Industry News
PC shipments to rise 12%
With touch-screen tablet computers dominating growth across the entire personal computing market, total shipments of personal computing systems are forecast to rise 12% in 2014 to 585 million units, according to IC Insights. [ + ]
Free seminar at ElectroneX
The Surface Mount and Circuit Board Association (SMCBA) is presenting a free seminar on purchasing/manufacturing offshore at this week's ElectroneX expo. [ + ]
Mouser to distribute Broadcom products
Mouser has signed a global distribution agreement with fabless semiconductor company Broadcom Corporation. [ + ]
Wearable sensors to detect firearm use
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated how low-cost, wearable inertial sensors could detect firearm usage. [ + ]
Philips, Samsung and Infineon fined over smartcard-chip cartel
The European Commission (EC) has fined Infineon, Philips and Samsung €138m for setting up a smartcard-chip cartel. [ + ]
Conductive nanofibre networks for unbreakable and transparent electrodes
Optoelectronics devices, such as touch screen panels, liquid crystal displays and solar cells, require transparent conductors. The transparent conductors currently used for such applications are made of indium tin oxide (ITO). [ + ]
Engineers develop batteryless pacemaker
Switzerland-based engineers have developed a new batteryless cardiac pacemaker, which is based on an automatic wristwatch and powered by heart motion. [ + ]
Osram's Berlin plant celebrates 100 million xenon lamps
The Osram plant in Berlin is celebrating 100,000,000 xenon lamps. Since the introduction of xenon technology in the 1970s, 100 million xenon lamps have been produced at the plant. [ + ]
Simpler process to grow germanium nanowires to improve Li-ion batteries
Researchers have developed a simple, one-step method to grow germanium nanowires from an aqueous solution. The process could make it more feasible to use germanium in lithium-ion batteries. [ + ]
Conductivity on the edge of graphene
Researchers at the National Physical Laboratory have discovered that the conductivity at the edges of graphene devices is different to that of the central material. [ + ]
Murata to acquire Peregrine Semiconductor
Murata Electronics North America and Peregrine Semiconductor have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Murata will acquire all outstanding shares of Peregrine not owned by Murata for $12.50 per share in cash, or a total transaction value of around $471 million. [ + ]
La Trobe's eNurse wins best technical development award
La Trobe University's eNurse has won the best technical development award, and received an overall 'highly commended', in Telstra's 10-week M2M (machine to machine) University Challenge for students from across Australia. [ + ]
Engineering Excellence Awards finalists announced
Engineers Australia has announced 49 engineering projects as finalists in this year's Sydney Division Engineering Excellence Awards. The projects collectively contribute substantial investment to the Australian economy. [ + ]
Wireless charger for mobile phones and laptops
Researchers at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) have designed a new device for wireless energy transfer that will, for example, charge mobile phones or laptops without needing cables. [ + ]
Five tips for moulded connector construction
You may know moulded connectors are a good option for harsh environments, but you may not know what to look for when specifying one in particular. [ + ]