Tag: technology news

Technology news from Korea includes body heat device charger

| May 6, 2014

Giving wearable tech a whole new angle, this could allow a person to charge his or her own gadgets.

Recent technology news from Korea may seem quite futuristic, but that seems to be the case on an increasing basis when it comes to mobile devices and the many shapes, forms, functions, and styles in which they are being developed.

As though smartwatches and augmented reality glasses weren’t enough, now chargers could be powered by humans.

This technology news could mean that the day could one day arrive in which a person may be able to charge his or her smartphone or wearable technology device through the heat that is naturally produced by his or her body. This is an important discovery, as one of the main barriers to the evolution of the basic smartwatches and other wearables that we know today, is the fact that their charge simply doesn’t last long enough to allow them to provide a wide range of powerful features or function consistently for a long time between charges.

This technology news involves a new development in thermoelectric generating tech.

Should this solution, which is based on a thermoelectric generator made out of glass fabric, become successful, it could pave the way for a virtually endless range of small smart devices and gadgets.

technology news wearable chargerThe discovery has been made by a research team at KAIST University, which is located in South Korea. Under electrical engineering Professor Cho, the team has proposed a unique new solution to being able to keep wearable technology powered through the use of a glass fabric based thermoelectric generator. That device functions by collecting body heat and converting it into usable energy that can charge small mobile devices. It takes advantage of the temperature difference between the human skin and the outside air, so that it can be converted into electric energy.

In order to be able to power a small device, only a small temperature difference between the skin and air is required. This is an important part of this technology news as it ensures that even a slight difference in temperature will allow the charger to continue working, meaning that it won’t be dependent on a perfect air temperature to function at all.

Mobile trends are moving rapidly upward, says the IDC

| May 6, 2014

The International Data Corporation has released its quarterly report showing massive market growth.

A new report has recently been released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), in which a new analysis of mobile trends has been conducted and has shown that the start of 2014 experienced an anticipated post-holiday reduction in shipment volumes, but still managed to experience a first quarter year over year increase.

The data within the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker revealed considerable insight.

It looked into a series of mobile trends and showed that there were a total of 281.5 million smartphones that were shipped by vendors, worldwide, within the first quarter. This was a 28.6 percent increase over the first quarter of last year, in which 218.8 million units were shipped. The report also went on to compare the actual results with the forecasts that had been made within the IDC’s previous mobile market reports.

It showed that the actual mobile trends are stronger than what the IDC had previously anticipated.

The performance of in the first quarter actually beat the IDC’s forecasted shipment of 267.2 million units within the quarter. This was a miss of 5.3 percent. Within the overall cell phone marketplace – which includes smartphones, feature phones, and other similar handheld mobile communication devices – vendors shipped 448.6 million units, worldwide.Mobile Trends - Report shows growth

This was an increase of 3.9 percent from the first quarter of 2013 results, which were 431.8 million units. At the same time, this was a drop from the previous quarter, as Q4 in 2013 shipped 9 percent more at 492.8 million units. The number of units sold in the first quarter of this year was lower than what the IDC had forecasted. They thought that the figure would be 0.6 percent higher, at 451.3 million units.

Of all of the cell phones that were sold in the first quarter of 2014, smartphones made up 62.7 percent. This is a tremendous rise from the same quarter the year before, when they represented just over half, at 50.7 percent. Clearly, these mobile trends indicate that smartphones are gaining greater penetration and that their popularity continues to soar on a global scale.