United/Continental airlines chief: Boeing 787 a 'game-changer'

The head of United and Continental airlines said this week that he was told by Boeing that the first of fifty 787 Dreamliner aircraft ordered by his company will be delivered for tarmac service sometime in the second half of 2012. "We ordered that aircraft in December 2004. So I've been a very patient person," said Jeff Smisek, president and CEO of United Continental Holdings, the airlines' parent company, as quoted in an Associated Press (AP) report. Despite the delays, Smisek called the wide-body jetliner "a spectacular and game-changing aircraft."

As noted by the AP, the 787 is the first commercial airliner built using stronger, more lightweight carbon fiber, rather than the typical aluminum skin. As a result, the 787 is quieter and uses about 20 percent less fuel than a comparably sized aluminum aircraft. "That's staggering," Smisek said, with regard to the fuel savings. "If you substitute them for an existing aircraft, your profits will improve like that. It will also permit us to fly routes we couldn't otherwise profitably fly. So it's really a home run."

First Boeing 787 shipments should equal immediate boon for many parts suppliers

Boeing has at long last delivered its 787 Dreamliner to Air Nippon Airways -- three years late, and not without difficulties, but with the potential to become the first of thousands of planes produced. And as noted by Christopher Hinton writing for MarketWatch, though it may take years for the aerospace giant to recoup the costs of the Dreamliner's development and declare it profitable, many 787 supplier companies may expect a more rapid uptick in earnings.

“Part suppliers have better profit margins than the air framers and they had less development costs,” explained Michael Lew, an aerospace analyst interviewed by MarketWatch. “But the margins for suppliers are varying."

Lew added, "Materials suppliers...have better margins as their product is usually manufactured for one-time use -- that is, the life of the plane -- whereas engine suppliers are more dependent on aftermarket and margins could be lower.”

Full Article: First Boeing 787 a boost for parts makers (marketwatch.com)

RELATED VIDEO: Boeing tasks 250 employees, engineers with "trying to break" the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's in-flight entertainment, connectivity systems

Is Apple flanking Intel on USB 3.0?

A new report uncovered at AppleInsider claims that Apple is forging ahead with plans to implement USB 3.0 in its Mac computers -- independent of Intel's plans to eventually support USB 3.0 at the chipset level. The reporting cites an anonymous source who claims Apple is "still looking" at USB 3.0 for future products and may beat Intel in supporting the standard. Though Apple has long been rumored to be eyeing USB 3.0 capability for the Mac, the company's recent commitment to the high-speed Thunderbolt interconnect has dampened talk of its getting into the USB 3.0 game. Nonetheless, according to the report, USB 3.0 host controllers may have finally reached an "affordable level" for Apple -- roughly $2-3 each in large quantities, compared to $10-15 for Intel's Thunderbolt chip -- and speculation is that the rumored move to incorporate the technology may be intended to help Apple cater to consumers who don't need or aren't interested in owning high-end Thunderbolt products.

Link: Rumor: Apple investigating USB 3.0 for Macs ahead of Intel (appleinsider.com)

Apple's Thunderbolt: Could one port rule them all?

Odds are that Apple's Thunderbolt I/O -- fruit of Intel's erstwhile Light Peak technology -- will eventually enjoy at least the same ubiquity as FireWire once had within the Apple ecosystem. However, as suggested by CNET's Harry McCracken, what's less clear is whether the technology will take hold in the larger, largely Windows-centric PC industry outside of Apple's sphere of influence. McCracken observes that there's no need for PCs to have Thunderbolt ports unless there's peripheral devices to plug into them -- and that Thunderbolt peripheral devices will be useless to vast numbers of consumers unless there are PCs that can accommodate them. And, while Apple can pretty much mint any technology as its own standard by plugging it into all Macs, standards only happen in the rest of the industry if companies from the wide world of PC manufacturers such Acer, Asus, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Sony, and many others, all think they're a good idea. Then, even when consensus comes, change can take a lot of time -- unless, of course, it doesn't.

See Also: Tearing down Apple's Thunderbolt cable

Link: Waiting for Thunderbolt--one port to rule them all (news.cnet.com)

Lithium polymer 'jelly batteries' could enable more efficient laptops, electric vehicles

A new type of polymer jelly being studied and developed by researchers at the UK's University of Leeds would replace the volatile and hazardous liquid electrolyte currently used in most lithium batteries. Reporting from the BBC News - Science/Environment section says that the newly developed jelly batteries are designed to prevent "thermal runaway" -- the "worst-case" phenomenon whereby conventional lithium batteries using electrolytes based on organic liquids can escalate hundreds of degrees in temperature and catch fire. The Leeds researchers say that their discovery's success lies in blending a rubber-like polymer with a conductive, liquid electrolyte into a thin, flexible film of gel that sits between the battery electrodes. "The polymer gel looks like a solid film, but it actually contains about 70% liquid electrolyte," explained the study's lead author, Professor Ian Ward.

The Leeds scientists claim that that their proposed jelly batteries are as safe as polymer batteries, perform like liquid-filled batteries, but at 10 - 20% the price of either. Should they reach the market, the lithium jelly batteries could allow for lighter laptop computers, and more efficient electric cars.

Electric car industry lines up to display clean energy vehicles

The big automakers of electric car industry gathered last month in Las Vegas to exhibit multiple production vehicles at this year's National Clean Energy Summit 4.0. Exhibitions included the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, a Ford Transit Connect compact van conversion from Azure Dynamics, a CODA electric sedan, and two utility vehicles from Xtreme Green Products Inc. Additionally, and not least, quite a heavy roster from federal officialdom participated in the annual summit event, including senators, governors of U.S. Western states, along with the U.S. Navy Secretary and another DoD official, as described in a detailed report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

More from ICW: Toyota designers nix EV quick charger on add'l weight concern

On the coattails of the summit, this year continues to shape up as a great one for the EV industry, what with the follow-along recent announcement of federal funding for EV infrastructure planning and workforce training, and -- the real bonanza -- the U.S. DoE's award of $16.9 million to advance funding for electric vehicle adoption and research.