A Caltecher named Ali Hajimiri has miniaturized the monstrosity to the right, fitting an entire radar system onto a single chip. Aside from replacing the dishes of old, the radar chip could change the way mobile phones work, by focusing the wireless signal in a specific direction instead of letting it spread around at will. Writing on the TheFeature.com, Mark Frauenfelder explains that a radar-enabled handset could transfer data a lot faster than current models — like, a gigabyte-per-second faster. Hajimiri himself kicks in with some self-congratulation, setting up an SAT-like analogy: My radar chip is to current cell-phone technology as lasers are to 100-watt light bulbs. I just think it s cool that he gets to work with a palindromic technology. Niagara, o roar again!
Read [via BoingBoing]
