Fluresence Multi layer Disk

The first generation of disc productions from Constellation 3D will be a family of 120 mm multi-layer FM-discs with capacity up to 140 GBytes and with read speed up to 1 GBytes/s. It's interesting to compare them with DVD that keep up to 17.4 GBytes. New discs will be capable for example to keep up to 20 hours of compressed movies in HDTV format.

Compact discs were a revolutionary product at its time and influenced many spheres of human activity. People started recording music of high quality which didn't get worse with the time as it 

happens to be on tape or vinyl. As soon as CDs appeared in computer industry they immediately became an undoubted helper both for users and for programmers. The latter were able to increase volume of their program products by adding video and audio elements etc. Later discs were used for digital video (VideoCD).

 

But technologies are progressing. Data are growing faster and faster. A usual CD is far not enough (640 MBytes). So, there appeared DVD technology. Of course we are happy with those 17 GBytes that can be kept on one DVD disc, but this is a limiting point. 

FMD-ROM: operating principle

In optical discs such as CD, DVD and MÎ the process of reading is implemented the following way. A beam of a semi-conducting laser gets on the surface of an informational layer and then reflects from aluminum (or any other metallic) layer and fixed with a detector-receiver. In FMD there is no reflected laser beam: when a laser beam reaches an informational layer the latter starts radiating. 

The principle of operation of FM-discs is based on a phenomenon of photochromism. Some years ago russian chemists discovered a stable organic material a "stable photochrome" which when acted upon by a laser beam obtains fluorescent properties.

The matter is that an informational element of FM-disc (photochrome) can change its physical properties (such as color and presence of fluorescence) under influence of a laser of a definite power and wavelength. Initially photochrome doesn't possess fluorescent properties. When switching on a laser a photochemical reaction starts what causes fluorescent properties to appear. When reading, this matter becomes excited again but with a laser of lower power. The fluorescence is caught up by a photo-receiver and is fixed as a value "1".

In usual optical discs (CD/DVD) with increasing number of informational layers a signal gets worse. It's explained by the fact that these technologies use a reflected signal, it means that there is necessity in mirror surfaces. That's why in DVD technology an external layer is made to be semitransparent in order to allow a laser to reach an internal one.

And a signal while passing an external layer leaves a part of its energy because of reflecting. Signals reflected from both layers interfere because of their coherence, it results in losses of useful signal. Increasing number of layers aggravates an effect of multiple interference between the layers what makes reading more complicated. The problem can be solved by improving detector-receivers, but it is possible only in laboratory. In case of fluorescent discs the quality of the signal gets worse much slower with increasing number of layers. Look at the graph below: According to FMD-ROM developers, even with a hundred layers a useful signal will be acceptable.

Here is a list of advantages of FMD/C:

1. Multilayer disc is transparent and homogeneous
2. Small loss of useful signal while passing through several layers
3. Fluorescence of a separate element easily passes through disc layers
4. Less sensitivity (than of CD/DVD) to different imperfections of reading devices. Fluorescent technology doesn't require special manufacturing conditions
5. Reflective fluorescent light from any layer is not coherent, it prevents a problem of multiple interferences
6. FMD-technology is compatible with CD and DVD formats supporting the same data distribution system on each layer.

Parameter	CD	DVD	FMD
Disc diameter, mm	120	120	130
Capacity, GBytes	0,64	17,4	50,8
Number of layers	1	2 (on each side)	12
Distance between layers , micron	-	40	25±5
Total width of informational layers, micron	0,11	2	275
Format	CD	DVD	Modified DVD
Distance between tracks, micron	1,6	0,74	0,8
Optical system: Wavelength, nm	780	635-650	532

 

Toshiba Qosmio More than a laptop

An extraordinary family of laptops with a―well, far-from-ordinary name. Pronounced “KOZ-me-o,” these amazing machines are designed to be an exciting epicenter for all the entertainment you love, from non-stop gaming action to feature films, home movies, photos, and your favorite songs. Brace yourself. When it comes to fun our new Qosmio notebooks are way off the Richter scale.

When it comes to multimedia our Qosmio brand rules. That includes our 18.4” G55 with an amazing Toshiba Quad Core HD Processor for HD video processing, our 17” diagonal screen gaming dynamo, the X305, with its premier graphics system, all the way to our mobile 15.4” diagonal screen F55 laptop with built-in Garmin® GPS. Whichever you choose, thanks to stunning TruBrite® display technology and other high-end features, you’re in for some serious thrills. Hail, Qosmio!

Wherever you go, bring nothing less than your A-game. Because our new Qosmio X305 notebooks now offer powerful NVIDIA® graphics systems with up to an amazing 1GB of discrete graphics memory to put your skill―and your very nerve―to the ultimate test. You heard us right. That’s up to one full 1GB!
ownload your favorite music, build special playlists, then sit back and get ready. Up to four bass reflex stereo speakers and a sub-woofer on these Qosmio laptops will envelop you in a full, rich blanket of sound, delivering brighter highs and more luxurious lows. Where’s the sweet spot? Right where you are.
Super-size your entertainment most anywhere. It’s easy with new Toshiba REGZA-Link® (HDMI-CEC) technology on the Qosmio series. Now you can blast spectacular high-def pictures and magnificent 5.1 virtual surround sound through a home theater system, and run all the components using a single remote control. Now how cool is that? And how totally convenient too!

Toshiba Satellite E105's Dull 'Silver' Finish

Toshiba's new 14.1-inch laptop, the Satellite E105, has earned the company more green laurels and a Silver classification from the Green Electronics Council's EPEAT program. That sounds great, but when you look closely, Silver has a dull finish.

Last year, EPEAT (the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) gave the Toshiba Portégé R500 a Gold ranking. So, what stopped the Satellite E105 from coming home with the Gold? Lead. And mercury. Toshiba, like many computer manufacturers, hasn't yet eliminated the intentional addition of the two toxins in manufacturing its laptops. Toshiba also failed to use any renewable or bio-based plastics material (though EPEAT did give it credit for declaring this deficit).

Also to its credit -- both from EPEAT and environmentalists at large -- Toshiba provides a take-back service for its laptops and its rechargeable battery pack. It's called the Toshiba Free Electronic Program and lets you recycle your old electronics regardless of the brand and at no cost to you. Toshiba also provides the shipping label. (Dell, to its credit, had been on the vanguard of such consumer- and eco-friendly measures).

Toshiba deservedly boasts that its products are compatible with two world-recognized directives:WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment), which protects the environment by promoting the reuse, recycling, and recovery of electronic materials; and RoHS (Restriction on Hazardous Substance Standard), which seeks to reduce the use of manufacturing substances that harm human health or the environment. "The result? We've kept tons of toxic chemicals and other substances out of the ecosystem," Toshiba notes in its annual corporate social responsibility report. Those efforts include recovering and recycling tin used in manufacturing the Portégé R500 series at its Toshiba Information Equipment (Hangzhou) plant in China.

But given the tons of Toshiba-labeled plastics that are never recovered and end up in trash heaps around the globe, I encourage Toshiba to again go for the Gold.

AMD Toasts Dell’s Quad-Core Opteron Servers

Late to the party but celebrating nonetheless, AMD is announcing that Dell is offering five quad-core Opteron server platforms, reports The Register. It’s not clear why AMD and not Dell is throwing the confetti, though.

        

The line includes the PowerEdge SC1435, 2970, M605 blade server and 6950 platforms, as well as the PowerEdge T605 tower server. ZDNet blogger Larry Dignan reports VMware also has completed certification of the quad-core AMD Opterons.

As eWEEK notes, AMD needs some good news, after recently announcing more layoffs amid dismal financial performance.

Meanwhile, rival Intel reported strong sales in the quarterand share prices jumped with its rosy forecast for the remainder of 2008, reports The San Jose Mercury News. Investors have been watching the company as a bellwether of the tech industry’s health in the slumping U.S. economy.

Apple Becomes No. 2 Smartphone

Apple’s popular iPhone has elbowed its way past RIM’s BlackBerry to claim the No. 2 spot in the global smartphone market in the third quarter, reports vnunet.com

According to figures from research firm Canalys, overall smartphone shipments increased 28 percent over the same period a year ago.

Apple shipped nearly 7 million devices, taking 17.3 percent of the market. Still, shipments by No. 3 RIM grew more than 80 percent, giving it 15.2 percent market share. Nokia retains in the global crown,  though its shipments decreased slightly to 15 million units and a 38.4 percent market share.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. overall mobile phone market, Samsung toppled Motorola for the top spot with phones that do much that the iPhone does, according to figures by research firm Strategy Analytics.

Bloomberg reports South Korea’s Samsung nabbed 22.4 percent of the U.S. market, up from 17.9 percent a year ago. Motorola, No. 4 in the global market, lost share from 32.7 percent a year ago to 21.1 percent. Analysts say it needs to add more smartphones to its lineup.

3G Spectrum Lisence is planned to be allocated n India

After a long wait, the Indian government has decided that it will auction 3G spectrum, and will allow foreign players to participate in the bidding. The spectrum is going to be released in the 2100 MHz band, which would make it compatible with rest of the world, barring a few countries such as the U.S.

Here are some specifics:

• Winners will be required to pay 0.5 percent of total adjusted gross revenue to the state on an annual basis for the first three years of operation, rising to 1 percent thereafter.
  
• Winners will not be allowed to trade or resell the spectrum and they will not be allowed to merge in the first five years after the grant.
• About 30MHz of spectrum will be sold in total.
• India will also auction licenses for broadband wireless (WiMAX) services, with the reserve price fixed at 25 percent of the amount for 3G spectrum.

The spectrum is going to be plentiful; our sources say that it will be enough to accommodate six carriers. The carriers we expect will make it to the finish line include the current leader, Bharti Airtel; Idea Telecom; Reliance and Vodafone (VOD). The two international cell phone companies likely to win the spectrum bid include AT&T (T) and Sistema.

If the rollout of voice services over past decade is any indication, this is a big opportunity for equipment makers. Ericsson (ERICY) and Nokia (NOK) have done well in India, and there is little reason why the situation would change, though one suspects the Chinese equipment vendors are going to act as deflationary counterweights to their Western counterparts.

The 3G services in India will eventually have to compete with WiMAX, which is being seen as the wireless broadband technology of choice by lawmakers. More importantly, this auction is a way for the Indian government to keep the telecom sector specifically and the economy overall growing at a healthy clip. India’s economy was catalyzed by telecom and call center businesses, then spread to other sectors.