Boeing says it has successfully completed testing of the fuselage barrel, taking it to the 150 percent of load required for certification. Boeing also says it withstood more than 2.5G, which Boeing calls a “maneuver-condition maneuver,” and the resulting damage was less than expected.

Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) said this week it will bring laptop-type performance to the handheld level as it rolls out a new series of OMAP processors based on the ARM Cortex-A8 core.

Known as the OMAP35x, the new processor family was announced at the TI Developers Conference in Dallas this week. It includes four devices and is said to be a big step forward for the giant semiconductor maker because it quadruples the performance of earlier devices. TI engineers said they expect the OMAP35x to appeal to makers of portable media players, in-car navigation systems, medical instruments and security systems as well as wireless handsets, which had been a prime application for earlier generations of the technology.

“We’re making this technology available to manufacturers in all sorts of industries, as opposed to just the wireless handset market,” said Gerard Andrews, OMAP marketing manager for TI.

Andrews said he expects the new devices to make their mark in applications transitioning from standard-definition video to HD and in displays making the switch from 2D to 3D graphics. He said it could also enable some products to upgrade from mobile-Internet browsing capability to full-Internet browsing.

Performance boosts are said to be key to OMAP35x’s new application set. The ARM Cortex-8A core developed by ARM Ltd. offers greater bandwidth and markedly improved instruction set processing over the old ARM9 cores. It accomplishes that through the use of a so-called “superscalar” core, which processes two instructions per clock cycle and with a larger data pipeline, which enables higher clock rates.

As a result, the OMAP35x devices offer a 600-MHz core, twice as fast as ARM9. They also achieve 1200 Dhrystone MIPS (millions of instructions per sec), which is four times the capability of earlier devices with ARM9 cores.

“With a faster clock and more functionality per clock cycle, you get a big boost in performance,” Andrews said. “That’s what gives you the fast, full Web-browsing experience and the ability to run laptop-type applications.”

A new recycling technology developed in Japan will allow recycling of 100 percent of all electronic appliance waste.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., widely known as Panasonic, has developed a recycling technology in which valuable metals can be safely recovered from plastic-coated wires and other electronics equipment waste. The process also uses technology from Kusatsu Electric Co. Organic compounds in plastics, notably carbon, are transformed into harmless gases using the catalytic properties of titanium oxide (TiO2).

The technology is in use now at the Matsushita Eco Technology Center (METEC) to recover copper from degassing coils covered with vinyl chloride tape found in CRT TVs. Mixed plastic waste previously incinerated is treated and changed into non-toxic gases at METEC. The method also helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions because little external energy source is required in the gasification process.

According to Panasonic, about 80 percent by weight of all collected home appliances in Japan is recycled into metallic and plastic materials. The remaining 20 percent is currently regarded as non-recyclable waste, e.g. rubber, mixed glass and mixed plastic waste.

Here is a selection of recently released consumer gadgets. This video also includes examples of counterfeit products, showing how to detect the fakes.