The Swedish Invasion Spotify isn’t a new technology. It’s actually been around since 2008, when a company named Spotify AB launched the Spotify service in Sweden. Since then, the company has been negotiating licensing issues and slowly rolling out to other countries, including Finland, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Spain and, as of July […]
Oscillation Basics One of the most commonly used oscillators is the pendulum of a clock. If you push on a pendulum to start it swinging, it will oscillate at some frequency — it will swing back and forth a certain number of times per second. The length of the pendulum is the main thing that
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Making Electronic Ink Two companies are simultaneously developing similar electronic inks — E Ink of Cambridge, MA, and Xerox in Palo Alto, CA. At first glance, a bottle of electronic ink looks just like regular ink, but a closer examination shows something much different. Although the two companies’ products vary slightly, here are the three
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Building a Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray discs not only have more storage capacity than traditional DVDs, but they also offer a new level of interactivity. Users will be able to connect to the Internet and instantly download subtitles and other interactive movie features. With Blu-ray, you can: record high-definition television (HDTV) without any quality loss instantly
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DLP Technology DLP technology is based on an optical semiconductor, called a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD), which uses mirrors made of aluminum to reflect light to make the picture. The DMD is often referred to as the DLP chip. The chip can be held in the palm of your hand, yet it can contain more
HDMI Signals One of the common misperceptions about HDMI is that the digital signal is innately superior to an analog signal. In some people’s minds, the lack of analog-to-digital conversion means that the signal is in a pure, undamaged state when it reaches the HDTV set. It’s easy to imagine a high-definition, digital signal traveling
Inductive Coupling Inductive coupling uses magnetic fields that are a natural part of current’s movement through wire. Any time electrical current moves through a wire, it creates a circular magnetic field around the wire. Bending the wire into a coil amplifies the magnetic field. The more loops the coil makes, the bigger the field will
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How to Connect AirPlay Devices To send and receive streaming audio and video with AirPlay, the devices you’re using must first be connected to the same local network. This connection could be wireless, using WiFi or Bluetooth, or wired, using Ethernet. Though connecting with Bluetooth isn’t the same as being on your home computer network,
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We traditionally base the Gadget Master competition questions on a roundup-style post, and it is now high time for another one! How about tearing through all the teardowns we have featured? They are always popular posts – next to a shiny new gadget, the next best thing is taking apart a shiny new gadget! So, check out these posts covering Kindles, Sony VAIO laptops, MacBook Airs and a Galaxy Tab…
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Start the Ball Rolling When you first approach a modern pinball machine, you are met with an intricate weaving of electronic and mechanical parts, all designed to create a game in which you are challenged to score points without losing the ball or tilting the game. The main components of the game are the flippers
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