iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis Service conducted a study of the cost of materials for the HTC Incredible. The total was $163.35 for the parts and electronic components used to build the smartphone.

Nearly 20% of the cost of the handset is from the processor which cost $31.40. Right behind the processor was the display and touch screen which is manufactured by Samsung. The display, which is an advanced Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED), cost $31.20. In third place was the memory at $29.80 or 18.2%. It is interesting to note that cost of the 8MP Auto Focus camera in the handset was only $15.70.

The cost to manufacture the phone is a reported $10 bringing the grand total to about $175. That is amazing considering everything the Incredible can do. Think of the Incredible as a handheld computer plus camera for less than $175!

iSuppli did make note of the similarities between the HTC Incredible and the Nexus One. According to iSuppli Director, Andrew Rassweiler, “The Droid Incredible could have been dubbed the ‘Nexus Two’ given its similarity to HTC’s Nexus One introduced early this year.”

Applied Materials announced this week that it was planning a major restructuring of it’s business. The goal? To place a “primary emphasis” on LEDS and crystalline silicon solar panel technology.

This restructuring would effect the bottom line of the company in many ways including the elimination of 400 – 500 jobs and the closing of their thin-film solar technology lab among other plans.

The future of Applied Material’s solar technology would focus on the crystalline silicon solar product development over the thin-film solar business. Historically, crystalline silicon (c-Si) has been used in many solar cells as a light-absorbing semiconductor although it is considered a relatively inefficient for light absorption. It also requires a considerable thickness (several hundred microns) of material.
Despite this, it has proven to be desirable because it produces stable solar cells with good efficiencies (11-16%, which is half to two-thirds of the theoretical maximum). It uses process technology developed from the huge knowledge base of the microelectronics industry.

Jailbreaking an iPad

If you have an iPad, you may be intrigued by the thought of jailbreaking it.

Jailbreaking a device permits you to install and use third party applications and utility programs. In the case of a jailbroken iPad, you would be able to then run apps like Adobe Flash which is not available through the Apple OS, or access files like you can on a PC. One app that caught my eye was the multitasking app which would allow you to run multiple programs without having to save/close them. Another great app called Wi-Fi Sync gives you the flexibility to sync your iPad with Wi-Fi – no plugged in USB required.

Of course, jailbreaking the iPad is not without risk (the number one concern would be warranty) but PCWorld.com has put together the definitive guide to jailbreaking your iPad. In fact, PCWorld’s guide is so complete, it even gives you instructions on how to revert back should you get cold feet (or have to go back).

Once you’ve hacked your iPad, be sure to avoid the iPad updates from Apple since your device can be reverted to the non-jailbroken state. Should that happen, you can jailbreak your iPad again after the update is installed.

PCWorld – How to Jailbreak an iPad

From our friends at instructables comes an easy project for use with UV LEDS.

To make this simple project, here’s what you’ll need:
2 Ultra Violet LEDS
1 1/4W resistors (the value of the resistor needs to be calculated based on the forward voltage of the LED you use)
1 non-working 9V battery (or a 9V battery clip)
1 new 9V battery
Pliers
Solder
Soldering equipment

The full instructions on the Instructables site will show you how to put everything together. Once assembled, the light snaps on to a working 9V battery to function.

Keep in mind, you don’t have to use UV LEDS for this project – you can use any color. Just adjust the resistor required based on the forward voltage and forward current of the LEDS you choose.

Buying LEDS without specs or you don’t remember the specs of the ones you have sitting around? Assume a max of 2.8V – 3V and 20mA. I would think high intensity white LEDS would work really well for this project.

I haven’t put this one together myself yet, but I think a few of these are coming with me on my next camping trip. Nice way to light up the tent and the ‘facilities’ late at night. Fun project – and you probably already have everything you need right on hand.

Want to stretch your monthly minutes into an infinite number? Get over to Google, and sign up for Google Voice.

Google Voice is a free service from Google that is basically a web based phone forwarding service. Except for international calls, it’s totally free to use.

What Google Voice does is give you a stand alone phone number which you can then give out as your regular phone number. Then you change your Google Voice settings to have calls forwarded to any of your phones – home, office or even your cell. That capability is how you can stretch your monthly cell phone minutes.

Here’s how it works: Google Voice allows you to decide whether you want incoming calls to show the actual caller ID of the person calling you, or if you just want to display your Google Voice phone number. If you configure Google Voice to show the Google Voice number rather than the individual phone number, every single call coming in forwarded through your new Google Voice phone number will look like it’s coming from your Google Voice phone number. This is great if your cell phone plan has a “Friends and Family” feature (or MyFaves or Top 5 or whatever your wireless company calls it) where you can select several phone numbers to make and receive unlimited calls from.

So, if you add your Google Voice phone number to your “Friends and Family″ list (or My Faves, etc), then all calls that come in from that number would be free. Then, in the future, you should only hand out your Google Voice phone number (instead of your cell phone number) so when someone calls you, they would be calling you through Google Voice. Remember, your Google Voice phone number is appearing on the caller ID for every call you receive, so as far as your cell phone provider is concerned, it would be as if you were making and receiving calls to and from only one phone number which just so happens to be a phone number in your list of “Friends and Family”.

The downside is that you lose your ability to see the real caller ID – only your Google Voice number would be visible to you. But, Google Voice has many different customizable settings where, for example, you can elect to have callers announce themselves before their call is forwarded, etc. But, not having caller ID would be a small price to pay to have nearly unlimited minutes every month.

Some phone services may have found a way to prevent you from assigning the Google Voice number to your “Top 5″ or “My Faves” plan but it’s worth a shot to find out.

We’ve updated our resistor inventory and added many more NOS Allen Bradley carbon comp resistors. Between the 1W values and 2W values, we now have over 150 different 1W and 2W carbon comp resistors on hand!

Included in the selection are many Military (MIL-SPEC) Allen Bradley carbon comp resistors. The military resistors typically have a tighter tolerance than the standard resistors.

Allen Bradley carbon comp resistors are valued for their consistency and uniformity. The Allen Bradley corporation reference materials have this to say about their hot molded resistors:

Years of accumulated experience have shown that Allen Bradley hot molded resistors are unequaled for uniformity, predictable for performance, appearance, and freedom from catastrophic failure. Allen Bradley resistors are made by an exclusive hot molding process on automatic machines developed, built, and used only by Allen Bradley. There is such complete uniformity from one resistor to the next, million after million, and long term in-circuit performance can be predicted with usable accuracy. When used according to published ratings and recommendations, Allen Bradley hot molded fixed resistors will not open circuit nor exhibit erratic changes of resistance value. They are probably the most reliable of all electronic components.

We get frequent requests for other values so we were thrilled to get more for our stock! Quantities are limited – especially on the MIL-SPEC resistors.

The RoHS directives may get a some revisions from the European Union principals that have put the directives into place. Some of the expected changes will come in the form of exclusions that were formerly allowed and additional banned substances. The EU’s Environment Committee and the Council of Ministers is expected to decide within the next 12 months what changes are made and the timetable for them to be put into place.

What does this mean to end users of electronic components? For now, not much – but expect to see changes in the way that RoHS compliant products are labeled in the future. One potential change would expand the use of the European mark of conformity (CE) to include RoHS compliant products. This one change would force the entire industry to adjust the markings on all components manufactured after the date required by the EU.

Many wonder why the directives that have been passed in the EU effect all components manufactured across the globe. The key reason is financial. It is easier to comply with the progressive EU requirements than to produce different versions of components for each region. It is also easier to produce one component for world-wide use than more than one for each region. Another reason is that while other regions have not passed their own RoHS initiatives, the consensus is that what is good for the EU is good enough for the rest of the world.

Now we wait for their decision.

Running out of space on your netbook or older notebook computer? Here’s a good deal on a laptop hard drive to expand your storage space:

Samsung Spinpoint M7E HM501II 500GB laptop hard drive

This is not a removable drive – you’ll have to install this in your notebook computer and clone your old drive before installing. Worth the effort to double, triple or quadruple your storage space!

To get the $49.99 price (including shipping), use code NBHDDSALE3 during the checkout process. Be sure you are already signed up for the NewEgg newsletters before you checkout.

Thanks to the CNET Cheapskate blog for the tip on this awesome deal! Visit their blog for some good suggestions on how to clone the old drive before making the swap.

Rubber feet have many different features and applications for the home, the workshop or in the manufacturing process. Here are some common features of the rubber bumpers that West Florida Components has on hand:

• low abrasion
• superb skid resistance
• easy to apply – just peel and stick
• does not stain or mar
• can absorb shocks and vibrations
• crack resistant
• is recognized by UL

You can use adhesive rubber feet in many different applications. Some of the most common are:

Sound dampening and spacers for cabinet doors, drawers and lids

For those purposes, these are some of the suggested self-adhesive rubber bumpers to use:

Medium clear cylindrical (round) rubber feet

Small clear cylindrical rubber feet

Medium black hemispherical rubber feet

Small black hemispherical rubber feet

Small clear hemispherical rubber feet

As feet on the bottom of household appliances, office equipment, telephones, scales, clocks, speakers, computers, and other devices

Medium black cylindrical (round) rubber feet

Medium clear hemispherical rubber feet

Large black hemispherical rubber feet

Medium clear square rubber feet

For the back of picture frames and hung mirrors

Medium clear square rubber feet

Medium black square rubber feet

Large black square rubber feet

We think of clothing as something to keep us warm, or as a way to show our individuality and fashion sense. But have you ever thought about your clothing as a source of energy?

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley are working on a way to embed nanotechnology into clothing to harness energy as we perform our routine daily tasks such as walking and exercising. The nano-electric fibers are so small, they are invisible to the naked eye. One day, researchers believe that clothing embedded with these fibers might generate enough energy to power our mobile devices and keep them fully charged.

That is only one study underway. At Stanford University, researchers there are working on making the actual cloth into conductive material. Their current project involves dipping cotton cloth into conductive ink, baking the coated fabric and then measuring the energy generated and harnessed by the fabric. Researchers believe that future iterations of their work might function as an energy storage device, again probably generating enough energy to power mobile devices.

You can view a video that details some of the research: The Future of Clothes