The Incredible Shrinking Antenna

pinkUZI writes "NYTimes ran an article yesterday about a new material, created by a general manager at Integral Technologies, that would enable use of the plastic mold of a cell phone as its Antenna. Pretty neat, as it actually increases the size of the antenna while decreasing the footprint."

Comments

Capacitance?

[LoonXTall]

Does this even work with a hand holding the plastic case?

Brain Cancer?

[FortKnox]

How does this affect the old "Brain Cancer" study for cell phones?

I heard that you want the antenna pointing out, not up, now the whole phone's the antenna.

Anyone know the dealio with this? IANAD, so please take this with a grain of salt.

"a very effective radiator"

[mosch]

Am I the only person who doesn't particularly like the idea of "a very effective radiator" next to my head part of the time, and next to my balls the rest of the time?

It'd be nice to not have an antenna to break off, but I don't want it to be any more effective than the current ones, unless it's more directional, which the article does not indicate it is. More effective cell coverage seems a better solution to me.

On the other hand, some of the other applications sound mighty nice, especially for military vehicles and such.

This is nothing..try fractal antennas.

[Bowie J. Poag]

Amusingly, Slashdot rejected an article submission I had for fractal antennas and how they are vastly superior in terms of reception to whats on the market today. Better than the stuff mentioned in this article, certianly.

Cheers, and yes PROPAGANDA will be back soon.

all fake

[rebelcool]

ive lost the link to the article, but the FTC is taking them on for deceptive marketing. they do nothing, and in some cases, actually reduce reception..

Re:Uhuh...

[david duncan scott]

I believe you, BUT did they do those things while they were managers, or before they were promoted?

It's a real problem, one that both IBM and many school systems face: how do you reward your best people? Traditionally, they get promoted, and one often finds that great researchers then become competent administrators (if you're lucky). You've lost a PhD and gained an MBA. Similarly many teachers become principals and are lost to the classroom.

IBM came up with Fellowships for these guys -- recognition and money, but they can still get their hands dirty. Some school systems are creating titles like "Master Teacher", and giving them some authority to buck the system but letting them continue to teach.

Re:Redundant?

[monkeydo]

Fuel cell technology will enable smaller batteries, and in the future your phone may be nothing more than a card in your wallet and you will talk on your wireless headset.