Blog Review: March 5

ARM’s Lori Kate Smith has discovered an unusual electronic billboard advertisement for shampoo on a train platform in Sweden. Watch what happens when the train goes by.

Mentor’s J. VanDomelen puts a magnifying glass on the U.S. Defense budget and where the money is going. Times have changed with technology. Who needs soldiers?

Cadence’s Brian Fuller interviews Mindtree CTO S. Janakiraman about past developments and future trends. Of particular note is what he views as the next big challenge—getting development costs down to the point where innovation can occur again.

Synopsys’ Mick Posner posed for a portrait while engaged in one of his favorite hobbies (scroll down). That’s him with the torch letting off some steam.

Real Intent’s Graham Bell rolls out part three of his panel discussion about where design ends and verification begins. The answers to questions about topics ranging from assertion synthesis to architectural improvements are contained in five separate video segments.

Mentor’s Kamran Shah explains why development for the IoT isn’t so simple—or isolated.

Rambus’ Jerome Nadel attends the Mobile World Congress and looks back on how the definition of mobile has changed—less about the device and more about the architecture, services and what can be consumed on that device.

Cadence’s Scott Jacobsen drills down into 2D memory and the looming memory wall. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what’s a three-minute video worth?

Mentor’s John Day observes that the MirrorLink technology to more safely use smartphones in cars is starting to catch on. And definitely none too soon.

ARM’s Ed Plowman applies philosophy to geometry and why this is important to graphics. We wonder what else is on his bookshelf.

Cadence’s Paula Jones points to a video explanation from colleague Yipeng Liu about how to make Android more efficient by offloading video.

And in case you missed last week’s System-Level Design Newsletter, here are some standout blogs:

Technology Editor Brian Bailey uncovers an unusual patent from IBM that makes it a violation for third parties to extract value from a patent using a computer.

Cadence’s Frank Schirrmeister questions whether value and security needs are misaligned in the Internet of Things because the greatest vulnerability is at the least complex point of entry—and there will be billions of them.

Synopsys’ Tom De Schutter observes that the weather inside can be a lot like it is outside.

Real Intent’s Graham Bell shows off a new survey that finds lint topped the list on verification technologies to adopt, followed by X-propagation and CDC.

Arteris’ Kurt Shuler says that semiconductor customers will be tempted to build their own systems if the gap between hardware and software engineers isn’t closed up.