Does My Phone Dream?

By Cary Chin – Nearly all of our recently introduced smartphones have had similar problems (iPhone 5, Nexus 4, Galaxy S4, Lumia 900) running on virtually all operating systems (iOS 6.x, Android 4.2.x, Windows Phone 8). All of these energy consumption issues, even when the device is inactive, and presumably asleep. It really makes you think about the question, “Does my phone dream?”

From a technology standpoint, we can explain most of the causes of phantom phone drain—information being pushed to the device, background maintenance tasks, poor communications signal strength, inefficient software design, poor HW/SW interaction and even battery/charging issues can contribute. more> http://tinyurl.com/awcgyf9

Related>

• Smartphone security in the workplace a tough issue with BYOD, Tom Kaneshige, PCWorld

Embedded education

By Colin Walls – How do you acquire the specialist skills needed to develop software for embedded systems?

Learning at college may be difficult, so many engineers pick up the skills on the job, starting with an electronics or computer science background. An intelligent engineer can learn a lot from more experienced colleagues. Indeed this is largely how my own career started and I have mentored quite a few younger guys who had come out of college with few clues. more> http://tinyurl.com/amyc6ft

Related>

• Renesas Electronics America, Micrium and IAR Systems Bring Expanded RTOS and Middleware Bundle to Embedded Developers on IAR Systems Tools Platform, BusinessWire/Yahoo! News

6 Questions Everyone Should Ask The IRS

By Robert W. Wood – The lackluster IRS testimony so far suggests we may never know what happened, who did what, who knew, when they knew and worse. Confusion and Staff Troubles Rife at I.R.S. Office in Ohio.

Amid all the noise, many Americans should ask simpler questions:

• Why is the tax law so horribly complex?
• Can I feel secure that I will be dealt with fairly by the IRS?
• Doesn’t the IRS police its employees?
• Why does it seem that there’s always someone getting away with something in the tax world?
• Can I feel secure that my private taxpayer information will remain private?
• Why is staying off the IRS radar so important?

more> http://tinyurl.com/bc4q3rc

The US Market & Design for Test

By W. Scott Fillebrown – The challenge is that the US market is made up of high-technology/low production quantity assemblies. In many circuit bed of nails cases, test is not an option because of development time, cost and the difficulty associated with finding a place for a 30-40 mil test point.

Depending on the technology, the challenge can be as simple as making minor design changes that can happen at the gerber level to requiring a significant revision to the board in question. First let’s conquer the simple. For analog, RF and lower technology digital boards the approach is the simplest. Typically, straightforward flying probe test is the answer. more> http://tinyurl.com/cdnzdlr

Google, please be a benevolent internet overlord

By Dan Gillmor – Google is at the top of its game. It presides over, if not ruling outright, enormous swaths of modern life.

The company’s engineering culture assumes it will solve problems; that data is king; and that anyone with common sense will use the company’s solutions. It’s true enough, as Google notes, that its search dominance is always one click away from melting. Competition does exist. But the company’s culture has has been a factor in some bad ideas and worse moves, and I suspect it could be real trouble down the road. more> http://tinyurl.com/b32vu7b

Related>

• Google I/O 2013: Our complete coverage, Digital Trends