The Internet of Everything is coming. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. Very many electronics devices needs to be designed for this in mind. The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. Gartner suggests that the “the smart machine era will be the most disruptive in the history of IT.” Intelligent systems and assistive devices will advance smart healthcare.
Software-defined anything (SDx) is coming more into use. It means that many proprietary systems are being replaced with commonly available standard computer hardware and software running in them.
PC market: ABANDON HOPE all ye who enter here. Vendor consolidation ‘inevitable’. Even Intel had to finally admit this that the Wintel grip which has served it and Microsoft so well over the past decades is waning, with Android and iOS coming to the fore through smartphones and tabs. The market conversion to tablets means that consumers and businesses are sweating existing PC assets longer. Tablets to Make Up Half of 2014 PC Market.
The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Electronics Kits article mentions that many older engineers first became interested in electronics through hobbies in their youth—assembling kits, participating in amateur radio, or engaging in other experiments. The 1970s and 1980s were great times for electronics hobbyists. But whenever it seems that there’s nothing left for the hobbyist, a new motif arises. The Raspberry Pi has become a best seller, as has a similar experimental board, the Arduino microcontroller. A great number of sensors, actuators, cameras, and the like have quickly become available for both. Innovative applications abound in such domains as home automation and robotics. So it seems that now there is much greater capacity for creativity in hobby electronics then there ever was.
E-Waste: Lack of Info Plagues Efforts to Reduce E-Waste article tells that creation of trade codes is necessary to track used electronics products according to a recent study concerning the waste from growing quantities of used electronics devices—including TVs, mobile phones and computers. High levels of electronic waste are being sent to Africa and Asia under false pretenses.” StEP estimates worldwide e-waste to increase by 33 percent from 50 million tons in 2012 to 65 million tons by 2017. China and the U.S. lead the world as top producers of e-waste. America produces about 65 pounds of e-waste per person every year. There will be aims to reduce the waste, for example project like standardizing mobile phone chargers and laptop power supplies.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
CES: Laser Headlights Edge Closer To Real-World Highways
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/01/05/190240/ces-laser-headlights-edge-closer-to-real-world-highways
“Audi will display laser-headlight technology on a concept car at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, joining BMW, whose plug-in hybrid should reach production in 2014.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Berkeley Tricorder is now Open Source!
http://hackaday.com/2014/01/05/the-berkeley-tricorder-is-now-open-source/
The latest version features an electromyogram (EMG), an electrocardiograph (ECG), a bioimpedance spectrometer, a pulse oximeter, an accelerometer, and all the data is recorded to a micro SD card or sent via bluetooth to a tablet or smart phone for data visualization.
He’s released it in hopes that other researchers can utilize the hardware in their own research, hopefully springing up a community of people interested in non-invasive health monitoring.
Tomi Engdahl says:
International Obfuscated C Code Contest Winners Posted
http://hackaday.com/2014/01/04/international-obfuscated-c-code-contest-winners-posted/
The International Obfuscated C Contest – the contest to create the most useful, useless, or unique program in absolutely unreadable C code – has just posted the winners of the 2013 contest.
One of the most impressive entries for this (last?) year’s contest is a tiny 8086 PC emulator/virtual machine written in only 4043 bytes of code. It’s a fully functional 80s-era PC emulator that can run vintage copies of AutoCAD, Windows, Lotus 1-2-3, and SimCity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Testing The Limits Of Home PCB Etching
http://hackaday.com/2014/01/05/testing-the-limits-of-home-pcb-etching/
As demonstrated by the pic above, she’s able to print 16 mil traces with 5 mil separation. This is just about as good as you can get with homebrew PCBs, but it’s not without its problems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel hopes the new Edison’s computer to open the doors on wearable technology market. Edison has a size of only a sd memory card class and is designed for use in small, flexible devices that can wrap around the body.
The computer has Intel’s ultra-low-power processor Quark as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections, which allow computer to communicate with other devices.
Intel introduced the computer to the Las Vegas International CES technology fair.
“Wearable technology is not about carrying a camera attached to the wrist. Technique is to be natural, and the chip must be invisible, “Intel’s new equipment Director Mike Bell commented Idgns news agency in an interview.
CES showcases the latest technological applications: Mimo company Baby-Rest Devices baby clothes. Edison’s help, the child’s pulse, body temperature, and motion of sleeping position, for example, are transmitted directly to the smartphone.
Edison is based on Intel’s x86 architecture, and a line width of 22 nanometers. It is running Linux OS.
Mini Computer introduced a do-it-yourself computer enthusiasts available as an independent package, in the summer, probably in June or July. The price is still unknown.
Source:
Tietoviikko
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/intel+laittaa+tietokoneet+vauvojen+poksyihin/a957620
Tomi Engdahl says:
Selecting Your Boost Converter Inductance
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=270773&cid=nl.dn14
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s Schaft humanoid robot wins DARPA Robotics Challenge
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2013/12/google-s-schaft-humanoid-robot-wins-darpa-robotics-challenge.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
MIT develops hand-held scanner for detecting eye disease
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2013/12/mit-develops-hand-held-scanner-for-detecting-eye-disease.html
The new device utilizes optical coherence tomography (OCT), which the MIT group helped to develop in the early 1990s. OCT sends beams of infrared light into a patient’s eye and onto the retina, and echoes of this light return to the instrument, which uses interferometry to measure changes in the time delay and magnitude of the return echoes, revealing the cross sectional tissue structure of the retina. This technique is similar to radar or ultrasound imaging, according to The Optical Society.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why CES Is a Bad Scene for Startups
http://slashdot.org/topic/cloud/why-ces-is-a-bad-scene-for-startups/
Every January, thousands of developers and startup executives flood Vegas with dreams of a big score.
many of them have dropped thousands of dollars on a booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), arguably the highest-profile technology conference of the year.
If they haven’t managed to secure a spot in one of the Convention Center’s massive halls, they’ve set up a demonstration area in a suite at some hotel on the Strip.
And if they’re too under-capitalized or unprepared for a hotel, they’re lurking in the Convention Center parking lot.
Seriously. It’s a little insane.
Many startups come to CES betting that they’ll catch the eye of some enterprising tech reporter. But most journalists don’t have enough time for anything other than a couple of convention-floor walk-throughs; they’re on their way to keynotes and presentations given by the big manufacturers, or that giant mother-ship of a Samsung booth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel announces Edison: a 22nm dual-core PC the size of an SD card
http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/06/intel-edison/
Four months ago, Intel unveiled its Quark SoC at IDF. Today at CES 2014, company CEO Brian Krzanich wants to introduce you to Edison, a miniature computer based on the same technology condensed into the form factor of an SD card. The tiny computer is built on the company’s 22nm transistor technology, runs Linux and has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth modules. What’s more, the tiny machine can connect to its own app store. Naturally, the device is aimed at developers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel announces that every processor released in 2014 will be conflict mineral free
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/6/5282608/intel-announces-that-every-processor-released-in-2014-will-be
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel: Inside, Upon, Within, Around
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/intel-inside-upon-within-around/?_r=0
Intel is trying to make good on its promises, fast.
Speaking at the preshow keynote of the International Consumer Electronics Show, Brian Krzanich, Intel’s chief executive, showed devices with Intel semiconductors that included wearable health and biometric devices, a small wireless computer for developers to put inside other devices such as appliances, and a wireless phone charger that looked like a stylish bowl.
It was an impressive speech, especially in terms of the number of products displayed. What it did not spend too much time on was whether, or how, Intel could reach its old level of profitability with so many devices in so many markets.
For a company that has spent years trying to demonstrate the perennial beauty and utility of the personal computer (a very focused and profitable product for Intel), it was a big change of gears. But then, for a couple of years now PC sales have been feeling pressure from increased sales of smartphones and tablets.
Intel seems to have gotten that message
Tomi Engdahl says:
Which Switch Is Which?
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1367&doc_id=270690&cid=nl.dn14
These fixtures are designed to use type 1141 lamps, although most folks replace with 1156 lamps for a little extra brightness — 27W vs. 18W. That is, the lamps draw 2.1A or 1.4A. The fixtures incorporate a standard slide switch, which fails regularly. In searching the Internet for switches, I learned that they are made in a variety of current ratings. The highest DC rating is 0.5A DC. No wonder they fail frequently and replacement fixtures are so widely available, most folks replace the fixture instead of the switches.
This is a clear misapplication of the switch. Not only is it underrated by 300 or 400%, but a slide switch is the worst possible choice for the application. A snap-action switch would be much better.
The initial current is several times the final 1.4A or 2.1A. As the user is sliding a slide-type switch it continually arcs across the entire contact surface. A snap-action switch is preferred for this type of application, even considering the effects of contact bounce.
I resolved these problems by replacing the lamps with LEDs made with the same 15 mm bayonet base.
Tomi Engdahl says:
From Linux-powered warships to robot bears, the year in Ars Tech Lab
Ars Technology Lab editors look at readers’ favorite stories of 2013.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/12/from-linux-powered-warships-to-robot-bears-the-year-in-ars-tech-lab/
While Windows 8’s launch last year had been proclaimed as a huge opportunity for Linux, there wasn’t exactly a stampede away from Microsoft’s OS on desktops and notebooks. That’s not from a lack of evangelism and effort, though: as Jon Brodkin reported in August, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth is still shoveling millions of his own dollars into Canonical and Ubuntu to keep them going.
However, Linux is getting plenty of traction on desktops of another sort—the sort that shoots guns and missiles. The US Navy has been using Linux in many of its systems for the past four years, but a new ship joining the fleet is practically powered stem to stern by Linux—the USS Zumwalt, DDG-1000. The all-electric ship’s systems are all controlled through a combination of embedded real-time Linux clients, Red Hat Linux servers, and messaging middleware.
While Linux has long since established open source software’s beachhead in most data centers, 2013 saw open source hardware in various forms starting to stake claims all over the enterprise. While the “open source” of these hardware platforms may not necessarily include their CPUs, they use commodity components in open designs anyone can manufacture.
Transitioning from big computers to tiny, the Raspberry Pi celebrated its first birthday earlier this year.
While 2013 was in many ways the year of the Raspberry Pi, the Arduino may still be the king of single-board computers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino creator explains why open source matters in hardware, too
Ars conducts a Q&A with Massimo Banzi as Arduino’s rise continues.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/10/arduino-creator-explains-why-open-source-matters-in-hardware-too/
Tomi Engdahl says:
End of Moore’s Law Forcing Radical Innovation
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/01/08/0013210/end-of-moores-law-forcing-radical-innovation
“The technology industry has been coasting along on steady, predictable performance gains, as laid out by Moore’s law.”
“Marc Snir, director of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at the Argonne National Laboratory, outlined in a series of slides the problem of going below 7nm on chips, and the lack of alternative technologies.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: Top 20 technology picks for 2013 shed light on what’s to come
12/13/2013
http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/print/volume-49/issue-12/features/technology-review-top-20-technology-picks-for-2013-shed-light-on-what-s-to-come.html
Senior editor John Wallace once again names his top picks for the 20 most interesting photonics technology developments covered by Laser Focus World in 2013.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CES 2014: There’s a ‘Pre-Show’ Before the Consumer Electronics Show (Video)
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/01/07/1846252/ces-2014-theres-a-pre-show-before-the-consumer-electronics-show-video
“The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is the largest electronics show in the U.S. these days. It’s so big that small companies easily get lost among the industry giants and their huge, noisy show floor displays. But there is a press-only ‘pre-show’ called CES Unveiled that gives visibility to companies”
Tomi Engdahl says:
OEM Market Makes up over 85% of Global Automotive Electronics
http://rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103429
Automotive Electronics are increasingly utilized in today’s automobiles. Beginning with the requirement of providing enhanced engine control, the current breed of automobiles has become more and more reliant on electronics, enabling them to go faster, even while providing the highest levels of safety.
The global market for Automotive Electronics, estimated at $191.3 billion in 2013 and forecast to be $204.6 billion in 2014, is further projected to reach $314.4 billion by 2020, thereby maintaining a CAGR of 7.3% between 2012 and 2020. OEM Automotive Electronics, accounting for an estimated share of 86.3% in 2013 equating to $165.2 billion in the overall Automotive Electronics market, is forecast at $177.2 billion in 2014 and expected to register a 2012-2020 CAGR of 7.6% in reaching a projected $277.1 billion by 2020.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Hardware Platforms Promise Faster, Lower-Cost and Successful Designs
http://rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103426
The availability of advanced embedded CPUs on ready-made platforms along with software and full sets of design documents sets the stage for accelerating time-to-market and lowering costs for a wide variety of design projects.
We’ve all heard those marketing buzz words and phrases like “synergy,” “paradigm shift” and “disruptive innovation.” In the tech industry, you can’t attend a meeting without hearing one. Recently a new buzz word has been added to the list—“open.” Open software has become essential and present in most technology professional’s daily work, but the term open is now beginning to be applied to hardware. The term “open hardware platform” is being used more often to talk about everything from major silicon vendors’ reference platforms to simple accessory boards for common retail products. So some of you might be wondering, what exactly is “open hardware,” what are the benefits of using it, and what does the future hold for it? All valid questions, which we hope to address here.
Many of the major silicon vendors such as Intel, Texas Instruments, Samsung and AMD actively support projects that are open hardware compliant, and more are joining the game as the open hardware buzz word gains more media coverage. So what is driving this media coverage and attention?
Projects such as the Arduino (Figure 1) and the BeagleBoard (Figure 2) have been around since as far back as early 2006.
The interesting thing is that because of the low-cost nature of these platforms, professional developers have begun to adopt them as starting points for building commercial products. An interesting side effect is that as more professional developers use the low-cost platforms, more silicon vendors have noticed and have begun providing more and more support for these open hardware projects.
As with anything, when large companies get involved, each company has begun to have their own description of what exactly constitutes an open hardware platform.
Documentation is a key item, as all of the design files needed to recreate the piece of hardware have to be open licensed and available.
Another aspect of the open hardware definition includes some requirements for making sure that all of the software required to make the hardware work is available.
So as a professional developer, one of the questions that often gets asked is, “How does open hardware benefit me at work?” This certainly is a good question. One of the benefits is speed. Because of the open nature of these types of hardware, the amount of time a developer needs to select a hardware design, customize it and have prototypes ready is greatly reduced. The entire development process is reduced because not only is the design “ready to go,” but it is also tested.
The testing is where the community aspect of open hardware comes into play. By having literally “the world’s eyes” looking at the design, most design flaws and bugs are quickly found and fixed, rolling the changes back into the original design
Tomi Engdahl says:
CompactPCI Serial Allows Easy and Flexible Implementation of Faster Point-to-Point Communication Systems
http://www.rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103395
For industrial OEMs, CompactPCI Serial opens up a new realm of design possibilities and high-performance applications that can capitalize on a proven standard with a healthy ecosystem enhanced with new options for high-bandwidth I/O.
New CompactPCI Serial boards are an ideal solution for these systems as they now communicate in the system via a backplane with Gigabit Ethernet, PCI Express, SATA and USB connections. To make it especially future-proof, this standard was defined to already support the latest interface versions such as USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gbit/s and PCI Express 3.0.
Virtually any information/communication technology (ICT) application in the industrial computing market segment can benefit from the openness, longevity, modularity, robustness and reliability CompactPCI Serial delivers. These key advantages especially help applications that require high-speed serial interconnects for network, storage or PCIe data throughput. Migrating from CompactPCI to CompactPCI Serial is easily possible by adding a second backplane into the chassis—one backplane for classic CompactPCI and the second backplane for CompactPCI Serial. The only additional building block required is a bridge between CompactPCI Serial and CompactPCI. This bridge functionality can be simply implemented, e.g. as a feature of the processor board’s extension card.
Further, new design possibilities are enabled with the presence of rear I/O and the addition of fat pipe capabilities and multiple peripheral slots.
As CompactPCI Serial is compatible with the mechanical form factors defined in the IEC 1101, no changes are necessary to existing housing or cooling and systems can be reused from the standard CompactPCI platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Clear, Flexible Electronic Circuit Can Fit on the Surface of a Contact Lens
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2014/01/this-clear-flexible-electronic-circuit-can-fit-on-the-surface-of-a-contact-lens/
Over the past few years, electronics have evolved way past the silicon wafer. Researchers have developed functional circuits that can meld with human tissue and dissolve when sprayed with water, and stretchable batteries that could soon power wearable gadgets.
Now, a group of Swiss scientists has revealed the latest in innovative electronics: a flexible, transparent circuit that is tiny and thin enough to fit on the surface of a contact lens.
“I believe this technology can have important impacts in medicine and health monitoring,” says lead author Giovanni Salvatore, a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. “It could be used for very wearable and minimally invasive devices, for ultralight solar cells, and most importantly, for very conformable and implantable devices which can serve to monitor biometric parameters in the human body.”
Creating the circuits—which are printed on a one-micrometer thick layer of a substance called parylene—is a multi-step process.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CES: Rapiro’s Raspberry Pi powered humanoid robot flexes its muscles
Takes title of cutest gadget at this year’s Las Vegas technology show
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2321539/ces-rapiros-raspberry-pi-powered-humanoid-robot-flexes-its-muscles-at-ces
LAS VEGAS: KICKSTARTER SUCCESS STORY Rapiro, a Raspberry Pi powered humanoid robot, was shown off at CES this week, and we managed to get a look at arguably the cutest product at this year’s consumer technology show.
Rapiro, which raised over £75,000 on Kickstarter despite having asked for just £20,000, is a programmable do it yourself (DIY) robot, and the team behind the pint-sized device claims it’s capable of “limitless possibilities” depending on how the user chooses to program it. So, in theory, you could tell the robot to make you a cup of coffee in the morning, or to clean up your messy desk, although the firm has admitted that it will only operate for around 10-20 minutes on a single charge.
The kit comprises RGB LEDs (for the robot’s colour-changing eyes), 12 servos (one for each of the robot’s 12 joints), and an Arduino compatible servo control board. Rapiro boasts that more add-ons, such as a Raspberry Pi camera module, can also be fitted onto the device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mooshimeter: The ‘Why Didn’t I Think Of That’ Multimeter
http://hackaday.com/2014/01/08/mooshimeter-the-why-didnt-i-think-of-that-multimeter/
Despite how useful multimeters are, there are a lot of limitations you just don’t think about because they’re the way electronic measurement has always been done. Want to measure voltage and current simultaneously? Better get two meters. Measuring something in a dangerous, inaccessible, or mobile place? You could rig up a camera system to show the meter’s display on a monitor, you know.
Mooshimeter is the better way of doing things. It’s a multichannel multimeter that communicates with your cell phone over a Bluetooth connection. With two channels.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Circuits so flexible they’d wrap around your hair
Stick this in your eye
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/08/circuits_so_flexible_theyd_wrap_around_your_hair/
This could be the ultimate in “wearable computing”: while CES visitors are excited about Intel’s earbuds, Swiss scientists have created a circuit so flexible it can wrap around a human hair.
The first test of the circuit, created by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETZ), was to embed it into a contact lens. This allows monitoring of the fluid pressure in the eye, as a way to monitor an eye for signs of glacucoma.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Whew! 13-year-old lawsuit finally over, but it did smack our bottom line – Micron
Still, there’s $4bn in quarterly revenues – DRAM, bam, thank you NAND
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/08/micron_bbbbooms/
Micron’s business is booming with first quarter 2014 revenues surging to $4.04bn.
So why the huge revenue jump? It was the Elpida effect, Micron having bought the bankrupt Japanese DRAM supplier last year. Revenues from DRAM product sales were 69 per cent up in the first quarter compared to preceding quarter. NAND flash sales were up just 8 per cent over the same period. Flash sales volume increased 11 per cent in fact but average selling prices went down and counteracted that.
Micron expects to start production sample shipments of 3D NAND chips, possibly as early as April and probably before July. General production would happen in 2015’s second half.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Which Switch Is Which?
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1367&doc_id=270690&cid=nl.dn07
These fixtures are designed to use type 1141 lamps, although most folks replace with 1156 lamps for a little extra brightness — 27W vs. 18W. That is, the lamps draw 2.1A or 1.4A. The fixtures incorporate a standard slide switch, which fails regularly. In searching the Internet for switches, I learned that they are made in a variety of current ratings. The highest DC rating is 0.5A DC. No wonder they fail frequently and replacement fixtures are so widely available, most folks replace the fixture instead of the switches.
This is a clear misapplication of the switch.
The resistance of Tungsten filament lamps varies with filament temperature. A cold filament has nearly zero resistance. As the filament heats, the resistance increases until an equilibrium is reached. The initial current is several times the final 1.4A or 2.1A. As the user is sliding a slide-type switch it continually arcs across the entire contact surface. A snap-action switch is preferred for this type of application, even considering the effects of contact bounce.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Haters of lurid supershow CES: The consumer tech market is still SHRINKING
Good news if you’re sick of the annual seething mass of throwaway gizmos
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/08/consumer_electronics_market_set_to_shrink/
CES 2014 As the tech world revels in its orgy of big screens, baffling gadgets and marketing hype that is the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, analysts predict further decline in the, er, consumer electronics market.
Market research firm IHS forecasts that worldwide manufacturing revenues in the consumer electronics (CE) market will drop about two per cent from $255.7bn in 2013 to $250bn this year, as vendors struggle to bring new devices to shop shelves on time and as promised.
“While exciting new technologies such as ultra-high-definition [televisions] and wearable devices are being shown at CES, it will take a few years until these products attain enough of a volume to drive the growth of the overall CE market,” said IHS consumer devices senior principal analyst Jordan Selburn.
“Until these products enter the mainstream, traditional CE revenue will continue to dwindle.”
Massive TV sets and wearable devices dominated headlines at this year’s show
The analysts also predict that while the CE market will be slow this year, many of the UHD lines showcased in Las Vegas will claim as much as 16 per cent of the LCD market by 2018.
Over that same time, demand for wearable devices will grow from 51.2 million units shipped to 130.7 million units annually, IHS reckons
Tomi Engdahl says:
Boffins claim battery BREAKTHROUGH – with rhubarb-like molecule
Flow batteries without metals
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/09/boffins_claim_battery_breakthrough_with_rhubarblike_molecule/
The humble rhubarb has joined the growing hype-list of possible sources for super-battery materials, to help make renewables like solar and wind more able to cope with baseload requirements.
There’s good reason to look for non-metallic electrodes in batteries – the most popular photo-voltaic backup is still the lead-acid battery – but the Harvard University researchers looking at the properties of plant-derived molecules are more interested in scale.
In flow batteries, such as the researchers are working on, energy storage happens in external tanks, and recovered by flowing the fluid across the electrodes when needed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ask Slashdot: How Many (Electronics) Gates Is That Software Algorithm?
http://ask.slashdot.org/story/14/01/08/1949250/ask-slashdot-how-many-electronics-gates-is-that-software-algorithm
Tomi Engdahl says:
OliveR the Programmable Cooking Robot
http://hackaday.com/2014/01/09/oliver-the-programmable-cooking-robot/
[Oak Robotics] is putting the finishing touches on their programmable cooking robot named OliveR.
The team is currently looking for beta testers
Tomi Engdahl says:
News & Analysis
Chips Are Down for VCs, Wall Street
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320596&
Twitter and other web companies may be back in the financial limelight, but semiconductor startups are still in the shadows. Venture capital funding, public offerings, and acquisitions fell in the chip industry in 2013, according to a new report, and a market watcher said the situation will likely worsen.
In 2013, 32 semiconductor funding deals raised $357.8 million; the dollar amount decreased 62.9% from 2012, according to the January edition of the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s GSA Market Watch (registration required). First-round financings for semiconductor startups fell 75.9% to $19.6 million.
No IPO filings from semiconductor companies were reported in December, and there are no semiconductor companies awaiting an IPO pricing, the industry trade group’s report said.
“At the end of the day, global demand is still pretty meager, and more importantly for semiconductors, you have slowing in Moore’s Law, combined with ultra-small geometries, creating a cost prohibitive environment,” Niles said. “To get improvements in products, you need to spend more money, because the laws of physics are working against you.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Slideshow
10 Tiny Development Boards That Are Up to the Task
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1319070
Not so long ago, the typical development board was big, bulky, and often handmade. Recently a flood of Lilliputian-size development boards has been released — one for just about any need.
We’ve assembled a collection of 10 boards so small you might lose them in the cushions of your couch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Solar energy area according to Solarbuzz began the next year will be a record year for solar power. New production capacity will be built by as much as 49 gigawatts extent.
Photovoltaic built in the last year, some 36 GW, so the growth is good. Of course, solar power’s share of world total energy production is still less than one per cent.
The construction of solar power has grown steadily in recent years
Source: Elektroniikkalehti
http://www.elektroniikkalehti.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=813:49-gigawattia-aurinkosahkoa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
The futuristic concept of ‘Smart Batteries’
http://blog.3g4g.co.uk/2013/12/the-futuristic-concept-of-smart.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tech Angels Cross The $1 Billion Mark In 2013
http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/08/tech-angels-cross-the-1billion-mark-in-2013/
Buoyed by a stronger economy, angel investors companies worldwide poured a record amount of cash into early-stage technology and life-sciences companies, according to data from CrunchBase.
Angel investments have been climbing steadily since 2008, CrunchBase data shows, but 2013 represents a new high, with investors crossing the billion-dollar threshold, committing $1.1 billion to entrepreneurs launching new tech companies, up from $929 million in 2012.
Angels are also seeing their investments pay out, which encourages more activity, investors said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Essential Skills for Electrical Engineers
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1365&doc_id=270847&cid=nl.dn14&dfpPParams=ind_184,industry_consumer,aid_270847&dfpLayout=blog
Electrical engineering deals with the study of electromagnetism, electricity, and electronics. It’s quite an exciting field — electrical engineering has been on the forefront of technology for more than a century. It covers wide range of subfields such as, RF engineering, telecommunications, digital computers, signal processing, and electronics.
Electrical engineering students learn magnetism, engineering tools of design and analysis, electricity, and mathematics of design and analysis. And they’re trained to manufacture and design safe and economical products that can enhance the lives of humans.
Electrical engineers are mainly concerned with making use of electricity to transmit electric power. They research, design, evaluate, test, and plan electrical equipment, and they have to work with large- and small-scale electrical systems such as fiber optics, controlling of main auxiliary systems, power generation, and laser microprocessors.
Traditional electrical engineering requires the following skills: numeracy, critical thinking, complex troubleshooting, operation management, listening, analysis, knowledge of the English language, quality control analysis, and reliability.
Electrical engineering requires analysis of the information and making use of logic to address issues related to the core problems and issues.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adding EMI Pre-compliance Testing to the Product Development Process is Cost-effective Insurance
http://link.pentonelec.com/YesConnect/HtmlMessagePreview?a=Ri2rL-uPo35anYGrKCV35B
Most successful electronics companies have adopted a strategy for the testing of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). A key part of any such strategy is testing of radiated and conducted emissions, both of which are subject to government regulation in most countries. To help ensure success during formal compliance testing by an accredited lab, a growing number of companies are revising their product development process to include pre-compliance testing of electromagnetic interference (EMI).
According to some test specialists, a product that hasn’t been through pre-compliance testing has about a 10-percent chance of passing compliance testing on the first try.
In pre-compliance testing, a manufacturer’s in-house engineers perform preliminary assessments
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Is the World’s Fastest Thin-Film Organic Transistor
http://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-world-s-fastest-thin-film-organic-transisto-1497748183
it could revolutionize the displays we spend our days looking at.
Its the result of an ongoing quest to use cheap, carbon-rich molecules and plastics to create organic semiconductors that can compete with their silicon-based counterparts. Now, researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and Stanford University have created organic transistors that are over five times faster than those produced in the past.
They achieved that by tweaking standard organic semiconductor production techniques.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Toshiba Flash Marries Q’comm SoCs in Vegas
UFS 2.0 interface hits 1.2 Gbit/s
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320618&
Toshiba America Electronic Components announced at the Consumer Electronics Show that its universal flash storage (UFS) implementation will be added to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 802 chipset. UFS version 2.0 products will go into production for smartphones and tablets in the second quarter.
“You’ll see some initial systems at end of 2014, but basically 2015 is when the primary ramp is,” Scott Beekman, senior business development manager for mobile communications memory at TAEC, told us. “By 2016, we expect UFS to account for the majority of [flash] demand for tablets and smartphones.”
UFS, a next-generation embedded flash memory device (following eMMC), delivers a threefold boost in performance for advanced mobile applications. UFS 2.0 supports a maximum data rate of 1.2Gbit/s, compared with 400 MBit/s for eMMC 5.0.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MediaTek’s Global Ambition Opens Door to CEVA
Works with VIA Telecom to integrate CDMA2000
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320610&
MediaTek came to International CES this year with a singular focus: going global.
Taiwan’s chip behemoth, which dominates the Chinese market, is now intent on establishing a foothold in the United States in addition to Europe and Japan. For that, the company has new ammo: a multimode-LTE modem chipset, currently going through operators’ arduous certification process; and an advanced “worldphone” SoC that will incorporate CDMA2000. But the commercial version of the worldphone won’t hit the market until early 2015.
Dubbed MT6290, MediaTek’s LTD chipset handles both FDD and TDD modes. Designed for broad compatibility with mobile operator networks worldwide, the chip supports the DC-HSPA+, W-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, EDGE, and GSM/GPRS radio technologies, in addition to LTE.
Qualcomm and Samsung are the two biggest LTE modem players, and Huawei (through its HiSilicon chip subsidiary) is in the Chinese and Korean LTE markets,
But often, so-called newly designed “global” LTE modem chips — developed by vendors other than Qualcomm — do not address CDMA2000.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Six odd and crazy technologies at CES
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/06/tech/web/ces-unveiled/?iref=obinsite
Smartphones can control drones, speeding robots, cameras and the temperature of your master bathroom. That’s just some of the technology on display in Las Vegas this week at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Low-Cost, Portable Logic Analyzers Take on New Debug Tasks
Posted Jan 09, 2014 at 11:00 pm
http://www.eeweb.com/blog/brad_frieden/low-cost-portable-logic-analyzers-take-on-new-debug-tasks
Today’s digital designs involving FPGAs, System on Chip (SOC) ICs, and memory are increasing both in complexity and speed. Designers require tools that provide a way to trigger on a “symptom” and then look back in time with high speed timing capture to find the root cause of failure. There needs to be a way to distinguish between functional and timing related problems associated with a large number of signals as is typical in many of today’s embedded designs.
All of these digital debug capabilities are now possible with a new generation of general purpose logic analyzers that offer performance and capabilities that was previously only available in higher priced modular logic analyzer systems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
We Pick the 10 Best Gadgets at CES
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2014/01/the-best-of-ces-2014/
Tomi Engdahl says:
All Intel microprocessors shipped in 2014 will be conflict-mineral-free
http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/06/all-intel-microprocessors-conflict-mineral-free/
Intel has announced that its entire 2014 line of microprocessors will be conflict-mineral free (tin, tantalum and tungsten), in its CES keynote address. Previously, the company joined the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and its Conflict-Free Smelter group in an effort to separate itself from the blood-for-materials market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel’s Ban on Conflict Minerals Wows National Geographic Photographer
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140109-conflict-minerals-intel-marcus-bleasdale-congo/
Marcus Bleasdale has spent a decade documenting brutal conditions in eastern Congo’s mines. He calls the Intel announcement “huge.”
Intel’s announcement that every microprocessor that it ships will be made without conflict minerals from Africa hit both a personal and professional nerve for photographer Marcus Bleasdale.
It must be gratifying to know that your photography has played a role in creating public pressure for such an action.
Let me say that an individual photograph can have a powerful impact. But the real power is what you do with it and whom you partner with. By working with Human Rights Watch, beginning in 2004, my work hit a nerve and was instrumental, for instance, in making a Swiss company stop buying Congolese gold.
Why do photographs have this potency?
With every conflict it is very difficult to show the enormity of the suffering. You have all these statistics, 4.5 million people killed, 30,000 women raped. To get through to people you have to show individuals touched by the conflict. That’s how you engage people, how you shock them to maybe change their behavior. I want to repeat, though: It’s difficult for photographs to do this work on their own. You need an advocacy group to partner with who can knock on the doors of Congress and corporations. This advocacy work is as satisfying to me as taking a photograph.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tech we’re looking forward to in 2014: a realist’s guide to CES
http://thewirecutter.com/2014/01/tech-were-looking-forward-to-in-2014-a-realists-guide-to-ces/
The annual Consumer Electronics Show is all about showing off what’s in the future of hardware and gadgetry. But although there are thousands of announcements and prototypes to sort through, most of what’s announced at CES (if it comes to market at all) isn’t practical or realistic enough for actual lives.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Presenting our Best of CES 2014 Awards winners
http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/09/best-of-ces-2014-awards-winners/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The world’s largest consumer electronics trade fair was held once again in Las Vegas, but the atmosphere this year was oppressive. The Smartphone sales have continued to grow in North America and Europe – China and India will drive growth while less than 200 USD phones and tablets.
Electronics companies are now looking for solace in four categories – smart watches, smart glasses, curved TV’s and curved phones. The new hit products scrabble seemed particularly desperate this year.
Source: Tietoviikko
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/uutisia/tunnelmia+vegasin+jattimessuilta+oudosti+virnuilevat+google+glass+kayttajat+ahdistivat/a958846
Tomi Engdahl says:
Designing the Next Wave of Computer Chips
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/science/designing-the-next-wave-of-computer-chips.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Not long after Gordon E. Moore proposed in 1965 that the number of transistors that could be etched on a silicon chip would continue to double approximately every 18 months, critics began predicting that the era of “Moore’s Law” would draw to a close.
More than ever recently, industry pundits have been warning that the progress of the semiconductor industry is grinding to a halt — and that the theory of Dr. Moore, an Intel co-founder, has run its course.
If so, that will have a dramatic impact on the computer world.
But Moore’s Law is not dead; it is just evolving, according to more optimistic scientists and engineers. Their contention is that it will be possible to create circuits that are closer to the scale of individual molecules by using a new class of nanomaterials — metals, ceramics, polymeric or composite materials that can be organized from the “bottom up,” rather than the top down.
For instance, semiconductor designers are developing chemical processes that can make it possible to “self assemble” circuits by causing the materials to form patterns of ultrathin wires on a semiconductor wafer. Combining these patterns of nanowires with conventional chip-making techniques, the scientists believe, will lead to a new class of computer chips, keeping Moore’s Law alive while reducing the cost of making chips in the future.
“The key is self assembly,” said Chandrasekhar Narayan, director of science and technology at IBM’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif. “You use the forces of nature to do your work for you. Brute force doesn’t work any more; you have to work with nature and let things happen by themselves.”
To do this, semiconductor manufacturers will have to move from the silicon era to what might be called the era of computational materials.