SpaceX 3D Prints Rocket Thruster

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) certified ready for space travel the world's first rocket thruster to be fabricated on a 3D printer.



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Altera's Mysterious MAX 10 FPGAs

The folks from Altera will announce comprehensive details on MAX 10 FPGAs once the devices and dev kits are broadly available in Q3 2014.



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Smartphone “Quick-Jack” Transforms Audio Jack Into Multipurpose Data Port

Adapting the standard 3.5-mm audio jack found on most iOS or Android smartphones, the Smartphone Quick-Jack Solution creates a universal interface for external sensors, switches, peripherals, and other devices.

read more

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Create Single-Board Supercomputing at Home

Form and function: These supercomputers made of single-board computers are beautiful and compact. They have plenty of uses, render farm being one.



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CML adds 16-FSK modulation to wireless modem

CML Microcircuits has added 16-FSK modulation to the CMX7164 Multi-mode Wireless Data.

Addition of the 16-FSK constant envelope modulation enhances the flexibility of the modem enabling telemetry systems to evolve into higher data throughput without the need to move to a linear modulation scenario.

The CMX7164 covers both constant envelope and linear modulation schemes including: GMSK/GFSK, 2/4/8/16-level FSK, 4/16/64 QAM and enables customer-specific modulation schemes.

The CMX7164 operates at 3.3V and comes in VQFN/LQFP packaging.

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Intel Israel Makes Lemonade Out of Lemons

Chiportal reveals the details behind Intel Israel's proposal to upgrade its fab in Kiryat Gat.



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Apple's IoT 'Good Housekeeping' Label: MFi

Expect Apple to beat Google to the punch by unveiling the company's IoT strategy on its home front at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference next week in San Francisco.



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Intel, You Can Drive My Car

Recognizing that the car, once a mechanical device, is rapidly becoming a software-intensive system, Intel unveils a comprehensive plan to help automakers and car OEMs prepare for a future that includes, eventually, self-driving.



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Rousset Fab's Future Hangs in the Balance

Twelve bids for the former LFoundry wafer fab in Rousset and its assets are now in the Commercial Court of Paris.



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Acer opens BYOC experience center

Acer on May 29 opened its BYOC (build your own cloud) experience center in northern Taiwan and company chairman Stan Shih indicated that BYOC has begun to profit from B2B sales. Acer aims to set up a BYOC ecosystem.



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Shipments of 15.6-inch touch panels top 1 million units in 1Q14

Shipments of touch panels sized 15.6-inch reached over one million units in the first quarter of 2014.

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Europe solar PV demand stabilizes at 10GW in 2014, says Solarbuzz

Solar photovoltaic (PV) demand from Europe is forecast to reach 10GW during 2014, down 7% on year, according to Solarbuzz. This will be the third consecutive year that solar PV demand in Europe has declined, after reaching a peak of 19.2GW in 2011. During this period, Europe's contribution to global PV demand has fallen rapidly from 70% in 2011 to just 22% in 2014.



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Inotera looks to higher gross margin in 2Q14

DRAM chipmaker Inotera Memories expects its gross margin for the second quarter of 2014 to be higher than the 54% of a quarter earlier, according to company chairman Charles Kau.



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PenPower Technology unveils new products

PenPower Technology, a developer of recognition technology focusing on intelligent human-computer interfaces, has unveiled new products WorldCard Cloud, Phone Kit, MyInk, ViaTalk and WorldPenScan BT, according to the company.



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Digitimes Research: Global MOCVD shipments to grow 25.7-54.1% in 2014

With the LED chipmakers expanding production capacities to meet growing demand for lighting applications, 186-228 MOCVD sets will be shipped globally in 2014, rising 25.7-54.1% on year, according to Digitimes Research.



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Asia Tech Image steps into packaging 13-megapixel smartphone-use lens modules, says paper

Taiwan-based contact image sensor module maker Asia Tech Image has stepped into packaging 13-megapixel smartphone-use lens modules based on its COB (chip on board) process and will begin shipments to China-based vendors in September 2014, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) cited company chairman Robert Lai as indicating.



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IDC lowers tablet projections for 2014 as phablet shipments and slower refresh rates impact shipment growth

IDC has lowered its 2014 worldwide tablet plus 2-in-1 forecast to 245.4 million units, down from the previous forecast of 260.9 million units. The new forecast represents a 12.1% on-year growth rate, lower than the 51.8% on-year growth of 2013.

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Taiwan PCB production value down 14.1% sequentially in 1Q14, says IEK

Factories set up by Taiwan-based PCB makers in Taiwan and China recorded total production value of NT$125.3 billion (US$4.14 billion) in the first quarter of 2014, decreasing 14.1% on quarter but increasing 8.5% on year, according to the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK).



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Goodix to see revenues grow over 40% in 2014

China-based touchscreen controller IC vendor Goodix is expected to see its revenues grow over 40% in 2014, buoyed by shipments of its newly developed fingerprint recognition sensors, according to industry sources.



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Digitimes Research: Google is serious about Project Ara

In April 2014, Google released modular design kits, held its first developer conference, as well as made commitments to release more specifications and a software roadmap for its Project Ara, and the global handset industry began to believe that Google is serious about the modularization of mobile phones, according to Digitimes Research.



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Taiwan panel makers struggling with high color saturation Ultra HD TV panels

Taiwan panel makers are struggling with high color saturation Ultra HD TV panel shipments and are currently facing increased competition from Korea for low-priced units, according to industry sources.



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Taiwan market: Chunghwa Telecom kicks off 4G operations

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) on May 29 announced the beginning of its 4G commercial operations, becoming the first LTE telecom carrier in Taiwan.



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TSMC never competes with clients, says co-CEO

A key reason for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) success is that the company has never competed with clients, company president and co-CEO CC Wei said at the TSMC 2014 Technology Symposium in Taiwan on May 29.



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Notebook vendors demanding price cuts

Notebook vendors have asked ODMs and component makers to lower quotes in an attempt to maintain profitability due to stagnant demand, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

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Digitimes Research: Ultra HD TV panel shipments expected to reach 17.83 million units in 2014

Ultra HD TV panel shipments are expected to reach 17.83 million units in 2014, up 475% on year, according to Digitimes Research.



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Tablet shipments to be affected by large-size smartphones

As large-size smartphones are becoming increasingly popular in the market, shipments of tablets, particularly smaller-size units, are expected to be affected, according to market observers.



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EEVblog #623 – See Through Thermal Camera Followup

Want to see through a visually opaque material? it’s easy with a thermal imaging camera and a bit of physics.

Dave also follows up on the cling wrap ESD issue with some measurements and alternatives.

Previous video – How To See Through Objects With A Thermal Camera

Anti-static bag myth

Forum HERE

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Circuit Reliability for the Auto Industry

Let's look specifically at the automotive industry, examine some of the circuit reliability challenges they must overcome to meet both industry quality standards and consumers' expectations.



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Slideshow: Beyond Google Glass

A half dozen headset makers demoed devices that aim to leapfrog Google's Project Glass into an emerging 3D augmented-reality market.



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What's in Your Wallet?

Max is currently gloating and whispering "my precious" over his new wallet from Saddleback Leather.



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Red-Hot Emulation

The forthcoming Design Automation Conference (DAC) will be a prime venue to learn more about the varied uses of hardware emulation.



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Can Graphene Make Large-Scale Electricity Storage Viable?

Researchers are exploring different ways to reduce the size and weight of batteries and extend their lifespan by adding graphene as a component material.



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Achieving the Compute Performance of the Human Brain

Exascale processing using millions of connected computers might equal or exceed the human brain's processing capacity by the end of the decade.



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Fire Risk Makes Panasonic Recall Laptop Battery Packs

More than 43,000 laptop battery packs have been recalled by Panasonic following three of the packs in Asia overheating and providing a fire. The company has also declared a separate recall in Europe as a safety precaution.



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Troubleshooting a Plumbing Problem the Electronics Way

Often water flow is used to explain basic electronics in the form of analogies. After learning the hard way, an engineer attempts to explain basic water flow in terms of electronics.



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ARM Grabs Duolog for SoC Tools

ARM is negotiating to acquire Duolog, a small EDA tools company with which it is developing trace and debug tools for multicore SoCs.



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EMC Musicians Reunite for August Symposium

The EMC Society Band is looking for Musicians to join the fun on August 5 & 6 at the 2014 EMC Symposium in Raleigh.



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Smart Way to Drive ECU Consolidation

Many cars incorporate more than 125 ECUs. Consolidation is an obvious answer. We explore how to integrate more functionality on fewer ECUs without complicating the testing effort.



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LG to display next-generation display products at SID 2014

LG Display will showcase its new line-up of curved Ultra HD OLED and LCD TV panels, along with high-definition IT and mobile panel products and commercial display panels during the 2014 Society for Information Display's (SID) exhibition taking place from June 3-5 at the San Diego Convention Center.



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Digitimes Research: USB 3.1 still cannot replace HDMI and Thunderbolt for Ultra HD transmissions

The USB 3.1 standard has significantly raised the transmission speed to 10Gbps, up from the 5Gbps for USB 3.0, but the technology will still struggle to replace HDMI and Thunderbolt for Ultra HD image transmissions, according to Digitimes Research.



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Fault location, isolation, and service restoration hardware for electricity grids will reach US$5.4 billion in annual market value by 2023, says firm

The massive destruction of electric infrastructure from storms, such as Tropical Cyclone Sandy in 2012 and the Alabama tornado outbreaks of April 2011, has triggered customer-driven demand for faster service restoration. Fault location, isolation, and service restoration (FLISR) systems combine hardware, software, telecommunications, and grid engineering to decrease the duration of outages as well as the number of customers affected. According to a new research brief from Navigant Research, the worldwide market for FLISR hardware will grow from US$2.4 billion annually in 2014 to nearly US$5.4 billion in 2023.



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China makers hold 20% share of global tablet panel production

China makers now hold a 20% share of global tablet panel production, according to market observers.

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Digitimes Research: Touch panel makers in Greater China focused on thin-film and OGS products in 2014

Touch panel makers in Greater China are focused on thin-film and OGS products in 2014, according to Digitimes Research.



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Apple to acquire Beats Music and Beats Electronics for US$3 billion

Apple has announced that it has agreed to acquire the streaming music service Beats Music, and Beats Electronics, which makes the popular Beats headphones, speakers and audio software.



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FCCL maker AEM ramping EMI shielding film shipments

Flexible copper clad-laminate (FCCL) maker Asia Electronic Materials (AEM) has ramped its shipments of EMI shielding films to 40,000 square feet a month, pushing its monthly revenues to an all-time high in April, according to the company.



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Computex 2014: Dell to showcase new AIO PCs, tablets, notebooks and Chromebooks

Although not having a booth at the Computex 2014, Dell will still rent a space around the exhibition center to showcase its products such as all-in-one PCs, tablets, notebooks and Chromebooks during the show.



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Computex 2014: Toshiba, Seagate aggressive about enterprise storage solutions

Toshiba and Seagate are set to showcase their latest storage products at the Computex 2014. Toshiba has unveiled its new enterprise hard drive recently. The hard drive is designed for bulk storage systems and servers supporting cloud-based applications and scale-out workloads.



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Tatung setting up rooftop PV systems at central Taiwan schools

Taiwan-based Tatung has been constructing rooftop PV systems at more than 70 public schools in central Taiwan and already unveiled the first one on May 28, according to the company.



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Computex 2014: Etron to showcase 3D image sensor chips

Etron Technology will showcase its 3D image sensor chip, the eSP870, at Computex Taipei 2014 from June 3-7. The chip supports dual sensors for 3D image capture and real-time depth mapping.



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Taiwan solar cell makers roll out PERC

Taiwan-based crystalline silicon solar cell makers, in response to demand from clients in Japan and the US, have stepped into production of PERC (passivated emitter and rear cell) monocrystalline solar cells, according to industry sources in Taiwan.



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Lenovo, Coolpad seeking ways to boost ASPs

Lenovo will try to raise the ASP of its smartphones by ramping its share in the mid-range to high-end segment by optimizing on the brand image of Motorola, while fellow company Coolpad will roll out more 4G LTE models to lift its ASPs, according to sources in Taiwan's supply chain.



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Asustek to establish unified cloud platform and increase personal cloud users

Asustek Computer has announced plans for the cloud computing industry at the Asus Cloud Day event on May 28 and the company is set to establish a unified platform to integrate resources and expand to the worldwide market. Asustek currently has about 30 million users on its personal cloud platform and is planning to increase the number to 50 million by the end of 2014.



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ASRock server subsidiary to turn profitable in 1Q15

ASRock Rack, a server subsidiary of ASRock, is expected to achieve break-even operations by the fourth quarter of 2014 and start earning profits in the first quarter of 2015.

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EEVblog #622 – How To See Through Objects With A Thermal Camera

Dave shows you a handy tip on how to see *through* your product using a Flir thermal imaging camera with the cover *on*. Thus being able to maintain the correct airflow, whilst at the same time being able to view the thermal map as if the cover was off!

Forum HERE

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AMD's 'Bald Eagle' R-Series APUs Soar

If the computational and graphics performance of R-Series APUs live up to AMD's claims, then these devices could be game-changers.



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Low-Noise, BGA-Packaged 1.5-W µModule DC-DCs Get UL60950 Recognition

Linear Technology’s LTM8057 and LTM8058 1.5-W-output µModule dc-dc converters feature 2-kV ac galvanic isolation (production tested to 3 kV dc) in a 9- by 11.25- by 4.92-mm ball-grid-array (BGA) package.

read more

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Intelligent Auto-Tuning 60-A POL Converter Features PMBus

The 60-A TDK-Lambda iJB series of point-of-load (POL) dc-dc converters integrate intelligent auto-tuning technology to enhance dynamic performance, system stability, and current read-back accuracy.

read more

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Cost-Effective Power Modules Target Low-Power Motor Drives

International Rectifier leveraged industry-standard footprints and processes compatible with various printed-circuit board (PCB) substrates to create the µIPM-DIP family of compact integrated power modules (IPMs).

read more

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Hybrid-Regulated-Ratio Quarter-Brick Delivers Up To 600 W For Advanced Telecom

Ericsson leveraged its hybrid-regulated-ratio (HRR) topology to create the third version of its high-power-density quarter-brick power module.

read more

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VCO Operates From 3274 To 3280 MHz

The latest voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) from Crystek offers 3274- to 3280-MHz operation with a control voltage range of 0.3 ~ 4.7 V.

read more

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Isolated Sigma-Delta Modulator Boost Motor-Driver, Power-Inverter Efficiency

According to Analog Devices (ADI), its AD7403 isolated sigma-delta modulator delivers the highest accuracy for current and voltage measurement in dc-ac power-conversion applications.

read more

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Renesas May Sell LCD Chip Unit to Synaptics

The Japanese semiconductor maker Renesas Electronics reportedly plans to sell its majority stake in Renesas SP Drivers, its LCD chip joint venture with Sharp and Powerchip Group, to the mobile device chip provider Synaptics.



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Regulators May Stymie 60 GHz Use

Regulations in Europe are blocking use of phased array antennas, a critical piece of the puzzle for 60 GHz cellular backhaul networks.



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Why Intel-Rockchip Tie-Up Matters

After Miya Kong discussed the latest Intel-Rockchip announcement with China's industry insiders, we know the two companies have agreed on three points: X86 architecture, 3G modem license, and 14-nm capacity support.



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What About DC Power Integrity? Part 3

Thar she blows! (Thermal issues with printed circuit boards.)



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3D Chip Stack Tool Sends TSV Into High-Volume

Applied Materials hawks the world's first volume manufacturing tool for created 3D chip stacks using titanium-lined copper vias.



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Sensor Combines Ambient Light, Color, Proximity Sensing

AMS’s integrated ambient light, color (RGB), and proximity sensor is optimized for operation behind dark glass to drive intelligent display adoption in mobile devices.

read more

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Passive Safety Pole Connector Facilitates Lighting Installation

Already tried and tested within parts of Europe, Molex’s passive safety pole connector includes safety devices and systems that operate without need for human input or action.

read more

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Fairchild Acquires 3D-Motion Firm Xsens

At the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Executive Forum in Munich, Germany, Fairchild announced its acquisition of Xsens, a developer of 3D motion tracking products.

read more

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Counterfeit DC/DC Converters in the Supply Chain

Power converter maker Recom has issued an advisory that it has identified numerous counterfeit copies of its products in the market and is seeking to protect its brand value.



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Google's New Car to Change Self-Driving Debate

Google has unveiled its design for autonomous cars. Big surprises include the absence of both steering wheel and pedals and a two-seat design that resembles a theme park ride.



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Supercaps Breakthrough: Phone Case to Replace Battery

Say goodbye to your phone battery and charger. A new structural material could transform a mobile device's entire case into a hybrid super-capacitor/battery, making traditional batteries obsolete.



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B'com Powers 3 Wireless Charging Approaches

Hoping to further interest in wireless charging among mainstream mobile consumers, Broadcom introduces a multi-standard smartphone charging chip. The new chip puts the Association for Wireless Power resonant standard on the forefront while allowing for inductive specifications as well.



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Google makes self-drive cars

Google is building around 100 purpose-made self-driving cars – to add to its fleet of converted standard vehicles.

The vehicles will be very basic, and will not have a steering wheel, or control pedals.

“We’re now exploring what fully self-driving vehicles would look like by building some prototypes. They’ll be designed to operate safely and autonomously without requiring human intervention,” said the firm. “They will take you where you want to go at the push of a button. And that’s an important step toward improving road safety and transforming mobility for millions of people.”

Sensors remove blind spots, said the firm, and they can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions.

Speed in the first ones is capped at 25mph.

Although these are essentially research prototypes, they have been designed deliberately to look cute, and still have a space for passengers’ belongings, buttons to start and stop, and a screen that shows the route, alongside two seats with seat belts.

Initial vehicles will also have manual controls for road testing.

Indications are that Google does not intend to become a car maker, but does intend to take development on with partners.

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Siemens eases rare earth supply for wind turbines

Siemens is to eliminate costly rare-earth materials from its permanent magnet wind generators.

“Two rare earths are used in the magnet. one is difficult and costly to source, while the other is not,” said Henrik Stiesdal, CTO of Siemens Wind Power.

How this will be done is to be revealed late in June, at a seminar at CWIEME Berlin. Stiesdal said: “In my seminar I will explain how we have managed to decrease the share of the truly ‘rare’ rare earth and will eventually eliminate it from the magnets we make in a few years’ time.”

The firm has moved to permanent magnet generators to increase the reliability of its off-shore wind turbines – they can be driven directly by the rotor, eliminating the need for a gearbox. “These direct drive systems, powered by a permanent magnet generator, could run for years without maintenance – significantly increasing uptime,” it said.

Around half of the annual output of Siemens wind turbines now feature permanent magnet generators – they are incorporated into all new models as standard.

By only using affordable materials Siemens aims to make on-shore turbines directly competitive with fossil fuels in the next few years – and off-shore turbines within the next decade.

CWIEME Berlin a meeting place for the coil winding, insulation and electrical manufacturing communities. The dates are 24-26th June 2014, at the Messe Berlin.

Photo: Siemens has an order for two German offshore wind power plants: The company will supply 97 6MW 154m diameter wind turbines to the Danish energy provider Dong Energy. Total capacity for ‘Gode Wind 1′ and ‘Gode Wind 2′ is 582MW.

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Intel enters into strategic agreement with Rockchip to bring Intel-based solutions for tablets

Intel has announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with Rockchip Electronics to expand the breadth and accelerate the rate at which it brings Intel architecture and communications-based solutions to market for a range of entry-level Android tablets worldwide.



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Many Windows 8.1 with Bing tablets expected to be launched in 3Q14

As Microsoft has removed licensing charges for Windows used in below 9-inch mobile devices, vendors including Lenovo, Acer and Asustek Computer are expected to launch several tablets based on Windows 8.1 with Bing in the third quarter of 2014, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.



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TSMC to host Taiwan Technology Symposium on May 29

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will hold its Taiwan Technology Symposium 2014 on May 29, with the agenda of the annual event to focus on current production of 20nm processes and the roadmap for 16/14nm.

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Broadcom extends market share to nearly 49% in STB IC market, says ABI Research

Broadcom, once thought of as primarily strong in the North America cable set-top box (STB) market, has extended its market share such that it now leads in the cable, satellite, IPTV, and DTT markets worldwide, as well as in the closely related home networking market. With the exception of MStar, all other vendors in the market saw revenues nearly flat or falling during 2013, according to ABI Research.



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Pico solar and solar home systems will reach 64 million in annual sales by 2024, says Navigant

In recent years several new markets have opened up for solar photovoltaic (PV) consumer products, particularly for lighting, handset charging, and power for small DC appliances. Known as pico solar, solar home systems, or solar PV generators, these products are gaining traction in many segments, including outdoor recreation, emergency equipment, and lighting for off-grid homes and communities. According to a new report from Navigant Research, worldwide unit sales of pico solar and solar home systems will grow from 8.2 million annually in 2014 to 64.3 million in 2024.



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Foxconn healthcare foundation inks MOU with Varian for medical equipment development

YongLin Healthcare Foundation under the Foxconn Group has signed an MOU with a cancer medical center under the National Taiwan University (NTU) and US-based cancer-treatment equipment supplier Varian Medical Systems for joint development of therapeutic equipment.

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Global semiconductor production edges down sequentially in 1Q14, says WSTS

Global sales of semiconductor products totaled US$78.5 billion in the first quarter of 2014, down 1.8% sequentially but up 11.4% on year, according to data compiled by WSTS.



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Lite-On Technology aims at annual revenues of NT$10 billion from medical business

EMS provider Lite-On Technology has extended business operation to the medical sector, providing imaging devices, materials and consumer electronics, and aims to generate annual revenues of NT$10 billion (US$331 million) from the medical sector in 5-6 years, according to the company.



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IC design houses see earnings improve in 1Q14

Most Taiwan-based IC design houses have seen their gross margins improve in the first quarter of 2014 thanks to the adoption of advanced manufacturing processes and steady chip prices, according to industry sources.



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MediaTek to roll out 20nm chips in 1H15

MediaTek will begin to produce its next-generation 64-bit, 8-core smartphone solutions using a 20nm process at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the first half of 2015, according to industry sources.



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Touch panel makers see increased orders from Sony

Touch panel makers such as O Film, GIS, EELY and Truly Optoelectronics are seeing increased orders from Sony Mobile Communications as the company attempts to further compete in the mid-range smartphone market.



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ID.com, Colorful Technology to form partnership at Computex 2014

ID.com, the operator of the second largest B2C online shopping portal 360buy in China, and China-based graphics card and DIY motherboard vendor Colorful Technology and Development will announce a partnership to tap overseas markets at Computex Taipei 2014 on the opening day of June 3, according to industry sources.



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Digitimes Research: Taiwan small- to medium-size panel shipments expected to reach 337 million in 2Q14

Taiwan makers' shipments of small- to medium-size TFT LCD panels are expected to reach 337 million in the second quarter of 2014, up 12% on quarter but down 6.8% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

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Open cell 32-inch TV panels in short supply

Open cell TV panels sized 32-inch are in short supply due to recent demand in Africa, North America and Europe, and are likely to be in tight supply until the end of 2014, according panel makers.



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Demand for data center servers to keep growing over 5 years, say Taiwan ODMs

While there is an opinion that strong demand for data center servers may maintain for three years at the most and subsequently there will be demand for replacement and maintenance services only, Taiwan-based ODMs generally believe that the demand will continue to grow over the next five years.



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Data Acquisition: From Plug-ins to USB to Embedded

Automated measurements have evolved from computer plug-in cards to external peripherals. Now the computer is being embedded into the measurement system, or is data-acquisition being added to embedded systems?



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Apple TV vs. Amazon Fire TV: Cost Comparison

Can the two-year-old Apple TV product still compete with the 2014 Amazon Fire TV? Teardown.com prices it out.



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Microsoft Surface Review

Aubrey takes his new Surface to a conference to see how it performs "on the road."



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Winnie the Pooh Meets Embedded Systems

While rooting around his office, Max discovered what appear to be original illustrations from books featuring Winnie-the-Pooh.



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Intel, Rockchip Co-Design Tablet SoC

Intel will co-design a quad-core 3G SoC for entry-level Android tablets with Rockchip, one of China's top designers of ARM-based mobile SoCs.



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Live Chat Friday, May 30: Free DIY Tools for EEs

Don't miss our live online chat on Friday May 30, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. This is your chance to meet the EETimes editors and discuss the topic of Free DIY Tools.



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Taking the mikroC Toolchain for a Test Drive

For only $299 you get a perpetual, node-locked license that entitles you to lifetime updates and direct tech support.



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Involvement in Internet of Things

Whether you are a engineer designing electronic devices or creating and selling the building blocks of devices, you may find your work shifting more toward the IoT's low-power, connected devices. How deep is your present involvement in IoT development?



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Who Owns the Space Above Your Garden?

Following the European Commission's recent announcement that it would harmonize legislation regarding unmanned drones, EE Times Europe caught up with Yannick Levy, Parrot's Vice President of Corporate Business Development with a close eye on both professional and hobbyist drones.



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Parallel NOR Delivers Performance SPI Can't

The focus of systems designers is usually on reducing cost and power consumption by using serial flash, but many automotive and embedded applications require the high performance of a parallel interface.



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Smart Motor Controller Wheels Into Automated Guided Vehicles

Two 120-A dc motors in mobile robots, automatic guided vehicles (AGVs), or other high-power motor-control applications can be driven directly with Roboteq’s XDC2230 intelligent controller.

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Headphone jack turns into peripheral port

NXP has put together a reference design for attaching external sensors and switches to phones via the headphone jack – inspired by the University of Michigan’s Project HiJack.

The idea is that many apps can operate though a low bit-rate interface and do not need to tie-up the phone’s fast USB or Lightning interface – keyboards are an example.

“It gives mobile, consumer and industrial product designers simple, plug-and-go connectivity for adding features to a variety of applications, from wearable medical and fitness devices, gaming controllers, and toys, to diagnostics and maintenance tools,” said NXP.

“We initially designed HiJack to create a universal way to connect low-cost sensor devices to any brand of smartphone, tablet, or even PC,” said University of Michigan researcher Prabal Dutta.

Called ‘Quick-Jack‘, NXP’s version consists of a small board, a free example app, and design documentation.

The board has:

LPC812 microcontroller to handle decoding/encoding of the Manchester algorithm (left audio channel has the data) and communication with external peripherals.

A standard header for connection of sensors, switches, or data-collection devices.

A power circuit which draws power from the right audio channel to feed the board and attached components.

A miniature joystick, which controls the example app.

Source code for the LPC812 is free, and ready to use with NXP LPCXpresso tools.

There is an application competition.

Seeed Studio is another source of HiJack hardware.

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Google is Making a 3D Imaging Tablet

As part of Project Tango, Google may now be building a first-generation 3D tablet.



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Superconductor Discovery Points to Energy-Efficient Power Transmission

Scientists have discovered a unknown phase in a class of superconductors called iron arsenides that may be able to harness their energy efficient power transmission capabilities for a wide range of new technologies.



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Motor isolator chip aims at ASIL in cars

Motor isolation for Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) requirements can be met without electromechanical relays, claimed Allegro MicroSystems.

To do it, it has introduced the A6861 for safety-critical automotive applications where motor isolation is an essential requirement – in electronic power steering and electric braking, for example.

All the chip needs is three power mosfets, and a few passives.

“This product range is designed to help customers to achieve ASIL-D certification with the highest ASIL rating possible”, said Allegro marketing director Steve Lutz. “Our A6861 is intended to replace a relay-driven motor disconnect in automotive safety-critical systems, and can also provide the drive for reverse battery protection and battery isolation.”

On board are three independent floating gate drive outputs to independently hold the mosfets ‘on’ or ‘off’ over the full 4.5-50V supply range in the presence of high phase-voltage slew rates. An integrated charge pump regulator is included to maintain 7.5V gate drive with 100kohm gate-source resistors.

With the addition of a few external components, it can also isolate the load when high load currents are present.

In typical applications the MOSFETs will be switched on within 8μs and will switch off within 1μs.

An under-voltage monitor checks that the pumped supply voltage is high enough to mosfets conduct properly.

Packaging is 16 lead thermal pad TSSOP.

As the three channels are separate, the chip and its mosfets can also control three separate loads.

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Potting Compounds Protect Electronic Circuits

Sponsored by: Master Bond

Potting and encapsulation compounds are designed to completely enclose a component, module or PCB, which effectively shields the unit while providing structural support.

read more

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London leads steep rise in VC investment

There was a massive rise in venture capital investment in the UK and Ireland in Q1, says Ascendant, the technology-focused investment house.

Q1 venture capital in Q1 in UK and Ireland was £538 million, says Ascendant, compared to £287 million in Q1 2013.

“This extraordinary level of investment has not been experienced in the UK and Ireland since Q1 2001 – just after the peak of the market in November 2000,” says Ascendant managing director Stuart McKnight.

The £538 million was invested by 108 investors across 85 deals worth over £500,000 compared to 59 deals by 82 investors in Q1 2013.

“As much as it is great news that the market is booming, it should be noted that nearly all the growth was from investors backing London based digital media businesses,” says McKnight, “with few exceptions the rest of the market and the country missed out in this growth.

“So are we in a bubble?” asks McKnight, “there are signs that support such a thesis – runaway growth in transaction volumes, proliferation of incubators/accelerators, booming private investment, increasing number of VC professionals investing for their own account, many sub-sectors becoming cluttered with me-too competitors – I could go on. However we do not think that the market is overheated – at least not yet.”

Ascendant tracks a number of indicators to help identify areas of interest. One of these is levels of syndication.

In normal conditions, around 65% of UK/Irish tech investments are syndicated (i.e. have more than one investor). When syndication starts to drop below this it is usually an indicator of malaise – investors being overconfident, greedy or hasty and doing more deals on their own or being unable to find another investor to join them in the transaction.

Before the last crash syndication levels dropped briefly to just under 50%.

“In Q1 syndication sat at 61% which is not something we would worry about too much but we will be watching this closely for the rest of the year,” says McKnight, “secondly the key fundamentals are very different from 2000. The UK Government has put into place a number of tax based investment support schemes which have attracted private investors to the tech market. We believe and are told by the folks in Horse Guards Road that these will be with us for a good long while.”

“Thirdly,” continues McKnight, “the structure of the UK market has improved over the last 5 years. There is support of deals at all sizes and stages of development. For example in Q1, 50% of all deals were less than £3m compared to just £1.5m in Q1 2013. This supports the view that money is available to good companies as they grow and need to finance expansion. So we may well be in a golden period right now but we will continue to watch for overheating.”

The Q1 stats show that the value of investments is up 87%. Nearly all of this has come from a boom in internet/wireless services investing up from £51m to £340m. 51 digital media/services business were funded in Q1 vs 16 in Q1 2013.

So investors are not just financing a greater number of businesses but also committing more capital to them. Ascendant can identify no particular subsector getting more attention than others – fintech, fashtech, edtech, eattech, etc all collected investors’ money. Not surprisingly the vast majority of these businesses are based in London which experienced a huge inflow of capital in Q1 – £395m – equal 73% of all funds invested in the UK and Ireland. All other regions were static at best or more commonly down on last year.

“Fund raising outside of the M25 can be a challenging business,” says McKnight.

The strong growth of Q4 in 2013 was surpassed in Q1 and investment levels are the highest seen for 13/14 years. Ascendant sees no particular reason for this to drop off in the near or medium term.

There are more investors participating in the market, at both the private and institutional ends, which suggests a very good year for companies seeking investment.

“Given the usual seasonal investment patterns, our best guess for 2014 is that around 300 companies will receive £1.5 billion,” says McKnight, “it is too early to say what the run rate is for Q2 but there have been some notable transactions already. So let’s hope that the good pace of activity is maintained.”

The busiest Q1 investors were Balderton, MMC, Accel, Albion Ventures, Business Growth Fund, Episode 1, Frog Capital, Index and Passion Capital

61% of deals involved more than one investor

50% of deals involved investment of less than £3m

Private investors participated in 27% of VC deals, US investors in 9%, Euro investors in 5% and Corporate Investors in 13%.

The 10 biggest deals received 57% of funds invested, included: Borro (£67m), mPowa (£45m), Tradeshift (£45m), Intelligent Energy (£39m), eCommera (£25m), WorldRemit (£24m), AMCS (£19m), Hailo (£16m), Zopa (£15m) and Shazam (£12m)

There were three primary areas of investment focus –Internet/Wireless Services (£340m), Software (£83m) and Cleantech (£79m).

51 Internet/Wireless Services companies received VC backing. The largest Internet/Wireless Services deals were: Borro (£67m), mPowal (£45m), Tradeshift (£45m), WorldRemit (£35m), Zopa (£15m), FTBpro (£11m) and Brandtone (£11m).

In the Software sector, 16 companies received investment. eCommera (£25m), Shazam (£12m), Nexmo (£11m) and Bizzby (£6m) received the biggest VC cheques.

Just 8 Cleantech companies raised capital with the biggest deals being: Intelligent Energy (£39m), AMCS (£19m), 3Sun (£9m), Iceotope (£6m) and Bowman Power (£3m)

London completely dominated all other regions taking 74% of the value and 65% of the volume of tech investment

All other regions failed to reach even 10% of value or volume

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Sapphire substrate applications expected to expand in handsets, says LEDinside

Out of sapphire substrate non-LED applications, mobile devices have shown the strongest demand. Sapphire substrate non-LED applications are projected to reach a 32% share in 2014, with mobile device applications taking a 21% share, according to LEDinside.



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Yingli Green Energy to set up 1GWp PV station, Shunfeng Photovoltaic to raise funds, say reports

China-based Yingli Green Energy Holding, the world's largest PV module maker, will invest CNY8 billion (US$1.28 billion) to establish an operational center and a PV power-generating station with capacity of 1GWp in Xi'an, northwestern China, while China-based Shunfeng Photovoltaic International will issue new shares to raise additional paid-in capital of CNY5.908 billion, according to China-based news reports.



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3S to continue operating in the red in 2Q14

NAND flash drive controller IC and MEMS microphone chip provider Solid State System (3S) is expected to continue to operate in the red in the second quarter of 2014, according to industry sources.

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Taiwan PCB makers look to more orders from China-based Xiaomi

Taiwan-based PCB makers are expected to land more orders, particularly for high-end HDI boards, from Xiaomi Technology as the China-based vendor has begun to ramp up shipments of its tablets in addition to smartphones, according to industry sources.



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Foxconn rumored to land 5.5-inch iPhone orders; Wistron gets 4-inch phone orders

Apple is rumored to release a 5.5-inch and a 4.7-inch iPhone in 2014 with Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) said to be manufacturing both models, while Pegatron has landed 30% of the 4.7-inch model's orders, according to sources from the upstream supply chain. Orders for the existing 4-inch iPhone will be outsourced to Wistron.



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Utility spending on smart grid as a service will total US$57.6 billion from 2014-2023, says Navigant

For the power sector to realize the full benefits of the smart grid revolution, advanced networking and communications technology must span the entire power grid. For many smaller utilities, however, the lack of access to adequate financial and human resources may limit their ability to invest in smart grid solutions at the desired level. Hosted or managed service solutions, also known as smart grid as a service (SGaaS), will help bridge that gap in coming years. According to a new report from Navigant Research, annual utility spending on SGaaS technology will grow from US$1.7 billion in 2014 to US$11.2 billion in 2023 – totaling US$57.6 billion over the period.



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Ultra HD TV panel makers see increased shipments amid World Cup 2014

Ultra HD TV panel makers are seeing increased shipments as TV vendors promote new products in preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, according to industry sources.



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Digitimes Research: Tablet AP shipments in China increase 11.2% sequentially in 2Q14

Shipments of tablet-use application processors (AP) in China grew 11.2% sequentially and 40% on year in the second quarter of 2014, buoyed by a rebound in demand for tablets in the China market as well as in overseas markets. Notably, the market for tablets with phone functions is expected to continue to grow robustly, with MediaTek serving as the second largest tablet AP provider, according to Digitimes Research.



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Digitimes Research: Microsoft turns focus back to large-size Surface

Microsoft unveiled its third-generation Surface on May 20 2014. Instead of the long-rumored 7.5-inch Surface Mini, the software giant released the 12-inch Surface Pro. Digitimes Research believes the company has turned its focus back to large-size models that enable better productivity.



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Notebook brand vendors to start RFQ in June; ODMs may see order reshuffling

Notebook brand vendors will start their request for quotation (RFQ) processes for notebook orders for 2015 in June and ODMs are already preparing for the event, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.



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China solar-grade monocrystalline wafer maker LONGi expanding capacity

China-based solar-grade monocrystalline silicon wafer maker Xi'an LONGi Silicon Materials has been expanding its production capacity.



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China-based solar maker LDK receives bank loan to ease financial woes, say report

China-based polysilicon and solar wafer maker LDK Solar has obtained syndicated loans of CNY2 billion (US$321 million) from 11 local banks to ease its financial troubles, according to a report.



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Lenovo raising in-house notebook production in 2014 and 2015

Lenovo's joint venture with Compal Electronics is expected to ship 15 million notebooks in 2014, up significantly from a year ago and the volume is expected to surpass 20 million units, increasing 30% on year. The rising shipments are expected to impact Taiwan's supply chain.



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ASRock expects server business operation to take off, says company COO

Taiwan-based own-brand DIY motherboard maker ASRock stepped into ODM production of servers and industrial PCs through establishing subsidiary ASRock Rack in March 2013 and, by virtue of motherboard R&D capability to develop servers, expects the subsidiary's business operation to begin to profit in 2015, according to ASRock COO Hsu Lung-luen at a Digitimes interview.



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Freescale sales, market share growing faster than industry average, says company CEO

Freescale Semiconductor has recently channeled over 90% of its resources to focus on the development of five strategic product groups, driving Freescale's sales and market share to grow at a pace higher than the industry's average growth recently, according to company president and CEO Gregg Lowe.



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China software industry posts January-April revenues of over CNY1 trillion, says MIIT

China's software industry generated total sales revenues of CNY1.029 trillion (US$167.87 billion) from January-April 2014, growing 21.0% on year, according to statistics by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

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Touch panel makers see increased orders from Xiaomi as it aims to ship 80 million handsets in 2014

Touch panel makers are seeing increased orders from Xiaomi as the company aims to ship 80 million handsets in 2014, according to industry sources.



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Innodisk to expand production capacity by 50%

Taiwan-based industrial embedded flash and DRAM storage memory provider Innodisk will set up a third production line to expand capacity by 50%, according to the company.



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Ambit to subscribe to new shares of Asia Pacific Telecom

Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) on May 26 announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Ambit Microsystems, one of the six next-generation (4G) mobile communication licensees, signed a letter of intent with Asia Pacific Telecom, also a 4G licensee, for subscription of 582.888 million new shares from the latter at NT$20 (US$0.66) per share, accounting for 70.53% of 826.407 million of the new shares to be issued by Asia Pacific Telecom for private placement.



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Polarizer demand in China rises; local makers to provide 6.7% of total shipments in 2014

As the self-sufficiency rate for polarizers in China is expected to reach only 6.7% in 2014 amid increasing production capacity and demand from China's panel segment, Taiwan- and Korea-based polarizer makers expect to see orders increase.



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Gigabyte, Asustek step up gaming notebook competition against MSI

Gigabyte Technology and Asustek Computer are pushing their gaming notebook businesses aggressively to compete against Micro-Star International (MSI), which has had strong sales in the market.



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Digitimes Research: LCD TV pricing rises in May

The average pricing for LCD TVs sold in the market during May 2014 was up at large as vendors continued to release new units, according to Digitimes Research.

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Foundry houses, IC design vendors vying for fingerprint sensor orders

Wafer foundry houses as well as more Taiwan-based IC vendors will vie for the growing fingerprint identification sensor orders from the smartphone sector in the second half of 2014, according to industry sources.



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Wearable device market growth to be bumpy as value proposition is established, says DisplaySearch

The market for wearable devices, like activity trackers, notifier bands, smart watches, and head-mounted displays, first took off in 2013, and momentum could drive the market as high as 48 million units in 2014 and 91 million in 2015. However, the market is expected to experience a slow down after 2015, as consumers rebound from the initial hype, according to DisplaySearch.



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Microgrids in Asia Pacific to reach nearly US$5.8 billion in annual market value by 2023, says Navigant

Several of the most heavily populated countries in the Asia Pacific region, including China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are experiencing unprecedented rates of rural electrification. Meeting the increased demand for both power and grid services across the region will require innovative approaches, including microgrids that are capable of operating in isolation from (or in the absence of) the wider power grid. According to a new report from Navigant Research, the microgrid market in Asia Pacific will grow from US$778 million in 2014 to nearly US$5.8 billion in 2023.



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Compeq new HDI board capacity to come online in 3Q14

The first-phase of capacity of Compeq Manufacturing's new plant in Chongqing, China will come online at the end of the third quarter of 2014, according to the PCB maker.



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China April mobile phone user base grows to 1.252 billion, says MIIT

There were 1.252 billion subscribers of mobile communication services in China as of the end of April 2014, growing 0.28% on month and 8.38% on year. 454.20 million (36.28%) 3G users and 848.05 million (67.74%) were mobile Internet-access users, according to statistics published by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).



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Aceplus Optotech to expand PSS capacity

Taiwan-based PSS (patterned sapphire substrate) maker Aceplus Optotech will gradually expand its monthly production capacity from 150,000 units currently to 300,000 units, the company said at a May 23 investors conference.

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Taiwan 1Q14 economic growth rate upward adjusted to 3.14%, says DGBAS

Taiwan's economic growth rate, on-year growth in GDP, in the first quarter of 2014 has been upward adjusted from 3.04% estimated in April 2014 to 3.14%, according to preliminary estimates released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) on May 23.



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Taiwan April manufacturing production index up, says MOEA

Taiwan recorded a manufacturing production index (2011 as base year) of 105.29 for April 2014, increasing 0.49% on month and 5.21% on year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on May 23.



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Global LTE user base to exceed 205 million in 2Q14, says MIC

There will be 238 LTE mobile communication operators in 101 countries with 205.267 million subscribers in total in the second quarter of 2014, according to the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) under the Taiwan government-sponsored Institute for Information Industry.



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EEVblog #621- Stanford Research SR650 Repair – Part 2

Part 2 of repairing the Stanford Research SR650 8 pole Programmable elliptical filter.

Mains Filter datasheet

Partial schematic

Forum HERE

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Goal-Line Tech Stars in World Cup

Why this year's World Cup is not to be missed: innovative goal-line technology will help match officials rule for the first time at the football World Cup that kicks off 12th June in Brazil.



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EEVblog #620 – Repair: Stanford Research SR650 Programmable Filter

Dave scored a cheap non-working Stanford Research SR650 8 pole programmable elliptical filter on ebay. Can it be fixed?

Forum HERE

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Bel Fuse to Buy Emerson's Power Connectivity Unit for $98M

Interconnect vendor Bel Fuse Inc. continued to pursue its aggressive acquisition strategy with a $98 million cash deal to acquire the Emerson Network Power Connectivity Solutions (ECS) business of Emerson Inc.



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Roombots Self-Assemble into Furniture

Modular robots called Roombots combine with passive parts to shape-change into different types of furniture at the Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne (EPFL--Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne)



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Is $300 Snapdragon 801 Smartphone With CyanogenMod a Good Idea?

The OnePlus One phone offers a special CyanogenMod 11S Android KitKat version that, among other things, has better privacy features and SMS encryption between CyanogenMod devices. But does that put OnePlus One into a higher-end market?



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Materials Hunt on for 10-5 nm Chips

Finding the right materials will be one of the keys to delivering chips from 5 to 10 nm, say researchers who will present at SemiCon West in July.



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Radio Ga Ga

Max has a vacuum tube radio that needs some love, but he doesn't have the knowledge required to treat it with the respect it deserves.



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Phase Change Memory: From Multi-Level to Multi-Tasking

Here's a preview of what's in store for PCM at this year's VLSI Symposium 2014.



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Single-Supply LDO Eschews Charge Pump, External Bias

Exar’s XR71211 low-dropout (LDO) regulator delivers 1.5 A from voltages down to 1.4 V and a guaranteed dropout voltage of 250 mV at maximum junction temperature.

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Hall-Effect Magnetic Sensors Simplify Industrial Motor Apps

Texas Instruments’ DRV5000 family of Hall-effect magnetic sensors include digital latch, digital switch, analog bipolar output options to meet demands for 2.5- to 38-V industrial applications ranging from position detection to motor control.

read more

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Backup Controller Delivers Uninterrupted Power To 1- To 4-Supercap Series Stack

Linear Technology’s LTC3350 supercapacitor charger and backup controller IC incorporates all PowerPath control, capacitor stack charging and balancing, and capacitor “health” monitoring to become a reliable, standalone, capacitor-based backup-power solution.

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DFN-Housed GaN Transistors Target Low-Power Radar, Datalinks

Continuous-wave (CW) gallium-nitride (GaN) HEMT RF transistors packaged in dual-flat no-leads (DFNs) offer the highest power of their type, according to developer Cree. Aimed

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Break 'Introversion Glass Ceiling'

Can your innermost introvert stand the rigors of CEO-style schmoozing, evangelistic product marketing, and rallying the troops to get your tech startup thriving? You may be surprised.



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Is Engineering Consulting Your Next Career Gig?

An engineering consultant shares advice and lessons learned in his 30+ years of experience.



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Analog Devices Posts Strong Fiscal Q2

Analog, mixed-signal, and DSP vendor Analog Devices posted strong second-quarter results on strength in all of its key market sectors, including industrial, automotive, and communications, which accounted for 89% of revenue.



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HP's $99 Android Tablet

Tablet bargain seekers have another option in HP's new $99 Android tablet, but the device's specs and battery life disappoint.



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IoT on Display at SolidCon

In the growing Internet of Things, devices that were once strictly mechanical are now blends of hardware and software -- packages of microcontrollers, sensors, and networked software. The result is a connected world full of possibilities for medical, industrial, and commercial verticals.



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PCIM: Isolated ΣΔ converter for drives and inverters

Analog Devices is claiming to have industry’s highest accuracy isolated ΣΔ converter for dc and ac current and voltage measurement.

The AD7403 achieves 81dBmin signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SINAD, at 78ksample/s over -40 to 125°C).

“Higher SINAD enables more accurate current and voltage measurement which improves the performance of motor drives by reducing torque ripple on the motor shaft,” said ADI.

It has a second-order, ΣΔ modulator that converts an analogue input signal into a single-bit data stream with on-chip digital isolation (1,250Vpeak) through on-chip transformers.

Operation is from 5V at the measurement end and it accepts a differential input signal of ±250mV (±320mV full-scale).

The analogue input is continuously sampled and converted to a ones-density bit stream with a data rate of up to 20MHz. The original information can be reconstructed with appropriate digital filtering to achieve 88 dB signal to noise at 78.1ksample/s.

Power on the output (and control) side is 5V or 3V.

It comes in a 16 pin wide-body SOIC.

Applications are expected in motor drives, solar inverters, and wind inverters.

More about ADI motor control.

AD7403 at a glance

5-20MHz external clock

16 bits, no missing codes

Typical offset drift: 1.5μV/°C

On-board digital isolator

On-board reference

True ±320 mV input range

>25 kV/μs common-mode transient immunity

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Cree gets 200 lm/W from XP package

Cree is claiming 200 lm/W from the latest in its 3.45×3.45mm XP series of lighting LEDs.

XP-L, as it will be known, delivers up to 1,226 lm at 350mA from its single die – the same die it is using in its 5x5mm XM-L2 lighting LEDs.

“XP-L LED enables an immediate performance increase of 50% or more as a drop-in upgrade for lighting designs based on XP-G LEDs,” said the firm.

This 200 lm/W LED follows hot on the heels of Lumileds’ 200 lm/W greenish Luxeon Lime LED announcement

Cree is aiming XP-L at high-intensity beam-forming applications where the small size allows them to be packed tightly together (0.5mm minimum spacing) to get more light from a given area compared with packing in the larger XM-L2s – the diameter of optics required to form a certain beam width is proportional to the diameter of the smallest circle that can be drawn around the emission area, so smaller emission diameter means more compact products.

Characterisation and binning is at 1050mA 85°C, and XP-Ls are available up to 90 CRI and ranging from 2,700 to 8,300K.

“As a ‘successor’ product to the XM-L2, lighting manufacturers seeking Energy Star qualification can use 3,000h of LM-80 data,” said Cree.

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Digitimes Research: G1F touch panel technology used in tablets and smartphones to see limited shipments in 2014

G1F touch panel technology used in tablet and smartphone applications will see limited shipments in 2014 while OGS shipments are expected to remain steady, according to Digitimes Research.



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Sony shifts LCD TV ODM orders back to Taiwan makers

Amid limited profits from the LCD TV business in 2013, Sony transferred LCD TV ODM orders back to in-house production, causing LCD TV makers to see major order declines, with Foxconn Electronics seeing drops from four million units to less than 50,000. However, going into fiscal-year 2014, Foxconn expects that number to increase to 100,000 units as Sony aims to tackle the market with new units.



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Digitimes Research: Taiwan makers to contribute 90% of worldwide server shipments in 2014 thanks to IDC industry

Taiwan makers have successfully entered the supply chain of the Internet datacenter center (IDC) industry and may contribute over 90% of the global server shipments in 2014. Combined revenues from related product lines such as motherboards, back-end assembly, storage and telecommunication devices, are expected to reach NT$450 billion (US$14.94 billion) in the year, up 8.8% from 2013.

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Handset vendors to compete for audio performance

Handset vendors are likely to enter a new round of competition to upgrade their sound-processing technology in order to deliver high quality audio content through their smartphones, according to industry sources.



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Epistar lands orders for HV LED chips, says paper

LED epitaxial wafer and chip maker Epistar has obtained orders for high-voltage (HV) LED chips from Philips Lumileds Lighting, Osram and General Electric, with shipments to begin in second-quarter 2014, according to the Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News (EDN).



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Nearly 9 billion wireless connectivity chipsets to ship during 2019 alone, says ABI Research

Annual wireless connectivity chipset shipments across Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, and ZigBee show no sign of slowing down, and are expected to reach almost nine billion annual shipments in 2019, according to ABI Research. Had it not been for combo chipsets and integrated platforms the number of chipsets shipped would have been even higher. Cumulative chipset shipments from 2010-2014 will have reached over 21 billion; during the next five years from 2015-2019, cumulative shipments will almost double to over 39 billion.



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HDI, any-layer board production lines to run at full capacity through June

The production lines for HDI and any-layer boards at Taiwan's major PCB makers, including Unimicron Technology, Compeq Manufacturing, Tripod Technology and Unitech Printed Circuit Board, are likely to run at full capacity through June due to strong demand from the smartphone sector, according to industry sources.

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Giga Solar sees bigger share in PV silver paste market

Taiwan-based PV conductive paste maker Giga Solar Materials has seen increasing market share in the silver paste segment, heaping pressure on international competitors, such as DuPont, according to sources with Taiwan's solar cell makers



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Proposed UK policy changes cause 215 solar PV farm prospects to be re-evaluated, says Solarbuzz

The outcome of proposals for 215 ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) farms in the UK, with capacities in excess of 5MW, are now being re-evaluated, according to Solarbuzz. This re-evaluation follows new, and unexpected, proposals from the UK government to adjust incentive mechanisms for ground-mounted solar PV farms beginning in April 2015.



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Energy storage systems for microgrids to reach nearly US$4.2 billion in market value by 2024, says Navigant Research

Delivering services both to microgrids and, in the case of grid-tied systems, to the centralized grid, energy storage is becoming an essential enabling technology for all types of microgrids. Energy storage can reduce the payback period of the microgrid, by enabling an increase in the penetration of renewable energy sources or by reducing diesel fuel consumption. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, the worldwide market value for energy storage for microgrids will grow from US$662 million annually in 2014 to nearly US$4.2 billion in 2024.



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Taiwan cooling module makers to be surpassed by China makers in 2 years

While Taiwan-based cooling module makers have been developing 0.6-0.8mm ultra-thin heat-pipes for smartphones, China-based makers have brought continued competitive pressure through upgrading technology and are expected to surpass Taiwan makers in two years, according to sources from cooling module makers.

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Digitimes Research: Apple biggest winner in China 4G smartphone sales in 1Q14

Shipments of smartphones in the China market declined 6.4% sequentially in the first quarter of 2014 as consumers delayed plans for the purchase of new phones or replacements, given that handset vendors have postponed the release of sub-CNY1,000 (US$160) 4G models to the second quarter due to a high inventory levels of 3G smartphones, according to Digitimes Research.



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Taiwan market: TWM to launch own-brand 3G, 4G smartphones, 4G tablet

Taiwan Mobile (TWM) on May 22 unveiled two own-brand 4G smartphones, the Amazing X1 and Amazing X2, an own-brand 3G smartphone, the Amazing A8, and an own-brand 4G-supporting tablet, the Amazing P6, for launch in June 2014, according to the company.



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Taiwan makers struggling to automate equipment

Many Taiwan-based makers operating in China have been making efforts to automate production at their factories to reduce the impact of continued wage hikes, however, automation is actually not easy because most standard automation equipment does not suit their manufacturing processes, and customized models are too expensive. In addition, order volumes must be large enough to amortize the cost of automation, according to industry sources.



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Transcend introduces storage expansion cards for Apple notebooks

Memory module maker Transcend Information has rolled out four models of its JetDrive Lite-series storage expansion cards for Apple's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air notebooks.



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Intel extends incentives to boost development of Intel-based tablets

Intel originally offered incentives for selected China-based white-box vendors such as Ramos to adopt Intel platforms for tablets, and has extended to additional China-based white-box vendors and international tablet vendors, in an attempt to reach total shipments of 40 million Intel platform-based tablets in 2014, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.



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China market: Insurance to be offered to boost distributed PV system installations, says NDRC

Viewing that distributed PV system installations (mainly rooftop) in China have so far lagged behind schedule due to high risks, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has arranged insurance companies to provide relevant insurance services to solve the problem, according to NDRC.

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Tripod Technology HDI capacity utilization rises to 90%

Taiwan-based PCB maker Tripod Technology, due to booming orders for HDI boards, seen its HDI production capacity utilization rise to 90% currently, higher than the overall capacity utilization of over 80% for all types of PCBs, according to the company.



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Microchip Buys Taiwan's ISSC Tech

Microchip Technology Inc. makes a $328.5 million deal to acquire Taiwanese fabless chip company ISSC Technologies Corp., which sells Bluetooth chips aimed at the growing IoT sector.



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HP Plans 16,000 More Layoffs

Hewlett-Packard stunned analysts with plans to lay off 16,000 more employees, but execs insisted the company is on the road back.



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DesignCon Issues 2015 Call for Abstracts

The annual conference on high-speed digital design, signal integrity, and power integrity is now taking submissions for paper abstracts.



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NANO Servo Drive Delivers 4000 W In Any Environment

Weighing in at less than an ounce, Elmo’s Gold Twitter servo drive, delivers up to 4000 W of qualitative power, ultra high current such as 50 A / 100 V with the most advanced servo capabilities and support for EtherCAT and CANopen field-bus

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'Must Haves' When Designing for the All Programmable Era

Today's designers need to seek out next-generation development tools built from the ground up to address productivity bottlenecks in system-level integration and implementation.



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Google Recalls Nest Smoke Detector

Algorithm-detection flaw may misread any nearby motion as a command to silence an alarm.



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Why Do You Do It That Way?

When using software tools, hardware devices, and mechanical contraptions, do you always follow a certain sequence of operations on the basis that you know this sequence works?



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PCIM: Polypropylene caps for power

AVX is aiming at power supplies and pulse applications with a series of metallised polypropylene film capacitors.

Called the FM series, they span 0.01-0.47µF and 2kV-250V.

Non-inductively wound and encapsulated in a flame retardant plastic case sealed with self-extinguishing, epoxy, they featuring RoHS-compliant double metallised polyester film electrodes in series construction.

The firm is claiming high reliability at high current stress, high dv/dt capability, high moisture resistance, high capacitance stability, low losses, self-healing properties, and long useful lifetimes. Take a look at the FM Series data sheet to see what it means by this. For example, dV/dt capability varies from 45 to 9,000V/µs.

AVX is advocating these parts as electroitic alternatives: “Unlike aluminium electrolytics, film capacitors do not have a catastrophic failure mode,” it said. “Film capacitors simply experience a parametric loss of capacitance of about 2% from initial value, with no risk of short circuit. The capacitor continues to be functional even after this 2% decrease.”

Operating temperature is -40 to 105°C, and applications are expected in fast rise time pulse circuits, high voltage supplies, power converters, snubbers, and electronic lighting ballasts for compact florescent lamps and LEDs.

There are 17 case sizes (A-S), 14 voltages, three capacitance tolerances (±5, 10, and 20%), and two lead lengths (3.5 and 22mm).

Lead time is approximately eight weeks.

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Machine Fixes That Made Me Go 'DUH!'

Manufacturing engineer Jeremy Cook discusses some of his favorite troubleshooting cases.



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MIPS Rallies Open-Source Group

Imagination Technologies gathered 10 companies including Broadcom, Cavium, and Qualcomm to develop open-source code for MIPS CPUs.



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