The iPhone 5

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone on the market and for good reason. With the first iPhone, Apple essentially reinvented the mobile phone market and has led to many imitators. The touch screen, sliding lock, app store and more are all features that have been replicated by other phone manufacturers. So far there have been five different models of the iPhone:

• iPhone
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 4S

Rumours are building for the release of the fifth generation of iPhone, even though it hasn't even been confirmed, although it is very obvious that the device is incoming. There are several ‘apparently real’ leaks of what it could look like but I doubt any of them would be real. One of the leaks is a transparent screen which would actually be impossible, unless Apple have managed to create invisible thin microchips and processors. It would make using and answering the phone quite difficult too.

So what do you want from the iPhone 5? Discuss what you want the device to look like below. Have a look at this link for some great prototype mockups for various Apple products.

App Spotlight - Photo Booth

We’re going to be starting a new feature on this blog called ‘app spotlight’. Each post will look at a different app available on any platform and talk about what it has to offer the user and finally give it an overall rating out of ten. The first app we are going to look at is ‘Photo Booth’ for iOS and Mac OSX.

Aesthetics The first thing we notice with any app is what it looks like. Since this is a native Apple app you can be sure that it’s going to it’s going to follow their skeuomorphic design theme meaning it will be styled like a real world item. In this case it of course it is designed to look like a classic, real world photo booth. Both the icon for the application and the app design itself follow this theme and present a very simple and easy to use interface.

Features
We all want our apps to look good but it’s definitely more important that they work well. Photo booth is a fairly simple app but does what it does really well. There are really only two buttons. One takes you to a screen where you can choose between a selection of fun photo filters and the other is the camera button. Once you have selected the filter you want to use and taken your photo it is stored in a film reel at the bottom of the screen and also in your pictures folder or photos app. 

ConclusionYou definitely won’t be getting any work done with this app, quite the opposite in fact. It is just a bit of fun and you will be surprised how long it takes for it to get boring. It’s well designed and easy to use and will provide hours of fun.The only downfall really is that it’s not available on the iPhone at the moment. It seems like an obvious addition since it’s already available on the iPad and although there are some 3rd party alternatives, none of them are quite as good.

7/10

AR Technology And Space

In the industrialised world, few areas of science are as wonderful and awe inspiring as space and the study of what lies within it. For years, scientists have been launching satellites, space ships, and rockets out to the final frontier, always ready to advance the technology and research we possess using the information and data they received from these probes and automated space explorers.

In the recent decades of this illustrious industry, however, there have been technological advances that have been very useful to the space industry. One of the advances that has been very useful has been surface mount technology: since rockets, satellites, and probes make every kilogram count, the small sizes that the program can achieve with a surface mount circuit is quite impressive: using printed circuits and a bit of cutting edge technique, components as small as fractions of a millimetre can be embedded in space faring systems, considerably reducing the weight as well as allowing the engineers of the vehicle in question to create more versatile and useful functions that would otherwise not be possible with traditional through hole boards.

Printed circuitry does not only allow technology to progress space side, however: on the ground, when testing and designing new components, the tiny size of surface mounts and printed circuits means that engineers are aided by augmented reality technology during the build process. Though still a new technology that needs to be explored further, augmented reality has already helped the aerospace industry tremendously by allowing engineers and scientists to see, at a glance, certain calculations, angles, planes, and other physical properties that would otherwise need to be painstakingly measured manually. This allows for faster and more precise component construction as well as calculating more efficient vectors for final launches.

In short, printed circuits and surface mounts have expanded the range and capability of the UK space industry by measures that would have been inconceivable even twenty years ago. Through the use of augmented reality technology and surface mounts, our engineers continue to push the bounds of what can be done to explore the vast space we find ourselves living in every day!

Advantages and Disadvantages of Surface Mount Technology

Surface Mount Technology is something that has many advantages over the traditional through-hole technology that it has largely replaced. We have included a few of these below as the process is used within circuit boards and printed circuit boards that are used in video game technology.

• Few holes need to be drilled onto the circuit board
• Costs and budgets are reduced as the parts often cost less than their equivalent through-hole parts
• Components can be placed on either side of the circuit boards, which is beneficial
• The components of SMT are smaller

However, there are some disadvantages of Surface Mount Technology which are listed below:

• The manufacturing process for SMT however, requires positioning of parts of un-perforated boards instead of accurate drilling of many holes.
• Large, high-power or high-voltage parts are unsuitable for SMT. This requires the process of combining SMT and through hole construction.
• Manual prototype or component level repair is more difficult as it requires the use of skilled operators and expensive tools as the parts are much smaller.

The components on surface mount technology are often smaller than their counterparts and also designed to be handled by machines rather than humans.

The Technology and Logistics Of The Olympic Games

This sporting event brings a wide range of competitive sports and sports persons together for the summer to compete and win medals for their country. This is a proud moment for London we 2012 sees the third time London has hosted the Games. The technology and logistics have dramatically improved and changed since 1948.

Imagine the construction and planning work that goes into building the venues and accommodation. There has been a need to plan building deliveries and pallet delivery of goods to get buildings completed on time.

There are also several venues outside of London that are hosting events and we take a look at some of those. The logistics and transport is needed to get equipment and athletes to the locations. Imagine all the equipment that is needed to host the football matches in the City of Coventry stadium.

The mountain bike track at Hadleigh Farm is a temporary track that will host the mountain bike events.  The course at Brands Hatch is suitable to host the Paralympics Road Cycling events. Both these venues are out of London so will require transport links and Europe Delivery for those competing from Europe and will be based at the events.

Some Great Movie Technology

Short Circuit - A great film where technology and electronics combined to create a fantastic robot, who ended up being called "Johnny 5". The electronics and pcb design can actually be seen in this guy (sorry robot) when he needs to be fixed up.

Star Wars – Technology is in abundance with these films as you would expect when you take on Darth Vader. Even the modern CGI and technology cannot take away the electronics and almost human characteristics of R2-D2 and C3PO.

Science fiction film, 'Minority Report' sees an interesting mix of electronics, pcb design and access systems. Retina scanners are used by the tiny robot that checks a person’s identity. Interestingly this form of technology is potentially being installed into banks and US Air Force bases.

After all, eyes are unique and cannot be replicated. Unless you use the persons eyes like in Angels and Demons to gain access to the lab. This is one of the eye watering parts of the film though.

Voice recognition features in ‘Richie Rich’. Wealthy parents set up the access code to their vault by using voice recognition, based on frequency. This seems like a great way of using electronics and pcb design to create secure access.

Technology In The Movies

One aspect of technology that we know about but often overlook is technology in the movies. How many films have you watched that had you thinking wow when you left the cinema?

It could be the graphics and CGI which made everything look amazing, a character that was completed animated but you forgot that by the time the film ended or even the plot of the futuristic film which made you wonder if the future really could be like that.

Some of the best characters that we grown to know and love and either animation based or contain electronics and resonate with interest in science and robots. How many of the following films has captured your interest at the cinema?