Transistor made from just one molecular monolayer made to work on computer chip

June 20, 2013 ? Electronic components built from single molecules using chemical synthesis could pave the way for smaller, faster and more green and sustainable electronic devices. Now for the first time, a transistor made from just one molecular monolayer has been made to work where it really counts. On a computer chip.

The molecular integrated circuit was created by a group of chemists and physicists from the Department of Chemistry Nano-Science Center at the University of Copenhagen and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Their discovery has just been published online in the periodical Advanced Materials. The breakthrough was made possible through an innovative use of the two dimensional carbon material graphene.

First step towards integrated molecular circuit

Kasper N?rgaard is an associate professor in chemistry at the University of Copenhagen. He believes that the first advantage of the newly developed graphene chip will be to ease the testing of coming molecular electronic components. But he is also confident, that it represents a first step towards proper integrated molecular circuits.

"Graphene has some very interesting properties, which cannot be matched by any other material.

What we have shown for the first time is that it's possible to integrate a functional component on a graphene chip. I honestly feel this is front page news," says N?rgaard.

See through sandwich central to function

The molecular computer chip is a sandwich built with one layer of gold, one of molecular components and one of the extremely thin carbon material graphene. The molecular transistor in the sandwich is switched on and of using a light impulse so one of the peculiar properties of graphene is highly useful. Even though graphene is made of carbon, it's almost completely translucent.

Environmentally important. Strategically vital

The hunt for transistors, wires, contacts and other electronic components made from single molecules has had researchers working night and day. Unlike traditional components they are expected to require no heavy metals and rare earth elements. So they should be cheaper as well as less harmful to earth, water and animals. Unfortunately it has been fiendishly difficult to test how well these functional molecules work. Until now.

The luck of the draw

Previously the testing of the microscopic components had researchers resort to a method best compared to a lottery. In order to check whether or not a newly minted molecule would conduct or break a current, they had to practically dump a beakerfull of molecules between two live wires, hoping that at least one molecule had landed so that it closed the circuit.

Lottery method supplanted by precision placement

Using the new graphene chip researchers can now place their molecules with great precision. This makes it faster and easier to test the functionality of molecular wires, contacts and diodes so that chemists will know in no time whether they need to get back to their beakers to develop new functional molecules, explains N?rgaard.

"We've made a design, that'll hold many different types of molecule" he says and goes on: "Because the graphene scaffold is closer to real chipdesign it does make it easier to test components, but of course it's also a step on the road to making a real integrated circuit using molecular components. And we must not lose sight of the fact that molecular components do have to end up in an integrated circuit, if they are going to be any use at all in real life."

The work has been supported by Danish Chinese Center for Molecular Nano-Electronics and financed by the Danish National Research Foundation, the European Union 7th framework for research (FP7) and by The Lundbeck Foundation.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/vz0WSRRz7WE/130620071525.htm

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Obama job approval unchanged, views of economy improve

President Barack Obama at a dinner hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Charlottenburg Castle in Berlin??President Barack Obama's job approval rating slipped slightly to 49 percent in June despite controversies over National Security Agency surveillance and the IRS targeting of conservative groups, according to a new poll from the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Oh, and fewer Americans are using the word "socialist" now than in early 2009 as a one-word description for Obama, Pew found.

Obama's job approval was 51 percent in May, Pew said. And the proportion of Americans disapproving of the job he's doing stayed steady at 43 percent in both May and June.

While just 11 percent of Americans in 2012 said the economy was in excellent or good shape, that number has surged to 23 percent?the highest level since January 2008, Pew found. Thirty-five percent say the economy will get better one year from now, against 19 percent who say things will be worse. In March, more respondents said it would be worse (32 percent) than better (25 percent).

Still, 64 percent of respondents said jobs are difficult to find in their communities, against 29 percent who said there were plenty of opportunities.

Obama's handling of the economy was still underwater: 44 percent approved, against 50 disapproving. Americans are split 35 percent-35 percent on whether his policies have made things better, while 27 percent say they've had no effect.

Pew has kept track of one-word descriptions for the president. In April 2009, the top five were, in descending order: "Intelligent," "good," "socialist," "liberal," "great." In September 2012, they were "good/good man," "trying/tried/tries," "president," "failed/failure" and "incompetent," with "socialist" in the 11th slot. In June 2013, the top terms were "good/good man," "incompetent," "honest," "liar" and "excellent," with "socialist" in the 8th slot. No word on what percentage accurately recall the definition of "socialist."

Obama's approval ratings on his handling of terrorism and his approach to civil liberties capture the American public's own mixed message on government surveillance. Fifty-six percent approve of his handling of terrorism, against 35 percent disapproving. When it comes to civil liberties, though, 42 percent approve while 51 percent disapprove.

Overall, the poll had an error margin of 2.9 percentage points.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-job-approval-unchanged-views-economy-improve-200917651.html

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Editorial: What internet radio needs to disrupt actual radio - Engadget

"Internet radio" is usually a misnomer, as well as an indicator of its ambition. The term "radio" is misapplied to internet services like AOL Radio, Rhapsody Radio, the upcoming iTunes Radio and their ilk. All these mediums are unrelated to radio technology. But for most people, "radio" simply means something you turn on and listen to. As a marketing term, "radio" seeks to accustom users to new technology by connecting it with familiar technology. Pandora describes itself as "free, personalized radio."

The business intent in all cases is more ambitious -- to wean people from the terrestrial radio habit and migrate them to online services. Will it work?

It's not working in a big way yet. According to the Pew Research Center, American use of local AM/FM radio hardly budged between 2001 and 2011 -- a period during which online services graduated from web 1.0 to web 2.0, and moved assertively into the mobile space. Of note, 93 percent of American teenagers and adults used traditional radio in 2011, nearly the percentage of television use (98 percent). During that 10-year span, broadband internet adoption rose from 20 percent to 70 percent, and use of "online radio" (including terrestrial webcasts) rose from 28 percent to 56 percent. So it's evident that people are dipping their toes into various forms of internet radio without abandoning their terrestrial stations.

By not separating All Access from Google Play ... Google is merely adding a feature rather than trying to start a movement.

Michael Robertson, CEO of DAR.fm and founder of the original MP3.com, recently expressed confidence in the long-awaited migration from passive over-the-air listening to more configurable music streams offered by web / mobile services. "There's no question that it will change from 10 / 90 (digital / analog) to 90 / 10 because FM cannot compete with the benefits of internet-delivered music."

Robertson feels that Apple's recently announced iTunes Radio service, coming this fall to its mobile devices in the iOS 7 upgrade, will accelerate consumer adoption of internet radio. That might be true. When Apple announced and described the service in its WWDC keynote, I tweeted, "As expected, iRadio appears (from the demo) to be completely pedestrian, usual feature set that other services have had for years." A friend tweeted in response: "and it will eat their lunch."

That might be true, too. You cannot overestimate the power and adoption clout of a native app on one of the world's most-used mobile platforms. Google is missing the boat in this regard, with its Play Music All Access service. By not separating All Access from Google Play, not placing it on the mobile start screen and not giving it a coherent name, Google is merely adding a feature rather than trying to start a movement. Apple's gambit is also a feature add-on to a wide array of ecosystem attractions, but it's setting it up for success as a killer app, despite its unoriginal functions.

Apple's mobile footprint will probably introduce new users to the pleasures of listening to highly personalized music streams. But for the big migration to occur, ease of use is the mountain that internet radio must climb.

Not many entertainment habits are easier or more ingrained than turning on a radio -- especially in the car. Pandora's attainment of 200 million users was assisted by its increased presence in autos. When it comes to radio, mobile means driving. When Pandora struck a deal with Pioneer Corp. to bundle the internet radio service into dashboard navigation systems (this was in 2010), Pandora's co-founder Tim Westergren was quoted as saying, "Maybe a year ago people would have said Pandora is a computer thing. They're beginning to realize that internet radio is an anytime, anywhere thing."

Apple appears to be thinking along the same lines. The single remarkable point in the iTunes Radio announcement was the pending development deals with 12 car companies. There's no information yet on what the integration might look like, but the few seconds in which Apple's slide appeared signaled a clear intent to tie general mobility (iOS devices) to radio mobility (the car).

Pre-cable television was considerably easier to operate, and free. Now the set is tethered to the wall, operated by a hostile hand-held device bristling with inexplicable controls, and the programs cost a fortune.

Media and tech companies can wrench users from one platform to another even when the experience is burdened with some degree of complication, hassle and expense. Pre-cable television was considerably easier to operate, and free. Now the set is tethered to the wall, operated by a hostile hand-held device bristling with inexplicable controls, and the programs cost a fortune. On the plus side, the picture is gorgeous, the channel variety is stunning and all that money sloshing around produces movie-quality shows.

Internet radio has advantages, too, that balance its complications. Subscription tiers eliminate advertising, the noisy bane of commercial AM/FM radio. Personalization features differentiate effectively from the expertly curated genre stations of SiriusXM -- the chief in-car challenger to AM/FM.

Competing on the basis of accessibility is fine, and internet radio needs to get easier in both car and home. It also needs star power and blockbuster announcement material. SiriusXM enjoyed immense publicity when Howard Stern moved to that platform from terrestrial radio. Jerry Seinfeld is producing his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee for Crackle, bestowing interest and recognition on that "internet television" service. And look at Netflix, which shifted from its original mission as an innovative DVD-rental outlet to a streaming service, and from there to a content producer. After making waves with its House of Cards online-only, binge-watching series, this week, Netflix signed a long-term content-development deal with DreamWorks.

Internet radio lacks all these shades of glamour. Even with its rising popularity, internet radio is geeky. Its image is tethered to computers and smartphones. That is a status quo in which the usage numbers of terrestrial radio remain fairly safe. It is up to Apple, or Google, or Rhapsody, or Spotify, or Pandora, or Amazon, or another internet player to break down the perceptual walls within which internet radio is trapped, developing content or importing stars that will compel users to commit more of their attention to the platform. Technology alone might not be enough to disrupt the nearly 100-year-old technology of terrestrial radio. But technology plus killer content can do it.

---

Brad Hill is a former Vice President at AOL, and the former Director and General Manager of Weblogs, Inc. He streams internet radio from his phone into his car's sound system, and listens to NPR at home.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/18/what-internet-radio-needs-to-disrupt-actual-radio/

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HTC Butterfly s revealed: 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, UltraPixel camera sensor (video)

HTC's just pulled back the proverbial curtains on the Butterfly s at its Taiwan launch event. It'll arrive boasting a familiar-sounding 5-inch 1080p display, front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers and Sense 5 as expected. When it comes to internals, the Butterfly s runs Android Jelly Bean on a quad-core 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 (faster than the HTC One), an impressive 3,200mAh battery, quad-band HSPA/WCDMA radio, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage, expandable once again through microSD. As for imaging, alongside that primary UltraPixel camera and Zoe software features, there's a 2.1-megapixel wide-angle shooter on the front. It's currently scheduled for a release in July in Taiwan, accompanied by a NT $22,900 (roughly $766) price tag, but no word when (or even if) it'll reach foreign shores.

Update: Our Chinese sister site just spent some hands-on time with the device. Check out their first impressions right here. We've also added an official video right after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Source: Engadget Chinese

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/19/htc-butterfly-s-revealed/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Spain's Mango Takes on Retail Fashion Rivals Inditex and H&M ...

BARCELONA, Spain ??Shoppers in the 109 countries where Spanish fashion chain Mango has stores recognise its celebrity faces well, but few know much about the company behind the clothes modelled by Kate Moss, Gerard Pique and Scarlett Johansson.

?Mango is from Spain, part of the Inditex group, isn?t it?? said Maria Lekae, 29, a Russian shopper browsing in the branch on Barcelona?s smart street Passeig de Gracia.

Her misconception that Mango is one of Zara owner Inditex?s cluster of brands is common. In fact, the 30-year-old Barcelona-based company is private and unrelated to the world?s largest retailer, based in Galicia, northern Spain.

That could change if Mango successfully implements a 10-year plan to break out from under the shadow of its larger Spanish competitor and equal Zara?s current level of sales, which topped 10.5 billion euros last year compared with Mango?s 1.7 billion.

?We began later than them, that?s why you need to give us 10 years to catch up!? Managing Director Enric Casi told Reuters in an interview at Mango?s headquarters and design centre on an industrial estate 30 km from downtown Barcelona.

Mango has pushed out to even more markets than its larger listed peer, which opened its first store about 40 years ago. It aims to continue expansion at the rate of more than four new stores a week, entering four new countries this year.

It also said a new strategy to reduce production costs and prices of its clothes had halted a two-year profit fall, increasing net profit for 2012 by 82 percent to 113 million euros ($150.00 million).

Casi described how the firm recaptured European customers battling austerity, with designers creating less expensive clothes, less evening wear and more casual garments.

?In 2010, 2009, we made markdowns, but in 2011 we did so many we ate up half the profit,? he said.

?We now start with a lower price but without discounts or markdowns later.?

THE DANGEROUS MID-MARKET

Mango put prices alongside outfits in catalogues and advertising last year, in a similar way to H&M.

Budget retailers such as Primark, owned by Associated Foods , have thrived during the economic slowdown as consumers buy cheaper clothes. Some luxury brands have also held up.

But the mid-market is suffering. Mango makes 16 percent of sales and has 326 outlets in Spain, which is racked by high unemployment and recession. Even veteran department store El Corte Ingles is suffering.

The market repositioning is paying off, with 2012 global sales up 20 percent and the firm back in profit after dropping 32 percent in 2010 and 38 percent in 2011.

Cheap labour in China, source of 42 percent of Mango clothes, and countries including Turkey, South Korea, Morocco and Bangladesh will remain a central strategy for the company, Casi said.

The collapse of a building in Bangladesh, killing 1,129 people has raised questions about conditions in producing countries. Forms for a Mango sample order were found in April in the rubble of Rana Plaza.

?Today, if you want to produce textiles, apart from the cloth, you know the countries of the world where you must buy and if you buy in other places you go wrong and you fail,? he said. ?In China, they sew better than in Europe nowadays.?

Mango?s founders, the Andic brothers, Isak and Nahman, opened their first store at 65 Passeig de Gracia in 1984, when Casi worked as a consultant for them.

?It was an old fur shop and I remember we opened up so quickly we still had the name of the fur shop there and Mango?s sign in red letters,? he said.

NEW VENTURES

Since then, Mango has notched up about 2,600 stores. By comparison, H&M has over 2,900, while Inditex has more than 6,000, of which over 1,700 are Zara.

The retail empire has made Mango President Isak Andic and his family the fourth richest in Spain, according to Forbes. Andic, who loves yachts and art, resists giving interviews.

?We?re now in another market, we?re competing with Inditex, with H&M, and we?re very satisfied,? said Casi.

Key to Mango?s 10-year strategy lies in developing a group of brands for men, children and older women, building on its Mango Touch accessories line started in 2011 and H.E. by Mango.

?It seems they want to use an umbrella brand and the doubt is whether they?ll have the ability to not only grow but also adapt their structure to this new strategy,? said Gerard Costa, marketing professor at Barcelona-based ESADE business school.

In Mango?s 12,000-square-metre design centre El Hangar is a pilot shop where the display of the new formats is worked out.

Samples for the line Mango Kids, launching this summer, include gold hotpants costing 27.99 euros.

Mango also launches its Sport&Intimates underwear line this summer; next year, it plans to bring in lines targeting teens and mature women.

It aims for group sales of 1.98 billion euros by year end.

Additional reporting by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; Editing by Fiona Ortiz and Pravin Char

Source: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2013/06/spains-mango-takes-on-retail-fashion-rivals-inditex-and-hm.html

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