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In the second of two features on the history and future of the fibre market, the author asks whether we are or the brink of a new fibre-optic network revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waves represent a vast but largely untapped energy resource. The paper presents a novel wave machine, the Searaser, designed to tap wave energy for electricity generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper gives an overview of the visible light communications. Visible light communications (VLC) is the latest in a series of optical wireless communications technologies and it is expected to expand the wireless communication beyond the limitations of radio-frequency based technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. But how do we find the - kind of innovative ideas that - make a difference to the company's balance sheet? Problems include lengthy development times, a risk averse corporate culture, and difficulty in selecting the right ideas to commercialise. Most companies have the means to greatly boost their return on innovation and gain a competitive advantage, but few are acting with the commitment necessary to achieve it. Perhaps the most interesting finding is that there is a direct relationship between success at innovation and stock market performance. This is a timely reminder of why managers should want to be the biggest drivers of innovation in their company. The message is clear: innovation means success and managers must innovate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our exclusive photoshoot of the latest wearable technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intel aims to skip down to the next chipmaking process so that it can either cut the cost of making its microprocessors or put more of them onto one chip. TSMC is working on two forms of the 28 nm process, one using high-k dielectric and metal gates (HKMG) as well as a more conventional silicon oxynitride-gate process. The move to HKMG will allow the company to compete as a foundry with IBM for microprocessor and other high clock-speed designs. Intel already has HKMG in production in its 45 nm-based devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general-purpose CPU is undergoing its first revolution by embracing multicores operating in parallel. Such cores resemble the GPUs (graphics processing units) that provide visual processing for PCs and game consoles, with a highly parallel structure making them more efficient for a range of algorithms manipulating vectors or rows of symbols than general purpose CPUs. The even greater challenge, though, lies within the whole software development cycle, from compilers up to high level languages and re-engineering of legacy applications, mulitcore computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How are Cubans reacting to the sudden proliferation of mobile phones, personal computers and other gadgets? And what is it like to own a PC in a land where Internet access is severely restricted? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews the contribution of Sweden in innovations. Sweden's dark side in politics is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author shares his impressions of technological innovation in India, one of the world's most populous countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the developments and applications of wearable technologies. People in the very near future will have a whole range of small devices incorporated into their clothing or stuck to their bodies as clever sticking plasters. Much of the research into wearable electronics is focused on medical applications. An obvious extension of this idea is to use such devices to monitor performance and health of people during exercise. Beyond health and wellbeing applications, companies are also looking at incorporating lifestyle devices, such as music players and computers, into clothing. The defence industry is interested in wearable electronics to conceal communication devices in a soldier's clothing. Some of the challenges in incorporating electronics into clothing is the choice of fibre and power source. Cost is another important factor for wearable devices. Despite all the great advances in wearable electronics, there are still some issues to be resolved. Security issues have been considered extensively for mobile telecoms, but it is not yet known whether others might be able to tap into the wealth of personal information being gathered and communicated around our bodies via our clothes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart Homes have been heralded for decades as the way to make our domestic lives much easier. But so far, integrated technology has only really commercially succeeded in the form of automatic curtains, clap-activated lighting and dubiously sensitive automated heating systems; hardly a technological revolution. But now companies are starting to take the term 'smart' a little more seriously and are manufacturing smart products that integrate with your smart phone to control household appliances, provide access to all aspects of your social media, allow you control your energy usage and drive you from A to B without you needing to put on your driving glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many businesses handle the first stages of implementing 'lean' processes effectively, but really stutter in extending it across the organisation. Experience shows that it is not easy to translate changes made in small pockets of activity - usually on the shopfloor - into wholesale cultural changes, and more difficult still to make those changes permanent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the hydrogen-powered cars that are being hailed as green transport for the not-so-distant future, but it could be a few years before we see them available commercially. However, it hasn't stopped fuel cell technology proving its worth in many other applications. Hydrogen fuel cells generate a current by passing hydrogen and oxygen over either side of a special membrane. This allows an exchange of protons through the membrane and causes electrons to flow around the circuit. Fuel cells and hydrogen energy offer an alternative source of power that is sustainable and reduces our dependence on oil and fossil fuel. They offer organisations a way to be cleaner, greener and more energy-efficient while ensuring the success and stability of their operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mark Sheahan and Patrick Andrews, our two tireless inventors, are trying to solve the eternal problem of emptying a vessel or a tube completely, without any ketchup or toothpaste left to waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation in control and automation technology efficiency is among the key themes of Hannover Messe 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If there's a simple task to perform, the chances are there's a gadget out there designed to do perform it. Dea Birkett unpacks a few of them, throws away the instructions, and ends up with 'gadget rage'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK's new toddler technology scheme makes Vitali Vitaliev wary of other infantile projects engineered by seemingly responsible adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opinions on the key issues in technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(5 pages) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data storage isn't just all about capacity: leading storage system vendors are finding ways to optimise system performance with clustered configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We're all going to end up wearing more technology, but how will it be organised? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This issue's selection of features is rather broad in the range of issues they cover as well as in scope. Alongside an essay on the state of innovation in the world's second-largest and fastest-growing nation, India, we offer you four shorter articles describing some pioneering technologies developed in one and the same minuscule area of the UK - the East of England. The companies behind these innovations are small, at times tiny (two people in the case of Insentinel, for example), yet the new technologies they develop are truly global and life changing: from unorthodox methods of detecting explosives with the help of live bees to a potential major breakthrough in cancer treatment. By doing that, we wanted to stress that neither size nor location matter a huge deal in the realm of innovation. What does matter, however, is the spirit of creativity and the persisting desire to change the world for the better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]