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DKN Research: Is A Ubiquitous Internet Practical?

Webster defines the word ubiquitous as existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time; omnipresent. Not too long ago, visionaries predicted a "ubiquitous Internet," in which Internet access would be available anytime and any place on earth. Their vision has almost come to fruition as more and more of us log on daily to get our Internet fix. The World Wide Web is available via cell phones that slip easily into our pockets for safe keeping and easy access. High-speed Internet service is delivered through LAN cable or wireless LAN. This evolution in technology was just a pipe dream 20 years ago when cellular bag phones were all the rage (the young generation does not know what a bag phone is).

I have come a long way since the bag phone, and probably could not function in my business world without e-mail or an internet connection. I travel around the globe, and am on the road at least eight months out of the year. My virtual office is located anywhere I can fire up my laptop, and I can communicate with business associates and customers very easily and inexpensively. I receive over two hundred valuable e-mails daily, and send more than fifty e-mails every day while traveling. Any industry news or business related information is accessibly instantly (unfortunately, this means I have no down time). I don't think I could survive one day in the business jungle without an Internet connection.

This lifeline to my business world leaves me vulnerable where Internet access is limited or non existent. I must operate like NASA, and have two or three backup plans to access the Internet. I can stumble through the minor inconveniences where my router isn't talking to my PC, but the more serious outages cause me to panic and stress out.

For example, while traveling in Tokyo this year, the primary lines of communications would not connect me to the Web. No problem, I have two other wireless services I subscribe to in Japan, and tried to connect using these lines. The service was limited in the area I was visiting, and found out I would have to travel over two hours by train to Tokyo to find a strong enough signal. I though this was unacceptable, and decided to phone customer service to complain about coverage areas in Japan. So, customer service elevates my complaint to a higher-level technician who cannot find any problem, and blames the trouble on the server in the U.S. that I am trying to connect to. I called the Web hosting service in the U.S. who tells me there was no change in their service and it never had this kind of trouble. I was stuck with the poor Internet access in Japan for almost one week.

Upon returning to the U.S., my high-tech friend advised me to promptly switch to a new Web hosting company. That took care of the problem - unfortunately, it cost more than $2,000 to fix, and I wasted more than five days working on this project. I asked my tech buddy how I can avoid this in the future, and have reliable Internet service all the time; he replied there is no solution to guarantee the problem will not arise in the future. Web hosting companies come and go, and will become old and obsolete if they do not continuously upgrade software and hardware. The next best solution is to use the full services of large companies who have the financial resources to remain competitive in this industry and provide solutions for small businesses. This reliability comes with a pretty hefty price tag - one that may not fit into our budget.

So, I guess we can say the web is clearly the single greatest communications platform ever built, and may be considered the "Ubiquitous Internet." All you need is a reliable connection.

Dominique K. NumakuraDKN Research, www.dknresearch.com

Headlines of the week(Please contact haverhill@dknreseach.com  for further information of the news.)

1. ASE (Major IC packaging company in Taiwan) 4/28Has decided to purchase manufacturing facilities in Singapore and Suzhou, China from an Italian company EEMS to increase the capacity for new orders.

2. Nippon Steel Chemical (Major chemical company in Japan) 4/22Has commercialized a new transparent resin "ESDRIMER" as the encapsulation material of optical devices. It is curable by both of UV irradiation and thermal process.3. Central Grass (Major glass material supplier in Japan) 4/26Plans to develop new glass materials with a high transparency as the strategic new product to enter photovoltaic cell market.

4. Hitachi Cable (Major cable and packaging material supplier in Japan) 4/30Finance of March 2010. Revenue: 372 billion yens, 24.5% decline from previous year. The loss shrunk to 9 billion yens from 54 billion yens.

5. HOYA (Major glass material supplier in Japan) 4/28Will sell its glass media manufacturing business to Western Digital. HOYA will concentrate its business to the glass substrates of the hard disc drives.

6. Samsung Electronics (Major electronics company in Korea) 4/30Will rent LCD manufacturing facilities (over 500 billion wons value) to S-LCS, a joint venture with Sony for next five years.

7. Shinoda Plasma (Plasma display manufacturer in Japan) 5/10Has developed a new large size flexible display with curved surface for signage applications.

8. Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo (Major noble metal supplier in Japan) 5/10Has opened a new Technical Support Branch in Kariya, Aichi-ken for electronic devices of automobile applications.

9. Hitachi Chemical (Major electronic material supplier in Japan) 5/12Has developed a new ultra small size RFID tag (4x6x3mm) available for metallic devices such as connectors and tools.

10. SII (Major electronic device manufacturer in Japan) 5/13Has developed a new photovoltaic charging device (1.22W) for cellular phones. The new device will be released by DOCOMO.

11. Sanyo Electric (Major electronic company in Japan) 5/13Has agreed to supply lithium ion battery systems for PHV (Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle) of SUZUKI Motors.

12. Mitsui Chemical (Major chemical company in Japan) 5/12Plans to double the manufacturing capacity of the encapsulation materials for photovoltaic cell devices to 40,000 tons per year by August of 2010.

Interesting literatures about the packaging industry

Articles of DKN Research

1. New 「よくわかるプリンタブル・エレクトロニクスのできるまで」沼倉研史、２００９年１月、日刊工業新聞社、"Introduction of the Manufacturing Process for Printable Electronics (Japanese)", Dominique Numakura, January 2009, Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun.

2. "Advanced Screen Printing Process" - Practical Approaches for Printable & Flexible Electronics", Dominique Numakura, 3rd IMPACT (International Microsystems, Packaging, Assembly and Circuits Technology Conference) and the 10th EMAP (International Conference on Electronics Materials and Packaging) October 2008. Copy of the paper and power point charts written in English are available by request.

3．「ロール・ツー・ロール（ＲＴＲ）によるフレキシブル基板の製造可能性と課題」沼倉研史、２００８年３月、情報機構"Roll to Roll Production of Flexible Circuits, Possibilities and Issues" Dominique Numakura, Joho Kiko, Tokyo, March 2008 (Japanese only).

4. "Coombs' Printed Circuits Handbook, 6th Edition, Part 15-Flexible Circuits", Dominique Numakura, McGraw Hill, New York, September, 2007.

5. "Screen Printing Process for High Density Flexible Electronics", Robert Turunen, Dominique Numakura, Masafumi Nakayama and Hisayuki Kawasaki, IPC Printed Circuit Expo/APEX and the Designers Summit, April 2008.

6. New 「プリンテッド・エレクトロニクスの展望」沼倉研史、電子材料、２００９年６月号、 "The Prospects for the Printed Electronics", Dominique Numakura, June 2009, Electronic Parts and Materials.

7. New "Thick-Film Circuits with Silver Via Holes", Hisayuki Kawasaki, Masafumi Nakayama, John Rufiange and Dominique Numakura, Printed Circuit Design & FAB, July, 2009.

8. New 「高精度多層印刷技術の動向と部品内蔵基板への展開」（沼倉研史）Electronic Journal 第183回 Technical Symposium, "Technology Trends of Advanced and Multiple Printing Technologies for Embedded Components Circuit Boards", Dominique Numakura, July, 2008, Electronic Journal.

9. New 「ＤＫＮリサーチの新技術、プリンタブル・エレクトロニクスと超薄型フレキシブル基板用コネクタについて」沼倉研史、２００９年４月、ＰＣＢ００７、ＩＰＣ・ＥＸＰＯ特別インタビュー、"New Printable Electronics and Ultra Thin Flex Connector Developed by DKN Research", Robert Turunen and Dominique Numakura, Live Interview of PCB 007, during IPC APEX EXPO, April 1, 2009 http://iconnect007.net/sendstudionx/link.php?M=26458&N=324&L=2748&F=H

10. 「フレキシブル•エレクトロニクス徹底解説」、沼倉研史、電子ジャーナル、２００９年１０月 "Industry Trends of Flexible Electronics", Dominique Numakura, October 2009, Electronic Journal.