Electro-ramblings

Photo Gallery - More iPhone apps for electronics

Following on from our popular iPhone apps for engineers picture gallery, we have returned to a rich seam.

Our picture gallery index has now been updated with a new entry - More iPhone apps for electronics.

The useful Apple iPhone apps include V=IR, Calc4, iResistor, SchemRef, E-Formulas, and the Electronics Toolkit...

View the iPhone apps for Electronics gallery

View all Electronics Weekly PhotoGalleries

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 17, 2010 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Charlie Huang, Cadence Design Systems

The latest Q5 interview is now online - with the chief strategy Officer of Cadence Design Systems, the EDA specialists.

Charlie Huang talks to Electronics Weekly about important trends in design tool architectures, how EDA is helping tackle complexity in analog and multicore designs, and how the industry is reacting to adapt to the current economic conditions...

The five questions this week are:

1. What are the main issues for designers when choosing an EDA tool chain?

2. Name one important trend in design tool architectures?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Charlie Huang, Cadence Design Systems" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 16, 2010 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - Multimeters - Objects of Desire

A new Picture Gallery has been added to our index - Multimeters - Objects of Desire

Our roundup of Oscilloscopes proved popular so we are repeating the trick with multimeters. It is not meant meant to be a definitive list, or a ranked list, of devices - just something to flag some multimeters of interest.

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - Multimeters - Objects of Desire" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 15, 2010 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Circuit challenge #10 open for entry

Check out the tenth 'One of our components is missing' competition, which has just been uploaded to the site (it closes Friday 16 April). Only a fragment of the circuit is shown, left.

Oh yes, and there's a £25 Amazon voucher to be won.

You just have to reason which component has been blacked out from a particular (real world) circuit schematic. Have a go!

Clue: The circuit is about sensing darkness and then turning off.

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 12, 2010 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Masten Evans, Livingston

The latest Q5 interview is now online - with the managing director of Livingston, the equiment rental specialists.

Masten Evans talks to Electronics Weekly about British engineering culture, companies managing their assets, and the greatest test activity he sees over the coming 12 months...

The five questions are:

1. What do you feel are the main challenges that test engineers currently have to face, and how does Livingston look to help them?

2. Has the recent economic downturn had any effect on how companies deal with test equipment sourcing? Do you think that rental is being perceived in a more favourable light now?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Masten Evans, Livingston" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 9, 2010 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Check out the new electronics industry jobs service

We are pleased to announce that we have launched a new version of our jobs service, here on ElectronicsWeekly.com.

Make sure you check out the new Jobs pages, and bookmark the resource: www.electronicsweekly.com/jobs/.

Features of the new "Jobs Evolution" release include quicker search options, being able to search international jobs by country or selection of countries, similar-job-matching features ("More jobs like this...") and peer behaviour recommendations ("People who applied for this job, also applied for...").

Continue reading "Check out the new electronics industry jobs service" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 8, 2010 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - Intel Atoms lead Computer-on-Modules

Another Picture Gallery has been added to our index - a look at Computer-on-Modules (COMs), and a comparison of standards.

Pictures cover such areas as: the principle COM definitions shown to scale, the difference between ETX and XTX, size variations of the different COM Express modules, and various Qseven interfaces...

View the Computer-on-Module standards picture gallery

View all Electronics Weekly PhotoGalleries

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - Intel Atoms lead Computer-on-Modules" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 5, 2010 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Texas Instruments technical resources section on EW

Don't miss the Texas Instruments Technical Resources section that has now launched on Electronics Weekly.com.

It offers design engineers access to resource guides, videos, articles and catalogues that provide valuable information on TI's services, product offerings and product applications.

Make sure you bookmark the new section as new videos and documents will be regularly loaded in each section.

The sections comprise:

* Amplifiers & Linear

* Data Converters

Continue reading "Texas Instruments technical resources section on EW" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 15, 2010 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - MWC 2010 Global Mobile Awards

Another new Picture Gallery has been added to our index - emerging from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona...

It covers the Global Mobile Awards, and they range from Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough to Mobile Personality of the Year and Best Mobile Handset...

And yes, that is Stephen Fry hosting the awards.

View the MWC 2010 - Mobile Global Awards picture gallery

View all Electronics Weekly PhotoGalleries

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - MWC 2010 Global Mobile Awards" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 2, 2010 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Rich Beyer, Freescale Semiconductor

The latest Q5 interview is now online - with the CEO of Freescale Semiconductor.

Rich Beyer talks to Electronics Weekly about the automotive market, the QorIQ multicore processor and new microcontrollers...

The five questions are:

1. What level of upturn do you see in the market?

2. Has your business strategy changed post-recession?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Rich Beyer, Freescale Semiconductor" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 8, 2010 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - Rebuilding the WITCH computer

A new Picture Gallery has been added to our index - a look behind the scenes at the Witch restoration project in The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.

As well as the key people involved, there is a look at the old days of WITCH in action, in Wolverhampton, and

The Witch arrived at Bletchely in remarkably good condition after more than three decades of storage. Project manager Tony Frazer said, 'We have assembled the frame and it now looks just as it did in its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. Our first task is to see what we can do with the power supply - we dare not just switch things on as time will have taken a toll on the chemistry and physics of the unit'

View the Rebuilding the WITCH computer picture gallery

View all Electronics Weekly PhotoGalleries

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - Rebuilding the WITCH computer" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 5, 2010 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How to best integrate 3G technology with embedded devices

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 2, 2010 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - CES 2010 slates and UMDs

Ahead of the much-anticipated Apple announcement tomorrow (of the iSlate?), there is a new photo gallery on the site.

We roundup the slates, tablets and UMDs that were on show at the recent Consumer Electronics Show 2010 in Las Vegas.

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - CES 2010 slates and UMDs" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 26, 2010 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - Nexeon electric vehicle battery research

A new Picture Gallery has been added to our index - a look behind the scenes at Nexeon, a battery materials and licensing company developing silicon anodes for the next generation of lithium-ion battery.

As well as work at the Lithium Ion battery test facilities and Nexeon experimental coater, there are pictures of Lithium Ion battery cells and scanning electron microscope (SEM), among others...

View the Nexeon electric vehicle battery picture gallery

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - Nexeon electric vehicle battery research" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 21, 2010 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Private Equity takes a turn as Shiva the Destroyer

Don't miss Warren Savage's retrospective on the 'Noughties'. From the dot-com crash that heralded the decade, up to the current nascent recovery, he considers the challenges facing the electronics industry.

In Part 1 of the mini series, he commented on how the last decade marked a transitional period between the 20th and 21st century tech eras.

As described in Part 1, the decade saw the disaggregation of the semiconductor supply chain which started in the 1980's come to a fully complete state and the EDA industry begin to feel the after-effects of this disaggregation which (ironically) fuelled their growth for the last 20 years.

Continue reading "Private Equity takes a turn as Shiva the Destroyer" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 19, 2010 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CEO Viewpoints - from Avnet to Xilinx

Check out the series of CEO viewpoints that we have been posting on the site. From leaders of companies such as Linear Tech, Xilinx, Avnet, Arrow Europe, Imagination Technologies...

They consider the both impact of 2009 and look ahead to 2010. Follow these links:


* Lone inventor can make impact in analogue, says Linear Tech CEO

* Let's work together, says Arrow Europe president

Continue reading "CEO Viewpoints - from Avnet to Xilinx" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 5, 2010 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Electronics Weekly is 50!

Just a quick post both to wish you a happy and healthy New Year, and to flag that 2010 marks a golden anniversary for Electronics Weekly...

This year sees our 50th year of publication, as we launched on September 7, 1960.

Continue reading "Electronics Weekly is 50!" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 1, 2010 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Photos: iPhone apps for engineers

A new Picture Gallery has been added to our index - a roundup of interesting iPhone apps for those engineers lucky enough to own the Apple phone.

Apps covered range from scientific calculators to logic tables and German translation tools...

View the iPhone apps for engineers gallery

Continue reading "Photos: iPhone apps for engineers" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 16, 2009 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Harry Tee CBE, Electronics Leadership Council

The latest Q5 interview is now online - with the chairman of the Electronics Leadership Council.

Harry Tee CBE talks to Electronics Weekly about the UK government's growing recognition of the importance of electronics technologies to the economy and national skills base.


The five questions are:

1. What is the role of the ELC?

2. Does the ELC have specific aims or targets, such as what its members would like to achieve in its representation of UK industry?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Harry Tee CBE, Electronics Leadership Council" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 15, 2009 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - CEO viewpoints on 2009 / 2010

Another picture gallery has been added to the site - check out our roundup of CEO viewpoints on the downturn of 2009 and comment and analysis on the the year ahead.

Companies covered range from ARM to Xilinx, covering points at RS Components, Imagination, Premier Farnell, Intersil, Anglia Components, Arrow EMEA, Actel, Linear, CSR and Avnet... (Pictured is Lothar Maier, CEO Linear Technology)

View the photo gallery - CEO Viewpoints

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - CEO viewpoints on 2009 / 2010" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 11, 2009 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - Plastic Electronics, Swansea University

A new Picture Gallery has been added to our index - a look behind the scenes at Swansea University's Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating.

As well as work at the centre itself, there are pictures of this week's launch by Lord Mandelson of the Plastic Electronics Strategy For Success, at the QE2 Conference Centre in London. Demonstrated projects include electronic newspapers and OLED dresses.

View the plastic electronics picture gallery

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - Plastic Electronics, Swansea University" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 10, 2009 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Eoin O'Riordan, Chomerics Division Europe

The latest Q5 interview is now online - with the Marketing & Technology Manager, Chomerics Division Europe, Parker Hannifin.

Eoin O'Riordan talks to Electronics Weekly about changing approaches to shielding and thermal materials technology, opportunities in the current climate, and the materials technologies having the most impact in electronics design...

The five questions are...

1. Describe your business & technologies in 2 sentences.

2. Has designers' approach to shielding and thermal materials technology changed?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Eoin O'Riordan, Chomerics Division Europe" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 7, 2009 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Geraint Anderson, TT electronics group

The latest Q5 interview is now online - with the CEO of the TT electronics group.

Geraint Anderson talks to Electronics Weekly about design activity in OEM customers, positive opportunities in the current climate, and end-markets with growth prospects...

The five questions are...

1. What impact is the downturn having on your markets?

2. How is design activity in your OEM customers being affected?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Geraint Anderson, TT electronics group" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 4, 2009 6:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Elektra Awards 2009

UPDATE: See the photos of all the winners

UPDATE: Read the list of winners

Tonight is the night, for the Elektra Awards 2009, and The Roayal Lancaster Hotel is the venue! See you there tonight, hopefully.

Stay tuned for details of the winners and lots of pictures from the event.

First things first, a special thanks to sponsors of awards, which include:

Continue reading "Elektra Awards 2009" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 1, 2009 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Gideon Wertheizer, CEVA

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the CEO of CEVA, a licensor of silicon IP platform solutions and DSP cores.

Gideon Wertheizer talks to Electronics Weekly about mobile handset design, the crossover with netbooks and the true potential of software-defined radio...

The five questions are...

1. Describe CEVA's business & technology in 2 sentences.

2. How is the approach to mobile handset design changing?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Gideon Wertheizer, CEVA" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 24, 2009 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In-depth - Electronics and energy-efficient computing

Check out a new In-Depth article added to the site, written by Lee Harrison of Peritus Power - Standards lead push toward energy-efficient computing

Points covered include:

    * The ac/dc power-conversion step in the overall power chain for server farms can yield some of the most significant gains in power efficiency.
    * To meet industry standards, manufacturers have taken different approaches, including using interleaved PFC (power-factor control), bridgeless PFC, and resonant topologies.
    * Thanks to its 0V switching losses, higher switching frequencies, and smaller footprints, resonant-converter topology may be able to achieve Energy Star Platinum standards.
    * For the near future, silicon will remain the dominant switchingsemiconductor material, and gallium nitride will start to make inroads over the next year.

Continue reading "In-depth - Electronics and energy-efficient computing" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 23, 2009 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picture Gallery - The smartest business smartphones

A new Picture Gallery has been added to our index - a look at the smartest business smartphones currently available. We've written about most of them, at least tangentially, but here is a pictorial overview.

From the HTC Hero and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 to the Palm Pre and the Motorola DEXT. Not forgetting, the iPhone 3GS or the BlackBerry Storm 2...

View the smartphone photos

Continue reading "Picture Gallery - The smartest business smartphones" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 18, 2009 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Jon Treanor, Conduit Partners

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the CEO of Conduit Partners.

Jon Treanor talks to Electronics Weekly about the Carbon Trust Incubator programme, support for low carbon innovations, and the benefits UK electronics companies can expect...

The five questions are...

1. Conduit has recently been appointed as a Carbon Trust Incubator Partner. Can you describe the programme and its aims, and your role in it?

2. What type of low carbon innovations are eligible for this free support?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Jon Treanor, Conduit Partners" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 17, 2009 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Debugging FPGA designs

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 12, 2009 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Geir Førre, Energy Micro

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the CEO of Energy Micro.

Geir Førre talks to Electronics Weekly about the company, which has just launched its first semiconductor product, a very low-power ARM Cortex-M3-based microcontroller.

See also: Photos: Energy Micro's EFM32 MCU

The five questions are:

1. How would you characterise the needs of the 32-bit MCU market?

2. What's the basis of your claim to have created the world's most energy-friendly microcontroller?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Geir Førre, Energy Micro" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 10, 2009 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Elektra Awards - The awards in detail, and photos

The Elektra Awards for 2009 are almost upon us, and hopefully we will see you at the event. Indeed, we are now running a series of stories highlighting the individual awards, beginning with:

* Elektra Awards 2009 Finalists (R&D Award)

* Elektra Awards 2009 Finalists (Embedded System Product)

Also, ahead of the event itself - at Lancaster London Hotel at Lancaster Gate, 1 December - we've created photo galleries of last year's winners, and attendees of the event in Munich, at Electronics. Take a look, and see if you can see any friends or colleagues!

* Elektra Awards 2008 Winners

* Elektra Awards 2008 Attendees

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 9, 2009 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Photo Story - 3D solar cell research

A new Photo Story has been added to our index - an insight into the work of researchers at Georgia Tech, who have made a three-dimensional photovoltaic cell based on optical fibre.

"Using this technology, we can make photovoltaic generators that are foldable, concealed and mobile," said Professor Zhong Lin Wang. "Optical fibre could conduct sunlight into a building's walls where the nanostructures would convert it to electricity. This is truly a three dimensional solar cell."

Take a detailed look in our photo story

Continue reading "Photo Story - 3D solar cell research" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 4, 2009 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Maria Marced, TSMC

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the president of TSMC Europe.

Maria Marced talks to Electronics Weekly about roadmaps, best practices, the semiconductor upturn, and the challenges that face foundries...

The five questions this week are:

1. What is the TSMC roadmap for advanced, derivatives and mainstream technologies?

2. There are now many design considerations that are part of the time-to-market challenge.  What are some of the best practices that TSMC is implementing to meet those considerations?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Maria Marced, TSMC" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 2, 2009 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Photo Story - The EFM32G MCU

A new Photo Story has been added to our index - a more detailed look at the recently announced Energy Micro MCUs, the EFM32G family.

The company claims the ARM Cortex M3-based EFM32G range are the most energy efficient MPUs available.

Take a detailed look in our photo story

In 'run mode', current consumption is under 180µA/MHz while executing real code from flash; stand-by consumption is typically 900nA with real-time clock, power-on reset, and brown-out detector running, and RAM data and CPU state retained; and in deepest sleep, quiescent is less than 20nA, states CEO Geir Forre.

Continue reading "Photo Story - The EFM32G MCU" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 28, 2009 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Richard Barry, Wittenstein

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the head of innovation at Wittenstein High Integrity Systems.

Richard Barry, creator of FreeRTOS.org, talks to Electronics Weekly about important trends in the embedded market, the challenges faced by developers, and the industries creating the most innovative designs...

The five questions this week are:

1. Describe in two sentences what Wittenstein HIS does in the UK market.

2. What important trends do you see happening within the embedded market?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Richard Barry, Wittenstein" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 27, 2009 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The shifting sands of the semiconductor industry

Don't miss the latest opinion piece from Warren Savage, on the semiconductor industry in general, and EDA and IP in particular - Warren Savage On: The Shifting Sands of Semiconductor

He considers how the downside to Moore's Law - "it is increasingly difficult to put to use all those new transistors that are given to us every 18 months" - is forcing different parts of the industry to refine their goals.

He begins:

Continue reading "The shifting sands of the semiconductor industry" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 26, 2009 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Photo Story - Electronic waste in Ghana

Just to flag another site-update - a new Photo Story has been added to our index. The latest addition, courtesy of Greenpeace, is a pictorial look at the impact of dumped electronic waste in the Third World (Ghana, in this case).

The first slide reads: "Do you know what happens to your old telly once it conks out and you chuck it away? Well, it can get dumped onto developing countries in Asia and Africa as 'second hand goods' where unprotected workers (often kids) dismantle computers and TVs in search of metals that can be sold."

Continue reading "Photo Story - Electronic waste in Ghana" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 23, 2009 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Photo Story: Magnetic monopole flow measured

Just to flag a site-update - another Photo Story has been added to our index. The latest addition features the work of the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) and the Science and Technology Facility Council's, ISIS Neutron and Muon Source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.

Take a look at the place and the machines and people involved in measuring the magnetic monopole flow. As we reported last week, UK scientists have directly measured magnetic charge moving in a solid, and proved that the movement exactly parallels the flow of electric charge in ionic solutions.

Continue reading "Photo Story: Magnetic monopole flow measured" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 19, 2009 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Photo Story - Oscilloscopes - Objects of desire

Just to flag another site-update - a new Photo Story has been added to our index. The latest addition features a quick roundup - in no particular order - of the lastest eye-catching oscilloscopes that would grace any lab!

Check out these models: the Agilent 9000, the LeCroy WaveSurfer 104Xs-A, the National Instruments USB 5132, the PicoScope 5000, the Tektronix 70000 and the Yokogawa DLM6000.

Continue reading "Photo Story - Oscilloscopes - Objects of desire" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 16, 2009 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Photo Story - ZigBee networks track people

Just to flag a site-update - another Photo Story has been added to our index. They are already proving popular, and the latest addition features the work of the College of Engineering, The University of Utah.

It centres around a project involving a network of ZigBee transceivers used to track the movement of people. As the text for the first photo states:

Continue reading "Photo Story - ZigBee networks track people" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 14, 2009 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What Was The Best Logic Series?

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 13, 2009 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Photos: Intel IDF Fall 2009 Technologies

Check out the latest addition to our new Photo Gallery Index: Intel IDF Fall 2009 Technologies

It covers key technologies highlighted at the recent IDF in San Francisco: 22nm chips, Core i7, Light Peak, Tangent Bay...

It is a retrospective, obviously, as the event happened a fortnight ago now, but it is an interesting one for the record. Unfortunately we didn't have the gallery-system ready in time, but nevermind.

See Photos: Intel IDF Fall 2009 Technologies

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 12, 2009 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - David Bell, Intersil

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the CEO of Intersil.

David Bell talks to Electronics Weekly about the analogue business, energy efficiency, reference designs, disruptive technologies, ambient lighting and proximity sensing...

The five questions this week are:

1. Can you describe a key architecture development, which is having an impact on the analogue business?

2. How is the global trend towards greater energy efficiency affecting the semiconductor business in general?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - David Bell, Intersil" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 6, 2009 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Electronics Weekly Photo Galleries goes live

It's been something we have wanted to do for a while, but our picture gallery system is finally ready.

Taking a visual angle on stories or interesting subjects, the galleries complement our more traditional text-based articles.

View the full index of Photo Stories

Currently, we have five stories loaded:

* Photos: QuantaSol's record-breaking solar cell

* Photos: Electron-free microprocessor runs on air

Continue reading "Electronics Weekly Photo Galleries goes live" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 5, 2009 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Andrew Porter, Europe TechInsights

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the Events Director of Europe TechInsights, organiser of the Embedded Systems Conference 2009 event (6 - 8 Oct, FIVE International Show Centre, Farnborough).

He talks to Electronics Weekly about what makes the best electronics exhibition and conference in the UK.

The five questions this week are:

1. What makes the ideal UK electronics event?

2. What are the limiting factors on creating such an event for the UK high-tech engineering sector?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Andrew Porter, Europe TechInsights" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 22, 2009 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Owen Reeves, ACW Technology

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the MD of ACW Technology, the UK contract electronics manufacturer.

Owen Reeves talks to Electronics Weekly about design activity, opportunities in the current economic climate, and end-markets with growth prospects.

The five questions this week are:

1. What impact is the downturn having on your markets?

2. How is the design activity in your OEM customers being affected?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Owen Reeves, ACW Technology" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 15, 2009 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ARM Cortex-M3 put at the heart of Cypress PSoC plans

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 14, 2009 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

x86 Processor Endgame takes a blogging bow

There's another new blog in town, covering the news beat of x86 processor developments - x86 Processor Endgame!

As well as highlighting the developments from the likes of Intel, AMD and Via, it will be looking at the low-power challengers to the x86 hegemony, from the likes of ARM and Nvidia.

Essentially, it will be a "beat blog", quickly flagging things to note elsewhere on the Web, from various sources, pointing where to find interesting and relevant developments. Searching for all (interesting) things x86, so that you don't need to!

Posts already on the blog include:
* Intel puts 32nm "Westmere" chips in IDF spotlight

* AMD's VISION for badging computer specs

* Nehalem goes mainstream with "Lynnfield" chips

Continue reading "x86 Processor Endgame takes a blogging bow" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 14, 2009 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Electronics Weekly Live presentation videos

I'm happy to say the videos of presentations at Electronics Weekly Live - long promised - are now available to watch online in our Brightcove media player.

Please see the list below, and note that the presentation (PowerPoint or PDF) accompanying the speaker are also available for download. I recommend you follow these at the same time. Please follow the download link on the relevant video page (note you will be asked to supply some details before viewing the videos).

Continue reading "Electronics Weekly Live presentation videos " »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 10, 2009 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In Depth: Measuring noise & Open-source hardware

Check out these two In-Depth features recently added to the site, covering noise performance and open-source hardware.

Characterising noise in high-performance voltage-reference ICs
Voltage-reference stability and noise frequently define the measurement limits of instrumentation systems. In particular, reference noise often sets stable resolution limits. Reference voltages have decreased with the continuing drop in system power-supply voltages, making reference noise increasingly important.
Read the full article >>

Continue reading "In Depth: Measuring noise & Open-source hardware" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 8, 2009 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Simon Wilson, Nortel Europe

The latest Q5 interview is now online with the leader of communications solutions at Nortel Europe.

Simon Wilson talks to Electronics Weekly about power hungry data centres, energy-efficiency in network and data centre design, and other industry trends.

The five questions this week are:

1. How power hungry are data centres?

2. Can you give an idea of the scale of the issue? How many data centres are in Europe for example?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Simon Wilson, Nortel Europe" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 7, 2009 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ElectronicsWeekly.com - Welcome to the redesign, part II

It was back in April, with the relaunch of the Electronics Weekly homepage, that I said the Web never sleeps. Well, we promised further developments, and now the rest of the site is following the design of the homepage. I hope you like the new look and functionality of the new pages.

Almost two years of research have gone into this re-design and we've talked to many electronics professionals, and performed numerous usability tests. We listened to what people liked about the old site and what they would like to see in the new site...

Continue reading "ElectronicsWeekly.com - Welcome to the redesign, part II" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 2, 2009 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Thomas Wessel, Analog Devices

The latest Q5 Interview is now online, with the vp of European sales and marketing, global head of automotive sales at Analog Devices.

Thomas Wessel talks to Electronics Weekly about power efficiency, 4G mobile deployment, and the European semiconductor market.

The five questions this week are:

1. ADI's Q2 results were well received by the market, so what is your view of the European semiconductor market at present?

2. Power efficiency is the industry watch-word right now. What are the main tools and capabilities ADI has to address this in its products?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Thomas Wessel, Analog Devices" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 1, 2009 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Guido Schreiner, The MathWorks

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the communications and semiconductor industry manager at The MathWorks.

Guido Schreiner talks to Electronics Weekly about demystifying the terminology of model-based design and explaining its benefits of the time-constrained designer.

The five questions this week are:

1. What are the benefits of using Model-Based Design for programmable systems?

2. Model-Based Design has the reputation for being complex. Is this fair?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Guido Schreiner, The MathWorks" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 25, 2009 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In-Depth: DRAM and silicon packaging

Check out these two In-Depth features recently added to the site, covering DRAM and silicon packaging

In depth: DRAM technology for SOC designers
Consumers have come to expect - and even demand - the full benefits of the convergence between computing, communications, and digital-media technologies that we've all been predicting for the past 15 years...
Read the full article >>

In depth: First-pass success in silicon packaging
There are few aspects of a semiconductor program that can be more detrimental than a re-spin. This re-spin may be of a die, a package, a PCB (printed-circuit board), or another portion of a project.
Read the full article >>

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 18, 2009 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Most Important Semiconductor Breakthrough?

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 11, 2009 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Matt Johnson, Fairchild Semiconductor

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the vp of Signal Path products at Fairchild Semiconductor.

Matt Johnson talks analogue ICs. We ask him about the trend for power efficient design, how high speed serial interface standards - such as uSerdes and USB2.0 - impact signal path design, and analogue chip firm recoveries.

The five questions this week are:

1. How is the trend for more power efficient design influencing the selection and use of analogue ICs by your customers?

2. What developments in signal path ICs such as DACs, filters, amps and switches improve power efficiency?

3. How are high speed serial interface standards such as uSerdes and USB2.0 impacting signal path design?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Matt Johnson, Fairchild Semiconductor" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 10, 2009 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Feeling the heat of medical electronics

Don't miss the latest Nick Flaherty column - Nick Flaherty on... Feeling the heat of medical electronics

He considers some UK electronics successes in the medical monitoring market.

He begins:

Established wisdom is that the medical market is no place for startups. While the margins are good and the need for more intelligent systems grows as the Western world's population ages, getting medical approvals can take an age, and the liabilities and legal issues can sink a small firm.

Continue reading "Feeling the heat of medical electronics" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on August 4, 2009 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Add ElectronicsWeekly's News Widget to Your Own Site

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 30, 2009 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Test & Measurement Zone launches

If you work in the area of test and measurement, be sure to bookmark our T&M Zone, a new topic-specific element of the site.

Richard Wilson, editor of Electronics Weekly, curates the page, selecting news, comment and analysis relevant to the subject, which sits alongside RSS feeds of the latest products and news. Don't miss the latest developments.

Continue reading "Test & Measurement Zone launches" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on July 29, 2009 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Wes Hansford, The MOSIS Service

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the Director of the The MOSIS Service, a US-based independent service provider with access to the fabrication of MPWs, prototypes and low volume production quantities of analogue and mixed signal ICs.

Wes Hansford talks to Electronics Weekly about the most popular processes, which processes and applications show most promise for the future, and where he is seeing growth...

The five questions this week are:

1. What are the most popular processes and why?

2. What processes and applications show most promise for the future and why?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Wes Hansford, The MOSIS Service" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on July 28, 2009 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Openness and Linux unlocking mobile innovation

If you haven't done so already, check out our Open Source Engineering blog, which covers the use of Linux in embedded applications. The strapline is:

"Observations from the coal face of Open Source Engineering, bringing Linux and GNU software to embedded environments, whether for industrial, automotive or mobile applications."

The latest addition is a 3-part series, courtesy of Andrew Shikiar, Director of Global Marketing of LiMo Foundation. Check out the three posts:

Continue reading "Openness and Linux unlocking mobile innovation" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on July 22, 2009 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Roland Schimmelbauer, Toshiba Electronics

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the VP of European sales & marketing for Toshiba Electronics Europe.

Roland Schimmelbauer talks to Electronics Weekly about business opportunities in 2009, how Toshiba is addressing power efficiency, a key technology for the next 12 months, and consolidation in the Japanese semiconductor industry...

The five questions this week are:

1. How have changes in the market affected Toshiba's position as one of the world's biggest NAND flash suppliers?

2. Power efficiency is the industry watch-word right now. What are the main tools and capabilities a chip maker such as Toshiba has to address this in its products?
 

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Roland Schimmelbauer, Toshiba Electronics" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on July 14, 2009 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Naming and shaming technology

Have a look at a new post from David Manners on Mannerisms - Ten Worst Things About Technology


He writes:

You love it. You hate it. It delights you and it drives you mad with rage and despair. Here are The Ten Most Annoying Things About Technology.

The thing is, you would have thought we were spoiled for choice, but when David asked around the office suggestions quickly, strangely dried up. Objections to particular aspects of proprietary software were ruled out and issues of performance were also disallowed (after all, the fact that your own office PC is underpowered can't be blamed on technology).

Continue reading "Naming and shaming technology" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on July 8, 2009 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Eamonn Walsh, Brainboxes

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the chairman of of data communications systems manufacturer Brainboxes.

Eamonn Walsh talks to Electronics Weekly about OEM design activity, opportunities in the current economic climate, and end-markets with growth prospects...

The five questions this week are:

1. What impact is the downturn having on your markets?

2. How is design activity in your OEM customers being affected?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Eamonn Walsh, Brainboxes" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on July 7, 2009 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Electronics Weekly UK Electronics Research Map

Here's a resource we would like you to bookmark: the Electronics Weekly map of UK electronics research.

Using the familiar Google Maps system, it provides a quick geographical overview of electronics research news. Each point on the map links to an associated news story that we have covered on Electronics Weekly.

Continue reading "Electronics Weekly UK Electronics Research Map" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on July 6, 2009 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Let Electronics Weekly Live commence!

Today was the day that saw the start of Electronics Weekly Live, taking place within National Electronics Week at Earls Court 2.

Hopefully you have been following ElectronicsNews via Twitter on our udated homepage, for all the latest.

Pictured is Ev'ie the electric car, a converted Citroen C1, from the HCD stand, and you can see more pics from day one on the Electronics Weekly Live blog.

For full info on the show, and details of the Design Conference for Wednewday and Thursday, see our special EW Live microsite.

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on June 16, 2009 8:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DDR3 and Strain gauges

Check out two In-Depth articles recently added to the site. They cover, the selection and application of strain gauges, and the impact on design techniques of moving from DDR2 to DDR3 memory.

Stress out; strain gauges in

Strain gauges are the fundamental sensing elements for many types of sensors, including pressure sensors, load cells, torque sensors, and position sensors. Most strain gauges are foil types, available in a wide choice of shapes and sizes to suit a variety of applications (Figure 1). They consist of a pattern of resistive foil, which is mounted on a backing material.

Continue reading "DDR3 and Strain gauges" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on June 3, 2009 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Hossein Yassaie, Imagination Technologies

The latest Q5 industry interview is now online, with the CEO of graphics processor specialists Imagination Technologies.

Hossein Yassaie talks to Electronics Weekly about mobile 3D graphics, partnerships with Intel and Apple, and the biggest challenge facing the chip IP community in 2009.

1. How would you describe Imagination Technologies business model?

2. What are the core technologies which will make 3D graphics possible in a handheld terminal or mobile?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Hossein Yassaie, Imagination Technologies" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on June 1, 2009 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How to choose an LED for lighting

Don't miss another "How To" article that has been posted on the site - Analysis: How to choose an LED for lighting

Written by Jason Ford, technical services manager at Osram, it covers topics such as fine binning for homogeneity and general illumination issues.

It begins:

With developments made in the efficacy of white LEDs in the past few years, LED technology is driving the future of lighting.

Continue reading "How to choose an LED for lighting" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on May 28, 2009 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Tony Higgins, Dynamic-EMS

The latest Q5 industry interview is now online, with the MD of electronic manufacturing service specialists Dynamic-EMS.

Tony Higgins talks to Electronics Weekly about design activity in his OEM customer base, opportunities in the current economic climate, and market growth prospects.

The five questions this week are:

1. What impact is the downturn having on your market?

2. How is design activity in your OEM customer base affected?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Tony Higgins, Dynamic-EMS" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on May 25, 2009 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Interactive "Motor-Control" tutorials at EW Live

Future Electronics has revealed more details of its two interactive "My-TechnologyAuthority" tutorials at Electronics Weekly Live for motor control technology.

These 'live' interactive tutorials will help OEM design engineers gain insight into the functionality of the Future-BLOX systems as well as the devices of two BLOX systems:
•    3-phase BLDC (up to 1KW) in closed or open loop control mode under dynamic load using Fairchild technology.
•    3-phase ACI (up to 1KW) in open and closed loop control mode using International Rectifier technology.

The two available motor control sessions, taking place on each day of the show will offer the following:

Continue reading "Interactive "Motor-Control" tutorials at EW Live" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on May 26, 2009 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Take the Circuit Challenge, #5

We have had more than 1,000 entries for the first four, so it seems to be proving popular. Now we've freshly uploaded the fifth 'One of our components is missing' competition...

Take the test with Circuit #005. There's a £50 Amazon voucher to be won.

You just have to reason which component has been blacked out from a particular (real world) circuit schematic. Have a go!

Continue reading "Take the Circuit Challenge, #5" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on May 22, 2009 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Nigel Toon, president and CEO, picoChip

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the president and CEO of picoChip, the femtocell silicon specialists.

Nigel Toon talks to Electronics Weekly about the impact femtocells are making on the wireless communictaions market and next generation LTE in particular.

The five questions this week are:

1. What are the growth areas in wireless?

2. Can you comment on the state of the emerging Femtocell market?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Nigel Toon, president and CEO, picoChip" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on May 19, 2009 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How to develop SMP-friendly embedded code

Dont' miss an in-depth feature recently added to the site - How to develop SMP-friendly embedded code.

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the use of multicore devices in the PC market, writes Paul Tingey of Wind River. This trend is now being replicated in the device software environment with dual-core and many-core devices being released by a wide range of silicon vendors.

While these multicore devices clear the way for increased performance, this can only be achieved if software developers adapt the way they write code so that it fully uses the newly realised hardware resources they have available. Here is an outline of the multicore programming "problem" and list five top tips for software developers to prepare themselves for the new "parallel landscape" in front of them.

Here are his 5 tips:

Continue reading "How to develop SMP-friendly embedded code" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on May 14, 2009 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Andreas Lifvendahl, IAR Systems

The latest Q5 is now online, with the director of marketing and sales at IAR Systems, the embedded software tools specialist.

Andreas Lifvendahl talks to Electronics Weekly about trends in the embedded tools business, whether graphical generation of code is more efficient, and the outlook for 2009.

The five questions this week are:

1. Why would anyone use an independent tool vendor when many microcontroller companies offer their own tools?

2. What are the most prevalent trends in the embedded tools business?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Andreas Lifvendahl, IAR Systems" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on April 28, 2009 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Howard Ingleson, Syfer Technology

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the managing director of Syfer Technology, manufacturer of multilayer ceramic capacitors.

Howard Ingleson manufacturer of multilayer ceramic capacitors, talks to Electronics Weekly about design activity in OEM customers, the impact of the downturn, and the opportunities of the current climate.

The five questions this week are:

1. What impact is the downturn having on your markets?

2. How is design activity in your OEM customers being affected?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Howard Ingleson, Syfer Technology" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on April 21, 2009 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Slobodan Puljarevic, EBV

The latest Q5 inteview is now online, with the president of the design-in distributor EBV.

Slobodan Puljarevic talks to Electronics Weekly about the challenges facing the European electronics industry, the impact of the Internet, and the importance of eco-design.

The five questions this week are:

1. What are the biggest challenges facing the European electronics industry?

2. How has the role of the design-in distributor changed in the past few years?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Slobodan Puljarevic, EBV" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on April 14, 2009 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Joep van Beurden, CSR

The latest Q5 interview is now online with the CEO of single-chip wireless device designer CSR.

Joep van Beurden talks to Electronics Weekly about Bluetooth, the secret of running a global fabless chip firm from the UK, the acquisition of SiRF, and important targets for 2009...

The five questions this week are:

1. How do you feel when people refer to CSR as just a Bluetooth company?

2. As arguably the UK's most successful chip company what is the secret of running a global fabless chip firm from the UK?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Joep van Beurden, CSR" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on April 8, 2009 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ElectronicsWeekly.com - At home with a new look

The Web never Sleeps!

I'm sure you have noticed that we've been busy redeveloping the ElectronicsWeekly.com homepage, and I hope you like the new look and feel and functionality.

It is the first of many changes to come in the coming months, as we rollout the new look across all other sections. Please think of the site as being in Beta for the next few months!

What have we changed?

Almost two years of research have gone into this re-design and we've talked to many electronics professionals, and performed numerous usability tests. And we certainly listened! We took note of what people liked about the old site and what they would like to see in the new site...

Continue reading "ElectronicsWeekly.com - At home with a new look" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on April 15, 2009 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

West Coast electronics news - Globalpress Conference

Globalpress Conference Summit News Roundup

The Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose is not the only West Coast source of major news this week. The Globalpress Conference Summit in San Francisco is also producing news stories of note, courtesy of our man on the spot, David Manners, who is in San Francisco for the event.

According to the organisers, it is hosting the "the world's leading technology companies as well as innovative start-ups as they talk/ showcase their news and views". Keep up with the news and presentations via our News Roundup.

Stories to note already include:

• Kionix unveils Tri-Axis accelerometer


• Few disagreements on 4G licensing, says Qualcomm


• Canada's No.1 semiconductor company to be formed in May

Continue reading "West Coast electronics news - Globalpress Conference" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on April 1, 2009 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Embedded Systems Conference, San Jose 2009

Catch up on all the significant news from the 2009 Embedded Systems Conference, held in Silicon Valley. San Jose to be precise. ARM, Altera and Microsoft are leading the way...

Read the rolling Electronics Weekly roundup.

As usual, we've created a user-friendly URL - bookmark www.electronicsweekly.com/esc

Stories to note include:

* ARM shows fast multicore, with speedy prototype kit

* Altera and National show video reference design

* Microsoft embeds Visual Studio in MSDN

Continue reading "Embedded Systems Conference, San Jose 2009" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 31, 2009 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Andy Gales, Vicor

The latest Q5 interview is now online with the v-p of international sales at Vicor.

Andy Gales talks to Electronics Weekly about high density DC-DC converter design, Smart Power, power density and the impact of digital control.

The five questions this week are:

1. What is the most important trend affecting the DC-DC converter module market?

2. What is the most important technology driver in DC/DC module design?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Andy Gales, Vicor " »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 30, 2009 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Electronics Weekly's Focus on Development Kits

One for engineers who have to wrestle with dev kits. In an update to the site, we have brought together all the Electronics Weekly content related to Development Kits.

See Electronics Weekly's Focus on Development Kits

Following a section on the most recent development kit releases, there are some more general analysis pieces, followed by the current Twitterverse conversation on devkits and, finally, a section on other online resources.

Continue reading "Electronics Weekly's Focus on Development Kits" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 27, 2009 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Distribution World, in blog form

The Electronics Weekly supplement Distribution World is taking on a blog form. Written by editor Richard Wilson it will cover news and views from the electronics supply chain.

Simply bookmark: www.electronicsweekly.com/distributionworld and save the RSS feed for the reader of your choice. Don't miss out on distribution developments!

Here is a sample of recent posts:

• Arrow adds to European LED lighting plans
  
  
• Rutronik to carry ST chips in the UK
  
  
• Digi-Key takes on Bosch Sensortec MEMS line
  
  
• ARM Cortex-M0 to figure at Hitex/RS conference
  
  

Continue reading "Distribution World, in blog form" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 27, 2009 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Stephen King, Phyworks

The latest Q5 interview is now online with the CEO of optical communications specialists Phyworks.

Stephen King talks to Electronics Weekly about the status of broadband in the UK, why we are lagging so far behind other countries, and the future of FTTh technology.

The five questions this week are:

1. What's wrong with the UK's current broadband infrastructure?

2. How does the UK broadband infrastructure compare with other countries'?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Stephen King, Phyworks" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 24, 2009 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Enrico Salvatori, Qualcomm Europe

The latest Q5 interview is now online with the Senior VP of Qualcomm Europe.

Enrico Salvatori talks to Electronics Weekly about the impact of open source on mobile phone design, whether Europe is still seen as an important design centre, and the most important software technologies for the next generation of mobile phone design.

The five questions this week are:

1. What will be the most important semiconductor technologies for the next generation of mobile phone design?

2. What will be the most important software technologies for the next generation of mobile phone design?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Enrico Salvatori, Qualcomm Europe" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 18, 2009 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The winner of February's Circuit Challenge

We have a winner for our second Circuit Challenge.

Congratulations to the randomly selected Mr Kitney, who identified the missing component as a resistor. He wins the £50 Amazon.co.uk voucher.

To shed more light on the circuit please see Figure 1 of this Circuit Design Idea: Swapping bits improves performance of FPGA-PWM counter

Continue reading "The winner of February's Circuit Challenge" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on March 12, 2009 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Welcome to Electronics Weekly Live, the blog

Welcome indeed to a new blog on our site, Electronics Weekly Live. It will be the place to find all the information and details about the forthcoming Electronics Weekly Live which takes place within National Electronics Week (see www.electronicsweekly.com/live)

In a nutshell, the practical "how to" seminar programme and exhibition will showcase the leading design innovations within the electronic industry. It will provide a technical platform for semiconductor design, hardware and software applications along with test design solutions

The location is Earls Court 2 and the date is 16-18 June, but before then we want to provide you with all the info you could need around the event, keeping you up to date with the latest developments, for example details of speakers and presentations, any deals or special offers surrounding the event and insights into some of the showcase events that will be taking place (such as Richard Noble and his BLOODHOUND SSC).

Continue reading "Welcome to Electronics Weekly Live, the blog" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 19, 2009 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Ilya Bukshteyn, Microsoft

The latest Q5 interview is now online with the senior director of Windows Embedded Marketing at Microsoft.

Ilya Bukshteyn talks to Electronics Weekly about the main challenges facing embedded developers in 2009, what impact open-source software is having on the embedded market, and just how important the market is to Microsoft...

The five questions this week are:

1. What are the main challenges facing embedded developers in 2009?

2. What impact is open-source software having on the embedded market?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Ilya Bukshteyn, Microsoft" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 19, 2009 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Optimising standard-def video & The direction of light

Check out two new in-depth articles recently made available on the site. They cover Optimising standard-definition video on high-definition displays and an in-depth consideration of the direction of light.

Optimising standard-definition video on high-definition displays

The availability of large-screen HD LCD TVs and plasma displays is driving the popularity of digital-TV broadcasts and HD-signal interfaces.

However, the ability to support legacy sources with the highest quality remains an essential requirement. The 3-D-comb video decoder is a critical processing block that can heavily influence overall system performance.

Continue reading "Optimising standard-def video & The direction of light" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 16, 2009 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Take the Circuit Challenge, #2

We had more than 350 entries for the first one, so it seems to be proving popular. Now we've freshly uploaded the second 'One of our components is missing' competition...

Take the test with Circuit #002. There's a £50 Amazon voucher to be won, which is kindly provided by Digi-Key, the sponsor of our new Circuits section.

You just have to reason which component has been blacked out from a particular (real world) circuit schematic. Have a go!

Continue reading "Take the Circuit Challenge, #2" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 12, 2009 8:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - John Lofton Holt, Achronix

The latest Q5 interview is now online with the founder, chairman and CEO of Achronix.

John Lofton Holt talks to Electronics Weekly about breaking into the FPGA market, whether FPGAs become just another SoC device by another name, and how important design tools and software IP will be to the company's strategy.

The five questions this week are:

1. Describe Achronix's technology and business in 2 sentences.

2. Why is now the best time to break into the FPGA market?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - John Lofton Holt, Achronix" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 11, 2009 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

First winner of our Circuit Challenge

We have a winner of our first Circuit Challenge

Congratulations to the randomly selected Mr Exton, who identified the missing component as a diode. He wins the £50 Amazon.co.uk voucher.

To shed more light on the circuit please see the Circuit Design Idea: One microcontroller pin drives two LEDs with low quiescent current

The circuit schematic-based challenge is dubbed 'One of our components is missing' and you just have to reason which component has been blacked out from a particular (real world) circuit schematic. This month's competition - #2 - will be on the site shortly.

It's just a piece of electronics engineering fun, aimed at those who like reading circuits.

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 10, 2009 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Welcome to our new Open Source Engineering blog

Welcome, indeed, to Electronics Weekly's Open Source Engineering blog, featuring the use of Linux and GNU software in industrial, embedded and mobile applications. We hope it provides useful, informative and entertaining content. Please feel free to contribute with comments on the posts.

We're delighted to have as bloggers three Linux experts from Wind River: Richard Danter, Mark Day and Hans Juergen Rauscher.

Check out these recent posts:

* Vodafone and LiMo

* Linux and WiMAX become friends - finally

Continue reading "Welcome to our new Open Source Engineering blog" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 5, 2009 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Bruce Klimpke, INTEGRATED Engineering Software

The latest Q5 Interview is now online with the Technical Director of INTEGRATED Engineering Software.

Bruce Klimpke talks to Electronics Weekly about changing design strategies in response to the downturn, opportunities in the current climate, and achieving more cost-effective design processes...

The five questions this week are:

1. Describe your business in 2 sentences.

2. How are companies changing design strategies in response to the downturn?

3. Have you identified any opportunities in the current climate?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Bruce Klimpke, INTEGRATED Engineering Software" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 5, 2009 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Air Semiconductor goes blogging, On Air

I'm delighted to say we have a top UK startup stepping up to the blogging mark for us.

Stephen Graham, co-founder of the 2008 Elektra Start-up of the Year, Air Semiconductor, has agreed to take over duties for our Technology Startup blog.

As well as blogging about general startup issues, Stephen will also be looking at issues surrounding Air Semiconductor's particular area of electronics speciality - GPS. Two interesting topics for the price of one and he is already shaping up as a natural blogger.

Already he is doing a great job. Check out these posts, covering an epiphany by the Eiffel Tower, GPS enabled lingerie, and Ten Reasons to work for a Technology Startup:

* Starting-Up #1: Epiphany

* GPS Applications #1: GPS enabled lingerie

Continue reading "Air Semiconductor goes blogging, On Air" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on February 3, 2009 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Jason Oxman, CEA

The latest Q5 interview is online, with the senior VP industry affairs, Consumer Electronics Association.

Jason Oxman, senior VP industry affairs, Consumer Electronics Association, talks to Electronics Weekly about the biggest opportunities in the consumer market in 2009, the digital TV switch-over, and suppliers meeting the challenge of potentially falling consumer spending...

The five questions this week are:

1. Which technologies are expected to provide the biggest opportunities in the consumer market in 2009?

2. What impact will the move towards digital switch-over have on the market?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Jason Oxman, CEA" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 28, 2009 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Implementing radios & Embedded development and testing

Check out three new in-depth articles recently made available on the site. They cover the "Hot 100 Electronic Products of 2008", compact low-power wireless devices, and embedded development and testing.



Hardware and software approaches implement multiple radios

Miniaturization and emerging flexible software architectures will enable compact, low-power wireless devices to support communications standards ranging from Bluetooth to WiMax.

Continue reading "Implementing radios & Embedded development and testing" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 21, 2009 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Peter van den Eijnden, JTAG Technologies

The latest Q5 interview is online, with the managing director of JTAG Technologies.

Peter van den Eijnden talks to Electronics Weekly about boundary-scanning - what value it adds, why the tools are perceived as being expensive, and the long-term stability of manufacturing test systems.

The five questions this week are:

1. What value-added does boundary-scan (aka JTAG testing) bring to the manufacturing process?

2. Boundary-scan tools are perceived as expensive, why?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Peter van den Eijnden, JTAG Technologies" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 20, 2009 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What to watch in 2009 - A look ahead

Hopefully you've seen them on the News Index this week - Electronics Weekly's look forward to 2009, and what it has to offer.

As well as the technologies, people and legislation to watch in 2009, we consider the companies to watch in the year ahead, too.

Here is the full list:

• Cree, NXP, Achronix among companies to watch 2009 (Richard Wilson, Electronics Weekly)

Continue reading "What to watch in 2009 - A look ahead" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 16, 2009 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Circuit Competition - One of our components is missing

Take the Circuit Challenge

We are launching a new monthly competition on Electronics Weekly, with a £50 Amazon voucher to be won, kindly provided by Digi-Key sponsors of our new Circuits section.

The circuit schematic-based challenge is dubbed 'One of our components is missing' and you just have to reason which component has been blacked out from a particular (real world) circuit schematic. Have a go!

It's just a piece of electronics engineering fun, aimed at those who like reading circuits.

Continue reading "Circuit Competition - One of our components is missing" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 13, 2009 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 Interview - Professor Chris Toumazou, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College

The latest Q5 Interview is now online with the Director and Chief Scientist at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College, London.

Professor Chris Toumazou talks to Electronics Weekly about the the status of biomedical engineering in the UK, how the worlds of semiconductors and bioengineering come together, and his view on the status of the engineer in the UK.

The five questions this week are:

1. What is the role of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the UK's electronics and high tech industries?

2. How would you characterise the status of biomedical engineering in the UK?

Continue reading "Q5 Interview - Professor Chris Toumazou, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 8, 2009 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

LED Luminaries take a blogging bow

There is now a new blog in town, covering the latest developments in LED technology - LED Luminaries! Don't miss out.

As its strapline says, "LED industry insiders, from Dialight, Carclo, Farnell and SKK Lighting share their insights on the issues shaping the development of LED technology in general and LED lighting in particular."

Posts already on the blog include:

Continue reading "LED Luminaries take a blogging bow" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on January 6, 2009 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Circuit Search - schematics, schematics, schematics

Don't forget about the new Circuits section on ElectronicsWeekly.com, specifically - the Circuit Search section.

We update this regularly and two new circuit schematics have recently been added. One covers a configurable low-cost battery-voltage monitor (pictured, click to expand), and the other is a circuit to achieve precision temperature control.

The five most recent entries are:

• Circuit Schematic - Configure low-cost battery-voltage monitor
  
  
• Circuit schematic - Achieve precision temperature control
  
  
• Circuit Schematic - DC-accurate 32-bit DAC
  
  
• Circuit schematic - instrumentation amps having voltage gains
  
  
• Circuit schematic - Alarm monitors rotational speed of DC motor
  

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 19, 2008 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Linda C. Rae, Keithley Instruments

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with executive vp and chief operating officer at the test and measurements company Keithley Instruments.

Linda C. Rae talks to Electronics Weekly about the state of the test and measurement world today, the challenges facing test engineers, and making the job of test simpler for the customer. The five questions this week are:

1. What is the state of the test and measurement world today?

2. So what are the challenges these conditions create for test engineers?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Linda C. Rae, Keithley Instruments" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 16, 2008 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Embedded RFID and Power SoCs

Don't miss two useful In-Depth articles that now feature on the site, regarding RFID tags in embedded designs, and Power SoCs.

RFID in embedded designs: Your move

"Radio Frequency Identification technology has the potential to become a common and important element in embedded-system design. In addition to the traditional role of the technology in inventory management, recent advances in RFID tags and high-speed, long-range readers allow embedded-system designers to easily incorporate features such as access control, counterfeit prevention, simplified payments, medical authentication, dynamic pricing, product histories, and remote asset tracking."

Continue reading "Embedded RFID and Power SoCs" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 10, 2008 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ElectronicsWeekly.com Blog Awards 08 - The Winners

Electronics Weekly has completed its search for the best electronics blogs, and here are the results of the first ever Electronics Blog Awards (which exclude our own blogs, please note). Congratulations to the worthy winners!

There were three categories (Electronics Hardware, Electronic Gadgets and Mobile Comms) and having boiled down the list of contenders into a short list, a popular vote was completed. The aim was to provide electronics professionals with a comprehensive list of the most popular and useful writers on the web, so you could do worse than bookmark these sites...

Electronic Hardware

Blogs that cover details of electrics hardware - whether complexity of components, build processes or home-brew circuits - can be nominated for the Electronics Hardware category.

WINNER:

WINNER:

Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog

Continue reading "ElectronicsWeekly.com Blog Awards 08 - The Winners" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 3, 2008 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Steve Rawlins, Anglia

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the CEO of semiconductors, passives and e-mech distributor Anglia.

Steve Rawlins gives his view of the components market as it faces up to the challenges of an economic slowdown.

He also talks about Europe becoming more attractive as a location for manufacturing, lengthening lead times on some products, and which end markets are the most active right now.

The five questions this week are:

1. How would you characterise the UK components market, particularly in the light of concerns over the global economic slowdown?

2. Will the recent M&A activity in the UK market raise challenges or opportunities?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Steve Rawlins, Anglia" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on December 1, 2008 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Military sector electronics

Addressing the Military sector for electronics, there have been a number of news stories and case stories on the site recently, for example, involving UAV aircraft and Astute submarines.

I must admit, I wasn't aware of Astute-class submarines (the latest nuclear-powered submarines) - the Royal navy's most sophisticated and expensive - but here is a chance to read about optronics and the vessel's state-of-the-art non-hull-penetrating mast design (used instead of a conventional optronic periscope design).

Check out:

Continue reading "Military sector electronics" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 27, 2008 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Mark Robinson, Advanced Power Components

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the CEO at component distributor Advanced Power Components.

Mark Robinson talks to Electronics Weekly about consolidation in the market, the opportunities facing UK-based electronics companies, and the importance of skills in a downturn...

The five questions this week are:

1. How would you describe APC's business in 2 sentences?

2. You serve a number of specialist markets. Which are particularly strong at the moment and are there any areas that are struggling?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Mark Robinson, Advanced Power Components" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 25, 2008 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Credit Crunch: Semiconductor gloom amid economic gloom

Recently we highlighted a series of stories that indicate points of light for the semiconductor industry, amid the wider gloom of a global downturn. Now there's a companion article that confronts the bad news emerging as economic conditions tighten: Credit Crunch: Semiconductor light amid economic gloom

First we detail how people have been directly hit by the job losses suffered, and then list analysis pieces on the wider state of the semiconductor market and the wider health of the electronics industry.

Job losses within global electronics industry total:

Continue reading "Credit Crunch: Semiconductor gloom amid economic gloom" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 24, 2008 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Mike Farese, BitWave Semiconductor

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the president and CEO of BitWave Semiconductor, the software radio company.

Mike Farese talks about the impact of software radio on mobile phone design, the biggest challenge for wireless device manufacturers, and whether software radio can ultimately replace hardware radio transceiver designs... ...

The five questions this week are:

1. Can you describe your technology in two sentences?

2. What impact will software radio have on the design of mobile phones in the future?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Mike Farese, BitWave Semiconductor " »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 18, 2008 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Video - Elektra 08 Award Winners

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 13, 2008 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Elektra 08 Awards - The Winners

Video - Elektra 08 Award Winners

It was a plush but pleasurable do at the Hilton Munich Park for the Elektra 08 Awards last night.

Host for the evening this year was Jeff Stelling, he of Sky Sports fame, and very good he was, too. He desribed his Gillette Soccer Saturday show as 'watching football without seeing the shots, or the goals... much like watching Newcastle United'. A bit rich for a Harlepool fan...

But more importantly, who are this year's winners? Well, we updated the site immediately after the event, so simply check out Elektra 08 Awards - The Winners.

Continue reading "Elektra 08 Awards - The Winners" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 11, 2008 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Warren Savage On: Doom and Boom

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 5, 2008 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Mark Larson, Digi-Key

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the president of online and catalogue distributor Digi-Key.

Mark Larson talks about about the growth in online distribution, levels of design activity in Europe and the opportunities to add new product lines...

The five questions this week are:

Will your component distribution business grow this year?

How would you characterise your European business?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Mark Larson, Digi-Key" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 4, 2008 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The A - X of Open Source engineering

An alternative look at Open Source engineering.

A - X of Linux
A	Android
B	Broadcom and LiMo
C	Carrier Grade Linux
D	Driving automotive
E	Ericsson 3G
F	Free software embedded
G	Google G1
H	How to migrate
I	Intel
J	Jumping on board
L	Luminary Micro
M	Mobile Linux
N	Nokia does battle
O	Open Source engineering
P	Power shift
Q	Qualcomm
R	RTOS versus Linux
S	Stallman
T	Tivo-isation
U	UK radio mapping
V	VirtualLogix VLX
W	2 Watt green PC
X	Xilinx adds Linux
Spelling out GNU and Linux stories

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on November 3, 2008 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

ElectronicsWeekly.com Blog Awards 08 - The shortlists

Let the final voting commence! We have now reached the shortlist stage for the three categories in the Electronics Blog Awards: Mobile Comms, Electronic Hardware, and Electronic Gadgets.

I'm putting on a hard-hat and donning protective clothing, for any brickbats of criticism coming our way, but we have now drawn up the shortlists of just ten blogs for each category.

There are plenty of excellent blogs in the listings, but if any equally excellent examples are omitted, I'm afraid they were not on our radar to start with, or have not been nominated to draw them to our attention!

To have your say and vote for a shortlisted blog, simply email blogawards@electronicsweekly.com with its URL.

Continue reading "ElectronicsWeekly.com Blog Awards 08 - The shortlists" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 30, 2008 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Dr. Ebrahim Bushehri, Lime Microsystems

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the CEO of semiconductor start-up Lime Microsystems.

Dr. Ebrahim Bushehri talks about a shortage of high-tech skills in the UK, the biggest buzz from creating a start-up company, and how to encourage students to consider careers in electronics design......

The five questions this week are:

1. What is the company business model?

2. What makes the UK a suitable location for a semiconductor start-up?

3. There is much talk of a shortage of high-tech skills in the UK, what is your experience of this?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Dr. Ebrahim Bushehri, Lime Microsystems" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 29, 2008 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Jean Anne Booth, Luminary Micro

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the chief marketing officer at Luminary Micro, the supplier of 32-bit microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor core.

Jean Anne Booth talks about the 32-bit MCU market, the impact of open source and the beauty of the ARM Cortex-M3 processor...

The five questions this week are:

1. What do you see as the main factors behind the growing trend for 32-bit MCU designs in markets once dominated by 16- and even 8-bit chips?

2. Your MCU's are based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor core, how do you see this core evolving and are there any changes you would like to see implemented?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Jean Anne Booth, Luminary Micro" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 20, 2008 5:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Phil Gee, Nu Horizons

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the vice president of EMEA sales at component distributor Nu Horizons.

Phil Gee talks to Electronics Weekly about the European components market and the economic slowdown, the most promising geographic markets, rising fuel costs and Chinese manufacturing, and lengthening lead times on some products...

The five questions this week are:

How would you characterise the European components market, particularly in the light of concerns over the global economic slowdown?

Which geographic markets do you see as the most interesting and promising?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Phil Gee, Nu Horizons " »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 13, 2008 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Simon Calder, Cambridge Mechatronics

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the CEO of Cambridge Mechatronics.

Simon Calder talks to Electronics Weekly about the place of semiconductor start-ups in the UK, the absence of a high-tech skills shortage, and how to encourage students to consider careers in electronics design.

The five questions this week are:

Describe in two sentences the company business model.

What makes the UK a suitable location for a semiconductor start-up?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Simon Calder, Cambridge Mechatronics" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 6, 2008 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Work Break from Circuit Break

What's in a name? Well, the clearer the better for starters...

Having introduced a new Circuits section on the site (presenting a visual view of circuit diagrams, as well as the existing Circuit Design Ideas content), we thought it was time to tidy up the 'Circuits' namespace and rename the Circuit Break section, the erstwhile home of Dilbert and Sudoku.

Work Break is now its name. The content is the same, just the name has changed.

How many people got the 'Circuit Break' reference we wondered, particularly as they quickly scanned down the quite crowded Navigation Bar?

Continue reading "Work Break from Circuit Break" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 6, 2008 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DisplayPort versus HDMI: Do we really need two digital-display-interface standards?

Don't miss an in-depth article recently added to our site: DisplayPort versus HDMI: Do we really need two digital-display-interface standards?

Written by Ann R Thryft, Contributing Technical Editor of our sister site EDN, it covers DisplayPort's potential in the CE market and its future in the PC market, and its ability to challenge HDMI in the long run.

She begins:

DisplayPort silicon is beginning to appear in PCs, LCD monitors, and graphics cards. But it will probably be at least five years before prices fall and volumes ramp enough to challenge HDMI in consumer electronics.

Continue reading "DisplayPort versus HDMI: Do we really need two digital-display-interface standards?" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on October 2, 2008 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Q5 interview - Shaun Ashmead, Axiom Manufacturing Services

The latest Q5 interview is now online, with the Managing Director of Axiom Manufacturing Services.

Shaun Ashmead talks to Electronics Weekly about moving production off-shore, the economics of outsourcing, making designs more cost effective, the effects of the credit-crunch, and tackling a skills shortage.

The five questions this week are:

What issues should companies consider when deciding whether to move production off-shore?

Have the economics of using off-shore outsourcing changed in the last few years?

Continue reading "Q5 interview - Shaun Ashmead, Axiom Manufacturing Services" »

Posted by Alun Williams - Electronics Weekly.com on September 30, 2008 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Circuits. Circuits. Circuits

It's still in beta - the Web equivalent of caveat emptor - but check out the emerging new Circuits section on the site. (Click to expand the image on the left)

It brings to