Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

optical

Intel's Light Peak optical links could arrive in 2010

In September, Intel showed off Light Peak as if it were the latest hot idea out of the labs. But the fiber-optic communication technology could well be coming to a computer near you next year, rather than in some distant sci-fi future.

A Taiwanese optical networking company, Foci Fiber Optic Communication, is well along the path of selling Light Peak cables and other fiber-optic components.

"We plan to have our pilot run ready by the end of November 2009, and ready to be in mass production in the beginning of year 2010," said Janpu Hou, the company's vice president of business development.

Foci is not some no-name manufacturer of commodity gear, either. The company supplied the optical networking components used in the Light Peak demonstrations at the Intel Developer Forum in September. … Read more

Tech pioneers win 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics

The 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded for "two revolutionary optical technologies."

Charles K. Kao, who discovered how to transmit light through fiber optics, and the team of Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, who designed the first digital-imaging sensor, split the Nobel Prize, announced by the Nobel Foundation on Tuesday.

Born in Shanghai, Charles K. Kao made a discovery in 1966 that would lead to today's fiber optics. A man ahead of this time, Kao calculated how it would be possible to transmit light over 100 kilometers (62 miles), compared to only 20 … Read more

BOL 1073: Open Android Alliance to fight Google's evil empire

A Google Android mod received a cease and desist for including Google apps in the mod. Seriously? Google may not be a walled garden with a high wall but it's a walled garden nonetheless. And it's pretty sad when your open-source project gets protested for not being open. We also discuss whether the Dell Latitude Z series is for posers. Or us. Or both. Which makes us posers. Own it, people.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1073

Dell Latitude is like Adamo with wireless charger – fancy … Read more

Will Intel and USB make fiber optics mainstream?

SAN FRANCISCO--You've probably heard about fiber optics for years--some kind of exotic technology used to carry gargantuan quantities of data across continents. But in the not-too-distant future, you might be plugging these tiny glass strands straight into your computer.

That's if Intel gets its way. At its Intel Developer Forum last week, the chipmaker demonstrated fiber-optic technology called Light Peak for connecting many devices to PCs with fiber optic lines. Intel secured major Light Peak endorsement from Sony and now it's has begun trying to make it into an industry standard.

But bringing optical technology to the masses will require more than Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner taking the stage to connect a thin white Light Peak cable into the back of a prototype PC. According to sources familiar with the situation, the most likely mechanism to carry Light Peak out of the R&D lab to the edge of your laptop will be the venerable Universal Serial Bus, and Intel has begun pounding the pavement to try to make that happen.

"Now all the pieces are in place," Rattner said. "We need to get a standard established to turn on the entire ecosystem to Light Peak." … Read more

Intel's Light Peak: One PC cable to rule them all

SAN FRANCISCO--Intel unveiled technology called Light Peak that it hopes ultimately will replace the profusion of different cables sprouting from today's PCs with a single type of fiber-optic link.

Dadi Perlmutter, the newly promoted co-general manager of Intel's Architecture Group, demonstrated Light Peak at the Intel Developer Forum here and said components for the technology, though not Light Peak-enabled PCs, will be ready in 2010.

"We hope to see one single cable," Perlmutter said, adding that one thing getting in the way of smaller laptops is the profusion of cable ports around the systems' edges. … Read more

Get a portable DVD burner for $48.99

Got a Netbook? Then at some point you've probably longed for an optical drive, whether to install software, watch a DVD, burn a CD, or whatever.

Newegg has a Samsung SE-S084 portable CD/DVD drive for $48.99 shipped. It's perfect for netbooks, though obviously it's compatible with desktops and laptops as well.

The SE-S084 is about as compact and lightweight as an optical drive can get, weighing 14 ounces and measuring just 0.75 inch by 5.5 inches by 6.2 inches (HWD). You'll barely notice it in your travel bag.

Better still, the … Read more

Up close with optical drive lens mod for camera phones

DIY site Make.com wrote about how one reader ripped an old DVD player apart and fitted the optical drive lens onto a camera phone for some awesome macro shots. We couldn't resist trying it out with an old CD reader that we have.

While we did get some pretty impressive closeup shots with the puny lens and our Nokia E71, here are a few things we noted. … Read more