Cool Wall Warts
Lots of new technology
is being applied to old applications these days. One such example is
a more tolerable replacement for the cursed "wall wart" (AC/DC power
adapter) that is on the way. Penn State researchers have invented a
piezoelectric technology that does away with the traditional iron and
copper transformer, and promises to reduce the overall size to a quarter
of the existing volume. As a bonus, these piezo devices produce no appreciable
heat and do not generate the EMI fields of electromagnetic transformers.
This new form factor will even allow the entire AC/DC conversion to
reside inside your notebook computer, printer, scanner, camcorder and
more. Taiheiyo, of Japan, will begin production in 2005.
|