Toshiba Tablet Includes TV Tuner
In the market for a new tablet? Need something a bit bigger than an iPad? Stuff.TV covers one option in the article Toshiba reveals quad-core AT330 tablet beast. One of the unique features of this large laptop is an extendable TV antenna for use with a built-in TV tuner. The article says, "At first glance you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a gadget straight out of the '90s thanks to that eyesore of an antenna. But it's actually one of the main attractions on Toshiba's tablet efforts, paving the way for a built-in TV tuner, to differentiate it from the rest of the tablet crowd." No details were provided on the TV tuner, so we don't know if it will work with ATSC or ATSC Mobile DTV signals.
Apple Receives Portable Device Antenna Patent
Steven Sands writes on tuaw.com Apple granted patent on improved antenna design. The abstract of the patent states, "Portable electronic devices are provided with wireless circuitry that includes antennas and antenna isolation elements. The antennas may include antennas that have multiple arms and that are configured to handle communications in multiple frequency bands."
Darren Murph has more on the antenna in his Engadget.com article Apple secures patent on multiple-arm, multiple-frequency antenna design He writes, "In simple terms, the patent details an antenna structure in a portable electronic device that's comprised of 'first, second, and third resonating elements aligned along a common axis parallel to a ground plane,' with a multiple-arm, multiple-frequency design taking shape. It's also pretty clear that the intention here is to reduce radio-frequency interference between the antennas--something that'll prove increasingly important as wave support is added in future iPhones."
The complete patent is available on Google Patents. See Antenna Isolation for Portable Electronic Devices. The listed inventors are Robert W. Schlub and Robert J. Hill. Drawings show how the antenna is constructed and how it is fed.
