The MIO Alpha sports watch employs optical technology to accurately and continuously measure heart rate of athletes without requiring a conventional heart-rate strap. Measured data can be transmitted live or after training to any Bluetooth v4.0 enabled smartphone via a Nordic Bluetooth low-energy wireless link. [ + ]

In electronic systems terms, power supplies are usually considered to be the heart of the system. This is because reliable operation of the whole electronic system depends on the power supplies’ performance and reliability. As well as this, one should also take the input and output voltage ranges into consideration. [ + ]

Semiconducting polymers are an unruly bunch, but University of Michigan engineers have developed a new method for getting them in line that could pave the way for cheaper, greener, ‘paint-on’ plastic electronics. [ + ]

University of Canterbury scientists have discovered a new way of assembling atoms that could lead to increases in the power of mobile phones, computer tablets and memory sticks. [ + ]

Graphene has played a major role in providing an answer to an almost century-old problem of pink and flicker noise. [ + ]

A new video standard enables a fourfold increase in the resolution of TV screens, and an MIT chip was the first to handle it in real time. [ + ]

A CSIRO invention that turns a conventional lead-acid battery into a two-energy super storage device could contribute to a wider take-up of hybrid electric vehicles among other uses. [ + ]

Researchers have successfully created a magnetic soliton - a nano-sized, spinning droplet that was first theorised 35 years ago. These solitons have implications for the creation of magnetic, spin-based computers. [ + ]

From super-fast electronics to detecting illicit drugs and finding viruses in humans - these are some of the promises of a new substance that has scientists worldwide super excited. The substance is graphene and it is poised to become the wonder material of the 21st century if intense research activity on many fronts comes up to expectations and creates a whole new generation of products. [ + ]

Running cockroaches start to recover from being shoved sideways before their dawdling nervous system kicks in to tell their legs what to do, researchers have found. These new insights on how biological systems stabilise could one day help engineers design steadier robots and improve doctors’ understanding of human gait abnormalities. [ + ]

Researchers have invented a plastic analog-digital converter that brings plastic sensor circuits costing less than one euro cent within reach. Beyond food, these ultralow-cost plastic circuits have numerous potential uses, including pharmaceuticals. [ + ]

With world demand for batteries of all types forecast to reach a value of $132 billion by 2016, there is always going to be an opening for new types. Now GE is developing a longer lasting and more durable battery that charges more quickly and could contribute to raising the efficiencies of solar and wind power. [ + ]

In addition to ensuring safety when circuits are opened, accounting for safety when circuits are closed is also becoming increasingly important. Modules for electrically isolating actuators and for adjusting power are used especially in the process industry. For this purpose, the Phoenix Contact PSR-ETP coupling relay has been developed specifically for this industry and is certified in accordance with SIL 3. [ + ]

Non-volatile bistable memory circuits being developed by Satoshi Sugahara and his team at Tokyo Institute of Technology are paving the way for highly energy-efficient CMOS logic systems. [ + ]

Schott developers are using glass-ceramic as a separator material for lithium-air batteries which will hopefully extend the range of tomorrow’s electrically powered automobiles by several times. [ + ]