Nearly all electronics require devices called oscillators that create precise frequencies - frequencies used to keep time in wristwatches or to transmit reliable signals to radios. [ + ]

Collaboration is a key solution to Australia's productivity and innovation challenges, according to the latest Deloitte report commissioned by Google Australia. [ + ]

UNSW's robot soccer team and their minders are hoping they can knock their traditional rivals off the top spot in the world's largest robot competition, RoboCup Championships, to be held in Brazil next week. [ + ]

Projects that in total contribute more than $1 billion investment in the Tasmanian economy have been selected as finalists for Engineers Australia's Tasmania Division Engineering Excellence Awards. [ + ]

The new Raspberry Pi B+ board, which marks the first significant change to the credit card-sized computer, is available to buy immediately through element14. The new board offers more sensors and accessories, enabling users to build bigger and better projects. [ + ]

Researchers have created sand-based lithium-ion batteries that are said to outperform the current industry performance standard by three times. [ + ]

element14, Plotly and Texas Instruments have launched a new competition - The Internet of the Backyard. [ + ]

Researchers have developed a porous material to replace the graphite traditionally used in a Li-ion battery's electrodes, as silicon has more than 10 times the energy storage capacity of graphite. [ + ]

Power dissipation, chip power consumption, and heat flux in electronic devices has been steadily increasing over the past decade, creating a need for improved methods of cooling them. [ + ]

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a self-powered artificial cardiac pacemaker that is operated semi-permanently by a flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator. [ + ]

Researchers have boosted power and durability in lithium-ion batteries with the help of extremely tiny tubes and rods. The development could lead to batteries that last longer and perform better, leading to a cost advantage for electric vehicles. [ + ]

Engineers have developed walking 'bio-bots' powered by muscle cells and controlled with electrical pulses, giving researchers unprecedented command over their function. [ + ]

META and the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) have launched the META Sports Advanced Manufacturing Hub to promote innovation in the sports technology industry. The hub will focus on fostering innovation in technologies such as wearable devices, smart apparel, equipment, medical technologies and health products. [ + ]

Engineers have been testing electronic systems based on new materials that are both flexible and switchable - that is, capable of toggling between two electrical states: on-off, one-zero, the binary commands that can program all things digital. [ + ]

The world's 14 billion online electronic devices, such as set-top boxes, modems, printers and game consoles, waste around US$80 billion each year because of inefficient technology, according to the International Energy Agency. [ + ]