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The General Positioning System (GPS) tracking system is the latest breakthrough of the technology aiming at improving people’s lives. The GPS tracking system is reported to be used as a travel guide and as a tracking device of vehicles. No matter its application, GPS devices are good travelling companions.

The actual process of GPS tracking system is straightforward. In short, there are exactly 27 satellites rolling around the center of the Earth. Out of them, 24 are used by the GPS technology and the remaining ones are used for storage purposes. A GPS receiver installed in your car emits a signal to these satellites. Four available satellites will be used to find out your exact position. The mathematical tenet involves in this computing process is called trilateration. It can be achieved in either two dimensions or three dimensions.

Adverse weather conditions can affect the accuracy of the position. This issue is still to be addressed by GPS vendors as they are struggling to tweak their devices as a way around this problem.

Applications of GPS devices are twofold: the first one being as travelling guide as you can set your destination and the receiver will work out your location. It will also tell the best trajectory to reach your destination. It should be noted that some devices are able to talk as well. The GPS technology is also reported to be used in the military industry as it was first created for such purposes.

Another application of GPS devices is for tracking purposes. For instance a car company may decide to install GPS device in their cars in order to record their position all over the time. This can help them improving their delivery times and also increase their efficiency. An employer also can make use of this device to make sure that his employees are not abusing company car privileges.

Private investigators also make use of GPS tracking devices in order to keep track of cheating wives. Law enforcement also makes use of GPS devices to locate people who steal cars. Recent GPS devices are also able to report a driver’s habits therefore deciding if the driver is responsible enough to carry on.

The GPS tracking system is also a perfect way around home construction site thefts. Indeed, recent news from the Tennessee reveals that GPS tracking devices have helped identify a rash of construction site thefts where many thieves were used to nicking home appliances. A Tennessee police spokesman later on claims that these hard to break burglaries could be tracked down in less than 24 hours with suitable GPS tracking devices.

Still in the US, it is well known that some school buses are equipped with GPS tracking devices for emergency response purposes. Indeed, school buses equipped with the GPS tracking devices can be used to shuttle emergency responders such as fire fighters, and evacuate those in need, including nursing home residents.

In summary, GPS device applications are growing more and more over the time. There are mainly used for military and civilian purposes as we described in previous sections. It is nowadays commonplace to see GPS devices almost everywhere as we saw in the previous sections.

Change the way you watch the television with the new TV on the block that has made the conventional analog television sets run for their survival. We are talking about a plasma HDTV.

It’s a new technology which has changed the whole scenario. The High Definition Plasma Television is here, that is what popularly known as Plasma HDTV, that has given a new dimension to the TV watching experience.

But, is the technology worth of receiving so much of praise. In this case you have to see it to believe it. As the name itself reflects, the HDTV is a high definition TV that changes the picture quality by bringing more life to it and thus has many advantages over the conventional analog TV set.

Lets talk about what you get when you go in for the Plasma HDTV.Much Higher resolution: this is where the Plasma HDTV can beat any competition coming its way. Compared to the conventional TV sets, the Plasma display devices have much higher resolution, and are capable of displaying full HDTV and DTV signals as well as XGA, SVGA and VGA signals from a computer.

Elimination of scan lines: Contrary to the Plasma TV the conventional TV monitors use an electron beam to scan the picture tube at regular intervals that may produce the scan lines, in a standard NTSC TV. Plasma displays in this case, include built-in line doubling to improve image quality when switched to standard analog video sources such as TV broadcasts and VCR tapes.

Exceptional color accuracy: Another great advantage is the exceptional color accuracy that is achieved through displaying 16.77 million colors that can bring any picture to life.

Wide-screen aspect ratio: To bring back the experience of watching films in theatre, Plasma display devices have a wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio, that allows the DVD-Video movies to be viewed in wide-screen format.

Perfect flat screen: is another biggest advantage with Plasma screens. This helps to eliminate the edge distortion that can occur in normal displays.

Uniform screen brightness: the realism can be achieved with this factor that also helps in soothing the eyes with the plasma displays illuminating every pixels evenly across the screen.

Slim space-saving design: a few inches thin, hang it on any wall you like and it gives you the installation options as never before. Don’t bother about the standalone way if you don’t want to keep it like that. The best part is the can match your decor, and actually increase the style statement of your home.

Wide viewing angles: of 160 degrees allows a larger number of viewers to enjoy perfect image reproduction irrespective of their position in the room.

Universal display capability: makes them include and play wide video formats. Most of the plasma HDTV ware compatible with composite video (NTSC, PAL SECAM) (standard RCA jacks), S-video and component video inputs, plus one or more RGB inputs to accept the video output from a computer.

Resistance to magnetic fields: as they do not use the electron beams like the conventional TV sets, they are unfazed by the effects of magnetic fields. That is why it can be placed in a close proximity to any device that produces magnetic fields, for instance, speakers.

Video gaming systems has changed over the past decade with the advancements in technology. These video gaming systems are much more sophisticated than they were when the first archaic video gaming systems hit the market in the 1980s.

These video gaming systems are not limited to being played by just children. In fact, many adults get a lot of pleasure from playing video games on these marvelous video gaming systems. As a result of so many individuals, young and old alike, enjoying these great video gaming systems, manufacturers have felt it necessary to provide a large variety of accessories to enhance the video gaming experience. The accessory market for these video gaming systems has grown in popularity almost as much as the video games and video game systems themselves.

One accessory that gamers have felt is a must is the wireless adapter that enables gamers to expand their gaming experience. The wireless adapter also provides gamers with an incredible opportunity to test their video gaming skills under much more difficult conditions, especially during on-line play. Another accessory that gamers might want to include in their video gaming experience is the memory, which comes in sizes up to eighty megabytes. A memory card allows gamers to save their games before the game is complete, which includes saving characters they may unlocked in earlier games. A memory card also gives the gamer the ability to save games at different levels so that the gamer can go directly back to a level to improve their previous performance.

One of the most valuable accessories for racing video games is the racing wheel, which is produced by a variety of manufactures. The racing wheel gives gamers the ability to feel as if they are actually driving and even allows them to experience the torque power while driving in different weather conditions. When gamers enjoy the excitement of the large variety of racing games available they realize that the racing wheel is essential for becoming their favorite race car driver.

Although many racing wheels have been questioned concerning their capability of force vibration being so lacking, there are many avid racing gamers that feel the racing wheel is the greatest accessory they have purchased for their video gaming system. The first racing wheels that were released did not include any force feedback simply because it interfered with the motion sensors with the video gaming system itself. However, with the motion sensors in some of these video gaming systems being so sensitive manufactures are equipping the racing wheels with force feedback to work with each video gaming system available now.

The racing wheel is so incredible that it allows gamers to maneuver much more easily through a race by giving them the feel that they are actually behind the wheel of the car. Manufactures are making sure that their racing wheels are meeting the demands of gamers so that they have a much more realistic gaming experience that includes better control of the game. These racing wheel give gamers the most realistic feeling available of being a professional race car driver. For this reason only the racing wheel has become one of the top accessories sought after by gamers all over the world.

3M has been a leader in its class for years now and it has done so by developing and manufacturing products which will be very useful for consumers. Recently, the company’s subsidiary, 3M Touch Systems Inc., announced that they have launched the MicroTouch Flex Capacitive Touch Sensors in the United States market.

The said product is a polyester-based capacitive touch screen which can be used on electronic products such as personal navigation systems. Navigation systems are widely used today in the auto industry and the launch of the new technology is expected to make modern navigational system more efficient and convenient to use.

Chris Tsourides, Mobile Products Business Unit Manager at 3M, had this to say: “We are very excited to provide the mobile handheld industry with a high-performance touch screen solution that will enhance its product offering and brand image. With global demand exploding for touch-enabled mobile devices, 3M’s high-volume roll form production of MicroTouch Flex Capacitive Touch Sensors should help address the increasing demand for touch screen sensors.”

According to The Auto Channel, the new product from 3M is the result of applying Indium Tin Oxide patterns on polyester film. The latter is designed to be lightweight thus making it cost effective. The resulting product is a lightweight touch sensor which can contain as much as 72,000 sensors. That amount though depends on the size of the screen.

Kelly Devin, flex Capacitive Business Development Manager with 3m Touch Systems, had this to say: “Since Flex Capacitive Sensors are manufactured through a continuous, roll form production process, this helps device manufacturers manage their component supply chain from the prototype phase to pilot scale and full scale-up. Our ability to produce touch sensors on rolls means our customer scan get the quantities they need when they need them.”

“A film-based sensor like flex Capacitive allows product designers to explore new and unique industrial designs beyond the limitations of traditional square or rectangular touch sensor shapes,” added Devin. “As personal mobile devices continue to converge, touch sensor design freedom helps provide product manufacturers a greater ability to differentiate their products.”

The advantages of using 3M’s new technology will surely be taken into consideration by automakers and auto parts manufacturers especially electronic ones. Although navigational systems are not yet as important to a motorist as Acura engine parts, they are becoming more and more attractive to consumers. This means that in the near future, this product by 3M will be used on most vehicles.

First impressions

The curved design, for instance, calls to mind the MacBook Air and gives the impression that the iPod nano is even thinner than its modest 6.2 mm (0.24 inch). The aluminium and glass body, combined with the new shape and a weight of just 36.8 grams (1.3 ounces), also make the iPod nano comfortable to use. The one possible drawback to the comfort factor, though, is the sharpness of the corners. This shouldn’t be a problem unless you have the iPod nano in a pocket and it jabs you as you sit down.

The corners are a minor niggle, however, and perhaps an inevitable aspect of a design that places the iPod nano screen in an “upright” position. The display, in fact, is the same as the third generation iPod nano horizontal widescreen – but round the other way.

When you switch on the iPod nano and work through the menu, it’s clear that this change to the screen’s orientation has led to improvements. The Preview Panel, for example, is smaller and allows significantly more space for menu titles and item names. You can even deactivate the Preview Panel for yet more display space.

These enhancements come hand in hand with a larger font size, a revamped layout, and new graphics. The overall result is an iPod that’s simpler to navigate than its predecessors.

Features

Simplicity is always welcome, as are features that boost the pleasure of using an iPod. The nano has three new features in particular that are well worth a look.

Genius is a piece of software available with iTunes 8 that now runs on fourth generation iPod nanos. The best way of summarising Genius is to say that you can choose a song and let Genius recommend music that goes well with it. Genius also creates 25, 50, or 100 song playlists based on these suggestions.

Another key extra relates not to music but to video. You may already be wondering about the advisability of playing videos on the iPod nano’s vertical screen. Apple’s answer is straightforward: you put the iPod nano on its side, to either the left or right. A built-in accelerometer takes note and broadcasts your video in normal widescreen format.

If you’re searching in the main or Music menus, the accelerometer also brings Cover Flow onto your screen when you tilt the iPod nano through 90 degrees. You can then search for an album by browsing the covers (which appear in alphabetical order).

The games players among you will immediately recognise the potential of the accelerometer. Sure enough, you can now move the iPod nano, from side to side for instance, to help you negotiate the challenges of games such as Klondike, Maze, and Vortex.

A further technique now available thanks to the accelerometer is “shake to shuffle”. Give the iPod nano an energetic shake when you’re listening to music, and you’ll hear your songs in random order.

This does raise the issue of whether your iPod nano will switch to Shuffle mode when you’re jogging or at the gym. Tests show this doesn’t happen: you need to wave your iPod nano fairly enthusiastically to activate “shake to shuffle”. In any event, if you’re concerned about this you can simply press the nano’s Hold switch to turn “shake to shuffle” off.

The final new feature of the iPod nano is Spoken Menus. This improves the nano’s usability for people with visual impairments (as do other accessibility features such as the white on black video captions and the availability of a larger font).

Spoken Menus tells you what you’re browsing. It gives you the titles of menus, songs, albums, and artists, and lets you know when the battery is running low. All in all, it’s an impressive addition.

Technology

The fourth generation iPod nano’s screen is the same as the preceding model: a two inch LCD with LED backlight, and 320 x 240 pixel resolution at 204 pixels per inch. This still keeps the screen at the forefront of available technology.

With storage Apple has improved capacity by doubling it for the two new iPod nano models to 8GB and 16GB. This means you can place up to 2,000 or 4,000 songs in 128Kbps AAC format on your nano; 7,000 or 14,000 iPod suitable photos; or 8 or 16 hours of video. When you bear in mind that you can also store items in your iTunes library, you have more than enough room for daily use.

Performance

The screen may have the same technology as the third generation, but there’s nothing wrong with this. Picture outlines are sharp, and the colours vivid. The edges curve slightly to match the styling of the nano’s aluminium body, but there’s no evident picture distortion. And although the screen’s covering is now glass, it resists glare and provides clear images.

Audio quality with the iPod nano’s standard earphones is easily as good as the excellent sound reproduced by the third generation models. If you have the good fortune to own top of the range headphones, however, you’ll notice that the fourth generation nano is better because it eliminates background hiss almost completely.

As for power, tests show you can squeeze about 25% – 30% more life from the new iPod nano battery than Apple’s official figures of 24 hours for audio and 4 hours for video. Add this to a charge time of just one and half hours to 80% capacity, and three hours to full charge, and you have a long-lasting and easily revived digital media player.

Conclusion

Once again, Apple has produced an iPod that sets a high standard for others to follow.

Pros

Great range of colours

Distinctive design change

Lightweight

Improvements to accessibility

New features such as Genius and the accelerometer

More storage

Good battery life

Cons

New shape has sharp corners and may not appeal to everyone