Earthquake Damage at Plants Affects Quarterly Income at Texas Instruments

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。

DALLAS (AP) — The chip maker Texas Instruments said Monday that production setbacks linked to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan curbed its first-quarter net income and would cut into second-quarter growth.

Richard K. Templeton, the Texas Instruments chief executive, said that the quarter started strong, but the Japan earthquake damaged two of its factories in the country and disrupted local demand. He said that one of the company’s Japanese factories would soon be back in full production and that he expected the second factory damaged by the quake to be running at full speed in July, as predicted. But many of the company’s Japanese customers are still working on reopening their factories, which could result in supply chain issues.

“We expect growth in the second quarter, though it will be pressured by the situation in Japan. Provided consumer and enterprise demand remain strong, we expect a good second half of the year,” Mr. Templeton said.

For the quarter, Texas Instruments earned $666 million, or 55 cents a share, compared with $658 million, or 52 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2010. The company said repercussions from the quake trimmed $30 million, or 2 cents a share, from results.

Revenue rose 6 percent, to $3.39 billion.

On average, analysts had expected earnings of 58 cents a share on nearly $3.40 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Revenue from T.I.’s analog chip unit rose 12 percent, to $1.54 billion. Revenue from its wireless chip unit fell 8 percent, to $658 million, partly because of “substantially weaker demand” for wireless baseband chips.

Shares of Texas Instruments, which is based in Dallas, fell 54 cents, to $34.25, in after-hours trading. They fell 20 cents in regular trading, to $34.79.

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Powerful earthquake rattles Japan

11 April 2011 Last updated at 08:05 ET The BBC's Roland Buerk in Otsuchi: "We felt the earthquake, a rocking side-to-side"

A powerful earthquake has hit north-east Japan, exactly one month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The 7.1-magnitude tremor triggered a brief tsunami warning, and forced workers to evacuate the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The epicentre of the quake was in Fukushima prefecture, and struck at a depth of just 10km (six miles).

It came as Japan said it was extending the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant because of radiation concerns.

The cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were damaged in last month's disaster. Workers have been struggling to prevent several reactors from overheating, and avert a large-scale release of radiation.

The plant's operator, Tepco, said power used to pump water to cool three damaged reactors had been cut briefly but early indications suggested the plant had not sustained any further damage.

The zone around it will be widened to encompass five communities beyond the existing 20-km (12-mile) radius, following new data about accumulated radiation levels, officials said.

Top government spokesman Yukio Edano said the new evacuations would take place over the coming month, from areas including Iitate village, which lies 40km from the power station, and part of the city of Kawamata.

"There is no need to evacuate immediately," he told a news conference, but added that there were concerns about long-term health risks.

'Standing together'

The latest tremor struck shortly after the country stopped to observe a minute's silence to remember the nearly 28,000 dead or missing in the 11 March disaster.

Silence in Minamisanriku to mark one month since the devastating earthquake and tsunami

Survivors in shelters marked the moment the quake and tsunami hit at 1446 (0546 GMT) with bowed heads.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan thanked people around the world for their support.

In an open letter carried in seven newspapers around the world, he said that the support had brought hope and inspired courage at a desperate time.

"Through our own efforts and with the help of the global community, Japan will recover and come back even stronger. We will then repay you for your generous aid," he wrote.

"With this in our hearts, we now stand together dedicated to rebuilding the nation."

The official death toll from the disaster is 13,130, while 13,718 remain unaccounted for. More than 150,000 people have been made homeless.

The prime minister has also tried to reassure survivors that the fishing industry - which many in the area rely on for their livelihoods - would resume as soon as possible.

The tsunami wrecked boats and piers, closing down large-scale fishing operations.

But the damage to the nuclear plant has also hit the fishing industry, as public and international buyers ditch Japanese food products over fears of contamination.

Workers have been feeding water into three reactors at the plant to cool fuel rods.

They are continuing to inject nitrogen into the No 1 reactor to prevent another blast caused by a build-up of hydrogen gas.

They have also been releasing water with low levels of radioactivity into the sea so that they can transfer highly radioactive water to a sealed area on site.

Officials have warned it will be several months before the situation at the nuclear facility is brought fully under control.

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Earthquake rescue with Kinect bot

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
24 February 2011 Last updated at 18:22 ET By Dave Lee BBC World Service Peter Crook (far right) hopes the robot can make search and rescues attempts "more streamlined" As New Zealand tries to come to terms with Christchurch's devastating earthquake, rescuers continue to bravely work their way through the rubble in search of more than 200 missing people.

From the ground, experts attempt to judge where people are most likely to be buried by scrambling through rubble, listening out for sounds and sending dogs to locate life.

Some buildings, however, have proven simply too dangerous for rescue teams to enter.

A team of engineers at the University of Warwick has been working to solve this problem by developing a robot capable of entering unstable buildings and "looking" around for any signs of survival.

Until now, previous technology has relied on prohibitively expensive laser-based equipment, but Warwick's team have turned to a far more affordable piece of hardware - Microsoft's Xbox Kinect.

The motion-detection device means Warwick Mobile Robotics (WMR) have been able to create a robot which can accurately model its surroundings and even identify places in which survivors may be.

"The whole idea is to protect the lives of the rescuers," explained Peter Crook, mechanical engineer on the project.

Continue reading the main story

It's not really designed to bring people who are stuck there out, but it would mean that the rescue services know where they are”

End Quote Peter Crook Warwick Mobile Robotics "What you'd have is a team of maybe two people - it doesn't take a lot of manpower - and they'd set up outside. From a safe distance they'd drive the robot in and then use that robot to look for victims."

Award-winning

Last year, the robot was awarded first place at the European Robocup Rescue championship in Germany, a prestigious competition which seeks to give initiatives in this field the ability to gain publicity and funding.

WMR is currently courting further sponsorship for their research - particularly when it comes to testing the robot in real-life situations.

"They're obviously hard to predict and we don't have the money to fly out there," said Mr Crook, reflecting on the disaster in New Zealand.

"We raise all our own funding and so cost is a massive issue for us in what we can and can't produce".

Mr Crook estimates that by using Kinect rather than other similar technology, the team has managed to save over ￡2000 per robot.

And, as well as being cheaper, the machine is more technologically advanced than ever before.

"What we had before was a LIDAR - a laser range finder - but that then just gives you literally a planar view so you get a flat-line of how far things are away from you.

The robots are currently in the testing phase

"Whereas the Kinect gives us a 3-D view so we can actually see like an image and how far everything is away."

This makes the robot potentially a massive help for rescuers desperate to waste no time in getting to survivors.

"It's not really designed to bring people who are stuck there out, but it would mean that the rescue services know where they are, and would be able to get to them much more effectively than maybe looking through a whole building which may be empty.

"It also produces a 3-D map at the same time, so what you will then have back on the computer is a whole map of the interior of the building. You could then streamline your rescue process."

New approach

However, the project faced one concerning hurdle.

Microsoft had, in the past, been reluctant to support using Kinect on anything other than their Xbox console.

Continue reading the main story Digital Planet is the weekly technology programme broadcast from the BBC World ServiceIt is broadcast on Tuesday at 1232GMT and repeated at 1632GMT, 2032GMT and on Wednesday at 0032GMTWMR's robot was only made possible after an independent programmer produced unofficial drivers which enabled the Kinect to be used on a normal computer.

"We hadn't dealt with permission," Mr Crook said.

"So should this become a commercial product, I think we may need to cross that bridge."

However, while Microsoft resisted adapting Kinect's use in the devices early stages, the company now says it has changed its stance.

From the spring, a developers kit for the Kinect will be made available for personal users, while a commercial kit will follow at a later date.

"It's definitely good news for us," said Mr Crook, welcoming the new approach.

"Essentially we're using it for the function it's designed for but applying it not to computer games but for saving lives."

View the original article here

Earthquake rescue with Kinect bot

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
24 February 2011 Last updated at 18:22 ET By Dave Lee BBC World Service Peter Crook (far right) hopes the robot can make search and rescues attempts "more streamlined" As New Zealand tries to come to terms with Christchurch's devastating earthquake, rescuers continue to bravely work their way through the rubble in search of more than 200 missing people.

From the ground, experts attempt to judge where people are most likely to be buried by scrambling through rubble, listening out for sounds and sending dogs to locate life.

Some buildings, however, have proven simply too dangerous for rescue teams to enter.

A team of engineers at the University of Warwick has been working to solve this problem by developing a robot capable of entering unstable buildings and "looking" around for any signs of survival.

Until now, previous technology has relied on prohibitively expensive laser-based equipment, but Warwick's team have turned to a far more affordable piece of hardware - Microsoft's Xbox Kinect.

The motion-detection device means Warwick Mobile Robotics (WMR) have been able to create a robot which can accurately model its surroundings and even identify places in which survivors may be.

"The whole idea is to protect the lives of the rescuers," explained Peter Crook, mechanical engineer on the project.

Continue reading the main story

It's not really designed to bring people who are stuck there out, but it would mean that the rescue services know where they are”

End Quote Peter Crook Warwick Mobile Robotics "What you'd have is a team of maybe two people - it doesn't take a lot of manpower - and they'd set up outside. From a safe distance they'd drive the robot in and then use that robot to look for victims."

Award-winning

Last year, the robot was awarded first place at the European Robocup Rescue championship in Germany, a prestigious competition which seeks to give initiatives in this field the ability to gain publicity and funding.

WMR is currently courting further sponsorship for their research - particularly when it comes to testing the robot in real-life situations.

"They're obviously hard to predict and we don't have the money to fly out there," said Mr Crook, reflecting on the disaster in New Zealand.

"We raise all our own funding and so cost is a massive issue for us in what we can and can't produce".

Mr Crook estimates that by using Kinect rather than other similar technology, the team has managed to save over ￡2000 per robot.

And, as well as being cheaper, the machine is more technologically advanced than ever before.

"What we had before was a LIDAR - a laser range finder - but that then just gives you literally a planar view so you get a flat-line of how far things are away from you.

The robots are currently in the testing phase

"Whereas the Kinect gives us a 3-D view so we can actually see like an image and how far everything is away."

This makes the robot potentially a massive help for rescuers desperate to waste no time in getting to survivors.

"It's not really designed to bring people who are stuck there out, but it would mean that the rescue services know where they are, and would be able to get to them much more effectively than maybe looking through a whole building which may be empty.

"It also produces a 3-D map at the same time, so what you will then have back on the computer is a whole map of the interior of the building. You could then streamline your rescue process."

New approach

However, the project faced one concerning hurdle.

Microsoft had, in the past, been reluctant to support using Kinect on anything other than their Xbox console.

Continue reading the main story Digital Planet is the weekly technology programme broadcast from the BBC World ServiceIt is broadcast on Tuesday at 1232GMT and repeated at 1632GMT, 2032GMT and on Wednesday at 0032GMTWMR's robot was only made possible after an independent programmer produced unofficial drivers which enabled the Kinect to be used on a normal computer.

"We hadn't dealt with permission," Mr Crook said.

"So should this become a commercial product, I think we may need to cross that bridge."

However, while Microsoft resisted adapting Kinect's use in the devices early stages, the company now says it has changed its stance.

From the spring, a developers kit for the Kinect will be made available for personal users, while a commercial kit will follow at a later date.

"It's definitely good news for us," said Mr Crook, welcoming the new approach.

"Essentially we're using it for the function it's designed for but applying it not to computer games but for saving lives."

View the original article here