National Instruments has announced open registrations for the company's annual user conference series focused on building local engineers and scientists proficiency using LabVIEW for their application development. [ + ]

University of Sydney robotics researcher and PhD candidate at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) Daniel Wilson has been awarded first place in the 2014 International Simulink Challenge. [ + ]

US researchers have developed a new design mechanism that could allow batteries to last 30-50 years. [ + ]

element14 has expanded its portfolio of tape and reel passives, discretes and connectors for electronics design and production, including 10,000 high-performance passives from global suppliers such as AVX, Epcos, Kemet, Panasonic and Vishay. [ + ]

element14 has partnered with Freescale to launch the MagniV S12ZVML-MINIBRD variable speed motor control development kit. [ + ]

Researchers at the US Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are analysing a new solar material that has the same crystal structure as a mineral first found in the Ural Mountains in 1839. The material, perovskite, is extremely efficient. [ + ]

For the second consecutive year, KORE Wireless has been short-listed at this year's CeBIT Australia Business Awards. [ + ]

Nine Australian Standards relating to electric vehicles have been released for public comment, Standards Australia has announced. [ + ]

Pioneer Corporation is introducing aftermarket in-dash car multimedia systems to provide Apple CarPlay, allowing consumers the ability to upgrade the vehicle they already own to the smarter, safer and more fun way to use their iPhone in the car. [ + ]

PNNL researchers have packed lithium-sulfur batteries with a unique powdery nanomaterial that helps them last longer. [ + ]

KORE M2M Systems Group has deployed an M2M service management platform for Singapore's StarHub, which in turn provides M2M services to enterprises, service providers and developers. [ + ]

Minister for Technology Gordon Rich-Phillips has officially opened a new $125,000 prototyping facility at SRXGlobal that is expected to create six new jobs. [ + ]

A team at MIT and Harvard University has come up with a material that can absorb the sun's heat and store that energy in chemical form, ready to be released again on demand. [ + ]

Electronic components distributor Digi-Key has announced a global distribution agreement with analog semiconductor company SiTime. [ + ]

RS Components and Fairchild Semiconductor have collaborated to create a set of complete reference designs for seven of Fairchild's most popular evaluation boards. [ + ]