Two breaking news items pinged their way onto my desktop this week that reminded me of a couple of stories Electropages published a few months ago. The first latest news item looked at how the Düsseldorf District Court in Germany handed down judgments in favou...

By Paul Whytock | 26-06-2017

E-mode 200 and 650Volt power devices that achieve a Ron dispersion of under 20% have been successfully developed using 200mm GaN-on-Silicon wafers. The technology was created by nanoelectronics and digital technology specialists Imec who say it is ready for pr...

By Paul Whytock | 13-06-2017

Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) displays are front-page news again following the industry rumour that Apple is considering the thin, lightweight screen technology for the forthcoming iPhone 8. It has also distinguished its MacBook Pro with an innovative OL...

By Mark Patrick | 05-06-2017

A Microcontroller Unit (MCU) with graphics design facilities equaling Microprocessor Units (MPUs) has been launched by microcontroller and analog semiconductor specialists Microchip. The MCU family, designated 32bit PIC32MZ DA, is claimed by the company to be...

By Paul Whytock | 30-05-2017

Most of us know about the latest round of sabre-rattling, chest-thumping verbal exchanges between the USA and North Korea as they strive to convince each other their military weapons are biggest and best. Its familiar stuff, except for just recently when the s...

By Paul Whytock | 22-05-2017

The answer to that must surely be no. Vivaldi wrote more than 500 concertos for mandolin, cello, flute, viola, recorder and lute, and around 230 of them were for violin. I doubt whether even a self-learning neuromorpic microchip could be that prolific despite...

By Paul Whytock | 16-05-2017

Bluetooth connectivity has become so widely available these days it almost seems like a consumer right. Spare a thought though for developers who have to implement the Bluetooth interfaces that enable this connectivity, especially in tightly constrained embedd...

By Nick Robins | 10-05-2017

In two separate design projects Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology has surpassed GaAs passive mixer designs relative to input third-order intercept point to local oscillator drive and has facilitated increased solar power inverter efficiencies. Manufacturer of m...

By Paul Whytock | 03-05-2017

When Apple thinks there is a better option available than current de facto connectivity standards it has never been afraid to pioneer it. It was therefore no surprise when the early 2015 MacBook launched featuring just one wired connection type (aside from the...

By Mark Patrick | 27-04-2017

Picture the scene. The cosy dinner for two is finished, the bottle of Rioja has been demolished and you're both nicely tucked between the sheets only to have your partner turn and say, "not now darling I'm playing with my iPhone." Don't think it happens. Think...

By Paul Whytock | 25-04-2017

The power-generation potential of solar cells has received a significant boost following the development of a highly efficient bifacial cell. The cell design was facilitated by nano-electronics and digital technology organisation Imec and bifacial solar cells...

By Paul Whytock | 19-04-2017

A technology collaboration aimed at making autonomous self-driving vehicles safer has been agreed between analog component specialists Analog Devices (ADI) and Japanese semiconductor company Renesas. The companies’ work will focus on a system-level 77/79-GHz R...

By Paul Whytock | 18-04-2017

Over the past decade humans have managed to churn out millions of words about artificial intelligence (AI) and how it will eventually obsolete the creativity, ingenuity, perceptiveness and determination that are the hallmarks of homo sapien intellect. The Rise...

By Paul Whytock | 11-04-2017

City lights views at night are great visually but they are a greedy consumer of the world’s electricity resource. Here are the facts. Nearly 20% of all the electricity consumed globally is for lighting and approximately 80% of that is being consumed by office...

By Paul Whytock | 03-04-2017