Palm OKs Motorola Chip Tweets about from Light Reading OR Light Reading OR @Light Reading

Without giving too much about this 2 way radio piece, but I found it exciting and relevant to what I’m currently doing.

Expanding on its successful collaboration with PalmSource, Inc, provider of the world’s leading operating system for handheld and smart phones and the Palm OS(r) subsidiary of Palm, Inc, Motorola’s (NYSE: MOT) Semiconductor Products Sector today announced that its DragonBall MX1 microprocessor has been certified for the recently delivered Palm OS(R) 5. The certification enables Motorola to provide complete processor solutions to licensees of the Palm OS 5 platform, which is designed to make mobile computing more ubiquitous. To achieve the distinction of certification, the DragonBall MX1 had to meet PalmSource rigorous standards for quality, usability and the ability to develop world-class Palm OS 5 solutions. “This certification means that Palm OS 5 licensees can save significant development time, enabling them to focus their technical resources on innovation and differentiation based on their own areas of expertise,” said Omid Tahernia, vice president and general manager of Motorola’s Wireless and Mobile Systems Division. “With its low power consumption, high level of integration and performance, the DragonBall MX1 was developed to redefine market expectations and empower developers to deliver the speeds and robust ‘infotainment’ applications that consumers demand.” The DragonBall MX1 addresses the expanding needs of the handheld computing and smart phone market with intelligent integrated peripherals, multimedia capabilities, an advanced processor core and power management capabilities to build a new class of devices that will help make mobile computing faster and much easier to use. According to a report published by the research firm IDC in April 2002, consumers purchased thirteen million PDAs last year and will buy twenty-two million in 2004.

What is Ham Radio & How Does it Work Asked by Melissa from Stoke Newington

The world is stuffed with very cool, well written content. Whenever you find one which catches your eye, you have got to post it, well i do! so with authorization of the original author i�ve posted this for you to take pleasure in

Ham radio (so called because its operators were originally derided as being �hammy� in the 19th century, when the technology first emerged) is a term that applies to any form of amateur radio broadcasting.

There are designated radio frequency spectra available solely for public use. Uses range from recreation to communication and the non-commercial exchange of ideas. �Hams� take advantage of these frequencies in order to transmit any number of things

Strictly speaking, there should not be any money involved in amateur 2 Way Radio (hence the term �amateur�). Although the majority of Ham radio practitioners are actually extremely knowledgeable about radio technology (don�t let the �ham� part fool you), they are not considered professionals because they do not profit from their endeavours. Conversely, commercial broadcasting involves (a lot of) money: royalties are paid, producers and performers are paid and the whole thing is ultimately a commercial exercise.

Hams use a large amount of frequency bands from all across the radio spectrum, but the majority of frequencies are to be found just above the AM band.

A lot of hams, however, use VHF FM, operating hand-held transceivers that send on one frequency and receive on another. Local radio clubs set up FM Repeaters (which borrow space from other broadcast devices such as towers and, in doing so, amplify the radio signal�s strength hundreds of times over), so that hams can communicate with each other wirelessly over a distance of hundreds of miles.

As an example of what hams get up to, here�s an excerpt from Gary Brown, of �How Stuff Works.com�

�Although a ham radio does broadcast in all directions, hams generally do not use their radios in a broadcast kind of way as a disk jockey would at a radio station. In normal AM or FM radio, one disk jockey transmits and thousands of people listen. Hams, on the other hand, conduct two-way conversations, often with another ham or with a group of hams in an informal roundtable. The roundtable of hams may be in the same town, county, state, country or continent or may consist of a mix of countries, depending on the frequency and the time of the day. Hams also participate in networks, often called nets, at predetermined times and frequencies to exchange third-party messages. In the case of disasters, hams exchange health and welfare information with other hams�.

To become a ham, I recommend that you join a club. You�ll need an amateur radio license, of course, but this won�t break the bank, I�m sure.

I hope that helps, Melissa.