Mobile SMS and MMS

Love sms Life ends when you stop dreaming Life ends when you stop dreaming, hope ends when you stop believing and love ends when you stop caring. So dream hope and love...Makes Life Beautiful Love sms Time will always fly Time will always fly, but our love will never die. Keep in touch and remeber me Love sms When You give your heart When time comes for u to give ur heart to someone, make sure u select someone who will never break ur heart, cuz broken hearts has never spare parts. Love smsWrite on Bricks I m going to write on all the bricks I MISS U and i wish that one falls on ur head,so that u knows how it hurts when u miss someone special like u. Love sms If 10 people care 4 u If 10 people care 4 u, one of them is me, if 1 person cares 4 u that would be me again, if no 1 cares 4 u that means i m not in this world. Love sms I m feeling so happy I m feeling so happy, do u know why? cuz i m so lucky, do u know how? cuz God loves me.Do u know how? cuz he gave me a gift. Do u know what? its YOU my love. Love sms First time i saw u 1st time i saw u i was scared 2 touch u.1st time i touched u i was scared 2 kiss u.1st time i kiss u i was scared to luv u.but now dat i luv u im scared 2 lose u! Love sms If i were a tear in ur eye If i were a tear in ur eye i wood roll down onto ur lips.But if u were a tear in my eye i wood never cry as i wood be afraid 2 lose u! Love sms I love all the stars in the sky, I love all the stars in the sky, but they are nothing compared to the ones .

Uique technology

Turbo Boost technology/Intel technology/Mobiles technologies/Softwares Technology

Intel promotes the Turbo Boost technology in its new Core i7 Mobile processors as a way to adapt to the needs of the software and get more performance from the chip, but this isn't the real reason the technology exis
It's easy to see how this works when just one or two cores are being actively used; whatever power the other two or three cores would have consumed can be redirected over to the active cores, allowing them to run at higher speeds.
The quad-core mode of Turbo Boost is a little more subtle; it works when the four cores aren't running a worst-case workload--for example, integer-heavy processing, since it's generally floating-point calculations that consume the most power--so they aren't bumping into the TDP limit. Turbo Boost can increase the frequency of all four cores until they're running as fast as they can for the current workload.
Eden said that the Turbo Boost controller samples the current power consumption and chip temperature 200 times per second and makes whatever adjustments are necessary. Of course, if Windows isn't asking for more performance, Turbo Boost doesn't deliver it.
In the ideal case, where just one core is running, Turbo Boost can increase the clock rate on that core from the chip's rated speed of 2GHz to 3.2GHz--that's like getting a chip eight speed grades faster than what you paid for. (Speed grades, or "bins" in the parlance of semiconductor manufacturing, usually go up in steps of around 10 percent to 20 percent. The Core 2 Mobile processor P series parts have speeds of 2.26, 2.4, 2.53, 2.66, and 2.8GHz. The T series extends this range to 2.93 and 3.06GHz, so by this measurement, 3.2GHz would be about eight steps above 2GHz.)
That's how Intel wants everyone to think of Turbo Boost, but it isn't really the natural way. To explain why, I'll have to digress briefly and describe how chips are designed and built.
Any given microprocessor core architecture, like the Nehalem architecture underlying these new parts, has a certain typical complexity expressed in terms of a number of equivalent gate delays. The clock period has to be long enough to accommodate all of these gate delays.
Any given process technology, like Intel's 45nm "P1266" technology, has its own characteristics. These can be tweaked somewhat to optimize for higher speed, higher yield, lower power consumption, higher transistor density, etc., but generally a company like Intel has just one recipe for high-performance microprocessors like the Core i7.
The combination of the gate delays in the logical design of a chip with the physical transistor and interconnect performance figures for a process determines a maximum clock speed for that chip on that process. As chips are manufactured, they're tested for functionality and speed against various standards like power consumption and temperature rating; each speed grade ends up with its own part number, like "920XM" for the fastest Core i7 Mobile chips.
For the Core i7-920XM, that maximum speed bin is 3.2GHz, not the 2GHz value which is marked on the part. In principle, the 920XM could run all of its cores at 3.2GHz all the time if enough power was available and if the heat sink could keep the chip cool. (This is why Turbo Boost isn't like consumer overclocking: the chip is operating within its design specifications at all times.)
In a laptop, the potential for quad-core 3.2GHz operation just can't be realized. Intel selected the 55W TDP specification for the 920XM because that's a practical limit for a laptop processor. Combine that number with the rest of the chipset, the memory, a high-end graphics chip, and a big high-resolution LCD panel, and the whole laptop might be consuming 80W-100W when running all-out.
the 920XM were configured to run all of its cores at 3.2GHz, I estimate it would consume at least 110W of power for the CPU alone--completely untenable in a mainstream laptop. (Though it's true that some original equipment manufacturers make laptops using desktop Nehalem processors; they're just huge, heavy, and hot.)
o Intel calculated how much it has to slow down the 920XM in order to meet the industry-standard definition of TDP, which amounts to a worst-case real-world workload running on all four cores. (Maximum power is defined in terms of a worst-case synthetic "power virus," but since real applications aren't that brutal in their processing demands, maximum power is only of interest to chip and system designers.)
For the 920XM, that slowdown worked out to 2GHz, and that's why the chip is rated at that speed.
It's worth looking at the previous Extreme Edition mobile processor, the Core 2 Extreme QX9300, which is a quad-core chip that can run all four cores continuously at 2.53 GHz. In spite of the QX9300's faster clock speed, there will still be many situations where the 920XM is faster on quad-core workloads because of the newer Nehalem microarchitecture, which usually gets more work done per clock period.
I haven't seen any good benchmarking comparisons between these two chips. Intel published some selected benchmarks at IDF, but not many, and it isn't clear to me what aspects of chip performance were being stressed.
But for dual-core and single-core performance, the 920XM should be much faster than its predecessor, combining the superior Nehalem architecture with the higher clock speeds enabled by Turbo Boost. The QX9300 has a simpler feature called Dynamic Acceleration Technology, but its effect is limited to only about one speed grade, roughly 10 percent. In most dual-core cases, and I think in all single-core cases, the 920XM will be much faster for the same power consumption.


The new "Clarksfield" Core i7 Mobile processors introduced at the Intel Developer Forum last week are certainly very impressive. They're huge high-performance quad-core chips with Hyper-Threading, support for two channels of DDR3-1333 DRAM, and an on-die PCI Express controller for the fastest possible connection to discrete graphics chips.
The maximum frequency of Intel® Turbo Boost Technology is dependent on the number of active cores. The amount of time the processor spends in the Intel Turbo Boost Technology state depends on the workload and operating environment, providing the performance you need, when and where you need it.
When the processor is operating below these limits and the user's workload demands additional performance, the processor frequency will dynamically increase by 133 MHz on short and regular intervals until the upper limit is met or the maximum possible upside for the number of active cores is reached. Conversely, when any of the limits are reached or exceeded, the processor frequency will automatically decrease by 133 MHz until the processor is again operating within its limits.

European and American mobile phone use

In last week's post about Palm's phone plans, I made a passing comment about the right way to display your mobile phone at dinner in Europe. It turned out to be the most popular part of the post, and produced a couple of requests that I say more comparing European and American attitudes toward mobile phones. I don't pretend to the world's expert on the subject, but I'll summarize what I've seen. Here goes:
In the US, a cellphone is a tool. In Europe, a mobile phone is a lifestyle.
I guess I ought to give a few details. Let me start with a disclaimer: It's very dangerous to talk about "Europeans" as if they're some sort of unified cultural group. Europe is a continent of many nationalities, and each one has a different culture and history. National regulations on phones also differ dramatically within Europe, which has an important impact on mobile use.
I saw a good example of this in the responses to my last post. I said all Europeans put their mobile phones on the table during a meal. I got replies from some countries agreeing with me, and others saying I was completely wrong. It turns out the table thing differs from country to country.
It's only slightly less hazardous to talk about a "typical" American mobile phone user. The culture in the US is more uniform than it is in Europe, but there are profound differences between various market segments. The average 16-year-old in the US views a mobile phone very differently than the average 40-year-old. (Come to think of it, I suspect average 40-year-old mobile users in Berlin and Chicago probably have more in common with each other than either of them have with the 16-year-old.
The differences start with the words we use to talk about the industry. In Europe, a mobile phone is usually called (in English-speaking countries) a "mobile." As in, "I'll ring your mobile." In the US, mobile phones are most often called "cellphones," and that's sometimes shortened: "I'll call your cell."

The term differs in other European countries, of course (for example, Hermann on says the term in Germany is "handy.") I do know that if you say "cellphone" pretty much anywhere in Europe, people will look at you like you're a dork. Found that out
"It is so great because when you go to the phone and you delete and your phone asks 'Are you sure?' You look at your phone and you're like, 'oh yeah, I'm sure.'"
She then gives one of the most annoying, braying laughs I've heard on TV since...well. Ernestine.
I understand what Nokia was trying to do – it was making a sophisticated effort to tap into the mobile phone culture in the US. You can read a detailed ethnographic analysis of the ad campaign here. The problem for me was that, first, the mobile phone culture Nokia's trying to tap into is pretty weak in the US; and second, that Jill has just a whiff of trailer trash about her.

(Nokia has pulled the website for the campaign, which perhaps tells you how well it was received, but you can still find the commercial on the site of the agency that created it. Just follow this link and move your mouse around on the slider at the bottom of the page until you find Jill. You can also check out the other losers Nokia featured in the series.)
Americans tend to respond best to aspirational ads that make them feel good about themselves for buying a product. So buying a Mac will give you kinship with Einstein and Gandhi, which is outrageous but Steve Jobs can pull that off. Nokia's unintended message was that a Nokia phone will turn you into "a sniveling Sex in the City wannabe," as Gizmodo put it.
I think this is typical of Nokia's inability to connect with the American public.
What about the rest of the world?
There are even bigger variations in the mobile market in other parts of the world, but I didn't have the time (or the knowledge) to discuss all of them here. Mobile phone services and features in Japan and Korea make both Americans and Europeans look like techno-hicks. In Japan, the operators have so much power that phones are sold virtually unbranded, and Japanese phone manufacturers struggle to operate anywhere else in the world because the required reflexes are so different. It will be interesting to see what happens in Japan when number portability is implemented there, in late October. Surveys have said that large numbers of Japanese mobile phone users, especially those on Vodafone, would switch operators if the could.
The market worldwide is so complex that I think it's impossible for any one person to understand it all. So please help me out -- if I missed your country, or if you'd like to add to or correct something I said above, please post a comment.

share their mobile contents including mobile games, mobile themes, mobile software, ringtones & videos.

MobileDDL is a mobile community site allows member's to share their mobile contents including mobile games, mobile themes, mobile software, ringtones & videos. To join our community, all you need is a free account! Just register an account with us, confirm your email addresses and you are ready to enjoy all features as a Mobileddl members! We want to keep everything simple, clean, useful and as easy to use as possible. We'll continuously improve our site with new design, new feature and new idea, but we know we can't do it without your help! If you have great idea or suggestion, don't hesitate to tell us! If you like our site, recommend it to your friends, post it on your website or any social networking website you have account with!
Server down error has became a major problem on our site, we want to let you know that we do realized such problem. Our statistics have shown us that some time in a day our site traffics exceeded 200 online visitors. This hasn't been seen in the last few month, I guess it's a good news for us, but not so for our members. User's keep receiving connection errors when downloading & uploading. We are really sorry about it.
Please understand that our site is being hosted on shared hosting, that's mean that there are probably hundreds' of site sharing on one server resources. As we have mentioned before, there's a 200 concurrent connection limit on our shared hosting, so it's not surprise to keep seeing our server going down. It's bad for our growth, I'm sure it turned off both new visitors and our members. We are trying our best to fix the problem, but the best solution is to change our server to VPS which we can't afford at the moment. It's a very hefty fees for
If you ever receive an error page, please wait for a few minutes and try it again. We'll try to improve the code to tune down the use of server resource. And hopefully, we can afford to switch to a better server very soon. As always, thanks for your support!
It has been a while since we have any updates on the site. We're still planning some sort of upgrades in coming months, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. In the mean time, we re-structured the categories mainly the themes section. Searching for mobile themes is not too difficult before, but as the amount of themes increases each day, we found it harder and harder to find a themes for specific screen resolution phone. Thus, we separate the screen resolution for each brand to make it easier to browse. Since the categories has been changed, most of the current themes are not in its right category at the moment. We'll try to sort them all out in the right category little by little every day, it's a lot of work and it'd probably takes months before we can arrange them all.

Super Talent Technology

Super Talent Technology UltraDrive ME SATA-II 25, 256GB
Hardware > Storage > Solid State (ssd)
Super Talent Technology UltraDrive ME SATA-II 25, 256GB detail information
BrandSuper Talent Technology
ProductUltraDrive ME SATA-II 25, 256GB
PartnumberFTM56GX25H
DescriptionSuper Talent's UltraDrive ME series SSDs are our fifth-generation SSD, and offer leading-edge performance for high-end notebook computers. With read speeds up to 200MB/sec, the UltraDrive ME is geared for applications that require optimum performance.
The UltraDrive also offers higher reliability and greater resistance to shock, vibration and temperature than a hard drive (HDD). It employs a standard HDD interface and dimensions, so it's an easy drop-in upgrade for a 2.5-inch hard drive in most notebooks.


Specifications
Support
Users
Reviews
Specifications of Super Talent Technology UltraDrive ME SATA-II 25, 256GB

Disk drive
Size 2.5 "
Solid State Disk drive capacity 256 GB

Data transmission
Read speed 200 MB/s
Write speed 160 MB/s

Technical details
Source data-sheet ICEcat.biz

Connectivity
Interface Serial ATA II

Environmental conditions
Operating temperature range (T-T) 0 - 70 °C

Weight & dimensions
Width 69.85 mm
Height 9.50 mm
Depth 100.20 mm

Environmental conditions
Operating shock 1500 g

Certificates
Mean time between failures (MTBF) 1000000 h

Energy management
Operating voltage 5.0 V

CYBER NET TECHNOLOGY

CyberNet technology media is an industry leader in web development and digital media production. Cybernet Digital specializes in cutting edge web development & digital media production utilizing the very best in open source and proprietary technology. With a commitment to excellence spanning more than two decades CyberNet Digital has become known as The Digital Media Company.

Hurricane Katrina

For new readers who may not have followed this blog from the beginning, Life Without Buildings was conceived in a French Quarter alley and born on a Garden District Balcony into the depressing heat of a New Orleans summer and post-architecture school ennui. Then came Hurricane Katrina and for a while it became a rarely-udpated travelogue of evacuation, the end result of which was an apartment in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury neighborhood. Leaving New Orleans might have been the hardest decision I’ve ever made and not one single day has passed where I haven’t wondered if I chose wrong.

This Friday’s links are a collection of posts written about The Big Easy — some while I was living there and some about the city’s redevelopment. I’d also like to again ask everyone to send a letter to in defense of preserving New Orleans Regional Modernism before its nothing but a memory. Comments can be sent to masterplan@rsdla.net For more information, please check out the collection of links posted at Archinect.

Modern in New Orleans: A Bike Tour: Just a few days before evacuating, I took my new bike for a ride around town to document some of the more recently built contemporary architecture in the New Orleans.

New Orleans in Exile: The evacuation post. At this point we really didn’t have any idea of just how bad things were going to get…

Evacuation Day 10: “You don’t need me to tell you that things are pretty bad in new orleans right now. It’s been a strange time. I don’t really know when i’ll be able to return to work, much less when i’ll be able to return to the city. my apartment seems to be ok and my friends are safe, but it pains me to say that some of them have been left homeless. The seriousness of this catastrophe is finally catching up with me and its unbelievably frustrating to be able to do nothing.”

Social Change nonprofits, mobile app developers, researchers, donors, intermediary organizations, and mobile operators

This is for the people passionate about using mobile technology for social impact and to make the world a better place.With mobile density reaching 40%, we think medium is transforming the way advocacy, development and relief organizations accomplish their institutional missions. We feel it is the best time for techies to collaborate with NGOs and accomplish the missions.
Participants for Mobile Tech 4 Social Change include nonprofits, mobile app developers, researchers, donors, intermediary organizations, and mobile operators.This event is for everyone who want bring a change. How can we use mobile medium to make the earth a better place to live.

LAPTOP

On March 2, 2000, Governor Angus King of Maine launched a bold initiative to turn his state and its children into leaders of the digital revolution. King's proposal, "From Lunch Boxes to Laptops," would make Maine the first state to consider a child's ownership of a personal computer as much an inalienable right as the right to attend school. Specifically, King submits that every student should graduate from sixth grade not only with fluency in using computers but also with a personal computer to keep and use in school and out. Governor King credits Seymour Papert with inspiring and helping to shape the plan. (See the link to "Blue Hill Man Inspired King's Laptop Proposal" at the end of this article.)

This unprecedented plan has drawn both high praise and harsh criticism and has sparked discussion across the nation. Few issues in Maine have given rise in such a short time to so much public writing—editorials, op-ed pieces, columns, letters to the editor—and discussion on radio talk shows, Web sites, chat rooms, and other such forums. Papert has commented that whether or not the proposal is supported by the state legislature, which in the end has to approve it, it has already advanced education by stirring up such a wealth of discussion. "The ballpark of discussion has changed," he says. "People who thought that the question about technology in education was whether there should be a computer in every classroom have had their eyes opened to the idea that something much bigger is at stake."
King's original plan set aside $50 million from the state budget surplus for a technology endowment. Beginning in 2002 interest from this fund, together with privately raised money (King envisioned at least $15 million), would have paid for laptop computers for every student in every seventh-grade class in Maine's public schools. The endowment would also have been used to pay half the cost of personal computers for public-school teachers at all grade levels. School districts would have been expected to make a one-time contribution of $250 per teacher, the teacher providing the rest. An additional $1 million per year in ongoing professional development for teachers would have helped them to integrate the use of technology and the Internet into the curriculum.

digital micro reciever

The chassis contains a slot to store and protect its powerful2.4 G Hz Micro-Receiver when not in use -- minimizing the chance of misplacing or losing the receiver. The 2.4GHz USB-based Micro-Receiver is one of the smallest, most powerful receivers on the market. At 9/16 inches by 2 inches by 1/4 inches in size, the Micro-Receiver uses Logistics's proprietary 2.4 G Hz digital cordless technology, which helps the mouse aLogitech V500chieve a range of 30 feet. The 2.4 G Hz technology virtually eliminates interference with other mice or wireless devices -- especially important when multiple mobile users work in close proximity.
this is Because it contains no moving parts, the solid-state scrolling panel contributes to the mouse's durability during travel. The mouse comes with a nylon carrying case to help protect its surface during travel. Its fused aluminum base and shock-resistant bodywork are executed with the details and quality demanded in premium consumer electronics devices. Subtly sculpted finger grips provide precise control and greater comfort -- as well as additional elegance to the overall design

nokia 5310

The Nokia 5310 is an XpressMusic handset that supports MP3, MP4, AAC, HE-AAC, and WMA file types, and includes a stereo FM radio. Measuring 4.09 x 1.76 x 0.39 inches and weighing 2.48 oz., the phone sports a 2.0-megapixel camera, a 2,000-contact phone book, and Bluetooth wireless connectivity with A2DP so you can stream audio from the phone to Bluetooth headsets. The 5310 provides up to 5 hours of talk time and up to 300 hours of standby time, and is priced at $49.99 with a two-year service contract from T-Mobile.

green cells

Nokia

Nokia, the leading worldwide cell phone manufacturer, is not planning to produce a specifically green cell phone model. Instead, they will be adding green features throughout their line of cell phones. These features include a beep to let you know when your phone has finished charging (so that you can unplug the energy sucking charger), and a sensor to detect light levels (presumably so that the phone can save juice by dimming its display).

ZTE

ZTE has announced a low cost solar powered phone, which will be sold in conjunction with Latin American cell phone service provider Digicel. Although the company is targeting people who want cell phones but have limited access to electricity, ZTE's phone could be useful in developed areas as well.

Motorola

Motorola currently takes the prize for green cell phone design with its MOTO W233 ReNew, which it has announced it will release to T-Mobile subscribers. The W233 ReNew is a recyclable phone with a casing made from recycled water bottles. The phone is shipped in packaging made from 100% recycled paper, and includes a prepaid envelope so that you can return your old phone for recycling.

Furthermore, Motorola will offset the pre-purchase carbon footprint of the W233. This gives the Motorola W233 ReNew bragging rights to the title of "the world's first carbon neutral cell phone."
Motorola's partner in the W233 launch, T-Mobile, has also made green news. Starting in 2008, for every customer who selects paperless billing, it will plant trees through the Arbor Day Foundation. According to the press release, T-Mobile has planted over 500,000 trees to date.

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson has debuted the GreenHeart cell phone, which is made with recyclable and biodegradable components. The GreenHeart's charger can detect whether or not it is charging a phone. When it is plugged in but not charging a phone, its electricity consumption is throttled down. Alas, the GreenHeart phone is still a concept design, and is not yet available for consumers.

Even the least tech-savvy of people (my mother, for example) have heard of the state-of-the-art Jawbone Headset by now, and probably even have one of their own, even if they didn't have the gadget-sense to pick it out for themselves. What even you might not have heard about yet, however, is that the brand's latest model, Jawbone Prime, now comes in a series of fun bright colors for Spring and Summer to counter the device's usual hue, appropriately-named "Blah Blah Black." The EARCANDY Edition combines the same desirable high-tech specs of the more inconspicuous Prime, such as its updated NoiseAssassin technology and wind-detection voice clarity, with the fashionably sleek aesthetics that such an important ear-accompanying accessory should have! With clever Whoever said money can't buy happiness is wrong. Very wrong. Because really, what can make a better gift than say, a $475 jar of face cream or a $5,700 pink cell phone? Self indulgent? Yes. Extravagant? Mmm hmm. Will she LOVE it? Yes, Yes, and YES! So get your credit cards ready, and check out our slideshow of 10 extravagant fancy schmancy gifts, from yummy smelling candles (with a $345 price tag!) to the blingiest lipstick EVER (diamond encrusted. forreal).

As cellular phone usage

As cellular phone usage

As cellular phone usage is becoming more popular, the question has arisen as to the effect of these devices on today's society. Does the use of cell phones help to expand communication between people or diminish it? There are two opposing opinions that deal with communication and cell phone use.
Cell phones can also allow you to stay in closer contact with your family members. Your children can call you if they need a ride home or your spouse can call to remind you to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home. For family member who live out of town, you can talk for hours at little or no cost to you. Cell phones seem to be a perfect way to bring people closer together
There may also a lack of personal communication in your workplace. Before cell phones, you might have had to leave your office several times a day to talk to an associate, greeting other employees along the way. Now you may find that you can go all day without seeing another living soul.

GSM mobiles technology

3 GSM World Congress, Cannes, France, February 14, 2005 - Axalto (Euronext: NL0000400653 – AXL) and 3, the UK’s first video mobile network, demonstrated a new solution today that allows operators to configure smartphones with its brand and services upon the first insertion of the Universal Subscriber Identity M When the USIM is inserted in the handset, it sets up operator-themed features like wallpaper, ringtones, bookmarks and even branded icons in the main menu with direct links to the operator’s services. For example, Axalto and 3 are using several USIMs printed with different artwork representing the 3 brand. When the USIM is inserted into the handset, the brand creative depicted on the USIM also appears as wallpaper on the handset.odule – USIM – microprocessor card.

“Handsets will change following the latest consumer electronics fashions and subscribers will upgrade, but operators can also strengthen relationships using the USIM,” said Xavier Chanay Vice President Product Marketing and Development, Axalto. “The USIM allows operators to have a direct relationship with end-users. Thanks to this solution, the operator’s brand and services are easily transferred from handset to handset, continuing to build the customer relationship.”

About 3

Hutchison 3G UK Limited deliver third-generation mobile multimedia and communications services under the 3 brand in the UK, offering a convergence of media, information and telephony to enable live video calls, multimedia content and entertainment while on the move.

FASTEST DIGITEL TV RECIEVER

FASTEST DIGITEL TV RECIEVER

According to the company, by incorporating a new channel estimation engine to the chip, Siano has raised the sensitivity and mobility performance to unparalleled industry levels. Field trials already conducted with the SMS1100 show that end users are able to watch mobile TV in garages and other 'deep-indoor' locations, or while riding the world's fastest trains such as France's TOG or Japan's Shininess , or whilst driving on Germany's Autobahn highway.
SMS1150 addresses global mobile TV notebooks, with USB 2.0 interface and MIC diversity support, while SMS1130 targets DEB-H cell phones.SMS1100 is available in samples now, with mass-production in Q1 2008. All members of the SMS1100 family are delivered in the same BAA package, 6.2x6.5x1 mm in size, 131 pins.

generation of portable devices

generation of portable devices

Wouldn't it be handy if everything we needed to build the next generation of portable devices and robots were available on a microchip? You could just plug in a navigation system, a radar sensor, cryogenic cooling system, or even a miniature power unit. For laboratory applications, there would be micro versions of everything from mass spectrometers to magnetic sensors. The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the Pentagon's extreme science wing, aims to provide all this, and more, in handy "matchbook size" electronic packages.
"Darpa was instrumental in helping support much of the initial development of lab-on-a-chip in the early 90s," says Jon Cooper, Wolfson chair of bioengineering at the University of Glasgow. "The technologies enabled a number of US startup companies to develop miniaturised chips for faster biological analysis, giving them the necessary long-term support to grow."