Record iPhone Sales Lift Apple

Apple posted it's best-ever quarterly revenue thanks in part to stronger-than-expected sales of its flagship smartphone.

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Industrial IoT Nets Blossom

A survey shows growth in large deployments of the Internet of Things in industrial markets as a trade group prepares an analysis of competing protocols.

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Are We Ready to Chat With Our Toasters?

Consumer electronics and appliances makers are pushing to add voice control to their products in the wake of the success of Amazon Echo and Google Home.

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Cavendish Kinetics RF MEMS tuner in Samsung Galaxy A8

Cavendish Kinetics, the RF MEMS tuner specialist owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, says its SmarTune RF MEMS antenna tuners have been adopted by 40 different smartphone models from 10 manufacturers, including the Samsung Galaxy A8. RF MEMS technology has the potential to improve smartphone performance and user experience. Antenna tuning has become the default ...

Read full article: Cavendish Kinetics RF MEMS tuner in Samsung Galaxy A8

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Who Would Have Predicted So Much Programmability?

It's the time of year for forecasts, inaugurations, and awards, so here is an irreverent take on some of the news over the past few weeks.

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IoT Contest Shows Security Gaps

Participants in an IoT security challenge hosted by Mitre share lessons finding vulnerabilities in Zigbee and Z-Wave networks

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Waterproof micro USB connector

CUI’s Interconnect Group has announced a waterproof micro USB 2.0 connector. UJ2W‑MIBH‑4‑SMT is a micro B type with IPX7 rating for wet and damp environments. Copper alloy contact terminals with 30µinch gold-over-nickel plating and stainless steel shielding mean high durability – 10,000 mating cycles. The series features a surface mount package and horizontal orientation. Plastic mounting ...

Read full article: Waterproof micro USB connector

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IoT Secure Systems Systems Summit expands speaker lineup

The IoT Secure Systems Summit 2017 runs in London on Tuesday 25 April, and the speaker lineup has been expanded. Another industry expert – Jan Tobias Muehlberg of Imec-DistriNet – will be speaking at the one day conference devoted to the design of secure hardware and software, with a particular emphasis on the IoT. The title ...

Read full article: IoT Secure Systems Systems Summit expands speaker lineup

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Bristol University cuts sensor power stand-by to ‘zero’.

  Engineers at the University of Bristol have developed a three terminal pico-power chip that can cut stand-by drain in sensor node – even compared with today’s low-power microcontrollers. It does this by replacing the brief wake period in low duty-cycle sleep-wake-sleep MCU-based sensor monitors, with a voltage detector powered by the sensor – there ...

Read full article: Bristol University cuts sensor power stand-by to ‘zero’.

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Rohde & Schwarz introduce 6GHz scope for testing IoT

Rohde & Schwarz has added a 6GHz oscilloscope to its RTO2000 scope family. Intended for the testing of radio interfaces of 802.11ac WLAN components for IoT modules in the 5GHz band, the scope has up to 16-bit vertical resolution in high definition mode. It has a refresh rate of one million waveforms per second, and ...

Read full article: Rohde & Schwarz introduce 6GHz scope for testing IoT

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The ethics of driverless cars – or how to stop the killer robots

The risks for driverless cars will be a battle between the professional hacker and the system developer to protect both the passengers, pedestrians and other road users from malicious attacks, writes Mark Patrick With driverless cars becoming a reality and rolling out in trials around the world, it is now that  the ethical and liability ...

Read full article: The ethics of driverless cars – or how to stop the killer robots 

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Rohm claims world’s smallest reflector LED.

Rohm says it is selling the world’s smallest reflector-type high brighteness 3-colour LED. It is optimized for consumer devices such as matrix light sources for gaming and wearables that demand increased miniaturization. The MSL0402RGBU measures 1.8mmx1.6mm. In order to turn on matrix light sources it is necessary to take measures against ESD. Unlike conventional solutions that ...

Read full article: Rohm claims world’s smallest reflector LED.

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Element 14 releases Autodesk Eagle

Element14, the Development Distributor, released Autodesk EAGLE, which combines power, accesibility and affordability. The PCB Design Software is a  Schematic, PCB and collaboration tool with a new routing engine, ultra-precise selection, and easy circuitry reuse. Engineers can use Autodesk EAGLE to deliver integrated ECAD/MCAD for designing smart products. EAGLE will now be available through element14 ...

Read full article: Element 14 releases Autodesk Eagle

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EU gives £13m to Cardiff Compound Cluster

The compound semiconductor cluster at Cardiff led by IQE has received £13 million from the EU.The grant will go to establishing a clean- room in Cardiff.   “The role of compound semiconductors as an enabling technology for a wide range of next-generation applications, from high-speed communications to autonomous vehicles, is widely acknowledged worldwide, with major ...

Read full article: EU gives £13m to Cardiff Compound Cluster

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Nokia Applies IMPACT to IoT Fragmentation

Lack of security and fragmentation are often cited as basic reasons why the Internet of Things market has been slow to catch fire. Nokia hopes to provide pre-integrated applications that help alleviate customers' initial trepidation before plunging into IoT.

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Samsung Beats Apple to Punch with MEMS Antenna Tuning Array

Samsung beats Apple to the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) antenna tuning array by Cavendish Kinetics.

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Our Man in China: Ask Yorbe

As China was gearing down for its New Year celebration, we asked our colleague, EE Times China's editor in chief, about China's electronics industry and the market in 2017.

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Slideshow: 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 1 Fire

A tragedy is commemorated by the Kennedy Space Center on it's 50th Anniversary.

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Is It Time to Bring Back the TV Antenna?

Accompanying the general cord-cutting trend, the percentage of U.S. households using antenna-only TV has grown.

read more

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Transformers for Offline Flyback Converters

Sponsored by Bourns

Learn why flyback transformers are well-suited for low power offline converters used in applications such as smart meters, LCD displays and small appliances. Implementing a flyback design allows higher output than a buck configuration. Bourns provides design considerations that include the calculations involved in selecting the primary inductance as well as the number of primary turns for a transformer.

read more

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Selecting the Right Sense Resistor for Motor Control with Reinforced Isolation

Sponsored by Bourns

Current sense resistors help motor control system designs benefit from adopting new digital isolation technologies. Bourns offers recommendations for selecting the best current sense resistor for this application. The paper presents the standard differences between traditional opto-coupler-based technologies and inductive/capacitive technologies for reinforced isolation, and provides a system overview that uses digital control of a motor drive.

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Implementing Overtemperature/Overcurrent Protection Matching Today’s Higher Current Capacity Lithium-Ion Batteries

Sponsored by Bourns

Overtemperature/overcurrent threats are growing concerns in higher capacity batteries that have greater stored energy. Short circuits or deep discharges can increase temperatures in the battery cell to levels high enough to cause damage not only to the battery cell itself, but to other components.

read more

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Nano Dimension embeds components in 3D printed PCBs

Nano Dimension, the Israel 3D printing specialist,  has successfully 3D printed electrical circuits, in which it embedded electrical components, through placement, as an integral part of the printing process.  The company’s 3D printer – the DragonFly 2020 – enables 3D printing of PCBs with conductive ink and dielectric ink. Today, the company announced a successful proof ...

Read full article: Nano Dimension embeds components in 3D printed PCBs

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Murata has introduced the LQM18JN series of chip inductors for near field communication (NFC) applications while overcoming inherent problems associated with previous NFC designs to offer a better, more consistent performance.   In recent years an increasing number of electronic devices such as smartphones have included NFC capability. NFC circuits utilize a chip inductor for ...

Read full article:

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Bosch joins MIPI Alliance

  Bosch Sensortec  has joined the MIPI Alliance as a Contributor Member. The MIPI Alliance is a non-profit organization with more than 275 active member companies, developing interface specifications which drive consistency in processor and peripheral interfaces, promoting reuse and compatibility in mobile and IoT devices. Bosch Sensortec’s portfolio of MEMS sensors and solutions is ...

Read full article: Bosch joins MIPI Alliance

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Intel to sharply increase capex

Intel is looking to sharply increase capex in 2017 as it brings up its 10nm process. This is despite Intel’s forecast that 2017 sales will be flat with 2016. Intel’s 2017 capex is forecast to be $12 billion which is a $2.4 billion increase from last year. Intel’s memory capex is expected to grow from ...

Read full article: Intel to sharply increase capex

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Failed Capacitors Down Computer Monitor

When capacitors in a computer monitor's power supply failed, the problem was obvious. Take a look inside of the AC mains power adapter.

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EEVblog #967 – Mystery Teardown

Mystery Teardown Time

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Toshiba Confirms Memory Chip Selloff

Toshiba formally announced that it will sell a chunk -- but less than 20 percent -- of its memory chip business. Toshiba will proceed with its expansion plan for 3D flash memory production as scheduled.

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Miniaturization, IoT Fuel Electronics Adhesive Growth

Competitive market is benefitting from the demand for high-quality electronics and is focused on innovation as vendors look at growth through acquisition

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Persistent Memory Platform Support Will Take Time

NVDIMM ecosystem is still taking shape, and computing architectures must continue to support existing software applications

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What Are the Best Engineer-Based T-Shirts?

If you knew someone who was in the market for Engineer- or Engineering-related T-Shirts, are there any really good ones you would recommend?

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Electro-‘muscles’ made from natural fibres

Swedish researchers have made ‘muscles’ by coating natural fibres with electro-active polymers. The actuators, according to ‘Knitting and weaving artificial muscles‘, a paper in Science Advances, typically deliver a few megapascals of stress, beating mammalian skeletal muscles which score around 0.35MPa. However, they are slow at the moment, acting over several seconds.   Woven muscles exert ...

Read full article: Electro-‘muscles’ made from natural fibres

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Toshiba mulls chip IPO

At a board meeting earlier today, Toshiba approved the proposed spin-out of its chip division and said that an IPO is one option for the unit. It was also said that they would look to IPO less than 20% of the spun-out company. Previous ways of raising cash were to simply sell a stake to ...

Read full article: Toshiba mulls chip IPO

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Fourth generation super-junction mosfet from Vishay

Vishay has introduced the first device in its fourth generation of 600V E Series power mosfets, which is aimed at telecom, industrial, and enterprise power supplies. The n-channel SiHP065N60E has 30% less 0n-resistance and 44 % lower gate charge compared with previous 600 V E Series devices. The figures are 0.065Ω max at 10 V ...

Read full article: Fourth generation super-junction mosfet from Vishay

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UK robotics head welcomes May’s industrial blueprint

Prime Minister Theresa May singled out robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) in her blueprint for a ‘modern’ industrial strategy for the UK. She indicated that part of the proposed £4.7bn investment in research and development to underpin her industrial plans, which are designed to strengthen the UK economy through greater self-sufficiency, post-Brexit, would be targeted ...

Read full article: UK robotics head welcomes May’s industrial blueprint

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Harvard scientists make metallic hydrogen

Harvard scientists Professor Isaac Silvera and Ranga Dias have made metallic hydrogen – a material which could have many applications including room temperature superconductors. “This is the Holy Grail of high-pressure physics,” says Silvera “It’s the first-ever sample of metallic hydrogen on Earth, so when you’re looking at it, you’re looking at something that’s never ...

Read full article: Harvard scientists make metallic hydrogen

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Trump, Brexit Cloud Upbeat 2017

The semiconductor market is posed for a better year ahead but uncertainties with President Trump, China and Brexit could sway the numbers.

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Friday Quiz: Specifying Power Supplies, Part 2

We continue our power-supply quiz with four more questions. Do you agree with the answers?

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Spin Transfer Technologies samples ST-MRAM

Spin Transfer Technologies (STT), the developer of breakthrough Orthogonal Spin Transfer Magneto-Resistive Random Access Memory technology (OST-MRAM), is sampling fully functional ST-MRAM devices to multiple customers in North America and Asia. The sample devices utilize 80nm perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), the latest generation of MRAM technology. The company is delivering these devices on evaluation ...

Read full article: Spin Transfer Technologies samples ST-MRAM

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MediaTek Expects Slow Q1 Growth

MediaTek, Qualcomm's largest rival in the smartphone silicon business, is forecasting slow growth during the first quarter this year as the overall market remains in the doldrums.

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Intel Cautious on PC Consumption

Intel's fourth quarter sales and profit beat expectations and the company also delivered a better-than-expected forecast for the first quarter of this year.

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Intel revenues $59.4bn in 2016

Intel had 2016 revenues of $59.4 billion, operating income of $12.9 billion, net income of $10.3 billion and cash flow of $21.8 billion. For Q4, Intel had revenue of $16.4 billion, operating of $4.5 billion, net income of $3.6 billion. The PC business grew 2% in 2016; Thee data centre business grew 8% to $17.2 ...

Read full article: Intel revenues $59.4bn in 2016

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What Do You Do When Someone Says You Are a Waste of Time?

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a flame war? Or have you ever instigated a flame war you subsequently grew to regret?

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Electronic Design’s Products of the Week (1/22-1/28)

Here we've rounded up some of the latest products to optimize your applications, devices, and systems.

read more

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An Amateur’s View on the P2 (Part 2): Slew Rate and the Oscillator

Justin Mamaradlo takes a further look into the P2 op amp and how it functions, analyzing the oscillation and slew-rate characteristics of the venerable component.

read more

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Talent Hunt in China's Memory Triangle

Tsinghua Unigroup's recently disclosed d plans to build a $30 billion memory chip in Nanjing was unexpected - even by many China watchers. Unfolding are fierce battles over talent, manufacturing equipment and regional financing - among Xi'an, Wuhan and Nanjing.

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FPGA-Based AI System Recognizes Faces at 1,000 Images per Second

There is tremendous potential for facial recognition technology, such as informing visually impaired persons if someone they know is approaching them.

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Printed electronics centre expands in Durham

The UK Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is to develop ways to print the electronics of RFID lables, with £2.6m from the European Regional Development Fund. The funding will allow CPI to establish the Emerging Electronics Manufacturing Centre in County Durham, which will provide: a reel-to-reel RFID inlay production line, producing reels of RFID labels ...

Read full article: Printed electronics centre expands in Durham

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Better wisdom from the crowd

The ‘wisdom of the crowd’ can be better extracted by asking two questions: What someone thinks the right answer is, and what they think popular opinion will be. The variation between the two aggregate responses indicates the correct answer, according to MIT’s Sloan Neuroeconomics Lab which worked with Princeton University. “In situations where there is ...

Read full article: Better wisdom from the crowd

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Deep learning diagnoses skin cancer as well as professionals

Stanford University develops artificial intelligence that can diagnose skin cancer as well as dermatologists, it claims.

Read full article: Deep learning diagnoses skin cancer as well as professionals

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Smart grid control technique handles wind turbine contributions

Chinese researchers are developing a smart grid control technique to handle wind turbine contributions.

Read full article: Smart grid control technique handles wind turbine contributions

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Qualcomm Q4 shows growth but challenges mount

  Qualcomm reported 2016 revenues of $23.5 billion and Q4 revenues of $6.2 billion up from $6 billion in Q3. Net income for Q4 was $1.9 billion, up from Q3’s $1.7 billion but that was hit by an $868 million fine from the Korean FTC. “We are forecasting continued growth of global 3G/4G device shipments ...

Read full article: Qualcomm Q4 shows growth but challenges mount

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Cypress aims FL-L flash at automotive, industrial and IoT

Cypress adds to its FL-L flash family with AEC-Q100 (automotive) qualified 64 and 128Mbit NOR memories with Quad SPI data transfer.

Read full article: Cypress aims FL-L flash at automotive, industrial and IoT

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DNA sequencing can give everyone a genetic passport

A new age has dawned: the age of when a full genome can be sequenced for $1,000. It’s an important milestone for medicine. DNA sequencing specialists Yves Moreau and Pol Van Dorpe discuss how DNA sequencers can be made cheaper and more efficient. A genetic passport for everyone? There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in ...

Read full article: DNA sequencing can give everyone a genetic passport

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ST Q4 profits up; plans to invest $1bn in manufacturing

ST saw Q4 operating profit of $112 million up from $2 million in Q4 2015 on revenues of $1.86 billion up from $1.67 billion in Q4 2025.   “In the fourth quarter we continued to see sustained demand, resulting in revenues and gross margin better than the midpoint of our guidance. Net revenues grew 3.5% ...

Read full article: ST Q4 profits up; plans to invest $1bn in manufacturing

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Arrow offers configurable Artesyn power supply service

Arrow has partnered with Artesyn to offer a configurable AC-DC power supply service from its production facility in Swindon. The distributor will offer configured power supplies from Artesyn’s MP, iMP and low profile (1U) MicroMP (uMP) ranges. It will offer the service on small batches of up to ten units with a 48 hour turnaround ...

Read full article: Arrow offers configurable Artesyn power supply service

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Fujitsu Labs develops connection control for LTE and WiFi

Fujitsu Laboratories has announced the development of connection control technology for LTE and Wi-Fi to boost communication speed in areas with Wi-Fi. When devices doing high-load communications tasks, such as streaming videos, are concentrated on a single Wi-Fi access point, deterioration in communications speed for each of these devices is a problem. Until now, devices ...

Read full article: Fujitsu Labs develops connection control for LTE and WiFi

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Samsung Expects Strong Memory Sales in '17

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of smartphones and the second-largest chipmaker, said it expects strong memory sales this year as the balance between supply and demand tightens.

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ASE posts NT$2.83 EPS for 2016

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) has reported net profits of NT$21.69 billion (US$692.3 million) for 2016 - the second-highest annual levels in the company's history. EPS for the year came to NT$2.83 compared with NT$2.51 in 2015.

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Acer covering all bases with niche notebook offerings in 2017

With the kickoff of the 2017 British Educational Training and Technology Show (BETT) in London, Acer announced multiple notebooks targeting the education market, adding to an already busy 2017 where the vendor has been lining up products that target niche markets including education, the gaming market and even for those consumers looking for something a little more spiritual.

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Microsoft to partner with notebook vendors to push Lunar New Year promotions

Microsoft has cooperated with its notebook partners including Acer, Asustek Computer and Micro-Star International (MSI) to promote their notebooks over the Lunar New Year holidays.

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DONG Energy, Macquarie Capital to acquire stakes in Formosa I

Denmark-based DONG Energy AVS and Australia-based Macquarie Capital will acquire a 35% stake and a 50% stake respectively, in Formosa I, an offshore wind power generation project currently wholly owned by Taiwan-based resin maker Swancor Industrial, according to Swancor Holding, the parent company of Swancor Industrial.

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Japan market: OLED TV prices fall, says Nikkei

Retail prices for OLED TVs in the Japan market have dropped significantly due to decreases in price for OLED panels, according to Japan-based Nikkei.

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MediaTek posts profit drop with record low gross margin for 2016

Taiwan-based MediaTek, a fabless chipmaker specializing in smartphone SoCs, saw its net profits fall 6.7% in 2016 with gross margin reaching a record low of 35.6%.

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Acer expects over 10% on-year revenue growth from Taiwan

Acer Taiwan general manager Dave Lin expects the company's revenues from Taiwan to grow by a double-digit percentage on year in 2017 and he has seen demand for the company's ultra-thin notebooks launched in the second half of 2016 growing strong recently and has had to shift inventory from other branch offices to fulfill demand.

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Formosa Petrochemical, Nikkiso to set up UV LED joint-venture

Petrochemical maker Formosa Petrochemical on January 25 announced the establishment of a joint-venture to make UV (ultraviolet) LED products, Nikkiso Formosa, with Japan-based medical and industrial equipment maker Nikkiso.

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SK Hynix 4Q16 profits rebound above KRW1 trillion

SK Hynix saw its operating profits surge to KRW1.54 trillion (US$1.33 billion) in the fourth qurter of 2016, while net profits also grew above KRW1 trillion.

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Startup Sampling pMTJ MRAM

Spin Transfer Technology's delivery of fully functional devices is more momentum for emerging technology.

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Taiwan market: Samsung set to recapture top smartphone vendor ranking in 2Q17

Samsung Electronics is expected to recapture the number one title in Taiwan's smartphone market in the second quarter of 2017, powered by its high-performance mid-range models, according to sources from local retail channels.

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India market: China smartphone vendors account for 46% market share in 4Q16, says Counterpoint

Smartphones shipped by China-based vendors accounted for 46% of smartphones sold in India in the fourth quarter of 2016, up from 14% a year earlier, according to data compiled by Counterpoint.

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Taiwan Mobile expects revenues to grow mildly in 2017

Taiwan-based mobile telecom operator Taiwan Mobile (TWM) expects its revenues to grow 2% on year to NT$118.85 billion (US$3.793 billion) in 2017, while operating income will decline 7% to NT$18.56 billion.

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DRAM prices to continue rally

DRAM prices will rally through the second quarter of 2017 to reflect ongoing tight supply, according to Pei-Ing Lee, president for Nanya Technology. It is likely prices will start to show stability in the third quarter.

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Winbond buys equipment for NT$3.32 billion

Winbond Electronics, a memory chipmaker specializing in specialty DRAM and flash chips, has disclosed two purchases of machinery for NT$3.32 billion (US$105.9 million).

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Nanya posts EPS of NT$7.33 for 4Q16

DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology has announced net profits surged to NT$20.06 billion (US$639.5 million) for the fourth quarter of 2016, with EPS reaching NT$7.33 compared with NT$0.51 in the prior quarter and NT$0.77 a year ago.

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Compal ramping up smartwatch shipments to Fossil, says paper

Compal Electronics is expected to double OEM smartwatch shipments to brand vendor Fossil to 1.2 million units in 2017, up from 500,000-600,000 units shipped in the previous year, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report.

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Alibaba sees significant on-year growth in 4Q16

The largest China-based e-commerce operator Alibaba Group Holding on January 24 released its financial report for the fourth quarter of 2016, posting consolidated revenues of CNY53.248 billion (US$7.669 billion), hiking 54% on year, EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization) of CNY27.021 billion, up 41%, net operating profit of CNY20.664 billion, up 66%, and net profit of CNY17.157 billion, up 38%.

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Digitimes Research: Taiwan makers ship over 61 million large-size TFT-LCD panels in 4Q16

Taiwan-based makers shipped a total of 61.37 million large-size (9-inch and above) TFT-LCD panels during the fourth quarter of 2016, decreasing 1.5% on quarter but increasing 2% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

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Taiwan wearable product shipments to account for 42% of global shipments in 2018, says MIC

The ratio of Taiwan's shipments of smart wearable devices, mainly smartwatches and bracelets, to global shipments will grow from 39% in 2016 to 42% in 2018 and further increase to 46% in 2021, according to Taipei-based Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC).

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Holtek posts NT$3.47 EPS for 2016

Holtek Semiconductor, which designs and develops standard microcontrollers (MCU) and consumer electronics IC solutions, has reported net profits for 2016 decreased 2.8% on year to NT$784 million (US$25 million). EPS for the year came to NT$3.47.

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Patent Suits Hit Q'comm Profits

Qualcomm's quarter profits fell as a result of a fine from the Korea government in one of now five cases alleging unfair patent licensing.

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Apple Seeks High-Tech Manufacturing Center in AZ

MESA, AZ--Apple Inc. is seeking permission to conduct high-tech manufacturing and to build data-center server gear in a facility here, according to a notice published last week by the US federal government. A notification published in the Federal Register on Jan. 16 said Apple was looking for approval from the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to produce "finished products" in a special zone that exempts it from customs duty payments.

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Do-It-Yourself Strain Relief: A Necessary Task

Basics like strain relief are critical to the long-term reliability of cables and connectors: Neglect it and you could have an unpleasant surprise; anticipate it and you could be a happy user.

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Ex-Elpida CEO's China Fab Plan: Dropped?

In a span of only 11 months, a memory chip company in China, called Sino King Technology and founded by the former CEO of Elpida, Yukio Sakamoto, has morphed from a dream to an apparent reality to a phantom.

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Space X: L.A. to S.F. in 35 Minutes

The Space X contest narrowed down a field of over 1200 entrants to 29 for the pod trip by tube from L.A. To S.F. in 35 minutes.

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Mouser stocks SparkFun for makers and professionals

Mouser has signed a global distribution agreement with SparkFun Electronics, to distribute its DIY electronics and open-source technology globally. The distributor is expecting interest from professionals as well as hobbyists and makers. “The agreement provides increased access to both Mouser’s and SparkFun’s product ecosystems, enabling customers to shop for maker technology to support their projects,” ...

Read full article: Mouser stocks SparkFun for makers and professionals

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Tiny battery connector handles 10A for faster charging

Kyocera has managed to squeeze 10A capability into a 2.2 x 5.64mm board to board connector with 0.7mm stack height. Part of the 7129 series, it is intended to allow high battery charging currents in portable devices such as smartphones, tablets and wearables. It also includes two signal pins. According to the firm, it has metal guides ...

Read full article: Tiny battery connector handles 10A for faster charging

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FPCB maker Flexium earnings up in 4Q16, but down for all of 2016

Flexible PCB maker Flexium Interconnected has reported net profits of NT$1.026 billion (US$32.73 million) for the fourth quarter of 2016, up 41.7% on quarter and 30% on year. EPS for the quarter stood at NT$3.66.

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Google develops meldCX via cooperation with AOpen

Google has offered meldCX, customized software and services to enable Chromebox, Chromebase and Chromebook compatibility with retail operators' existing peripheral devices not based on Chrome OS. meldCX was developed through cooperation with Taiwan-based AOpen, Google's hardware partner.

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LG Display 4Q16 net operating profit hits record

LG Display has released its fourth-quarter 2016 financial report, with net operating profit of KRW904 billion (US$774 million) hitting a quarterly record.

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Corning reports strong earnings for 4Q16

Corning has reported strong earnings for fourth-quarter 2016, with net income reaching US$1.572 billion, rising 454% sequentially and 602% on year. EPS for the quarter came to US$1.47, up 465% on quarter and up 765% on year.

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US fab tool book-to-bill ratio rises to 7-month high

The SEMI book-to-bill ratio for US manufacturers of semiconductor equipment came to 1.06 in December 2016, the highest in seven months, compared with 0.96 in the prior month and 1.00 a year ago.

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Diode maker Eris to post 30% profit growth in 2017

Taiwan-based Eris Technology's profitability in 2017 is expected to be boosted by stable orders from US-based Diodes, which is gearing up for expansion in the automotive electronics sector.

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Casetek shipping chassis to new smartphone client in China

Taiwan-based chassis maker Casetek Holdings has landed orders from one of the top-5 smartphone vendors in China and has recently begun shipping products to the client, according to company CEO and president Gary Chuang.

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Is Semiconductor M&A Wave Dissipating?

The wave of consolidation that has swept the semiconductor industry over the past two years has shown some signs of slowing, but is it?

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EUV in Focus at Photonics West

Researchers at Photonics West will discuss advances in a 250W light source for EUV lithography, new infrared cameras and Li-Fi, data communications using LED lights.

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EEVblog #966 – CPM700 Counter Surveillance Monitor Repair

Repair of the CPM700 Counter Surveillance Monitor (Bug Detector)
Forum HERE

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Commentary: Foxconn faces obstacles to US display panel plan

Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) chairman Terry Guo has indicated that the company is considering establishing a display panel factory in the US through cooperation with Sharp, which is expected to provide advanced panel technology. However, the feasibility of the project will hinge on land costs for land, water supply and power supply, Guo noted.

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Taiwan 4Q16 economic growth estimated at 2.58%, says DGBAS

Taiwan's economic growth in GDP for fourth-quarter 2016 is estimated at 2.58%, upward adjusted by 0.21pp from the forecast made in November 2016, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

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Over 260 million TV panels shipped in 2016, says WitsView

There were 260.41 million TV panels shipped globally in 2016, decreasing 3.5% on year, but the corresponding total panel area grew 6.5% as average size increased by 2.2-inch to 43.6-inch, according to WitsView.

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Taiwan market: CHT expects profits to edge down 8% in 2017

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) expects its consolidated revenues to inch up 0.5% on year to NT$231.16 billion (US$7.373 billion) in 2017, but net profits are likely to decline 8% to NT$6.89 billion.

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Digitimes Research: Samsung, LG beefing up digital signage technology development

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have been strengthening development of digital signage technology, with the former applying transparent and mirror display technology and developing Ultra HD LCD and LED displays for digital signage and the latter applying curved-surface AMOLED technology to enhance PID (public information display) design, according to Digitimes Research.

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Taiwan 4Q16 international Internet bandwidth stands at 2.067Tbps, says TWNIC

Taiwan's direct Internet connection with 15 countries (including Hong Kong and Macao) reached total bandwidth of 2.067Tbps as of fourth-quarter 2016, increasing 16.26% sequentially and 20.52% on year, according to the government-sponsored Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC).

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Silicon Motion posts record revenues and profits for 2016

Revenues at Silicon Motion Technology climbed to a record US$556 million in 2016, up 54% on year, while net profits (non-GAAP) also reached a record US$130 million. The company's diluted earnings per ADS reached US$3.64 for the year.

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Increasing sales of Nvidia graphics cards to affect profitability of other suppliers

Efforts by Nvidia to push sales of its own-brand Founders Edition graphics cards are likely to affect the profitability of graphics card suppliers in Taiwan and China in 2017 and beyond, according to industry sources.

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Chilisin eyeing top-3 spot in passive component segment

Acquiring fellow passive component companies Ralec Electronic and Ferroxcube will help Chilisin Electronics improve its global market share, according to company president Shih-ying Chung. Chilisin is aiming to become a global top-3 passive components supplier, said Chung.

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China December mobile communication user base grows to 1.322 billion, says MIIT

There were 1.322 billion subscribers of mobile communication services in China as of the end of December 2016, increasing 0.17% on month and 1.24% on year, of which 170.81 million (12.92%) of which were 3G users, 769.95 million (58.24%) were 4G users and 1.094 billion (82.75%) were mobile Internet-access users, according to statistics published by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

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China software revenues reach CNY4.851 trillion in 2016, says MIIT

China's software industry generated total revenues of CNY4.851 trillion (US$730.6 billion) in 2016, growing 14.9% on year, according to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

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SPIL posts EPS of NT$3.19 for 2016

Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) saw its net profits increase 13.4% on year to NT$9.93 billion (US$316 million) in 2016 with EPS reaching NT$3.19. Non-operating gains led to the net income growth, according to the Taiwan-based IC packaging and testing house.

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Winbond nets NT$0.23 per share for 4Q16

Winbond Electronics, a memory chipmaker specializing in specialty DRAM and flash memory, saw its fourth-quarter net profits climb to the peak for 2016 at NT$871 million (US$27.8 million). EPS for the quarter came to NT$0.23.

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Nvidia's Jetson Goes Embedded, Gets Cisco

GPUs shine no longer in just supercomputers, PCs and game machines. Nvidia, the graphics chip giant, is eagerly plowing inroads into the embedded market, by leveraging Jetson TX1, its AI computing platform.

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Video Conferencing & Collaboration Leaps Forward

The NVIDIA Jetson TX1-powered Cisco Spark Board sets the current standard in video conferencing and collaboration.

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Just How Secure Is Your Car?

Hackers are finding increasingly sophisticated ways to break into cars and control functions from radio to braking. Do carmakers have time to get it right?

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UMC's 28nm Ramp to Slip This Year

United Microelectronics Corp., Taiwan's second largest foundry, said the ramp of its most advanced node, 28nm, will probably slip during the early portion of 2017 under strong competition.

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Chip Sales Projected to Grow 7% in 2017

Market research firm Gartner says the turnaround in chip sales that started in the second half of 2016 will continue through 2017.

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China Goes on an M&A Diet

A decade-long trend of the China government encouraging Chinese businesses to expand globally by acquiring resources, advanced technologies, and distribution channels overseas is hitting a speed bump.

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Why Yes, that is my Bagpipe Backpack Case

Even if the people who know and love you forbid you to take up the bagpipes, surely there can be no objection to one's owning a bagpipe case.

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Samsung profit up 50% y-o-y.

Samsung Electronics had Q4 operating profit of $7.9 billion on revenues of $53 billion – the highest operating profit in 13 quarters and 50% up on Q4 2015. $4.25 billion of the profit came from the semiconductor business which was 77% up on Q4 2015. “Fourth quarter earnings were driven by the components businesses, mainly ...

Read full article: Samsung profit up 50% y-o-y.

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Four-point plan to save the tech sector post-Brexit

A new report says that the tech sector is highly integrated with European markets and dependent upon legal and regulatory frameworks established at EU level over many decades. The report ‘The UK Digital Sectors After Brexit‘ by Frontier Economics was commissioned by digital business body techUK. According to techUK, it is “extremely difficult to predict exactly what ...

Read full article: Four-point plan to save the tech sector post-Brexit

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Distributor rates suppliers and delivery performance

Anglia is providing its online customers with analysis of forward, current and historical orders and enquiries. The distributor is also giving a vendor rating based on delivery performance. Steve Rawlins, CEO of Anglia says he wants to give customers complete transparency in their trading relationship with Anglia. “We’re putting full and comprehensive information about our business relationship ...

Read full article: Distributor rates suppliers and delivery performance

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Asus’s 1.8GHz 32bit quad core Raspberry Pi clone

PC giant Asus has jumped on the Raspberry Pi bandwagon with Tinker Board. According to Farnell, which is stocking it, it has a Quad core 1.8GHz ARM Cortex-A17 CPU from Rockchip – faster than Raspberry Pi 3, but 32bit compared to Raspberry Pi’s 64bit. Tinker Board also has more memory – 2GB dual channel LPDDR3. Its Rockchip RK3288 ...

Read full article: Asus’s 1.8GHz 32bit quad core Raspberry Pi clone

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Designing smart tech lowers mental anxiety

An imaginative smart textiles design workshop has shown that involvement in new technologies can benefit people with mental health issues, writes Richard Wilson A research project involving technology product design using smart textiles has been used to help people with mental health conditions by lowering levels of anxiety. Dr Sarah Kettley, a reader in product ...

Read full article: Designing smart tech lowers mental anxiety

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Samsung chip business posts record operating profits for 4Q16

Samsung Electronics has reported operating profits of KRW9.22 trillion (US$7.9 billion) for the fourth quarter of 2016 - the highest in 13 quarters - while its semiconductor business posted record profits of KRW4.95 trillion.

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Giga Solar Materials to start production at factory in eastern China at end of March

PV conductive paste maker Giga Solar Materials is constructing a factory in Yancheng City, eastern China, and will kick off production of PV silver paste, PV silver-aluminum paste and PV aluminum paste at the factory at the end of March 2017, according to company chairman Jimmy Chen.

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China market: Foxconn to produce bicycles for startup Mobike

China-based bike-sharing startup Mobike has reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Foxconn Electronics to jointly design, develop and integrate the global supply chain for production of bicycles, the company said during a press conference held on January 23.

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Worldwide semiconductor revenues to grow 7.2% in 2017, says Gartner

Worldwide semiconductor revenues are forecast to total US$364.1 billion in 2017, an increase of 7.2% from 2016, according to Gartner. This represents a complete turnaround for the semiconductor industry as the market experienced 1.5% growth in 2016.

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Solution vendors to start rolling out 5G chips in 2H17, say sources

While business opportunities related to 5G equipment and services are expected to start emerging in 2018, 5G chipset suppliers will begin to release 5G chips to vie for the market in the second half of 2017, according to industry sources.

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Brand vendors to launch smartphones with AI applications to ramp up sales in 2017

Smartphone vendors, including Apple, Samsung Electronics, Huawei, LG Electronics and Xiaomi Technology, are likely to introduce models featuring AI (artificial intelligence) applications as a means to ramp up market shares in 2017, according to industry sources.

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Smart LED lighting, high-end backlighting, IR devices to drive Unity Opto growth in 2017, says chairman

LED packaging service provider Unity Opto Technology expects smart lighting, high-end backlighting and infrared (IR) applications to drive business growth and hike overall gross margin by 3-5pp in 2017, according to company chairman Wu Ching-huei.

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Taiwan market: Seiko Epson launches Smart Canvas

Seiko Epson has launched Smart Canvas smartwatch in the Taiwan market at NT$5,490 (US$173) for watch body alone plus NT$999 for a belt made of synthetic leather, according to Epson Taiwan.

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Digitimes Research: China smartphone vendors may favor local AMOLED suppliers over Samsung Display

It may be difficult for China-based AMOLED panel makers to obtain orders from Apple and other international smartphone vendors at least in the next five years das they are technologically inferior to Samsung Display, but their products are likely to be adopted by local smartphone vendors whose global market share is rising, according to Digitimes Research.

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Hua Hong to intro 3rd-gen super-junction MOSFET process in 1H17

Hua Hong Semiconductor is already engaged in the R&D of its third-generation super-junction MOSFET process platform, which will be introduced to the market globally in the first half of 2017, according to the China-based pure-play foundry.

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UMC to start shipping 14nm chips in 1Q17

United Microelectronics (UMC) will begin commercial shipments of chips built using 14nm FinFET technology at the end of first-quarter 2017, according to the pure-play foundry.

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China market: Future Mobility to build smart electric car plant in Nanjing

Future Mobility, a joint venture set up by Foxconn Electronics, Tencent Holdings and China Harmony Auto Holding to develop smart electric vehicles in China, will invest CNY11.6 billion (US$1.69 billion) to build a smart vehicle manufacturing plant in Nanjing, according to a company statement.

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Component orders from AR/VR vendors still low in 2017

Current component orders for production of AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality) and MR (mixed reality) head-mounted display (HMD) devices from brand vendors are still insufficient, according to industry sources.

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NOR flash prices rise, says report

NOR flash prices are set to rise 5-7% sequentially in the first quarter of 2017, following more than four years of declines, according to a recent Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report.

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Taiwan December manufacturing production index up on month, year, says MOEA

Taiwan reported a manufacturing production index (2011 as base year) of 113.93 for December 2016, increasing 0.65% on month and 7.46% on year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on January 23.

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Chilisin, Ralec to merge

Taiwan-based passive component makers Chilisin Electronics and Ralec Electronic have announced jointly plans to merge through a share swap, according to filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).

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Taiwan December unemployment rate down on month, year, says DGBAS

Taiwan had 446,000 jobless citizens in December 2016, equivalent to an unemployment rate of 3.79% and representing a drop of 0.08 percentage points on month and on year as well, according to statistics released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) on January 23.

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Chilisin to acquire ferrite cores maker Ferroxcube

Passive component maker Chilisin Electronics has announced plans to acquire ferrite cores supplier Ferroxcube, 100% held by Yageo, for a total of about EUR133.2 million (US$142.76 million).

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PTI 1Q17 sales to beat seasonal patterns, says president

Packaging and testing company Powertech Technology (PTI) expects its performance during the first quarter of 2017 to be stronger than the seasonal pattern seen historically, said company president JY Hung at a January 23 investor meeting.

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UMC expects wafer shipments to drop 1% in 1Q17

United Microelectronics (UMC) expects to post an about 1% sequential decrease in wafer shipments for the first quarter of 2017, when the company's capacity utilization rate will fall to about 90% from 94% in the prior quarter.

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Silicon Labs Expands IoT Portfolio

Silicon Labs bought Zentri, a 20-person company making mainly software for Wi-Fi modules for the Internet of Things.

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X-Fab is Fastest Growing Foundry

Pure play foundry sales increased by 11% last year to reach $50 billion, according to IC Insights.

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From Hardware Emulation to High-Frequency Trading Riding the FPGA Wave

In an interview with Lauro Rizzatti, former CEO of EVE, Luc Burgun, explains how he crossed the bridge between hardware emulation and high-frequency trading.

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Batteries Caused Samsung Galaxy to Explode

Following a three-month investigation into the exploding Galaxy Note 7 handsets, Samsung put the blame squarely on the devices' batteries. The company ruled out any issue with the smartphones' software or other hardware.

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Toshiba's NAND Future Uncertain

Roughly 10 suitors are interested in Toshiba's NAND flash business. Selling a stake in the spun-off chip business is the quickest way for Toshiba to boost its capital, but several factors make Toshiba's plan both more urgent and complex.

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Apple, Foxconn to Build $7 Billion U.S. Factory?

Apple Inc. and Foxconn Technology Group may build a new factory in the United States to produce display panels.

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Tech sector welcomes May’s industrial blueprint

Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposals for a Modern Industrial Strategy is being welcomed by the industry and tech investment sector. Companies in the tech sector had been hoping the Government would recognise their importance and place tech businesses and skills at heart of any post-Brexit industrial policy. This follows the government’s announcement of its new Industrial Strategy and a commitment ...

Read full article: Tech sector welcomes May’s industrial blueprint

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Automotive ECU Updates: Keeping the Hackers Out

A new software security technology called Uptane aims to keep hackers away from firmware updates and keep manufacturers and suppliers in control.

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Government strategy: You reply

Dell UK cloud business director Rob Lamb To date, investing in STEM and digital skills has not been a focus for UK businesses in the industrials sector. Our report last year, The Great Skills Exodus, revealed that 46% of IT workers in engineering and construction stated that they only receive training once a year or ...

Read full article: Government strategy: You reply

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3U OpenVPX board offers Zynq UltraScale+ multi-processor SoCs

PanaTeQ has introduced a 3U (100 x 160mm) OpenVPX-compatible board with Xilinx 16nm Zynq UltraScale+ SoCs. In a single device, the Zynq UltraScale+ integrates a quad-core 1.5GHz 32/64bit ARM Cortex-A53, a dual-core Cortex-R5, a MALI-400 GPU and a programmable logic – as well as on-die memory, external memory interfaces, and interface peripherals. The board, called VPX3-ZU1, includes ...

Read full article: 3U OpenVPX board offers Zynq UltraScale+ multi-processor SoCs

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Trump: Man Without Scruples

The world isn't so sure yet which Trump will show up for the long haul. The Chinese government, too, is still deciding how to react to the new U.S. president.

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Government to publish ‘modern industrial strategy’ green paper today

This morning’s Government pronouncements are leading up to 1pm today when the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will publish a green paper on the Government’s ‘modern industrial strategy’. Pre-released information includes the announcement of “sector deals” and investment in research and development that will support “the industries of the future where Britain has the ...

Read full article: Government to publish ‘modern industrial strategy’ green paper today

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Foxconn considers US manufacturing plant

Foxconn is considering a plan to set up an OLED manufacturing plant in the US which could employ up to 50,000 people and cost $7 billion. The plant could be built as a jv with Apple. Apple accounts for about half of Foxconn’s revenues. The plan was revealed after Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou had a ...

Read full article: Foxconn considers US manufacturing plant

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Battery design and manufacturing faults caused Note 7 fires.

Samsung held a two hour press conference this morning to explain that faults in battery design and manufacturing caused the fires in the Note 7. Koh Dong-jin, president of mobile communications at Samsung, told the conference that the original battery, made by Samsung SDI, had electrodes which touched each other causing a short circuit and ...

Read full article: Battery design and manufacturing faults caused Note 7 fires.

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Toshiba faces problems in selling chip stake

Toshiba’ plan to sell off a stake in its chip business to raise cash faces problems. The need arose because of losses in its nuclear business which could be as big as $6 billion and its barring from raising fresh equity funding following its accounting scandal. Toshiba now faces having a negative net worth It ...

Read full article: Toshiba faces problems in selling chip stake

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SAS looking for mergers, says chairman

While Taiwan-based PV makers have generally been struggling in the adverse business climate, solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS) remains in good financial health, and is looking for opportunities to merge with fellow makers, according to company chairman MK Lu.

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Foxconn considering setting up panel line in US, says chairman

Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is considering establishing a panel factory in the US through cooperation with Sharp, with the latter to provide advanced technology, according to company chairman Terry Guo.

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Service providers switching from channel to linear OTT video over traditional TV, says ABI Research

Service providers are decreasing marketing on their cable, satellite, and IPTV products that offer managed quality of service in favor of new products that use over the top (OTT) technologies to compete with Amazon and Netflix. With OTT competition significantly increasing in mature pay-TV markets, ABI Research forecasts that live linear OTT video services will grow to approximately US$7 billion dollars of worldwide revenues by 2021, from a little more than US$1 billion in 2016.

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Wistron reportedly to be main OEM for new iPhone in India

Apple has reportedly selected Wistron to be the first OEM in India for new iPhones to be launched in 2017, while Foxconn Electronics and other makers will become second OEMs if demand increases. In preparation for OEM production, Wistron has expanded smartphone production capacity in Kunshan, eastern China, and in India.

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Flex Logix signs eFPGA deal with DARPA

Flex Logix, the embedded FPGA IP specialist has signed a deal with DARPA which allows aby company or government abency designing ICs for the US government to use Flex Logix’ EFLX arrays. Flex Logix will make available EFLX arrays in the TSMC 16FFC process node from 2.5K to 122.5K LUTs so that these companies and ...

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Taiwan market: Asustek launches police service app

Asustek Computer has launched a smartphone-based app for providing police-related services through cooperation with Taiwan's National Police Agency (NPA), Chinese-language newspaper Economic Daily News (EDN) cited company chairman Jonney Shih as indicating.

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Packaging material supplier Chang Wah secures syndicated loans

Packaging material and equipment supplier Chang Wah Electromaterials (CWE) and its LED leadframe subsidiary Chang Wah Technology (CWTC) have separately signed a syndicated loan with a banking consortium with the sum of total loans reaching NT$6.85 billion (US$217.25 million).

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Dell to separate Greater China office from Asia Pacific branch

Dell is expected to change its company structure in February and turn its Greater China operations into an office independent of its Asia Pacific branch. The Greater China office will report directly to the US headquarters.

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The synergy of NXP acquisition: An interview with Qualcomm president Derek Aberle

Qualcomm agreed in late 2016 to buy NXP Semiconductor for about US$4.7 billion in the biggest-ever deal in the semiconductor industry - a move which clearly indicates Qualcomm's roadmap for its long-term growth.

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China re-assessing subsidies for PV projects

China's National Energy Administration (NEA) is re-assessing some PV projects to see whether they still deserve government subsidies despite having broken regulations by starting construction before obtaining licenses, according to industry sources.

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Foxconn Electronics to have Sharp produce 4K TV panels in Japan

Foxconn Electronics will have Sharp produce 45-, 55-, 80- and 90-inch LCD TV panels at its 8G factory in Kameyama City, central Japan, beginning 2017, according to industry sources.

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Passive component supplier Ta-I to buy back shares to fend off a tender offer

Taiwan-based passive component supplier Ta-I Technology has announced that it plans to buy back 10 million shares from the local stock market at prices ranging from NT$15.50-29.50 during the period from January 23 to March 22.

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Taiwan December export order value down on month, up on year, says MOEA

Taiwan received export orders worth US$41.24 billion in total in December 2016, decreasing 5.5% on month but increasing 6.3% on year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on January 20.

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Dragonfly Surveillance Cyborg Could Aid Pollination

Who needs bees. Just use technology to pollinate? The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. (Draper, Cambridge Mass.) has embedded an optrode in a dragonfly with the idea of guided pollination.

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Q'comm Feels Smartphone Squeeze

The salad days of the smartphone era are over, now stakeholders are fighting over pieces of red meat.

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EDA Firm ATopTech Files for Bankruptcy

Privately held EDA vendor expects to be sold after losing long-running legal battle with Synopsys.

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TI Closes Silicon Valley Analog Group

Texas Instruments reorganized four analog groups into three, eliminating no products but causing a small number of layoffs in support personnel.

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Will Storage Class Memory Disrupt Memory Hierarchy?

Will SCM come to the market and disrupt traditional memory hierarchy?

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Google Gives Few Details about the Custom Security Chip it Built for Servers

The brief mention of the security chip follows Google's announcement last year that it was using a chip of its own design to enhance machine learning algorithms in its search engine and other services.

The latest window into its semiconductor ambitions, Google said that it used custom silicon for hardware security in its data centers.

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Carbon-on-Wafer Tech Said to Make RF Compatible with CMOS

The world's first commercial carbon-on-silicon wafers use aligned nanotubes, which can be lithographically fabricated into super-fast transistors alongside normal CMOS circuitry.

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It's Year Five of Paul Salopek's Round-the-World Walk

Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek is on the fifth year of his decade-long, 21,000-mile walk spanning continents, languages, and cultures.

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Friday Feel-Good Video: A Wee Day Out

This video is a combination of "feel-good" and "awe-inspiring" and it will leave a smile on your face throughout (interspaced with "Oooh" expressions of surprise).

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5G Calls for Silicon in 2017

This year, work on silicon and antenna architectures for 5G cellular networks begins in earnest, said a Nokia Networks CTO.

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NHTSA Lets Tesla Off The Hook

The NHTSA concluded a months-long investigation of a fatal crash in Florida, and reported that the agency found no defects in Tesla's Automatic Emergency Braking and Autopilot systems. Did NHTSA let Tesla off the hook too easily? Absolutely.

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Theory could predict noise in future plasmonic systems

Noise in nanoscale photonic and plasmonic amplifiers could be modelled following research at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. The scientists have proposed an approach that that could predict maximum data transfer rates in future optoelectronic microprocessors, or fundamental limits on nanophotonic interface bandwidth. Surface plasmon polaritons, which can be created from a photon of ...

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Mentor certifies RTOS for automotive designs

Mentor Graphics has introduced an ISO 26262 qualification programme for its tools and embedded software for use safety-critical designs and verification flows at all criticality levels up to and including ASIL D. Called the Mentor Safe programme it includes the Nucleus SafetyCert real time operating system, the Volcano Vstar Autosar operating system and BSW stack. It also includes ISO 26262 ...

Read full article: Mentor certifies RTOS for automotive designs

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Cambridge deal creates major graphene centre in the UK

A majority stake in Cambridge Graphene, a spin-out company from the University of Cambridge, has been acquired by UK-based firm Versarien. Cambridge Graphene develops inks based on graphene and related materials using processes developed at the Cambridge Graphene Centre. The spin-out company has commercialised graphene inks for novel technology applications. Cheltenham-based technology firm Versarien says it ...

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Fully transparent electroluminescent dislays

Fully transparent segmented displays are available form Beneq of Finland. Pictured is the Tasel-branded ELT15S technology demonstrator. “Tasel displays combine the rugged and reliable build of thin-film electroluminescence with the unique freedom of designing a completely transparent display,” said the firm. “It is ideal for consumer electronics, architectural use and other fields where viewing experience and ...

Read full article: Fully transparent electroluminescent dislays

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Scotland turns to Isle of Wight electronics to measure fishing vessels

Marine Scotland turned to Isle of Wight torque measurement firm Datum Electronics when it had to confirm fishing vessel engine power as part of a certification process. “What Marine Scotland really required was a temporary and relatively inexpensive system that can be easily configured and able to collect data in the field, also logging all ...

Read full article: Scotland turns to Isle of Wight electronics to measure fishing vessels

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EU customs exit ‘no problem’ for component suppliers

The Prime Minister’s plans to withdraw the UK from Europe’s single market and customs union should not present any problems for electronic component suppliers, according to the ECSN supply chain organisation. The UK electronics supply chain is highly reliant on timely shipment of products across EU and international borders. As things stand there are virtually no tariffs (import ...

Read full article: EU customs exit ‘no problem’ for component suppliers

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Computer beats the ‘average American’ in intelligence test

An artificial intelligence has done well on a test that is said to measures abstract reasoning in humans – Raven’s Progressive Matrices. All of the test’s problems consist of a matrix with one image missing, and offer six to eight choices of answer. The artificial intelligence, “performed better than the average American”, said Northwestern Univeristy, ...

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Taiwan attracts foreign direct investment of over US$11 billion in 2016, says MOEA

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) approved 3,414 foreign direct investment projects (except from China) with a total value of US$11.037 billion in 2016, respectively decreasing 9.90% and increasing 130.09% on year, according to MOEA statistics released on January 20.

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Digitimes Research: ASEAN 3G/4G mobile broadband penetration to rise to 60% in 2017

3G/4G mobile broadband Internet-access subscribers accounted for 46% of all mobile communication subscribers in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) market in 2015 and the penetration is expected to rise to 60% in 2017, with 10% of mobile broadband Internet-access subscribers to be 4G (LTE) ones, according to Digitimes Research.

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Acer to be free of amortization cost for intangible assets beginning 2018, says CEO

After recognizing an intangible asset impairment of NT$6.34 billion (US$199 million) at the end of 2016, Acer will see amortization of costs for intangible assets decrease by US$7 billion in 2017 and will be eliminated beginning 2018, according to company CEO Jason Chen.

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Semiconductor M&A reach peak in 2015-2016, says IC Insights

More than two dozen acquisition agreements were announced by semiconductor companies worldwide in 2016, with a combined value of US$98.5 billion compared to the record-high of US$103.3 billion in purchases struck in 2015, when over 30 deals were reached, according to IC Insights.

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Tsinghua announces huge memory fab in Nanjing

Tsinghua Unigroup said yesterday that it would build a $30 billion, 300k wpm fab in Nanjing. Phase 1, costing $10 billion, will be to set up a 100k wpm fab making DRAM and 3D NAND. Tsinghua says the project is part of China’s efforts to build a world-leading chip industry, and it hopes it will ...

Read full article: Tsinghua announces huge memory fab in Nanjing

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Tsinghua to Build $30 Billion Memory Fab in China

State-controlled Chinese chip firm has committed to $54 billion to two memory fab projects in past two months.

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Dialog Semiconductor launches power management chipset for connected cars

Dialog Semiconductor, a provider of highly integrated power management, AC/DC power conversion, solid state lighting (SSL) and Bluetooth low energy technology, has announced the DA9210-A power management IC (PMIC). The DA9210-A is a multiphase, automotive grade, 12A DC-DC buck converter that supplies the high current core rails of microprocessor devices, including those used in next generation infotainment systems taking center stage in today's connected cars.

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Friday Quiz: Specifying Power Supplies, Part 1

How should you specify your next bench or system power supply? Find out through these questions.

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Virtual Reality Takes Zombie Shoot-'Em-Ups to Next Level

Arizona Sunshine plunges you into a blistering hot, post-apocalyptic Arizona where you must defend yourself against hordes of the gruesome undead.

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Alexa: Secret Agent or Double-Agent?

I'm now sufficiently intrigued with Amazon Echo and Google Home. But when it comes to an actual purchase, I'm still on the fence. What about you?

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Automotive Power Semi Market Continue Soaring

The global market for power semiconductors used in cars and light passenger vehicles will grow by more in $3 billion USD in the next six years, predicts market research company IHS Markit.

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The Future of FPGAs and the Coming Data Avalanche Per Forbes

By 2020 it's predicted that there will be as many as 50 billion devices connected to the Internet, each of which will be generating data.

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Chip Sales Grew 1.5% in '16, Gartner says

Global chip revenue increased by 1.5% in 2016 as a late-year surge enabled the semiconductor industry to avoid widely anticipated contraction, according to market research firm Gartner.

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Connecting with the Planets: One Company’s Role in Missions to Mars, Jupiter, and Beyond

Exploring the planets of our solar system requires equipment armed with high-reliability instrumentation and components like high-voltage relays and mini connectors.

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IoT Network Reboots Its Efforts

The Weightless-P network for the Internet of Things gets a new backer as the special interest group behind it carves out a broader role for itself.

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Mouser adds image-assisted search

Component distributor Mouser Electronics has added image-based browsing to its website, as well as by data sheets or by newest products. “The new Images tab lets customers to browse by using any search or navigation function,” said Mouser v-p of internet business Hayne Shumate. “Engineers and buyers can now group and browse images using the ...

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IoT Will Grow by Collaboration

As with most new technologies, growth for the Internet of Things will be linear to start before we hit an inflection point that will lead to mass adoption.

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Cambridge: superconductivity initiated in Graphene

Researchers have activated the dormant potential for graphene to superconduct, by coupling it with praseodymium cerium copper oxide (PCCO). According to St John’s College, University of Cambridge, graphene could now be used to create new types of superconducting quantum devices for high-speed computing, and might be used to prove the existence of the mysterious ‘p-wave’ ...

Read full article: Cambridge: superconductivity initiated in Graphene

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Low-power chip modulator has THz potential

A novel slot waveguide with tunable, two-dimensional electron gas could form the basis of a room temperature THz modulator, according to Massachusetts-based Tufts University. Through lack of THz facilities, the researchers have created a lower frequency prototype, than can amplitude modulate a 250GHz carrier to 96% intensity with a 14GHz signal. “This is a very ...

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Superhemophobic surface could make implants safe in blood

Medical implants might be able to reside in the blood following the development of a ‘superhemophobic’ surface by Colorado State University engineers. According to Colorado biomedical engineer Ketul Popat, the undesirable interaction of blood with foreign materials is an ongoing problem in medical research. Over time, clots and obstructions form. Often patients need blood-thinning medications ...

Read full article: Superhemophobic surface could make implants safe in blood

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Toshiba mulls semiconductor spin-off

Toshiba is looking at spinning off its semiconductor division and selling a 20% stake in it, reports the Nikkei, and may make the decision this week. The accounting scandal followed by cost over-runs in its nuclear Business following a US acquisition, have exposed Toshiba to huge liabilities. On Friday the company meets its bankers to ...

Read full article: Toshiba mulls semiconductor spin-off

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Qualcomm's Antitrust Battles Hit the United States

For the second time in the last month, Qualcomm is facing charges that its licensing business unfairly limits competition. After a two-year investigation, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission criticized how the company exerts control over its critical wireless patents.

Qualcomm's business of licensing wireless patents to smartphone makers is again coming under fire. Unlike other complaints, this time Washington is speaking up.

read more

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VIA launches Custom IoT Platform Design Service

VIA Technologies has announced the launch of its VIA Custom IoT Platform Design Service to enable customers to accelerate the development of application-specific IoT systems and devices tailored to meet their usage requirements.

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Catcher to establish new subsidiary in China

Catcher Technology has announced a plan to invest US$100 million to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in Suqian, China for R&D, sales and manufacturing of materials, products and molds.

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HTC to release new VR games, accessories to promote Vive

HTC will release new VR games at the Taipei Game Show 2017 and plans to launch new accessories, including the HTC Vive Tracker and a wireless VR headphone, in the second quarter to promote sales of its Vive VR devices.

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Global shipments of OLED-equipped smartphones to exceed LCD ones in 2019, says DSCC

Global shipments of smartphones equipped with OLED panels will exceed those of smartphones equipped with TFT-LCD panels in 2019, according to US- and Japan-based Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC).

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TPV eyes 88 million display device shipments in 2017, says paper

LCD TV and monitor maker TPV Technology is planning to ship a total of 88 million devices in 2017, up nearly 14 million units from the volume in 2016 and the growth is expected to benefit its upstream component suppliers, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report.

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Lite-On Semi enters supply chain for next-generation iPhone, says report

Taiwan-based Lite-On Semiconductor, a maker of discrete and analog IC components, has entered the supply chain for the next-generation iPhone 8 by providing GPP bridge rectifiers for the support of fast wireless charging, according to a recent Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

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Pihsiang Machinery sets up 2MWp rooftop PV system in northeastern Taiwan

Pihsiang Machinery Mfg., a maker of electric wheelchairs, scooters and bicycles, has cooperated with J&V Energy Technology, an investor in PV power generation, and New Green Power, an EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contractor for PV power generation, to set up a rooftop PV system with total installation capacity of 2MWp to generate electricity of estimated 2.11 million kWh a year, according to Pihsiang.

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Samsung Exynos chips to power Audi in-vehicle infotainment

Samsung Electronics has announced its participation in the Audi Progressive SemiConductor Program (PSCP) as a partner supplier of Exynos processors, Samsung's own system-on-chip (SoC) solution, for Audi's in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system.

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Lite-On SSD shipments to be affected by tight supply of memory chips in 1Q17, says paper

Sales of SSD products by Lite-On Technology in the first quarter of 2017 are expected to be affected by a tight supply of memory products, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report, citing company CEO Warrant Chen.

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Software distributor GrandTech reports increased earnings for 4Q16

GrandTech CG Systems, a Taiwan-based supplier of IT products and a software solution provider, has reported pre-tax earnings of NT$66.56 million (US$2.107 million) for the fourth quarter of 2016, up 13.4% on quarter and 3% on year. The earnings translated into a pre-tax EPS of NT$1.24 for the quarter.

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MediaTek to post 15-20% revenue decrease in 1Q17

Seasonality will drag down MediaTek's revenues in the first quarter of 2017, which are forecast to drop 15-20% sequentially, according to market observers.

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Gemtek to invest in LoNaWAN solution provider TrackNet

Networking device maker Gemtek Technology has announced that it will team up with Germany-based Minol Zenner Group to invest up to US$7 million in LoRaWAN solution provider TrackNet.

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Future of Chip Research Group Questioned

Questions surround the future of SUNY Poly's semiconductor industry research after the resignation and arrest of its CEO and the disintegration of two high-profile projects.

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Apple reportedly planning 3 new tablets for 2017

Apple reportedly is planning three new tablets for 2017, a 9.7-inch iPad with a friendly price range, a 10.5-inch iPad, and an upgraded 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The products are still in planning, with the 9.7-inch model expected to enter mass production in the first quarter, and the other two in the second, according to sources from the related upstream supply chain.

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Xiaomi to launch notebook with magnesium-lithium chassis in 2017

Xiaomi Technology will launch a notebook featuring a chassis made of magnesium-lithium alloy in 2017. The chassis will be exclusively produced by a China-based joint-venture established by Taiwan-based thermal management solution provider TaiSol Electronics and Japan-based ShinSho. Inventec will undertake ODM production, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

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Tesing equipment maker GPM to deliver PICA-based machines for verification in 2H17

Testing equipment maker Gallant Precision Machining (GPM) plans to start delivering sample testing machines, built using picosecond imaging circuit analysis (PICA) technology from IBM, to semiconductor companies and IC design houses in the second half of 2017 for verification, according to company chairman and CEO Nick Yeh.

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Qualcomm, MediaTek to vie for handset solution orders from Foxconn

Qualcomm and MediaTek are expected to compete fiercely for chipset solution orders from EMS supplier Foxconn Electronics which has turned itself into a handset vendor recently, according to industry sources.

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Digitimes Research: KDDI sets up smart drone platform, Rakuten Mobile launches drone

In the Japan market, mobile operator KDDI set up a smart drone platform to store photographs and video in a database in the fourth quarter of 2016, while MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) Rakuten Mobile launched Mavic Pro, a drone developed by China-based DJI, for bundled sale in the quarter, according to Digitimes Research.

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Nanya sets price for ECB issue

Taiwan-based DRAM firm Nanya Technology has set the conversion price of its five-year, US$500 million zero-coupon ECB issue at NT$52.47 (US$1.66) per share.

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Worldwide semiconductor revenues grow 1.5% in 2016, says Gartner

Worldwide semiconductor revenues totaled US$339.7 billion in 2016, a 1.5% increase from 2015 revenues of US$334.8 billion, according to preliminary results by Gartner. The top-25 semiconductor vendors' combined revenues increased by 7.9% compared with 2015, and accounted for 75.9% of the market.

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GaAs foundry Wavetek positive about compound semiconductor market

Taiwan-based Wavetek Microelectronics, a subsidiary of United Microelectronics (UMC) dedicated to providing 6-inch GaAs foundry services for fabless and IDM companies, has expressed optimism about the compound semiconductor market's growth driven by robust radio-frequency (RF) component demand.

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Hnaflbaflwhiflsnifltafl

Representing the famous Battle of Koom Valley between the dwarfs and the trolls, Thud is a favorite game of Lord Havelock Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork.

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Give Unique Test Gear Some Respect

There is general-purpose test equipment, more-focused test equipment, and some units that address truly unusual and narrow niches.

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Electronic Design’s Products of the Week (1/15-1/21)

Here we've rounded up some of the latest products to optimize your applications, devices, and systems.

read more

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How to Build DIY Switches and Potentiometers from Household Materials

By constructing homemade versions of components like switches and potentiometers, it should be possible to reduce the cost of a new Arduino kit.

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IoT Startup Rides LoRa

Startup TrackNet got $7 million in funding from two OEMs who aim to help it build and sell IoT systems for consumers and business users.

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Charger chip for LiFePO4 cells leaks less

Intersil has announced a 3.6V single-cell battery charger for lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cells. Called ISL78693 and qualified to AEC-Q100 Grade-3, it leaks only 3uA, suiting it to eCall back-up battery charging, said the firm, which announced the chip at the Automotive World conference in Tokyo. In the event of a crash, eCall systems are intended ...

Read full article: Charger chip for LiFePO4 cells leaks less

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Mains power chip is efficient at 6W

Power Integrations has introduced a family of off-line, ac-dc converter ICs delivering up to 6.1W in wide-input range designs, and up to 9.2W for 230Vac open-frame applications. Designed for isolated and non-isolated fly-back topologies and called LinkSwitch-XT2, the family can achieve current and voltage regulation of better than -/+3% and typical efficiency above 80%. LinkSwitch-XT2 ICs consume less ...

Read full article: Mains power chip is efficient at 6W

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All IoT forecasts are baloney

The semiconductor industry will grow by 11% this year, Malcolm Penn, CEO of Future Horizons, told IFS 2017 in London this week. Unit demand growth is, however, trending below the 30 year average of 10%, said Penn. In 2013, the unit growth was 9.5%, in 2014 it was 8.3%, in 2015 it was 5.1%, and ...

Read full article: All IoT forecasts are baloney

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Danielle George says Marconi can inspire a generation

How did the work of Guglielmo Marconi. the pioneer of long-distance radio transmission lead to today’s massive radio arrays which are watching star formation in deepest space? Danielle George, a Professor of Radio Frequency Engineering at the University of Manchester, will discuss the impact of Guglielmo Marconi on the world of radio astronomy in the Institution of Engineering and ...

Read full article: Danielle George says Marconi can inspire a generation

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