Web 2.0 And Why You Shouldn't Fake Reviews

The latest offering from Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares aired on Channel 4 last night, followed the somewhat disastrous adventures of ex-boxer Mike and his wife Caron Ciminera as they struggled to run the Fish & Anchor, a restaurant in Lampeter, West Wales. Whilst the couple's arguing appeared to better the food they were originally sending out (a mix of jarred sauces and home cook book trophy dishes) they did let slip on a fantastically poor bit of black hat optimisation, which I hope made all white hat SEOs laugh out loud.

If there was one lesson to take away from the show, it would be - Don't fake reviews!

In order to gauged the feeling of the local community for the failing restaurant come sports bar, Ramsay conducted a search on Google for the Fish & Anchor, to which he was presented with a range of reviews, two of which were rather suspiciously from a character calling himself Michael or Mike Burns.

On the Wales portal of the BBC website Burns had posted "Well i don't get excited about food too often, and having dined in Rick Stein's, and Gordon Ramsay's,I think i have found a better restaurant in West Wales". On the SugarVine website he also posted "what a fantastic restaurant for couples, and families. it seems to have everything, the food has to be the best i have eaten (home or abroad) this place will go far". Other online reviews echoed what has already been said, but with the dire state of the restaurant, its food, its reputation and its perception from both the local community and Ramsay itself, would it not be right to question who was telling the truth?

The restaurateur confessed to posting the reviews, his rational pointing to stimulating custom, however with any reactive strategy it requires a degree of foresight - and I am not sure he really thought through the wider ramification of posting these "inaccurate" reviews.

Firstly, a warning must be expressed. For example, if someone finds your restaurant or hotel via a positive (fake) review and they have a bad experience, there is a chance that they will post a true review to assist fellow users and generally have a rant. The initial seeding of this true review has the potential to lead to an onslaught of further reviews from other visitors who might not have otherwise posted. Don't forget the saying "people don't lead... they follow".

But how can you manage your reviews and ultimately what your customers are saying about you? Well first and foremost, address the problem(s)!

You wouldn't put a sticking plaster on a gun shot wound, so why think that a positive review about the quality of your food or the softest of your sheets is going to counteract the adversities of your customer service?

The customer is king, a point stressed by Ramsay, and one that should ring true for any business, after all, without them, where would we be?

By rectifying or at least making plans to manage any failings within your business, regardless of its size, will be the first step in managing your online reputation, but this is an area I will not going into comprehensive detail for this post. Instead, I will offer some simply pointers as to how to harness online reviews for good.

Sites like Trip Advisor, which boasts over 10,000,000 user generated reviews of various hotels, holidays and restaurants is gaining increasing weighting as an resource for honest and unbiased review and via its system of community recommendation it really has the power to drive custom, and in many instances, divert customer - the key factor being positive, and consistent reviews.

But if you do run a successful hotel or restaurant and wish to harness these social spaces, but wish to do so in a more ethical way than that demonstrated in Kitchen Nightmares than why not encourage your diners of hotel guests to post a review after their stay.

When the customer is paying their bill or even booking their hotel room why not take their email address, or even ask them to submit their business card in return for entry into a monthly prize draw for a free meal in the restaurant?

In addition to building up a client database by collecting this data - for use in promotional mailings including notifying customers of events, promotional and the launch of a new menu - you can also harness it to stimulate online reviews by dropping your customers a short email after their stay / meal, which might look something like the following example...

"Good afternoon Simon, and thank you very much for your booking at the Leapfrogg Restaurant, we hope you had an enjoyable meal.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our food and our attentive staff however we're always striving to enhance and improve what we do, and as such we would appreciate you taking two minutes of your time to write a review for us at Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com), a free travel guide and research website that allows users to post review and ratings.

Your comments are important to us, and will be used to improve the Leapfrogg restaurant.

Thank you very much for your time and we look forward to welcoming you again to the Leapfrogg restaurant in the near future.

Sincerely,

A Restaurateur
Leapfrogg restaurant
Brighton
Tel: 01273 669 450"

Of course, many of your requests will be ignored, but providing you are personal in your emails (a point we at Leapfrogg have mentioned previously in this blog) then you are more likely to get a response, and even if you only have a 5% success rate, this is still 5% of valuable customer feedback.

A point to which I will conclude this article is one which has stuck with me from London's SMX, and one that I will most certainly be repeating from here on out is that "Yesterday's news no longer wraps today's fish and chips". Online news and online content, including user generated reviews do not simply get binned like a newspaper at the end of the day, but they remain live, and can even appear within the search results for a brand keyword search... so isn't it worth paying attention to what your customers are saying?

source:
http://www.articlecity.com /articles/computers_and_internet/article_4129.shtml

Web Development And The Big Time Out

One of the great debilitators in online business is simply the perceived (or real) lack of time. Business owners are used to moving forward. An online web presence can make them feel tied to an office chair learning skills they aren’t sure they want to know.

It’s not uncommon for those who deal in full time web design to have individuals contact them for a site design, but have absolutely no idea what they want. Furthermore when the designer questions them the response might be, “I don’t know, just make it look nice.”

Let’s not forget the core values or mission of the business. Many business owners have no idea how to answer those kinds of questions. They may stare blankly for a moment or two and there’s no more time for further deep thought so they go back to action – without answers.

In many cases it is possible to answer some of the questions needed, but it may require taking time away from a familiar setting. It may also require more time than you think you want to give.

If you can get to a place of concentrated contemplation you are likely to find yourself stripping ideas to their core to find out what your business is trying to accomplish and what your ultimate goals might be.

As with almost any project you can turn frustration around if you will just take the time to come to terms with your vision.

Sometimes we spend so much time ‘doing’ we never stop to ask the question, “Why?”

This process can be a bit like taking a bus that drives around the park. You keep looking at the flowers and the park bench and long to sit in the quiet shade of a tree and just absorb the calming atmosphere. You know they will have a positive effect on you, but for some reason you just can’t seem to find the energy to get off the bus.

It seems to me there are some sites that are misguided or rarely guided that could benefit from the process of self-evaluation. These sites may look nice, but there is a sense of disconnection that may not be easy to identify, but it’s fairly obvious to visitors.

Creative energy is at a minimum while business owners simply tackle what seem to be the most urgent details.

As more people gravitate to online business there needs to be a shift in the thinking of how one goes about doing business online. In many ways it can’t be approached in the same way a traditional business is developed, yet that is typically the way many new web commerce ventures choose to tackle the subject.

You may discover your business will be more successful if you take some time for rigorous reflection. The time set aside can be a bit like an architect that takes the time to develop plans for a new building. You wouldn’t expect the architect to simply tell a construction crew to, “Go out there and build – something.”

Work at ‘building’ your online business in a comprehensive way. Your effort can develop a firm foundation for long-term success.

source:
http://www.articlecity.com /articles/computers_and_internet/article_4135.shtml

Back to Back User Agents for Telecommunications

Today’s telecommunications networks are a delicate blend of clients and servers that together offer virtually endless possibilities when it comes to services and applications. For every new client developed, there seems to be a score more on the way — from mobile handsets, PDAs, terminals, telephones, video phones, IP set-top-boxes, and so on.

There are essentially two types of servers that connect between clients on large networks: Proxy servers and Back-to-Back User Agent (B2BUA) servers. The more prevalent Proxy servers feature predictable behavior — simply connecting between clients. Effectively, B2BUA servers are much stronger and intelligent entities that perform actions which Proxy servers cannot. Moreover, B2BUA servers provide a flexible solution for a wide range of applications and services and are becoming the primary engine for more and more SIP servers in NGN and IMS networks.

The difference between Proxy servers and B2BUA servers is sometimes not fully understood. In this article, we will explore what makes B2BUA servers such an appealing alternative to standard Proxy servers. Better understanding of B2BUA servers can help managers understand the value, and the tradeoffs, of choosing a B2BUA server, as well as the frameworks needed to develop a wide range of SIP applications and SIP services using it.

Figure 1 - Architectural difference between Proxy servers and B2BUA servers

B2BUA Server Defined
B2BUA servers are used to provide value added features for point-to-point calls and manage multi-point calls. The power behind a B2BUA server is derived mostly from the fact that it has a very generic definition, which gives it almost unlimited power. However, this same characteristic is the root of the controversy surrounding it.

IETF standard (RFC 3261) defines a back-to-back user agent as “a logical entity that receives a request and processes it as a user agent server (UAS). In order to determine how the request should be answered, it acts as a user agent client (UAC) and generates requests. Unlike a Proxy server, it maintains a dialogue state and must participate in all requests sent on the dialogues it has established.”

B2BUA servers have capabilities that far exceed those of other types of SIP servers, and answer the need for developing sophisticated value added SIP applications that cannot be implemented as Proxy applications.

Some of these capabilities, which are unique to B2BUA servers, are outlined below:

3rd Party Call Control (3PCC) Features
3rd Party Call Control (3PCC) is the ability of an entity (usually a controller) to set up and manage communication between two or more parties. 3PCC is often used for operator services and conferencing.

3PCC actions are important capabilities, exclusive to B2BUA servers since “passive” non call-stateful elements, such as Proxy servers, cannot initiate these types of activities. Some examples of 3PCC services are online billing, QoS, resource prioritization, call transfer, click-to-dial, mid-call announcement and more.

3PCC actions can be initiated automatically by B2BUA server applications, like disconnecting a call following credit expiration in an online-billing system. Or they can be initiated by remote administrative control (OSS), e.g. invite parties to a multi-point conferencing session.

Figure 2 - Schematic outline of B2BUA server offering 3PCC functionality

Inter-working Function (IWF) for Interoperability

SIP was designed as a highly flexible and extendible protocol. The very strength of this flexibility is also an inherent weakness, since the vast array of client types in the market still need to connect.

B2BUA Inter-working Functions (IWF) defines a wide range of powerful SIP servers that connect SIP clients that “speak” in different protocol dialects, or support different capabilities. This Inter-working function is very important in enabling connectivity between clients with different capabilities and/or protocol dialects. Or even between clients and networks – where the B2BUA server actually acts as an access device.

Examples of what IWF can do include:

• Connecting SIP clients to IMS networks by adding and removing IMS SIP protocol extensions (AKA P-Headers) that are essential for connecting to the IMS network
• Connecting clients with different Session Timers settings
• Connecting clients with different media capabilities and with distinct Session Description Protocol (SDP) messages by relaying between the two types of control sessions
• Connecting to different types of networks (e.g. IPv4, IPv6) and support for different transport types, such as TCP/UDP/SCTP/TLS

Figure 3 - Schematic outline of a B2BUA Inter-Working Function

Multi-point Call Management

B2BUA servers an also implement multi-point call scenarios where multiple CPE devices connect to the B2BUA, and the B2BUA provides services to all CPE.

Due to these unique capabilities, B2BUA servers are widely used in the communications industry. A few examples are listed below:

• Online-billing/prepaid functions
• Servers supporting Resource Prioritization (RP) and/or Quality of Service (QoS) features
• Multi Point Conferencing servers
• IVR servers
• PBX Applications and Softswitches
• Application Layer Gateways (ALG)
• FW/NAT Traversal applications
• Privacy servers
• 3rd-Party Call Control Applications (3PCC)
• Service Creation Environment (SCE) runtime engines
• Session Boarder Controller (SBC)
• IMS S-CSCF, P-CSCF, I-CSCF
• SIP Inter-work Function (IWF) Gateway
• Security Gateway (SEG)
• Voice Call Continuity (VCC) servers

In addition, B2BUA servers play an important role in emerging IMS networks. Recent releases of 3GPP IMS specifications (3GPP TS 24.229 V8.0.0) indicate that an increasing number of IMS network element servers, such as P-CSCF, IBCF,SBC etc., are B2BUA servers. The reason for this is that value added services are usually session stateful, and feature capabilities that go beyond basic call proxying. Applications written on top of B2BUA Application servers fulfill several roles, such as SIP User Agents, SIP Proxy servers and SIP Registrars.

B2BUA Server Challenges

B2BUA application developers face many challenges, such as achieving rapid time-to-market, conformance and interoperability, offering customization for proprietary services and support for High Availability (HA) and redundancy. A comprehensive B2BUA framework can help developers overcome these challenges.

A solid B2BUA framework should have modular application building block architecture for increased flexibility, abstraction and short delivery time. Traditional architecture, which features a single configurable state machine, is not flexible enough. Also, a B2BUA framework should facilitate developing B2BUA applications by flexibly linking “pluggable” high-level Modular Application Building Blocks (MABB). Developers should have the ability to combine these MABBs and they should be designed in a way that allows developers to further customize their behavior if needed. This type of architecture complies with contemporary Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) concepts, and is suitable for powering flexible business communication platforms. This modular architecture can save months of work. With a set of MABBs in hand, developing the application is a matter of combining existing MABBs to produce the required business logic. In addition, this architecture enhances efficiency; development of new MABBs can be done concurrently.

A B2BUA framework should facilitate developing applications that fully conform to standards and are interoperable; without restricting developers from customizing protocol behavior for special cases. Moreover, it should conform for non-standard implementations, as well as to mediate between two versions of the same standard. This type of framework allows developers to focus on their proprietary application with the confidence that their final application will be fully interoperable.

And finally, a B2BUA framework should provide the ability to configure, amend and replace application building blocks to create proprietary features. With this ability, developers can maximize existing code – significantly reducing development time, shortening testing cycles, and reducing overall time-to-market.

Figure 4 - Traditional architecture of a B2BUA framework

RADVISION’s B2BUA Application Framework http://www.radvision.com/Products/Developer/SIPServer delivers these capabilities and more. The B2BUA Application Framework module is a part of the RADVISION SIP server Platform, a software framework that offers the essential building blocks for the development of a wide variety of high performance SIP and IMS servers. The rich set of components and modules can be flexibly combined to match customers’ requirements for developing SIP servers that offer both standard and advanced SIP services.

Applications written on top of RADVISION’s B2BUA framework are developed by combining customizable modular application building blocks. This is effectively large chunks of functionality that can be strung together to form ad-hoc applications, enabling developers to focus on the high-level business logic and use building blocks that hide low-level details.

As one of the most popular IM applications, Yahoo! Messenger was the first large consumer player that adopted B2B UA. Yahoo! Messenger combined its backend scalable platform with RADVISION’s B2B UA to serve millions of monthly unique messaging users around the world. Yahoo selected RADVISION’s B2BUA due to its robust performance and scalability features.

Figure 5 - The architecture of RADVISION B2BUA Application Framework


RADVISION also offers automatic High Availability (HA) and Redundancy support. The B2BUA framework automatically replicates the run-time state of the different Services and B2BUA framework core. In the event of a server outage, a redundant server takes over seamlessly and provides uninterrupted service continuity.

B2BUA framework benefits in a nutshell

• Significantly reduces time to market developing proprietary B2B applications and services.
• Allows adding advanced services easily to retain competitive advantage and evolve to meet growing customer demands.
• Focuses on the business logic and hides low level operator communication intricacies.
• Delivers off-the-shelf conformance and interoperability.
• Enables rapid development of applications that can interoperate with different vendors.
• Enables adding high-availability features easily.

source:
http://www.articlecity.com /articles/computers_and_internet/article_4136.shtml

Fujitsu Labs Develops Technology to Estimate Rate of Soft Errors in Semiconductors

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd has worked with the Hawaii Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, an inter-university research institute that is part of Japan's National Institute of Natural Sciences, on the development of a technique for quick and accurate field measurement of the rate of "soft errors", which are erroneous operations that occur in advanced semiconductors and are caused by neutrons from a type of cosmic ray.

The new technology enables quick and accurate determination of the rate at which soft errors in an LSI chip will be encountered, a rate that varies depending on such characteristics as the geometric latitude and altitude of the location, and the shield effect of buildings in which the LSI is employed. Through the accurate and fast assessment of soft error rates, developers of advanced semiconductors can be advised on the optimal countermeasures to take, depending on where and how the LSIs will be used.

Researchers took measurements using the Subaru telescope located atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea mountain, where the intensity of neutrons is 10 times greater than that at sea level, thus making it possible to measure the neutrons' energy spectrum and quickly collect statistical data using high-precision error rates.

By comparing measurements taken in Tokyo and the top of Mauna Kea, the researchers found the intensity of neutrons at the top of Mauna Kea to be 16 times the level in Tokyo. When, in addition, the effects of building composition were factored in, it was 7.4 times the level of Tokyo. When the soft error rates measured at the top of Mauna Kea were divided by this coefficient of 7.4, the amount basically corresponded to previous measurements for Tokyo as well as simulated rates for Tokyo.

Furthermore, in the measurements at the top of Mauna Kea, using a sample of 1,024 90nm SRAM chips, 36 soft errors were recorded over the course of approximately 2,400 hours of measurements. In a relatively short period of time, less than one-eighth the amount of time required for measurements in Tokyo, the researchers were able to obtain highly precise assessment results.

This technology will be applied to assess soft error rates of 65nm, 45nm, and 32nm LSI devices, providing an important diagnostic tool for developing appropriate soft error countermeasures.


source:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp /english/NEWS_EN/20080505/151337/

Mentor Graphics, UMC Validate Accuracy of UMC's 65nm Physical Verification Flows Using Calibre nmDRC

Mentor Graphics Corp has worked with UMC to validate the accuracy of UMC's 65nm physical verification flows using the Calibre nmDRC product.

Using one of UMC's advanced 65nm customer products as the test design, the cooperative effort claims to have verified that UMC's 65nm Calibre production decks accurately reflect the design rule manual for this node, providing UMC customers with greater confidence in the manufacturability of their 65nm chip designs.

The Calibre tool's is internally used by UMC's engineering groups and is the first available for each new technology node. The companies previously partnered to demonstrate the performance of the Calibre nmDRC product with Hyperscaling.

Calibre nmDRC is an important component of the overall Calibre nm platform that provides customers solutions for DRC, LVS, extraction, critical area analysis (CAA), critical feature analysis (CFA), chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), and litho friendly design (LFD) analysis -- all required to solve yield challenges in the nanometer era.

source:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp /english/NEWS_EN/20080505/151336/

Toyota Adds Value in Crown, Doubling Datacomm Traffic

Datacomm traffic is double what it used to be in the vehicular local area network (LAN) in the new Crown model, announced on February 18, 2008 by Toyota Motor Corp of Japan. The car boasts four "world's first" technologies, as well as a host of new functions. And implementing all of these new functions has doubled the data communications traffic.
What does double the load really mean? Most of the new technology in the Crown was not implemented through newly developed hardware, such as sensors or actuators. The increased traffic, in fact, is directly tied to the fact that Toyota Motor has been concentrating on software development.

A comparison of the new and old Crown models shows that there is indeed more hardware in the new one, but a closer look reveals that the composition of the hardware is about the same as that in the Lexus LS460, released in 2006. The Crown offers new technologies not found in the LS460, in spite of having the same hardware, because of software technologies interconnecting various pieces of equipment. For example, existing cameras and brake systems have been linked by software to a function to detect if the driver's eyes are open or shut, making possible a brand new pre-crash safety system.
Stop Line Locations, etc

One of the pieces of newly developed software that stands out the most is technology to interconnect the car navigation system and vehicular control functions. Toyota Motor first used car location data from the car navigation system to automatically change gears in 1998. The technology has been evolving since, and the new Crown comes with two new related functions. Map data is used to provide driver assistance in braking as the car approaches a stop line; the car automatically changes gears as it approaches an expressway junction, and more.

Technologies to utilize car navigation systems in other vehicular applications will no doubt continue to evolve, but a look at these functions reveals a few problems. The car navigation system serves as the sensor to measure the car's current location, and Toyota Motor feels that location precision is still too low. The braking assist function to help the driver bring the car to a halt before reaching the stop line, for example, demands an accurate grasp of the distance to the stop line. This type of function is impossible with low-precision car navigation systems, for which reason Toyota Motor has included information including speed limits, crosswalks and other features of various roads, along with the locations of the stop lines. Stop line locations, however, were individually measured by hand.

source:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp /article/HONSHI/20080428/151147/

Weak Q1 Performance Signals Bottom for DRAM Market, Says iSuppli

The market leader of the DRAM industry, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, continues to boost its production even as its competitors pull back amid weak market conditions. But while this strategy may have helped Samsung to avoid the worst effects of weak DRAM market conditions in the first quarter, with the company increasing its share of sales and padding its lead over the competition, it wasn't enough to allow Samsung to generate a profit from DRAM during the period.

Samsung sold US$1.8 billion worth of DRAM in the first quarter, giving it a 30.6% share of global market revenue, up from 30.2% in the fourth quarter, according to a preliminary estimate from iSuppli Corp. While this was 6.2% lower than the US$1.9 billion in the fourth quarter, the overall DRAM market declined by a more precipitous 7.4% during the same period.

Samsung also performed well compared to its nearest competitor, Hynix Semiconductor Inc of Korea, which suffered an 8.4% sequential decline in DRAM revenue. Among the top-10 suppliers, Samsung posted the fourth-best performance in terms of sequential sales growth.

"Samsung recently ratcheted up its already-aggressive DRAM unit growth target for 2008 to 100%, up from the 87% level that iSuppli estimated before," said Nam Hyung Kim, chief analyst at iSuppli.

"Interestingly, Samsung announced its more aggressive unit-growth target immediately after iSuppli on April 24 upgraded its rating of near-term DRAM market conditions for suppliers to 'neutral' -- up from the 'negative' assessment that had been in place since November 2007."

However, the research firm believes that DRAM market conditions now have bottomed out, and there is no further room for declines. "If the market hasn't bottomed out yet, OEM DRAM buyers will encounter major risks of DRAM supply-chain disruptions because some suppliers are facing serious financial issues, and potentially could leave the business. DRAM prices are set to rise slightly during the coming months, although industry conditions still will oscillate widely due to short-term shifts in the supply/demand balance."

According to iSuppli's preliminary estimate, Global DRAM revenue declined to US$5.925 billion in the first quarter, down 7.4% from US$6.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

In the first quarter, no DRAM supplier managed to generate a profit, and losses were larger than expected. However, these enormous losses signaled the bottom for the DRAM market, in iSuppli's view, prompting the company to upgrade its assessment of short-term conditions for suppliers last week.

source:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp /english/NEWS_EN/20080505/151339/

Intel, Samsung, TSMC Target 2012 for 450mm Wafer Manufacturing Transition

Intel Corp, Samsung Electronics and TSMC have collaborated to target a transition to 450mm-sized wafers starting in 2012. The transition to larger wafers will enable continued growth of the semiconductor industry and help maintain a reasonable cost structure for future integrated circuit manufacturing and applications.

The companies said they will cooperate with the semiconductor industry to help ensure that all of the required components, infrastructure and capability are developed and tested for a pilot line by this target date.

Historically, manufacturing with larger wafers helps increase the ability to produce semiconductors at a lower cost. The total silicon surface area of a 450mm wafer and the number of printed die is more than twice that of a 300mm wafer. The bigger wafers help lower the production cost per chip. In addition, through efficient use of energy, water and other resources, bigger wafers can help diminish overall use of resources per chip.

The three companies indicate that the semiconductor industry can improve its return on investment and substantially reduce 450mm R&D costs by applying aligned standards, rationalizing changes from 300mm infrastructure and automation, and working toward a common timeline. The companies also agree that a cooperative approach will help minimize risk and transition costs.

In the past, migration to the next larger wafer size traditionally began every 10 years after the last transition. For example, the industry began the transition to 300mm wafers in 2001, a decade after the initial 200mm manufacturing facilities were introduced in 1991.

Keeping in line with the historical pace of growth, Intel, Samsung and TSMC agree that 2012 is an appropriate target to begin the 450mm transition. Given the complexity of integrating all of the components for a transition of this size, the companies recognize that consistent evaluation of the target timeline will be critical to ensure industry-wide readiness.

The three companies will continue to work with International Sematech (ISMI), as it plays a critical role in coordinating industry efforts on 450mm wafer supply, standards setting and developing equipment test bed capabilities.

source:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp /english/NEWS_EN/20080506/151342/

Spansion, IBM Sign Cross Licensing Agreement

Spansion Inc has entered into a seven-year patent cross licensing agreement with IBM. Recently IBM announced a next generation technology code-named Racetrack, an electronic memory solution said to combine the best attributes of Flash drives and the hard disk drives of computers. The technology could lead to cheaper, more durable electronic devices that would hold far more data in the same amount of space and boot up more quickly.

"We believe entering into this patent cross license agreement with IBM gives us access to some of the most advanced technology in the world, providing Spansion the opportunity to further its leadership in Flash memory design, manufacturing and overall innovation," said Dr Louis Parrillo, executive vice president, R&D for Spansion.

Included in Spansion's patent portfolio are patents relating to its MirrorBit technology, a charge-trapping technology that is believed by Spansion to be the most likely successor to floating gate technology for scaling Flash memory to sub-45nm process lithography nodes. Spansion believes its investment in MirrorBit technology gives it a strong charge-trapping patent portfolio in process, design and manufacturing technologies.

Spansion and IBM will also partner on the continued development of Flash memory solutions for the Chinese market. Spansion has been committed to working with the top consumer electronics OEMs and wireless handset manufacturers in the Greater China region, where it has a final manufacturing facility in Suzhou, design centers in Suzhou and Beijing and sales and marketing offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

source:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp /english/NEWS_EN/20080505/151338/

Cover Story

UI Sensors Mimic 5 Human Senses
Incorporating "five-sense sensors" makes electronic devices much easier to use; devices of the future may be able to recognize human emotions - a feat which would alter the way in which we relate to them.

The appearance of the iPhone, Wii and similar equipment has finally freed us from the belief that the mouse is the ultimate interface," said Prof Jun Rekimoto, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, University of Tokyo, also director of Interaction Laboratory at Sony Computer Science Laboratories Inc (Sony CSL) of Japan, who has been researching the "multi-touch" user interface since the late 1990s at Sony CSL. It closely resembles the user interface (UI) of the iPhone, released by Apple Inc of the US in 2007, and is years ahead of the Apple design in some ways. When he began his work, recalled Rekimoto, "We felt that practical multi-touch was still years in the future," because the mouse ruled.
Diversification in UIs

Prof Rekimoto believes that there will be a rapid diversification in UIs in the near future thanks to the iPhone and other systems. For example, he explained, equipment UIs will come to mimic the feelings existing between people, letting us exchange feelings through methods like a handshake (Fig 1). "Once a person tries out one of these humanistic UIs, they really dislike using pushbuttons or mice," he added. He is not surprised at the popularity of the iPhone, the Wii or other equipment, but feels rather it was only to be expected.

"The mouse was invented in 1964, and was modeled after a hard, rectangular rock. Computers have no feelings, and it was used to input logical commands, so designers felt there was no need for human warmth," he explained. "Our hands are flexible, though, and a single handshake can communicate quite a lot through force and other interactions. Exchanging feelings with users will be very important in electronic equipment in the future, and it is even possible that UIs may appear mimicking human shapes or the softness of human skin."
The attainment of user interfaces that we can use intuitively, naturally, will depend on sensors. Especially important are sensors covering the five human senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch (Table 1). This is because making UIs more human-like will probably demand that equipment comes with sensors similar to human sensory organs. The iPhone uses a touch sensor. The "smile shutter" function that is beginning to appear in cameras and mobile phones from Sony Corp and other manufacturers, automatically snapping a photo when a smile is detected, extracts smile information from the image. The Wii Fit Balance Wii Board used with the Wii, from Nintendo Co Ltd of Japan, is operated by game users standing on top of it, and makes use of a pressure sensor, as well as tactile information.
Relating to Machines

The five-sense sensors mounted in equipment such as this are still elementary, and continuing evolution could entirely change the relationship between human beings and electronic equipment. Hiro Yamasaki, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, who has been involved in sensor research for many years, predicts that the development of five-sense sensors will transform this relationship.

Source:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp /article/HONSHI/20080428/151131/