Nuts & Volts - May 2007

said to offer up to double the compression efficiency of JPEG with fewer damaging artifacts, which results in higher quality images that are only half as large. In addition, the technology offers increased image fidelity, preserving the entire original image content (i.e., “lossless compression”) and enabling improved exposure and color adjustments.

The format does not seem to have generated a great deal of software support so far, but Microsoft has announced the beta release of a set of HD Photo plug-ins for Adobe® Photoshop®, developed with the help of Adobe Systems, Inc. The plug-ins support both the CS3 and CS2 versions of Photoshop software and will be available for Windows® Vista™ and XP, as well as Mac OS X. By the time you read this, they should be available — for free — from www.microsoft.com/downloads.

ANOTHER NEW SEARCH ENGINE

If you thought the World Wide Web had enough search sites, meet hakia Galleries ( www.hakia.com), an innovative “meaning-based” engine. It delivers categorized search results (the galleries) in response to a short query, providing the equivalent of 10 search variations.

The hakia Galleries cover a range of topics, including diseases, company profiles, data about cities and countries, and famous people. Current examples of the hakia Galleries (there are said to be thousands available already) include Anna Nicole Smith, Pokemon, Tokyo, Red Sox, cancer, chocolate, Vioxx, cello, and George Washington. And the engine will keep getting better, as the coverage of hakia Galleries is slated to expand continuously throughout 2007 via an automated “distillation” algorithm.

802.11N UPGRADES AVAILABLE

If you happen to be the owner of an Intel-based Mac that was built before Apple started putting 802.11n wireless network cards in them, you now have an alternative to living with

the older, slower WiFi capabilities. For $149, QuickerTek, Inc. (www. quickertek.com), will sell you an upgrade card or — for $199 — will install it for you.

The cards are made to the same specs as the Apple products and fit into the AirPort slot. They work with all 802.11/b/g/n WiFi equipment, including AirPort and AirPort Extreme. They are compatible with all of the newer 17-, 20-, and 24-inch iMacs, as well as pre-802.11n MacBooks and MacBook Pros, but you’ll need to be running OS X 10. 4. 8 or later.

CIRCUITS AND DEVICES INSTRUMENTS INCLUDE TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT

PHOTO COURTESY OF EXTECH INSTRUMENTS.

■ Extech’s meters feature built-in IR temperature measurement.

If you need to, for example, test a high-voltage breaker box or make physical contact with an active electric motor, it can be pretty handy (and a lot safer) if you can first point something at the target area and check for hot spots, given that large temperature rises may indicate problems with motors and circuits. A noncontact infrared thermometer would do the trick, but who wants to carry around an extra instrument?

That’s the basic idea behind a series of test instruments from Extech Instruments ( www.extech.com). The company originally introduced a patented line of digital multimeters with the thermometer included, but now also offers a clamp meter,

tachometer, anemometer, humidity psychrometer, and hygro-thermometer, all using IR technology.

The thermometers incorporated into the Extech products feature a temperature range as low as - 58°F (- 50°C) to a high of 932°F (500°C), and a built-in laser pointer allows a user to pinpoint the target area. This is particularly useful for small targets and hard-to-reach areas.

The cost isn’t exorbitant, either, so you might want to consider the EX470 multimeter, for example, which sells for about $125. If nothing else, you can check the temperature of your beer from across the room with it.

FOUR-IN-ONE MODULE

PHOTO COURTESY OF FRONTIER SILICON.

■ The Venice 6 provides four types of audio in one module.

An interesting new chip from Frontier Silicon ( www.fr ontier-silicon.com) is the Venice 6, billed as the world’s first four-in-one module capable of receiving Internet radio, digital audio broadcasting (DAB), FM, and music streamed from a PC. It integrates a WiFi, DAB, and FM front end with an on-board WiFi antenna, enabling audio manufacturers to build a new generation of versatile radios for the global market.

Based on Frontier’s Chorus 2i processor, the device streams radio stations and music files in several formats and protocols, including MP3, WMA, and Real Audio. It provides access to over 10,000 Internet radio stations plus a wide selection of podcasts with only a few key presses, accessed through a vTuner Internet Portal that manages all the stations.