After the Xperia Z Ultra’s launch event in both London and Shanghai, we had a brief chance to talk to Sony’s Product Design Director, Jun Katsunuma, who was present in the latter city. Jun’s been responsible for Sony’s mobile devices since the Xperia S days, so the transition to the Xperia Z’s double-glass design was also under his watch. That said, the newer Xperia Z Ultra isn’t simply just an enlarged version of its smaller sibling, as we found out straight from the horse’s mouth.
If you ask Miami Beach’s Planning Board, the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater can be demolished to make way for a new convention center district.
LG has teased the Optimus G’s successor for awhile, but we’ve seen precious little of the phone’s design. We may have just received a better peek: a tipster has sent @evleaks some images that appear to come from a promo video for the flagship device. While the snapshots are clearly victims of Mr. Blurrycam, they’re detailed enough to suggest a big break from last year’s model. They show both a previously seen buttonless front as well as an extremely slim profile that moves the volume controls to the back. There’s also no mention of the Optimus badge — all the on-screen graphics simply refer to the phone as the “G2.” None of the images are verifiable, so there’s no guarantee that they reflect the real thing. If we happen to see something similar-looking on August 7th, however, it won’t come as a surprise.
This is the first week of summer, when temperatures and iced-tea consumption rise sharply. But with the noisy introductions of such recent entrees as Wendy’s Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger, Sonic’s Pretzel Dogs and McDonald’s new Quarter Pounders it’s been easy to overlook the quiet race for iced-tea supremacy going on among the top burger chains. Like coffee, iced tea is a high-profit-margin item that sounds even tastier to operators when sales and customer growth is hard to come by.
In selected markets–including parts of Ohio and New York State–McDonald’s is offering a line of Fruit Tea Fusion drinks under its McCafé umbrella. The tea drinks are offered in Blackberry Raspberry and Peach Berry flavors and promoted as being hand-shaken. Prices may vary by market, but they are roughly $1.59 for a small, $1.89 for medium, $2.29 for a large.
It hasn’t been long since Uber and similar companies wrapped up a long battle in New York, where the app was allowed, then blocked, then allowed, then blocked again, only to finally be allowed once more. Now California is causing problems for the ride-sharing services, with three in particular – Uber, Sidecar, and Lyft –
To everyone shooting Instagram videos right now, just give up. No one cares about your 15 second selfie or crappy first video test. It’s never going to be as good as your pictures. But you should also give up because these guys used 1,600 different Instagram pictures to stitch together a wonderful stop motion Instagram video that kills every Instavideo dead.
President Barack Obama’s official Twitter account expressed support Tuesday for Wendy Davis, the Texas Democrat aiming to filibuster a GOP-backed abortion bill in the state legislature.
Hitachi Power Solutions has developed an item management system, which helps to improve traceability in manufacturing facilities.
This system uses item IDs printed in stealth ink, which is hard to see with the naked eye. The ink is made visible and read using UV light, and each ID is associated with production data. Even in lots with thousands or tens of thousands of items, this system enables every single product to be managed individually.
“Usually, manufacturer’s codes don’t need to be seen by everyone. So, we’ve decided to use stealth codes. A feature of these is, they can be printed anywhere. So, they don’t affect product design.”
“The scanning speed is currently 78 meters per minute, but that could be increased to 160 meters per minute. The codes can be read anywhere, but what we want to do is to make it possible to read the codes, and associate them with data during manufacturing, at speeds that have so far been considered impossible on production lines.”
“Until now, products have been managed as lots, so if customers make a complaint, manufacturers have only been able to tell them the results of tests within a lot. But now, each item on a production line can be scanned, and data can be associated with its code, so manufacturers have evidence regarding complaints. For example, items can be given serial numbers, like with consumer electronics. So, if there’s a complaint, the manufacturer can immediately check where the item was made and what the problem was.”
The stealth codes are printed using ink-jet printers from Hitachi IES. This system offers lower costs than labels and RFID tags.
From now on, as well as food items, Hitachi will consider using the system for electronic and automotive components.
“We think this system could be utilized for lots of purposes. For example, you could use these codes to make small electronic components traceable, or to improve the speed of production lines. Stealth codes could also be used to prevent counterfeiting or unauthorized distribution.”
Event: FOOMA JAPAN 2013
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