The Alt.Embedded News Roundup, Part 1

Oct. 6, 2016

Technology Editor Bill Wong collects some of the recent articles on Electronic Design that you might want to take a look at.

William Wong Blog

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MyScriptâs Interactive Ink can convert written equations into digital form while retaining the ability to edit the script version.

Part of the challenge with the internet is keeping track of all the information and articles flowing by. Even if you get one of our Electronic Design newsletters, including the daily newsletter, they tend to speed by so quickly that it's easy to miss something interesting or useful. To rectify this somewhat, I've collected some recent Electronic Design articles that you might like.

I wrote "The Pen Is Finally Mightier than the Word Processor" after checking out MyScript’s latest pen-based technology that is quite impressive. The pen as an interactive device is no longer a second-class citizen compared to the keyboard and mouse. It is now possible to edit using the pen, including inserting text and drawing figures.

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IoT platforms designed to deliver end-to-end software enable any device manufacturer (of products such as refrigerators and thermostats) to develop not only intelligent products, but also elegant and reliable IoT services for their end users.

Adrian Caceres is CTO, VP of engineering, and co-founder of Ayla Networks. His article, "Choosing an IoT System? Ask These 8 Questions to Platform Providers," offers some tips on how to choose an IoT platform technology to speed and improve the creation of your connected products.

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This infographic shows results from a 2016 Harris Poll of 1,875 U.S. adults, which gauged their interest in a mobile-phone function/feature that allows them to control whether a call recipient can hear the background noise while still hearing them speak.

I started the 11 Myths series earlier this year. The "11 Myths About Noise Cancellation" is one of the latest. It tackles a number of the most common myths about noise cancellation. This technology is critical to making better smartphones, as well as voice-controlled systems ranging from Amazon’s Echo to interactive automotive telematics systems.

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Uberâs self-driving cars are equipped with a sensor suite on the roof.

My blog on "Self-Driving Cars Are Coming Whether You Like It or Not" seemed to garner a good bit of feedback. You can add your own if you like. At this point we are no longer going to be able to forget this self-driving car nonsense. Like the title says, it's coming whether we like it or not.

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The piezoelectric effect occurs through compression of a piezoelectric material.

Do you know "What is the Piezoelectric Effect?" This article provides the basics from the beginnings of piezoelectricity, along with how different materials have advanced its effect on today's electronics.

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Diablo Technologies is using its Memory 1 flash memory module as an extension of DRAM instead of a solid-state device (SSD).

Flash memory technology is one of the hottest topics this year. "Cached Flash Uses DDR4 Sockets" highlights Diablo Technologies’ DMX caching software and 128-Gbyte Memory 1 DDR4 flash memory module. It expands the amount of virtual RAM available on servers for memory-hungry applications.

So, that's a wrap for now. Hope you like this collection of articles.

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About the Author

William Wong Blog | Senior Content Director

Bill Wong covers Digital, Embedded, Systems and Software topics at Electronic Design. He writes a number of columns, including Lab Bench and alt.embedded, plus Bill's Workbench hands-on column. Bill is a Georgia Tech alumni with a B.S in Electrical Engineering and a master's degree in computer science for Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

He has written a dozen books and was the first Director of PC Labs at PC Magazine. He has worked in the computer and publication industry for almost 40 years and has been with Electronic Design since 2000. He helps run the Mercer Science and Engineering Fair in Mercer County, NJ.