A device that allows polarized microwaves to travel in one direction but not the other has exciting potential.The electronic diode is a device that allows current to travel in one direction but not the other. That makes them handy things to have around.

So handy, in fact, that you'd be hard pressed to find an electronic device that doesn't contain one. It's no exaggeration to say they have become one of the fundamental building blocks of the modern world.Physicists have known for some time that it is possible to make diode-like devices for electromagnetic waves. The mathematics of electromagnetic wave propagation suggests that certain types of material should allow polarized waves to pass in one direction but not the other when bathed in a magnetic field. Engineers can readily build such a device but its effect is what physicists call linear, meaning that the amount of light you get out is proportional to the mount you put in.That's not really how an electronic diode acts. [Read the full article]

If innovative small companies can't protect their inventions, who will? Companies who specialize in suing over IP, that's who.Joikusoft is a small Finnish company that invented an innovative technology used on mobile devices, principally in Europe - it allows cell phones, mostly Nokia devices, to use their Wi-Fi radios to create hot spots that are connected to the wider Internet via the phone's 3G or 4G radio.If this sounds familiar, it's because almost everyone offers their own version of this technology - Novatel's MiFi, Palm, Sierra Wireless, even Google. But, arguably, JoikuSoft got there first. In 2007, it filed for a patent on the technology. Later, it let other companies play with the technology - notably Google - which, after letting the conversation with JoikuSoft drop, went on to implement its own version of the technology.Google is not exceptional in this behavior. Tech companies do stuff like this every day. It's impolite, but it's not actionable. [Read the full article]

E-commerce websites have only a brief window of opportunity to win a customer's attention and money. Many sites use personalization to appeal to particular customers, but this normally means making recommendations based on a person's purchase history. A startup called Baynote, based in San Jose, California, has developed software that automatically reorganizes a website based on much more information, including how users behave after they arrive."The best way to understand people is not to ask them or make them tell us what they're like, but to watch them," says Scott Brave, founder and chief technology officer of Baynote.Many websites offer suggestions for purchases based on previous buys, or what other, similar users have bought. Amazon, for example, is famous for its recommendation boxes, such as the one that notes "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought ..." Amazon also tailors recommendations based on what a user has looked at during a visit to a website. [Read the full article]

Video services, such as Netflix, are helping drive demand for more bandwidth among both consumers and enterprises.Credit: NetflixMobile broadband services are becoming competitive with fixed data links—which means businesses should be able to cut their wired connections.During the first wave of the wireless revolution, businesses realized that being out of the office didn't mean being out of action. BlackBerrys, iPhones, and 3G dongles for laptops let businesspeople stay connected on the move.But the second wave, ushered in by the development of 4G mobile broadband, will take the mobile revolution indoors. Although consumer excitement over apps and smart phones is high, and has attracted much of the attention of the press, the enterprise will be the first serious consumer of 4G services. [Read the full article]