Printed Electronics Made 10x Efficient With New Process

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a better way to control the flow of ink during the electronics printing process. The new method allows fewer defects in the end-product and also improves its overall electrical efficiency. Printed electronics is used to create lightweight & low-cost solar cells and also in manufacturing flexible electronics screens. However, the big problem with current methods is that the efficiency of these products is far lesser than than traditional electronics products. New process developed at Stanford is called FLUENCE aka fluid-enhanced crystal engineering. The research team expects that this new innovation will accelerate further adoption of printed electronics.

Dr Ying Diao, the lead author of the paper published in Nature Materials says that FLUENCE allows the process to be scaled up to meet the industry requirements. It's interesting to note that printed electronic devices are generally formed using semiconducting crystals. These crystals are grown using special inks containing organic chemicals. The distribution and even flow of ink, which often gets disturbed during rapid printing leads to defects in the final products.

Diao has designed a new printing blade with very tiny pillars embedded in it. These pillars mix the ink in such a way that it forms a uniform film. She has also designed a series of chemical patterns on the organic substrate to make sure that the crystals grow in a regular & uniform pattern. X-Ray studies were carried out at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) and it allowed Diao to inspect the progress and keep making improvements in the process. Diao and her team were finally able to produce better arranged crystal which are at least 10x longer than the crystal created with traditional process.

Diao and her team now wants to exhamine the relationship between process & the material. This would provide even better control over the final electronic properties of the printed electronic films.

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High Frequency Sound On Plant Matter To Create Biofuels - Iowa State University

Iowa State University researchers are employing high-frequency sound waves to break down plant substances for creation of bio-fuel. The research includes pretreating a wide range of feedstocks like witch grass, corn stover, and soft wood with constant ultrasound, thus enhancing the necessary chemical reactions needed to tansform the biomass into high-value biofuels and chemicals. All these findings shall be presented at the 21st International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2013) being held from June2-7 in Montreal.

The researchers discovered that they could substantially up the efficiency of removing lignin (the substance that binds cellulose and hemicellulose together in plant cell walls) from biomass in solution. Generally enzymes or chemicals do the trick, but this time the researchers removed lignin by pretreating the plant matter with ultrasound. Once the lignin is removed via this technique, freed sugar gets dissolved within minutes for further processing into biofuel. The team also discovered that hydrolysis of corn starch could be greatly accelerated with ultrasonic. Traditionally, ground corn is steamed with jet cookers at high temperatures, to break down the corn and the remaining starch mash is then cooled and reacted with enzymes to release glucose for fermentation. Ultrasonically, the corn was grounded so small that it provided more surface area for enzymatic action. Economic rewards of this method are great, with less than an year payback period since installation.

A third application for ultrasound in biofuel production is the speeding up of transesterification, the major chemical reaction that transforms oil to bio-diesel. Ultrasounding soybean oil transformed it into bio-fuel within a minute, and not the regular time of 45 minutes.

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Toshiba Excite 10.1 Inch Tablets - Pure, Pro & Write Launched

Toshiba Corporation, the Japanese multinational company, has had an interesting line-up with its Excite series of Android tablets. Today adding new products to this series are three 10.1 inch tablets - the Excite Pure, Excite Pro and Excite Write. Along with these, Toshiba has also launched a keyboard dock which is optional and works with all the three new Excite tablets. With varied price tags, each of the three tablets has something different to offer that makes its stand out among its peers. For instance, Excite Pro and Excite Write models are the first Toshiba tablets to feature a 2560 x 1600 native screen resolution, currently the highest in the tablet market. Pushing an astounding 4 million pixels (300 pixels per inch), images, video and text come alive across the 10.1-inch PixelPure display2 with stunning color and razor-sharp clarity. These two also feature Harman Kardon stereo speakers, making them the first tablets to feature speakers from a premium audio brand. It's a increasing range of prices, with Excite Pure at $299, Excite Pro at $499 and Excite Write at $599. Let us take a look at each of these tablets one by one.

The Excite Pure tablet runs over Android 4.2.2 i.e. Jelly Bean OS and is trying to offer the complete Android experience, just without the external skins. The 10.1 inch screen has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and is powered by the Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. The 3-megapixel rear-facing camera is all you have to capture photos and video. Offering
1GB DDR3 memory and 16 GB of internal storage, the presence of microSD card slot, assures the memory's expandability. You can connect the Excite Pure tab to TV or computer via the Micro-HDMI and Micro-USB ports.

Coming to Excite Pro, which bears a $499 maximum retail price, the tablet runs on a NVIDIA Tegra 4 mobile processor and features Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS. Excite Pro comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.3-megapixel front one. There's 2 GB DDR3 and 32 GB internal storage and built-in Micro HDMI, Micro USB ports and a Micro SD slot. It is being said that there's high chance that Toshiba may be competing with the recently launched ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity tablet that offers similar specifications.

After checking the tech specs of the earlier two tablets, you will find that Excite Write'sfeatures are very similar to the Excite Pro. Besides the 10.1-inch PixelPure digitizer display (2560 x 1600) featuring Corning Gorilla Glass 2 and pressure sensitive Toshiba TruPen, there's NVIDIA Tegra 4 mobile processor, Android 4.2, Jelly Bean, 2GB DDR3, 32GB internal storage, an 8MP rear camera and lastly, built-in Micro HDMI, Micro USB ports and a Micro SD slot. This tablet comes with a Wacom digitizer that and makes it a direct competitor of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 because of the pre-loaded apps called TruNote and TruCapture that assist with note-taking. This Wacom digitizer has support for 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity.

All three tablet models will be available beginning on June 25, 2013 and can be purchased directly from Toshiba at ToshibaDirect.com or from major retailers and e-tailers nationwide beginning in early July. In an official press note, Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division said that, "With more and more consumers adopting tablets as their go-to devices for entertainment and travel, we wanted to push the boundaries even further and equip our new Excite tablets with the technology and features needed to maximize the potential of these devices." What are engineers here thinking of the price and features of the Excite series of tablets? Are they value for money? Share your thoughts with us in comments. 

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Sony Introduces Xperia M, A Sibling To The Flagship Xperia Z

The Xperia Z Has earned quite a lot of accolades for its new OmniBalance design, so taking this design to the mid/lower end market Sony has launched the Xperia M. On the front it has got a 4-inch FWVGA (854 x 480) display that is accompanied by a scratch resistant glass. The Xperia M runs Android 4.1 on a 1 GHz Qualcomm MSM8227 (dual core) processor with 1 GB of RAM. In terms of photography it has a 5 megapixel fast capture camera with auto-focus and HDR and a front VGA for video calls with a dedicated shutter key. The Xperia M also features colour-changing illuminations for notifications. In terms of internal memory it has a meagre 4GB out of which less than 2 GB is user accessible, however to make up this flaw Sony has included a microSD card slot expandable up to 64 GB.

The device features NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, Micro USB support, Native USB tethering and the regular Wi-Fi. A-GPS and Google maps take care of navigation and the phone will work dual band UMTS HSPA and quad band GSM networks. The smartphone will be powered by a user removable 1750 mAh battery that will give up to 10 hours of talk time and 498 hours of standby. The battery discharge cycle can be controlled by the ‘Stamina Mode’ of the phone with can be started by the user to prevent unnecessary applications from eating up your charge. Inside the box users can expect battery, charger and Micro USB cable. The phone will also have a dual SIM twin called the Xperia M dual which will run Android 4.2 (other specs are same as the single SIM model). The phones will be available in black, white and purple yellow colours globally in the third quarter of 2013 at an undisclosed price.

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Mahindra Verito Vibe Launch Tomorrow. Price Expected To Be Rs. 5.30 Lakh

Indian car maker Mahindra is all set to launch the new Verito Vibe tomorrow. The price of the car is expected to be about Rs. 5.3 Lakh ex-showroom in Delhi for the base varient. Looking at the teaser, it appears that Mahindra Verito Vibe is a compact saloon. It'll be a smaller (<4m) modification of the company's flagship sedan Verito. The company is expected to enter competition with the likes of Maruti Suzuki Swift, Ford Figo, Nissan Micra and others. The car is expected to be made available with Diesel engine at the launch and no Petrol varient has been planed. We'll only have to wait for official word on this tomorrow.

Because of the form factor and a smaller Renault K9K 1.5 liter dCi Diesel engine that outputs 68bhp, Vibe will enjoy excise duty benefits which will allow the car to be priced competitively. The car was first spotted during its trial run and suddenly gathered mixed reviews about its design.

AutocarIndia reports that the car was earlier expected to be a hatchback, but from the teasers, it seems to be a compact saloon with the boot hinged at the bottom of the rear windscreen. Mahindra has given the car a 2-box appearance instead of the 'chopped saloon' like that of Indigo eCS or Swift Dzire. 

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