Other News
Ericsson to Invest $1billion in China
Phone equipment manufacturer Ericsson said it plans to invest US$1 billion in China over the next five years.
The money will fund research and development, as well as expanding manufacturing facilities to meet the increase in demand for phone services.
Ericsson representatives said the company would focus on 3G systems, which allow users to download larger amounts of data more quickly and access services such as music videos. Ericsson also plans to use the money to finance "significant local purchasing".
With a population of 1.3 billion, China is a phone market with huge potential. The state is currently assessing bids for 3G mobile phone licenses, and is expected to announce winners in the first half of next year.
China is also expected to reform its telecommunications industry, with an eye to making it more efficient and cheaper.
Ericsson has been positioning itself to benefit from the expected growth in demand for phone transmitting equipment and said in July that it was taking market share from rivals.
The Swedish company said it was seeing good growth in developing economies such as China and India as existing operators update and expand their networks.
[ FYI Index ]
Liquid Drop Takes Big Nano Step
Edinburgh scientists have made a small blob of liquid move across a surface by shining a light in front of it.
It may not sound like much but the molecular engineering that went into this feat is said to be a step forward in the emerging area of nanotechnology. The trick is in tiny "machines" about a millionth of a millimeter in size that coat the surface and propel the drop.
The team envisages this technology moving biological samples around a diagnostic chip to detect disease. The researchers can also see their work leading to smart materials that change their shape at the flick of a switch.
Professor David Leigh, of the University of Edinburgh, said the demonstration was one of the first examples to show molecular machines integrating successfully with the macroscopic world.
The tiny machines that coat the surface are essentially rod-like structures with rings that, in their normal state, furiously jump up and down because of Brownian motion (the random movement of molecules caused by collisions with molecules around them). But when these structures are stimulated by ultra-violet light, a chemical reaction takes place and the rings all go to one end, changing the nature of the surface under the blob from a repulsive one to an attractive one. This dramatically alters the surface tension of the liquid droplet above and it begins to move - even up a slight incline.
Professor Leigh concedes the work is early proof-of-principle but he is bolstered by the knowledge that nature uses molecular machines to do all of its jobs. He believes it can only be a matter of time before we are tapping into that know-how.
Professor Leigh's group at Edinburgh published their work this week in the journal Nature Materials.
[ FYI Index ]
New EU Law to Boost Child Drugs
The European Parliament has approved a law intended to boost the production of children's medicines.
The law obliges firms producing a drug for adults in the European Union (EU) to test whether it can also be used for children. It also gives firms a new incentive to produce children's drugs, by adding six months to the patent protection period.
At present most of the drugs prescribed to children have not been tested for pediatric use, forcing doctors to guess the right dose. The law was passed a day after United Kingdom (UK) scientists unveiled a study suggesting that two-thirds of children treated in hospital are given drugs that have not undergone appropriate tests.
At present drug firms focus on making medicine for adults, because the market and the financial returns are larger. Testing drugs on children is also more complicated and costly, because different age groups require different doses.
The regulation on medicinal products for pediatric use creates a new European pediatric committee to assess companies' plans for testing child medicines, and to absolve companies from carrying out the tests if the drug clearly has no application for children.
It also:
- creates a fund to finance research into the possible adaptation of existing drugs, which are not covered by patents, for use by children
- sets up a network of researchers and research centers designed to prevent duplication of research and tests on children
Similar legislation encouraging the production of medicines for children already exists in the United States.
The French Conservative MEP who shepherded the law through the parliament, Francoise Grossetete, described it as a big advance for science and health.
The parliament voted to extend the patent period for children's medicines by six months, as proposed by the European Commission.
Some EU member states, including Hungary and Poland, had argued for a shorter extension, in order to support their generic drug manufacturers. They will have a chance to vote on the law when it goes to the EU Council for approval. However, parliamentary sources said it was unlikely they would be able to organize a blocking minority, and that the regulation would probably have a smooth passage into law.
[ FYI Index ]
FBI Stops Bullet Lead Tests
The FBI will no longer test bullets by attempting to match lead content because of the high rate of false matches. One New Jersey defendant has already been granted a new trial because of questions about the test. The bureau has performed about 2,500 bullet lead examinations for local, state, federal, and foreign law enforcement agencies.
Bullet lead examinations were usually performed when a firearm was not recovered or a fired bullet from a crime scene was too small or damaged to identify the unique striations created by each firearm. These lead compositional analyses determined trace amounts of elements in the crime scene bullets and compared them to amounts found in bullets in a suspect's possession.
A National Research Council report, Forensic Analysis: Weighing Bullet Lead Evidence, recommended that the FBI tighten the quality controls on its bullet lead analysis process, and revise the statistical methods it uses to compare the lead in crime scene bullets with the lead in bullets linked to a suspect.
[ FYI Index ]
Motorola and Apple Launch the World's First Mobile Phone with iTunes
Representatives of Motorola, Inc. and Apple announced the availability of the world's first mobile phone with iTunes, enabling music lovers to transfer up to 100 of their favorite songs from the iTunes jukebox on their Mac or PC to their mobile phone.
The new Motorola ROKR (pronounced “Rocker”) is available in the following markets:
- U.S. – today, exclusively with Cingular
- U. K.– available first with Carphone Warehouse, expected in mid-September and then with O2, followed by Orange, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile and other top retailers through September and October
- France – expected to be available by late September through key retailers
- Italy – expected to be available by late September through key retailers
- Germany – expected to be available through distributor and operator channels in 2H 05
- Canada – expected to be available in mid- to late-September with Rogers Wireless
- Hong Kong – expected to be available by late September through multiple retail outlets and operator channels
- Australia, Singapore and the Philippines – expected to be available late September through early October through retail and operator channels
- Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and other markets throughout the world – expected to be available in the fourth quarter
The Motorola ROKR features a color display for viewing album art, dual built-in stereo speakers and stereo headphones that also serve as a mobile headset with microphone. Music fans can randomly autofill or manually fill the mobile phone with playlists of their favorite music, audiobooks and Podcasts from their iTunes library via a USB connection. The Motorola ROKR pauses music automatically when users take a call and offers the ability to listen to music while checking messages or snapping a photo.
