Appliance Design - October 2007 - (Page 5)

EDITORIAL ® www.applianceDESIGN.com Technology and Trust publishing staff Fern Sheinman Publisher Richard J. Babyak Editor Larry Adams Managing Editor Daryl Delano Economics Editor Amy Alef Production Manager MaTT Britcher Art Director (858) 259-4585 sheinmanf@bnpmedia.com (440) 886-1210 babyakr@bnpmedia.com (773) 467-8590 adamsl@bnpmedia.com (508) 746-7986 ddelano@adelphia.net (248) 244-6409 alefa@bnpmedia.com (734) 354-1874 britcherm@bnpmedia.com W circulation Christine Baloga (248) 244-8262 Corporate Audience Development Director balogac@bnpmedia.com Amy Schuler (920) 231-4932 Audience Development Manager schulera@bnpmedia.com Alison Illes (248) 244-1730 Corporate Fulfillment Manager Illesa@bnpmedia.com Catherine M. Ronan (248) 244-8259 Audience Audit Manager ronanc@bnpmedia.com Robert Liska 800-223-2194 List Manager robert.liska@edithroman.com marketing Danielle Kimble Marketing Director Paul Dykstra Trade Show Coordinator (248) 244-8257 kimbled@bnpmedia.com (248) 786-1609 dykstrap@bnpmedia.com editorial advisory board Mark Skaer, Senior Editor, The News Susan Sutton, Editor, Ceramic Industry Roy Sakelson, Editor-in-Chief, Circuitree Tom Williams, Publisher/Editor, Quality Magazine Darlene Brezinski, Ph.D., Editor, Paint and Coatings Industry Don Hegland, Editor, Assembly BNP Media 2401 West Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084, (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317; www.bnpmedia.com For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: call (847) 763-9534 • Fax: (847) 763-9538 or email: AD@halldata.com APPLIANCE DESIGN (ISSN 1552-5937) is published 12 times annually, monthly, by BNP Media, 2401 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084-3333. Telephone: (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in the U.S.A.: $116.00 USD. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in Canada: $145.00 USD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $156.00 (airmail) payable in U.S. funds. Periodicals Postage Paid at Troy, MI and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: APPLIANCE DESIGN, P.O. Box 2148, Skokie, IL 60076. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2007, by BNP Media. GST account: 131263923. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to APPLIANCE DESIGN, P.O. Box 2148, Skokie, IL 60076. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. For single copies or back issues, contact Ann Kalb at (248) 244-6499 or KalbA@bnpmedia.com. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40026999. Send returns (Canada) to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON, N6C 6B2. e don’t normally cover the gangster beat, but a recent case against an alleged New York mobster carries an interesting technological twist worth pondering. It seems the FBI got the goods on the guy by bugging his cell phone. But here’s the interesting part. They bugged his phone without touching it or even getting near it. They reprogrammed it remotely to activate the phone’s microphone to eavesdrop and to transmit audio. The technique, known as a “roving bug,” can work even when the phone is turned off on certain types of mobile phones. Apparently, the technique can be thwarted only by removing the phone’s battery. We don’t point this out to suggest that our readers include nefarious knaves who need to worry about the FBI listening to their conversations, but rather to offer the reminder that most technological tricks that are performed legally, can also be accomplished illegally by the unscrupulous. And that reminder carries a lot of implications in this burgeoning world of connectivity. Many connective concepts that had been talked about for years have, or soon will, finally come to pass: the networking of appliances and other devices in both the home and in commercial operations; remote access to devices for control, monitoring, diagnostics, and data gathering; and the downloading of digital data, entertainment, new programs, and upgrades or patches into existing programs for various devices. These are all potentially good things, but as anyone who has been a victim of a computer virus can tell you, connectivity also spells vulnerability. I suppose, eventually, we can count on some clever mystery writer to create a villain who murders his victim by remotely taking control of the A/C and inducing hypothermia while the victim sleeps. But there may be more realistic scenarios with the potential for mischief. Think about somebody hacking remotely accessible electronic door locks and security systems. Think about the interactive home healthcare schemes under discussion and the potential for compromising privacy with automatic exchange of data between home medical devices and health care providers. When your electronic scale blabs to your doc that you’ve put on a few pounds, who else might be eavesdropping? And, speaking personally, I don’t want a bar code scanner in my fridge counting every beer I grab. Think also about the potential for industrial espionage or even sabotage in the realm of commercial appliances. Could a sneaky competitor hack into a fast food chain’s appliance programming network and learn of new menu items before they are announced? Or, even worse, could the sneaky competitor corrupt the programming to cook that new menu item into charcoal? We hope that such problems may prove to relatively rare, but it only takes a few well-publicized incidents to make customers cool to connectivity. The benefits of connective technologies are clear, but the safeguards must be equally clear. More importantly, the security measures need to be designed into the systems before untoward incidents occur, not after. Broken trust is harder to fix than a broken product. < Richard Babyak, Editor E-mail: babyakr@bnpmedia.com | HVAC | Majors | Water Processing | Housewares | Commercial Appliances | | Vending | Medical | Lab | Test & Measurement | Lawn & Garden | Electronics | | Computers | Communications | Business Equipment | applianceDESIGN October 2007 5 www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com http://www.bnpmedia.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Appliance Design - October 2007

Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Applying Powder Coatings to Plastic Parts is No Longer a Pipe Dream New Technology Platform Provides the Ability for a single IC to Control Two- Motors in a Single Appliance, Simplifying Motor Control Design Advanced Motor-Control Techniques have Become More Accessible to a Wider Array of Appliances, Helping to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Noise Adding USB Host Capability to Appliances Permits In-Field Programming and Acquisition of Test Data ZigBee Modules Make it Easier to Design Wireless Connectivity into Applications New Concepts such as Rapid Tooling and Rapid Injection Molding Provide Stepping Stones Between Prototyping and Full Scale Production A Number of Factors and New Developments Affect the Decision on Whether to Build Prototypes In-House or Outsource to a Service Bureau DesignMart Advertiser’s Index Association Report: CEA

Appliance Design - October 2007

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