Traditionally, engineers who wanted multilingual phones had to laboriously design custom chips. ("Dual-mode" cell phones that can hop between, say, TDMA and GSM, have been around for years.) Once they are finally designed, such chips can be mass-produced cheaply and consume a reasonable amount of battery juice.

FORBES: Bridging The Gaps

TOKYO, JAPAN, November 16, 2012 --- NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today that it has developed the world's first dual-mode small-cell base station, or femtocell, supporting 3G (W-CDMA) and LTE simultaneously for improved service coverage in indoor locations such as offices, shops and homes.

ENGADGET: NTT DoCoMo readies first dual-mode HSDPA, LTE femtocell for December

Perhaps the most interesting part of this design is its dual-mode power system, which consists of the standard solar cell array as well as a nuclear power source, allowing the rover to operate continuously and in areas that go long periods without sunlight.

ENGADGET: Chinese engineers reveal nuclear-powered lunar rover