Every Superhero Needs a Super Gadget

What’s your favorite action hero movie? I grew up watching 007 and love The Incredibles. One of my favorite parts are all the unbelievable gadgets. The zany scientist would cram a ton of amazing features into tiny everyday items that couldn’t be detected by the naked eye. Out of this world gadgets in the movies are a timeless theme, they have the ability to entertain us even in today’s world. If you take a closer look, many of those sci-fi, action adventure gadgets have now become part of our everyday lives. Case in point, Samsung’s announcement of two new all-in-one wireless charging power management integrated circuits (PMIC) for True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds. They’re the industry’s first solution to support both wireless and wired charging in a single chip. I can just imagine the lab coat enrobed scientist explaining to our hero, “we were able to integrate ten discrete components into one, enabling the PMICs to occupy less than half the space compared to previous alternatives.” The hero listens curiously to the scientist with a look of amazement. The scientist continues, “with the microcontroller unit (MCU) and embedded Flash (eFlash), we can modify the firmware to support other applications as your mission evolves.”

As cunning as action heroes can be, the technical backstory usually goes over their head. The fact that these new earbuds and charging case can communicate with each other, take up half the space, and open up possibilities for new applications is impressive. Somehow I’m distracted from those details as I can simply enjoy longer playback time with more freedom and mobility. Just like our action heroes learn about new gadgets in a few seconds and then forgets they have it until just the moment it’s needed… I put my earbuds on and embark on a covert operation. My mission: make it to the kitchen to get my next cup of coffee without being stopped by the pint-sized, TV-watching double agents in the living room. What missions will you accept with your new superhero gadget earbuds on?