Electronix Express Newsletter

September 2007 Issue

Welcome to the September 2007 Issue of the Electronix Express Newsletter

STORIES

Teen Who Unlocked iPhone Gets Car, Job

Acer buys Gateway for $710 Million

Password Protection of Wireless Networks May Not Be Enough

"Man Does Not Live by Bits Alone"

Technology Still a Challenge

Desktop PC Demise Imminent?

Poll: Most Chinese Children Spent Vacation Online

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1. Teen Who Unlocked iPhone Gets Car, Job

Certicell, a Louisville company that repairs cell phones, will give a consulting job and a $40,000 car to a teenage computer hacker who spent his summer unlocking an iPhone. How did this come about? Working with a team of other techies around the world, 17-year-old George Hotz of Glen Rock, NJ, spent an estimated 500 hours reconfiguring the iPhone so it can be used with wireless providers other than AT and T. In doing so, he made international news when he unveiled the results of the project on his blog Thursday, and it wasn't long before officials with Louisville-based CertiCell were in touch. In addition, Hotz has appeared on several national television networks, and he has been the subject of dozens of newspaper articles.

Hotz announced on his blog that he would trade an unlocked version of the phone to CertiCell in exchange for a new silver Nissan 350Z, a consulting job and three unmodified iPhones. On the blog, at www.iphonejtag.blogspot.com, Hotz wrote, "This has been a great end to a great summer." Hotz will be a freshman this fall at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

So far iPhones are available only in the United States through an exclusive two-year service agreement with AT and T. Officials with both AT and T and Apple, which makes the iPhone, have not commented about Hotz's unlocking project. By the way, George Hotz has been a customer at Electronix Express, a division of RSR Electronics.

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2. Acer buys Gateway for $710 Million

Gateway a well known name in the computer industry has been bought by rival PC vendor Acer Inc. for $710 million (U.S.). Gateway is the fourth largest PC vendor in the U.S. and a top retail PC provider. The acquisition will create a multi-branded PC-company with over $15 billion in revenues and shipments in excess of 20 million PC units per year. The acquisition is expected to close by December 2007.

The chairman of Acer, J. T. Wang, said in a statement, "This strategic transaction is an important milestone in Acer's long history. The acquisition of Gateway and its strong brand immediately completes Acer's global footprint, by strengthening our U.S. presence. This will be an excellent addition to Acer's already strong positions in Europe and Asia. Upon acquiring Gateway, we will further solidify our position as number three PC vendor globally." The combination of Acer and Gateway is expected to result in significant revenue and cost synergies, company officials stated. The considerable increase in scale would result in reductions in per unit procurement and component costs for both companies.

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3. Password Protection of Wireless Networks May Not Be Enough

A wireless network may have been password-protected, but that doesn't mean it's secure, according to a new study from the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. For home networks, people generally use passwords to protect their wireless networks from unauthorized access. However, the study indicated passwords alone may not provide enough protection for home wireless networks. Larger organizations are particularly vulnerable when it comes to the use of wireless networks.

Many users of wireless-enabled computers scan their local areas for wireless networks to tap into, whether they're at home, school, the coffee shop or elsewhere. They often tap into open networks simply to access the Internet, but some of them are a bit more malicious. An open wireless network could offer an opportunity for people to access the network and computers on that network. Unsecured wireless access points pose problems for businesses, cities and other organizations that make wireless access available to customers, employees, and residents. Unfortunately, unsecured connections are an open invitation to hackers seeking access to vulnerable computers. How wireless network owners and administrators address this problem will determine better protection of their networks.

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4. "Man Does Not Live by Bits Alone"

These days, if you ask an electronics engineer what his specialty is, chances are he'll tell you he's an expert in C, or 8086 assembly language, or some other digital discipline. It seems the glamour associated with digital technology is such that most engineering students are hopping on the digital bandwagon. In fact, engineering schools themselves seem to be downplaying circuit theory in favor of computer sciences. This is a scary tendency, because now, more than ever, there's a need for talented analog-system and circuit designers.

Former EDN writer comments, "The real world consists of analog signals, not ones and zeros." "The expertise needed to design these analog front ends is-in my opinion at least-more demanding of talent, experience, and an intuitive feel for how circuits work and fit together than is the Boolean and op-code stuff that follows." However, some people counter it by saying, "The analog interface is only a small part of any system; the real meat is in the digital circuitry that does the processing. Ironically, the problem is compounded by advances in computer technology. Speedy microprocessors and their companion coprocessors, lightening-fast multiplier/accumulators, and very high-speed array processors are all conspiring to place even tougher speed and accuracy demands on the analog systems they work with. And, no less important than the designers of the linear ICs themselves, is the need for analog-system designers who know to configure these analog blocks in optimum ways and especially in ways that won't introduce system instability.

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5. Technology Still a Challenge

An average consumer can spend up to 91 hours per year figuring out a hardware or software IT problem, reported a survey conducted by Ispos for HiWired. "Although technology has become an inescapable part of our lives, most consumers continue to find managing all of their devices and associated software to be confusing and time consuming," said Michael Wexler, president and co-founder of HiWired, which sponsored the survey.

Ipsos interviewed via e-mail early this spring in the U.S. more than 2,400 home consumers, people working out of their home in a SOHO arrangement and small and medium sized businesses on their technology challenges, attitudes and spending habits. Iposos found that a few of the most common technology challenges were fixing a frozen or non-responding PC or transferring files from an old PC to a new one. Interestingly, demographics figured prominently in the findings. Respondents aged 18-24 required professional tech support with a new product about 38 per cent of the time. This jumped to 50 per cent for those aged 45-54 and 66 per cent for 65 and older.

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6. Desktop PC Demise Imminent?

With the computing world going increasingly mobile, the days for the desktop PC, especially at the entry level, are numbered over the long term, predicted Warren Shiau, lead analyst for IT research at the Strategic Counsel. "There's going to come a point, maybe in 2008, where an everyday, mid-range notebook is going to have enough performance, be portable enough, and be priced such that there's simply no point in buying a desktop for the general consumer."

Another perspective comes from Richard Morochove, an IT consultant and chartered accountant. He stated that the desktop PC, while not growing as fast as notebooks, still has legs in the business market. "I believe, year after year more desktops are sold each year, I mean, I think it is largely processor driven." Shiau pointed to two segments in the desktop PC market -- the inexpensive starter/entry-level machine versus the top of the line, high performer desktop/workstation. The industry analyst conceded the desktop/workstation will continue to be more powerful than the highest performing notebook.

But he expected the lines to blur at the lower end with desktops dropping in price below their current level of about $350 as they become more of a consumer electronics item.

So what do you think: Is the desktop PC facing its demise? Only time will tell.

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7. Poll: Most Chinese Children Spent Vacation Online

The poll of 103 children aged 4 to 14 found that just 4 percent chose to do outdoor activities during the holidays and only 9 percent took part in summer educational camps. "Five years ago, when the Internet was not so popular among students, they preferred going out during summer holidays. Nowadays they prefer to stay at home and play Internet games," said one medical official, who was quoted in article published by the government-sanctioned newspaper The China Daily. About 13 percent of China's 20 million Internet users under 18 are classified as online addicts. In Shanghai last month, local authorities launched an experimental summer camp for 40 youngsters aimed at weaning them off their addiction.

China is also worried about an increasing rate of obesity among its children, which authorities say is caused by their sedentary lifestyle and growing preference for Western-style fast food. In a bid to help overweight children shed extra pounds, authorities recently instructed schools to make dancing lessons compulsory.

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