Electronics

August 16, 2007 Two fuel cell innovators have teamed up to introduce a new range of portable power solutions beginning with a 50 watt emergency power unit. The strategic relationship between Millennium Cell and Horizon Fuel Cell is designed to bring a competitive and cleaner alternative to today’s lead acid battery-based power systems.  Read More

August 7, 2007 Even though they are less volatile and more powerful than the alternatives, the price of silver along with some inherent deficiencies has stopped silver-zinc rechargeable batteries from making much of a dent in the market. But by using a unique design incorporating elements of nanotechnology, ZPower silver-zinc batteries could be set to overpower their lithium-ion competitors in every sense of the word. After embracing and improving a neglected model, ZPower now claims its product is more powerful, safer and more environmentally friendly than any other rechargeable battery on the market.  Read More

August 2, 2007 An international research team, led by scientists at the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN), has found a way to switch a material’s magnetic properties from ‘hard’ to ‘soft’ and back again – something which could lead to new ways of controlling electromagnetic devices. The research were published today in the journal Nature and shows how a magnet can be ‘tuned’ by subjecting it to a second magnetic field, perpendicular to the original.  Read More

July 6, 2007 Researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a kinetic energy generator which derives electrical energy from the vibrations and movements that occur within its environment. Developed by Dr Steve Beeby and his team at the University's School of Electronics & Computer Science (ECS), the tiny generator (less than 1 cubic cm in size) is 10 times more powerful than anything yet developed in the field and could form the basis of technology for self-powered pace makers and other embedded applications that require periodic replacement of batteries.  Read More

June 27, 2007 We've written before about printable electronics, a relatively new field in which common printing techniques are used in conjunction with conductive electronic inks to mass-produce extremely thin, flexible and cheap electronic circuits. The technology has been producing breakthroughs in flexible e-paper displays, smart labels such as RFID tags, animated posters and active clothing. Industry analysts are encouraged by the quick take-up of the technology, as well as growing research into future uses - and are predicting that more than 15,000 specialized printable electronics printers will ship between 2007 and 2013.  Read More

June 27, 2007 With companies and individuals alike now focussed on reducing their carbon footprint, few of us would deny the value of any device that delivers power savings and in turn, lower carbon emissions on a broad scale. One major energy waster is the power used by devices when not in use and it is this issue that the latest release from power management specialists AnalogicTech seeks to address. The AAT1162 is a synchronous step-down DC/DC converter that delivers higher efficiency to a wide range of 12V industrial applications by limiting energy consumption when in stand-by mode, as well as providing better power management and extended battery life in mobile consumer electronics products including cell phones, laptop computers and digital cameras.  Read More

March 22, 2007 SENSR Instruments’ first product has certainly raised the bar for its future efforts - the GP1 Programmable Accelerometer, was developed to be an "accessible instrument", and combines precision, quality, ease of use and affordability. The unit is equally at home in a lab environment streaming real-time dynamic data back to your PC or out in the field functioning as a remote data logger monitoring and recording up to 30 days of data. The GP1 uses an enhanced recording processor that integrates static, dynamic and environmental data into a unique data record that records what occurred and when. A bit bigger than a car ignition key , the billet aluminium-cased gadget retails for just US$600 and at that price, there’s a whole bunch of things you can now do which were either impossible or price-prohibitive yesterday.  Read More

March 22, 2007 All is no longer as it seems – the clear flexible plastic in the image is a battery – it is a polymer based rechargeable battery made by Japanese scientists. Drs Hiroyuki Nishide, Hiroaki Konishi and Takeo Suga at Waseda University have designed the battery – which consists of a redox-active organic polymer film around 200 nanometres thick. Nitroxide radical groups are attached, which act as charge carriers. Because of its high radical density, the battery has a high charge/discharge capacity. This is just one of many advantages the ‘organic radical’ battery has over other organic based materials according to the researchers. The power rate performance is strikingly high – it only takes one minute to fully charge the battery and it has a long cycle life, often exceeding 1,000 cycles.  Read More

March 6, 2007 From politics to technology, women have played a vital role in shaping today’s society. Some of these achievements and other various tidbits are being highlighted during International Women’s Day on March 8. In regards to the technology spectrum, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reports that women are the primary consumers when it comes to wireless gadgets and gizmos. According to CEA officials, women are outspending men in electronics purchases US$55 billion to US$41 billion. The trade organization also reports that women influence 90 percent of consumer electronics purchases which amounts to a lot of money when factory-to-dealer sales of consumer electronics are projected to exceed US$155 billion in 2007.  Read More