Articles by David Vye

Details are emerging about Motorola's plan to split in two entities next year, resulting in the spin off its handset unit. This division, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal, will emerge largely debt-free, and will have a cash reserve of $3bn to $4bn. Following a slew of smartphone launches, the company’s handset division is expected to regain profitability by the end of this year, after losing about $5bn over the past three years, resulting in a severe cost cutting program. The separated device business would be called Motorola Mobility, say the reports, and will also include the set-top-box...

Since Pat has brought up the topic of antennas with his blog about this component's "five minutes of fame" sharing the stage with Steve Jobs as the Apple founder introduced the new 4G iPhone, I thought I would share the following product release that came across my desk today as well. After all, any RF/microwave device targeting Smart grid applications has as much of a cool factor as any in the latest smartphone. Well, maybe not. But helping to save the planet by being green gets my seal of approval. Pulse , a Technitrol Company (NYSE: TNL), a manufacturer...

Hopefully everyone, at some point in their career, has the good fortune to be taken under the wing of a kind and knowledgeable mentor. For me, that time occurred several years into my career when I was working at the Raytheon Research Division in Lexington, Ma. Only a few years out of a state school (University of Massachusetts), I found myself surrounded by plenty of heavy hitters from the microwave semiconductor field, more than a few with PhD’s from the likes of MIT, Harvard and Stanford; brilliant men and women whose technical achievements were inspiring and intimidating. And yet among...

Yesterday, HP returned to the wireless world with the announcement that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which the company will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors. HP’s global scale and financial strength combined with Palm’s unparalleled webOS platform will enhance HP’s ability to participate more aggressively in the fast-growing, highly profitable smartphone and connected...

Brian Battaglia is the Sales and Marketing Manager for Integra Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high power rf/microwave transistors (i.e. LDMOS). He e-mailed his friends and acquaintances today to say that the volcano in Iceland that has shut down air travel in Europe has stranded him in Rome during a business trip. I asked Brian if he would like to share his story on this blog for our readers. Break out your violins fellow microwavers, here's his tale of "Whoa in Rome". [from Brian's e-mail] David, I don’t know much about blogging but I always have stories to tell....

OK. Here’s the story as I initially heard it on American Public Media’s “Marketplace”, driving home from work yesterday. Last month in Silicon Valley a very important cell phone was left behind at a bar -- what is widely believed to be a prototype of the new iPhone that Apple's officially going to release in a couple of months. The phone wound up in the hands of Jason Chen, the editor of the technology website Gizmodo.com. In the news report, this phone was described at one point as Apple’s new 4G phone. Which initially grabbed my attention since I immediately...

The Next Generation Networks conference and Green Basestations Summit is scheduled for next week (April 19th - 23rd) in Bath, UK. The conference will feature twenty keynote operator presentations as well as speakers from leading global Investors, Analysts, OEMS, Vendors and Industry Associations. Building on last year's highly successful event led by 12 Leading Operator Keynotes, including Cable & Wireless, China Mobile, Orange, T-Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, TeliaSonera and Vodafone, the 2010 conference is targeting its content to attract senior managers from across the mobile industry with topics that include: Building a Sustainable Wireless Broadband Future - Exploiting the Next...

I’ll admit that I get jazzed when I read a news item in the mainstream media that has some Microwave technology playing a leading or supporting role. So I was pleased when I read this story appearing in the New York Times on Wednesday that discussed how AT&T was addressing spotty iPhone service that occurs in locations where there are a shortage of cellphone towers. The solution, “a miniature cell tower in your living room” was described as a mini-tower, the size of a couple of decks of cards that looked like the Wi-Fi hot spots at cafes and could...

I’ll admit that I get jazzed when I read a news item in the mainstream media that has some Microwave technology playing a leading or supporting role. So I was pleased when I read this story appearing in the New York Times on Wednesday that discussed how AT&T was addressing spotty iPhone service that occurs in locations where there are a shortage of cellphone towers. The solution, “a miniature cell tower in your living room” was described as a mini-tower, the size of a couple of decks of cards that looked like the Wi-Fi hot spots at cafes and...

In October 2003 Aeroflex launched the 3000 Series, a PXI-based modulartest suite for mobile phone and general-purpose wireless test. Today, the Aeroflex 3000 Series now encompasses more than a dozen PXI RF modules andsupporting applications for signal generation and signal analysis, meeting the specific requirements for a wide range of mobile communication standards. Applications include automated measurement of parametric performance of terminal transmitter and receiver characteristics, terminal TX and RX alignment and performance characterization for manufacturing, and research and development. PXI OverviewPXI derives its name from the PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation specificationthat defines a rugged personal computer-based bus as...