practiced alongside things like yoga, which ultimately focus on stress relief and release of emotion. Spirituality is the re-charger of a mind. Technology resolve the problem which more associated with materialistic thing but spirituality resolves the problem of mindset which plays a vital role to achieve peace, joy and wisdom; Hence technology makes the nation developed and spirituality makes the nation prosperous.

How Hydrogen Bomb Works?

On Wednesday, World leaders scrambled to investigate claims from North Korea that it had developed a hydrogen bomb in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. While the communist country has some level of nuclear capability, it wasn't immediately clear that they had successfully built a working atomic bomb. How it is going to work at International and political level of the World is out of scope of our blog, Let's discuss about How the hydrogen bomb work in the World of Nuclear Physics.

Atomic weapons are plutonium-based and involve a process called fission that splits plutonium into smaller atoms, releasing massive amounts of energy. Whereas, Hydrogen bombs are made with uranium. Instead of splitting big atoms, Hydrogen bomb combines small atoms to release a massive nuclear force hundreds of times more powerful than an atomic weapon.

Fusion Reaction

At extremely high temperatures, the nuclei of hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium can readily fuse, releasing enormous amounts of energy in the process. Weapons that take advantage of this process are known as fusion bombs, thermonuclear bombs or hydrogen bombs. Fusion bombs have higher kiloton yields and greater efficiencies than fission bombs, but Deuterium or tritium has to be highly compressed at high temperature to initiate the fusion reaction.

Fusion bomb uses lithium-deuteride, a solid compound that doesn't undergo radioactive decay at normal temperature, as the principal thermonuclear material. As Tritium has short half-life, bomb designers rely on a fission reaction to produce tritium from lithium. The majority of radiation given off in a fission reaction is X-rays, and these X-rays provide the high temperatures and pressures necessary to initiate fusion. So, a fusion bomb has a two-stage design -- a primary fission or boosted-fission component and a secondary fusion component.

Hydrogen Bomb Design

To understand this bomb design, imagine that within a bomb casing you have an implosion fission bomb and a cylinder casing of uranium-238 (tamper). Within the tamper is the lithium deuteride (fuel) and a hollow rod of plutonium-239 in the center of the cylinder. Separating the cylinder from the implosion bomb is a shield of uranium-238 and plastic foam that fills the remaining spaces in the bomb casing.

Detonation of the bomb causes the following sequence of events:

1. The fission bomb implodes, giving off X-rays, which heat the interior of the bomb and the tamper; shield used prevents premature detonation of the fuel. The heat causes the tamper to expand and burn away, exerting pressure against the lithium deuterate, which is placed inside it, lithium deuterate is squeezed by about 30-fold. 
2. The compression shock waves initiate fission in the plutonium rod. 
3. The fissioning rod gives off radiation, heat and neutrons. 
4. The neutrons go into the lithium deuterate, combine with the lithium and make tritium. 
5. The combination of high temperature and pressure are sufficient for tritium-deuterium and deuterium-deuterium fusion reactions to occur, producing more heat, radiation and neutrons. 
6. The neutrons from the fusion reactions induce fission in the uranium-238 pieces from the tamper and shield. 
7. Fission of the tamper and shield pieces produce even more radiation and heat. 
8. The bomb explodes.

The result is an immense explosion with a 10,000-kiloton yield -- 700 times more powerful than the Little Boy explosion.