This is a hands-on product review of the Anker “SoundBuds Sport IE 20” Bluetooth earphones and a hands-off bashing of the design of upcoming Apple AirPods. The $30 cost of the Ankers was an experiment, which turned into a rather useful purchase to accompany my iPhone. I explain why physics is the limiting factor to the performance of these products. …
Recently there was a security exploit identified in automotive keyless systems.
Normally, the car sends out an RF ping to the fob on a low frequency, to which the fob responds on UHF. If the system determines that the fob is nearby AND a hand is detected by a capacitive sensor, the car unlocks. Also, if the fob is inside the car AND the ignition button is pressed, the car will start.
We left Wayland on Tuesday the 13th....raining, but with two tractor trailers filled to the brim - the 40' and the 53'!
Please check out an excellent graphical history of the cell phone entitled "evolution of the mobile phone by docomo". Watch for when all the antennas become internal.
I recieved a note from my friend Steve Golson about a donation drive for victims of Superstorm Sandy in Breezy Point, NY.
U.S. Military Special Forces Buy Unique Satellite Receive Suite From Nashua-Based Windmill International, Inc.
You can't win.
You can't break even.
You can't even get out of the game.
And playing the game is not optional.
Every professional pursuit has its tradeoffs which must be managed. In fact, I believe that it is the principal function of the engineer to manage tradeoffs.
Since my last blog post I have been working on multiple projects with multiple, wonderful clients.
The SIM slot is gone, since it's not a GSM phone. That frees up a bunch of real estate on the PC Board. Did Apple move the WiFi antenna (and probably also the GPS antenna) to the PC Board, under the rear glass?
Today I posted two data sheets for products that we have been making for clients. They have many applications and can be scaled to other frequency ranges.
What we will do: iOS 4.0.1 fixes bars. And a free case for everyone. Refund if you already bought one...
“dude, where's the blogs? are you on vacation?" -David O. "dude, where's the blogs? are you on vacation?" -David O.
I did not expect to be posting this before my personal iPhone 4 arrived, but my friend Keith showed up with his shiny-new iPhone 4. We did a quick test in my office; this is not an exhaustive test, but it's a start.
Arrrrgh! What to do while you wait? Enjoy Independence Day with your family. I promise to be back with first hand impressions of the iPhone 4 and its antennas soon.
I hit a nerve on Friday.
The iPhone 4 antenna controversy was way bigger than I realized.
I received a phone call today from PC Magazine. They were running a story on the new Apple iPhone 4, specifically the reports (PC Mag, Gizmodo, Engadget) that people are experiencing decreased reception on their cell phone when they hold the phone by the metal frame.
A couple of years ago: the phone rang, and it was another potential client. A referral from a referral... in any event, they thought they had an antenna problem. They were right.
A highly-valued and respected client came to me with an antenna challenge a couple of years ago. It seems that the prototype of a product that they were making included a Bluetooth interface using an industry standard transceiver chip, and a "chip" antenna. Or should I say chip "antenna". But, I digress.
Webb's Law of Project Complexity: "All good projects go from simple to insanely complex, then back to simple after a required epiphany.
A couple of years ago, my good friend Dave and I were returning from an antenna mission down in Washington DC. We had already dropped off our rental car at Dulles airport and were in the shuttle van heading for our gate.
