Home :. Table of Contents :. Index :. Nikkei Electronics September 26 2005 Issue

Nikkei Electronics

September 26 2005 Issue

Keyword .  .  .  p. 10

Software Patent

Inside “What’s In” .  .  .  p. 36

• Understanding Their Design Philosophy by Opening the “iPod nano” and “Game Boy micro”
  
  

What’s New .  .  .  p. 40

• Dai Nippon Printing to Mass Produce Color Filters Based on Inkjet Technology
• Mitsui Hi-tec Develops New Package with Lower Cost than BGA
• The Taiwanese Presence Is Felt at the “A-SSCC 2005” International LSI Design Conference
• Myriads if H.264 HDTV Capable Devices Show Up at IBC2005
• Water Vapor Sensor Using Organic Materials Appears
  
  

Leading Trends

Europe Also Shows an “HDTV Storm” as Well as Some TV Capable Mobile Phones   .  .  p. 63
IFA2005, which was held in Germany from September 2, 2005, was buzzing with the excitement caused by HDTV and flat panel televisions.  Home appliance manufacturers are counting on the 2006 FIFA World Cup to provide an impetus to the spread of HDTV-compatible flat panel TVs.

The Start of Mass Production of High Capacity Capacitors Moves Quickly .  .  .  p. 69
Successive development of high energy density capacitors is beginning to open a way toward potential automobile- and energy-related markets.  To gain ground in these markets, however, capacitors will first need to demonstrate consistent results in the market for consumer electronics.  The time for mass production is now.

Cover Story

Completely Winning in Digital Consumer Electronics .  .  .  p. 101
The fiercely competitive digital consumer electronics market involves some overwhelmingly robust products and companies.  If we analyze their attributes, we can identify the common requirements for to gain a sweeping victory in the digital consumer electronics market, regardless of the product category.


p. 102
The fiercely competitive digital consumer electronics market involves some overwhelmingly robust products and companies.  If we analyze their attributes, we can identify the common requirements for sweeping victory in the digital consumer electronics market, regardless of the product category.  
The first requirement is to have an unrivaled product that leaves in its wake, and then to this lead is maintained.  To do this it is necessary to have a product with virtually no competitors, unmatched in terms of function and performance, but still is sold at the same price as existing products.  
Another necessity is to be willing to risk focusing energy on the cultivation of technologies and products that others would think twice about.

p. 104
In the world of digital consumer electronics—with its cutthroat competition, sharp reductions in prices, and the danger of finding oneself on the losing side——increasingly the dominant pattern of success is “winner takes all.”  
We are seeing companies that stream ahead of the competition with hit products that open up new markets, and which manage to hold on to their high market share.  To ward off other companies they set up high technological barriers, exposing themselves to risk in order to create brand new focal points for competition.  
These companies also make preemptive moves to win over users.  This strategy is the key to continuing to generate profit in the digital consumer electronics market over the long term.

Digital Cameras.  .  .  .  p. 112

Portable Music Players.  .  .  .  p. 116

Video Cameras .  .  .  .  p. 118

Interview

Osaka University’s President, Hideo Miyahara: “Severing the Cozy Ties with Industry” .  .  .  p. 121

Tech Tale

STAR WARS The Digital Cinema Revolution (Part 4): The Anti-Climatic Decision .  .  .  p. 124

Guest Paper

A PDP Achieving Luminous Efficiency of 2.2 lm/W Is in Range of a High Level Full HD Panel .  .  .  p. 129
Pioneer Corp. has developed a plasma display panel (PDP) television that boasts of greater capability than other TVs according to a number of different indicators.  Luminous efficiency has improved to 2.2lm/W, greatly reducing power consumption.  The dark room contrast ratio improved to 4000:1 with black luminance being well reduced to 1/4 of the value of previous products.  
Cost reductions were also achieved by cutting the number of individual parts.  The new TV has XGA resolution with 1280 x 768 pixels, but the technology employed in the panel appears to be the key to commercializing a high-performance panel that displays a “full HD,” or 1920 x 1080 pixel, resolution picture.  It may be possible, for example, to attain a luminous efficiency of around 2lm/W for a full HD 50-inch panel.  
In this article, the Pioneer developers explain the development process and the features of the material layer, called the “Crystal Emissive Layer,” which was central to raising panel performance by such a degree.

NETs Buyers’ Guide

Planning to Gain New Customers, Microcomputer Manufacturers Release Low Cost Microcomputer Learning Kits .  .  .  p. 140
“Microcomputer learning kits” contain the boards and learning materials required for engineers and students, who have yet to come in contact with microcomputers, to undergo training in the development of microcomputer software.  
Kits come with a board, are mounted with a microcomputer and input/output (I/O) devices such as LEDs and push buttons, and also include other items that include evaluation versions of software development tools and learning materials stored on CD-ROM.  
The learning materials contain several sample programs, allowing the user to immediately try out device controls—such as the blinking of LEDs for example.  The main users are assumed to be rookie engineers, IT engineers, and electronic circuit engineers.

Evaluation kits, which are similar to microcomputer training kits in composition, are used for microcomputer evaluation and selection.  It is often difficult to draw a clear distinction between training and evaluation kits.  
Some evaluation kits, in fact, have been developed so that they can also be used for microcomputer training.  Here we introduce an example of a “microcomputer learning kit,” which we define as containing such I/O devices as LEDs, buttons, and temperature sensors.  
Of the microcomputer kits that were proactively conceived and developed by major microcomputer manufacturers, we look at ones mounted with more than three LEDs, buttons, temperature sensors, or other I/O devices (not including devices such as connectors, which require a connection point), and we offer one representative model for each company.

NETs Seminar

Developing a Visual Recognition Sensor for Automobiles .  .  .  p. 146
Development of collision safety and accident prevention systems for vehicles is intensifying.  Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. has been one of the first to create a stereo camera that acts as an image recognition sensor, which is an essential element of such a system.  Here we receive an explanation of the latest systems, which double as milli-meter wave radar, beginning with issues surrounding practical application.

High Speed Transmission Technologies Accelerate LSIs .  .  .  p. 156
The field of on-chip and inter-chip high-speed serial interface technology is getting overcrowded.  Each technology has different transmission speed, extensibility, connection topology, and so on.  Using LSI circuits that apply each of the interface technologies, this article introduces their characteristics and uses.

Next 2 Weeks	8	For further information, please contact: Nikkei Electronics 2-1-1, Hirakawacho Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8622, Japan Vox: +81-3-5210-8141, Fax: +81-3-5210-8510 http://ne.nikkeibp.co.jp/
Keyword:	10
News Ranking	12
Inside “What’s In”:	36
What's New:	40
Selected Shorts:	51
Leading Trends:	63
Cover Story:	101
Interview:	121
Tech Tale:	124
Guest Paper:	129
NETs:	140
Calendar:	232
From the Readers:	236
From the Editors:	237