Toyota has patented a helicopter car, reports AutoGuide. The car wheels, attached to arms fixed to a pivot, can also act as helicopter rotors. When the car switches from ground to flight the arms incline upwards. Each wheel is powered by an electric motor. The vehicle is steered on the ground like a tracked vehicle – ...
This story continues at Toyota patents helicopter car
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Imec and Scale-Ups.com are to set up a programme to help US and Asian companies access the European market. The programme is to start in Q2 2019. US and Asian scale-ups can sstruggle to enter the European market because they do not have access to a local network, lack market knowledge, or are unfamiliar with ...
This story continues at Imec and Scale-Ups look to help companies access the European market
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
Blok.Party, the company that built the upcoming PlayTable game console, announced today it raised $10 million in new funding. It’s also unveiling a big content partnership, where Blok.Party will create its own version of the popular board game Settlers of Catan.
I first wrote about Blok.Party and PlayTable earlier this year, when co-founder and CEO Jimmy Chen first laid out his vision to use blockchain technology to build a console that can recognize real-world objects (like figurines and cards), creating a hybrid between tabletop and video gaming.
The idea may have sounded a little abstract at the time, but it got a lot clearer when Chen dropped by the TechCrunch New York office to play a couple rounds of Catan with me.
I’ll admit that I hadn’t played in a while, but it was clear from the start that PlayTable saved us some setup time — instead of putting all the pieces of the physical board together, you play on a digital representation of the board. Most of the pieces are digitized too, and we used and traded our cards using smartphones. But there is a physical “robber” piece, because Chen said this allows the robber’s movement to remain “a very visceral experience … that a digital version can’t ever capture.”
It may not be too long before you get to try this out for yourself, at least if you’re among the 10,000 pre-orders Blok.Party has received so far. Chen said the company will start shipping its first devices this fall.
He added that Catan, like many of the other games built for PlayTable, will be priced at around $20.
“For us, it’s not about trying to compete based on price,” Chen said. “We’re trying to compete based on experience.”
The new funding comes from crypto fund JRR Capital and other investors. Chen said the company will use the money to continue scaling the product, including further software development and building out the library of games.
At the same time, he emphasized that although Blok.Party is manufacturing the initial devices, his vision is to achieve real scale through partnerships with hardware manufacturers, who will build their own PlayTable consoles. Apparently, some of those discussions are already underway.
“Our strategy is to always have [our own] hardware program running to continually do research,” Chen said. “What I’ve discovered is that keeping a hardware program running is not that expensive. The expensive part is when you try to scale the program.”
Master Google AdWords for a real future and search engine optimization
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
It’s been an awful week in the news, but you know what’s still good? TV — especially “Sharp Objects,” the HBO limited series that aired over the past couple of months.
Granted, the show didn’t air on the streaming services that we normally focus on during the Original Content podcast, but Jordan’s been talking constantly about how much she loves “Sharp Objects,” so we figured it was time for an in-depth discussion.
“Sharp Objects” is based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, and focuses on journalist Camille Preaker’s return to her home town of Wind Gap, Missouri. During this week’s episode, we’re joined by Anna Escher to praise the mystery, the setting and the performances of Amy Adams as Camille and Eliza Scanlen as her younger half-sister Amma. We also weigh in on the most important question of all: Is Camille actually a good journalist?
If you haven’t watched the show yet, I should warn you that there are mild spoilers throughout the episode, but there will be a warning in the podcast itself before we get to the big reveal.
We also discuss this year’s Emmy Awards, where Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” dominated the comedy categories, while Netflix titles picked up a few awards of their own.
You can listen in the player below, subscribe using Apple Podcasts or find us in your podcast player of choice. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review on Apple. You also can send us feedback directly. (Or suggest shows and movies for us to review!)
Master Google Adwords like a boss
Side-stepping traditional laser local oscillator down-conversion techniques, Australian engineers are using acoustic interactions to retrieve frequency and phase information from Gbit/s modulated optical signals. “Our technique uses the interaction of photons and acoustic waves to enable an increase in signal capacity and therefore speed,” said Dr Elias Giacoumidis of the University of Sidney. “This allows ...
This story continues at Optical demodulator shuns local oscillator without loosing narrowband finesse
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
A thin coating of a composite made from zinc ferrite and polyaniline absorbs microwave radiation in Ku band, according to researchers at Anhui University of Science and Technology in China. The composites were synthesised by a two-step hydrothermal and in-situ polymerisation method, with Zn ferrite (2-30nm particles) used to adjust the impedance matching and improve ...
This story continues at Polyaniline + zinc ferrite = microwave absorption
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
University of Surrey scientists have unveiled maths that predicts the behaviour of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) – devices that harvest electricity from contact between two or more materials. “This study redefines the way we understand energy harvesting,” said researcher Ishara Dharmasena. “The tools developed here will help researchers all over the world to exploit the true ...
This story continues at Surrey delves into triboelectric energy harvesting
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Benchmarking consortium EEMBC has created a tool to measure the combined energy consumption of an IoT edge node’s sensor interface, processor, and Bluetooth LE radio interface. Part of the IoTMark benchmarking suite, it is called IoTMark-BLE benchmark. IoTMark-BLE models a node consisting of an I²C sensor and a BLE – radio through sleep, advertise, and ...
This story continues at EEMBC creates IoT Bluetooth power consumption benchmark for MCUs
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Toshiba has launched an integrated dual H-bridge DC brushed motor driver IC
This story continues at H-bridge motor driver IC has 50V / 3.0A current output limit
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
nPERT cells feature a conversion efficiency of 23.03%, certified by Fraunhofer ISE CalLab
This story continues at Imec nPERT cells 23% efficient
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Mouser has signed SSD and memory module specialist Virtiymnto a global distribution deal. The Virtiymnportfolio includes StorFlyband TuffDrive SSDs, memory modules and other industrial embedded solutions. The StorFly and TuffDrive SSDs are made for extreme conditions in industrial embedded applications, offering models with an available industrial temperature range of minus 40 to 85 degrees Celsius. The ...
This story continues at Mouser signs Virtium
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Production of electronic equipment is healthy based on July and August data, says Bill Jewell’s Semiconductor Intelligence. China, the largest electronics producer, showed three-month-average change versus a year ago (3/12) of 13.8% in August. Growth for China has been in the 12% to 15% range since January 2017, picking up from the 8% to 11% ...
This story continues at Electronics production healthy, says SI
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
The X-Men movie franchise is still chugging along — and it’s returning to one of the comics’ best-known stories.
For those of you who haven’t read it, the Dark Phoenix saga focuses on Jean Grey’s growing telekinetic powers, which eventually transform her personality and force her fellow X-Men to make a terrible choice. It’s action-packed and emotional, and arguably the most famous story in the characters’ 50-year history.
The storyline was adapted more than a decade ago into the terrible “X-Men: The Last Stand,” which remains the franchise low-point. However, by rebooting the series with younger actors in “First Class,” then tinkering with the timeline in “Days of Future Past,” Fox has given filmmakers a second shot.
The movie comes at a fraught time for the cinematic X-Men. Sure, the franchise thrived in recent years when focusing on individual characters in “Deadpool” and “Logan,” but “Apocalypse” (the last film to focus on the entire X-Men team) was both a mess and a box office disappointment. “Dark Phoenix” itself was delayed for extensive reshoots. And it’s not clear what’s going to happen to the characters now that Disney (which owns Marvel and its cinematic universe) has acquired Fox.
So the trailer has a big job: Getting the public excited about the X-Men again. To do that, it leans less on special effects and set pieces, more on a foreboding tone, and on the franchise’s big, returning stars — James McAvoy as Professor Xavier, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, plus “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner, who’s returning as Jean Grey.
Have Fox and writer-director Simon Kinberg (who co-wrote “Last Stand,” as well as “Days of Future Past” and “Apocalypse”) done a better job with the story this time? We’ll find out on February 14.
Master Google AdWords for a real future and search engine optimization
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
This December a set of autonomous vehicles will start roaming the streets of Columbus, Ohio, in an effort to turn this bustling Midwestern community into the first smart city. The project, which is part of the Smart Columbus and DriveOhio initiatives, is the first step in launching a fully autonomous shuttle route in the city.
“We’re proud to have the first self-driving shuttle in Ohio being tested on the streets of Columbus,” said Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. “This pilot will shape future uses of this emerging technology in Columbus and the nation. Residents win when we add more mobility options to our transportation ecosystem – making it easier to get to work, school or local attractions.”
Michigan-based May Mobility provided the shuttles and the team is training the autonomous vehicles to navigate Columbus streets. May Mobility already launched their vehicles in Detroit and this is the second full implementation of the tech.
The six-seater electric shuttles will follow a 3 mile route through downtown Columbus and the vehicles will start picking up passengers on December 1. Rides are free. May Mobility has already performed over 10,000 successful trips in Detroit. In Columbus the shuttles will drive the Scioto Mile loop, a scenic route through the city and by the Ohio River. A large digital display will show system information and there will be a single operator to oversee the trip and take control in case of emergency.
Founder Edwin Olson is a robotics professor at the University of Michigan and his team won the original DARPA challenge in 2007.
“Cities are seeking cost-effective transportation services that will improve congestion in urban cores, and self-driving shuttles can offer a huge relief,” he said. “As we work toward a future where people can drive less and live more, we’re thrilled to be working with partners from Columbus to provide a new transportation experience that will make traveling through Columbus safe, reliable and personal.”
Columbus won the $40 million Smart City Challenge in June 2016 to test and implement smart city tech.
Master Google Adwords like a boss
Zettler will be showing relays for electric vehicles, solar and more at Electronica in November. AZEV116 and AZEV132 are IEC mode 2 electric vehicle charging relays in development for release in 2019, and are designed to survive high momentary currents that may occur on short circuits without contact welding. They also have a potential monitoring ...
This story continues at Electronica: Zettler reveals relays for electric vehicles and more
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
The UK is a leader in understanding error rates in drug administration and pharmaceutical electronics will play an increasingly important role, writes Phil Simmonds of EC Electronics. Devices which assist the dispensing of pharmaceutical products serve two purposes: to reduce errors in medical prescribing and address unused or unnecessary medicine waste. Medtech machines which identify ...
This story continues at Viewpoint: Pharmaceutical electronics promise real improvements for patients
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
RS Components has introduced a portfolio of high-power connectors from Amphenol that are specifically designed for connecting up power cables used with electric vehicle (EV) drive systems. The MSD series of receptacles and plugs offers a tool-free solution for disconnecting an internal high-voltage battery pack and delivering short-circuit protection. The device uses a two-stage lever ...
This story continues at RS stocks electric vehicle power connectors
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Molex has announced two families of FFC/FPC connectors designed to add high-reliability to small-pitch. Dubbed Easy-On FFC/FPC connectors they are available in 0.5mm pitch and 1.0mm pitch formats. Both formats have a double-bottom contact terminal which is designed to remove dust and contaminants from the connection better than single-bottom contact terminals. There is a vacuum ...
This story continues at Molex styles small pitch connector for reliability
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
With the severe conditions of industrial environments in mind, the 1554 flat lid and 1555 styled lid ranges of ABS and UV stabilised polycarbonate enclosures from Hammond Electronics provide IP66 sealing as well as mechanical protection. The light grey RAL 7035 enclosures are designed to house printed circuit boards or DIN rail mounted components. IP66 ...
This story continues at UV stabilised polycarbonate enclosures from Hammond Electronics
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Osram has introduced a high luminance LED for projection headlamps using DMDs – digital mirror devices – to change headlight beam shape – and more, according to Osram. “Each headlight achieves a resolution of more than one million pixels, offering car drivers not only classic illumination but also optional support from information projected onto the ...
This story continues at Automotive power LED for projector headlamps hits 200cd/mm²
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Siemens PLM Software and STMicroelectronics will present keynotes at next month’s DVCon Europe 2018. The event for chip architects, design verification engineers and IP integrators is sponsored by Accellera Systems Initiative. This year’s keynotes reflect the design and verification methodologies and standards for the IoT, machine learning, and automotive safety. On the first day of ...
This story continues at DVCon Europe leads with the digital twin and IoT development
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
MACOM has announced is MASW-011102 SPDT non-reflective switch. Building on MACOM’s GaAs-based SPDT MASW Series switches, the MASW-011102 is for use in test and measurement, EW and broadband communication systems. The switch supports broadband operation from DC to 30 GHz, with low insertion loss of 1.8 dB and high isolation of 40 dB at 30 ...
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
The forecasts for the Q4 DRAM prices are getting lower faster, with DRAMeXchange expecting a 5% drop for Q4 on Q3. PC DRAM and server DRAM showed only a 1~2% price hike QoQ in Q3 while mobile DRAM was flat and graphics DRAM fell, Spot prices have been sliding since the beginning of this year and ...
This story continues at DRAM ASPs expected to drop further, faster.
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Imec has developed a thin-film tandem solar cell consisting of a top perovskite cell developed by imec and a bottom CIGS cell from the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW, Stuttgart, Germany which achieves a record efficiency of 24.6 percent. The perovskite top cell in the tandem uses light in the visible part ...
This story continues at Imec tandem perovskite solar cell achieves 24.6% efficiency
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
CollegeHumor is getting into the subscription business with a new service called Dropout.
Dropout is part of CH Media, the IAC-owned subsidiary that also includes Dorkly, Drawfree and CollegeHumor proper. It’s not just a subscription video service. Yes, there will be ad-free video series, many of them starring familiar faces from previous CollegeHumor shows, but Dropout will also offer comics and chat stories.
The shows include “Dimension 20: Fantasy High,” which CollegeHumor describes as what you’d get “if John Hughes ran a tabletop RPG,” plus a second season of “Lonely and Horny” starring Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld. Many of the comics and chat stories will tie into the series in some way, and there will also be a members-only Discord channel allowing subscribers to interact with CollegeHumor creators and stars.
Chief Business Officer Shane Rahmani said that rather than SVOD (subscription video on demand), Dropout is offering “SMOD — subscription media on demand.” He added that with a subscription model, CollegeHumor can “play at a proverbial next level of investment,” with content that “feels much more premium.”
It’s been a little over a year since NBCUniversal announced it was shutting down its own comedy streaming service, Seeso. Rahmani didn’t discuss Seeso directly during our interview, but he addressed the broader question: “Why do I think this will work?”
“It really all comes down to the core offering for this very specific consumer,” he said. “It’s built for a very digitally native consumer particularly, someone who loves nerd culture but also loves comedy and goes out to things like Comic-Con. Someone who plays a lot of video games and loves being a fan of ours. We’re dead-focused on meeting their needs specifically in the first year.”
Although Rahmani and his team have a clear audience in mind, they don’t see “nerdy” as synonymous with “white guys.” In fact, when I asked about diversity of talent and of audience, CollegeHumor sent me the following statement from Chief Creative Officer Sam Reich:
Inclusivity is a top priority for us at CollegeHumor / DROPOUT. We don’t see nerdy topics as belonging to one group of people and not another. If you look at RPGs, for instance, there is a more diverse collection of people playing them now than ever before — and if you look at the cast of our RPG show, “Dimension 20,” it reflects that. If some bad fans of these topics have at one point alienated people, then it’s our job to create an environment that’s inclusive and supportive enough to win them back.
Of course, when you’re talking about streaming comedy, you also have to acknowledge Netflix, which is releasing new specials every week. CollegeHumor, in contrast, doesn’t really do standup. Instead, Rahmani said the company’s approach is “rooted in world-building sketch comedy — comedy layered with characters and storylines and elements that cross-pollinate … a Marvel universe for comedy.”
Dropout is launching on the web in a public beta test, with native apps to follow. It will start at $3.99 per month before adding different tiers — you’ll still be able to pay $3.99 per month after the beta, but only if you commit to an annual subscription. Otherwise it’s $4.99 per month with a six-month subscription or $5.99 month-to-month.
Even without a subscription, CollegeHumor fans will get access to some of the new content. Rahmani said the windowing policies (i.e. how long CollegeHumor waits before releasing a previously paywalled video for free) are still being decided, but there will be teasers released for each episode that should also work as standalone funny videos that are a couple of minutes in length.
Master Google AdWords for a real future and search engine optimization
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
If you’re familiar with 20th century Soviet camera clones you’ll probably be familiar with Zenit. Created by Krasnogorsky Zavod, the Nikon/Leica clones were a fan favorite behind the Iron Curtain and, like the Lomo, was a beloved brand that just doesn’t get its due. The firm stopped making cameras in 2005 but in its long history it defined Eastern European photography for decades and introduced the rifle-like Photo Sniper camera looked like something out of James Bond.
Now, thanks to a partnership with Leica, Zenit is back and is here to remind you that in Mother Russia, picture takes you.
The camera is based on the Leica M Type 240 platform but has been modified to look and act like an old Zenit. It comes with a Zenitar 35 mm f/1.0 lens that is completely Russian-made. You can use it for bokeh and soft-focus effects without digital processing.
The Leica M platform offers a 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor, a 3-inch LCD screen, HD video recording, live view focusing, a 0.68x viewfinder, ISO 6400, and 3fps continuous shooting. It will be available this year in the US, Europe, and Russia.
How much does the privilege of returning to the past cost? An estimated $5,900-$7,000 if previous incarnations of the Leica M are any indication. I have a few old film Zenits lying around the house, however. I wonder I can stick in some digital guts and create the ultimate Franken-Zenit?
Master Google Adwords like a boss
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
While this video shows a tiny robot from the City University of Hong Kong doing what amounts to a mitzvah, we can all imagine a future in which this little fellow could stab you in the kishkes.
This wild little robot uses electromagnetic force to swim or flop back and forth to pull itself forward through harsh environments. Researchers can remotely control it from outside of the body.
“Most animals have a leg-length to leg-gap ratio of 2:1 to 1:1. So we decided to create our robot using 1:1 proportion,” said Dr. Shen Yajing of CityU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.
The legs are .65 mm long and pointed, reducing friction. The robot is made of “silicon material called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) embedded with magnetic particles which enables it to be remotely controlled by applying electromagnetic force.” It can bend almost 90 degrees to climb over obstacles.
The researchers have sent the little fellow through multiple rough environments including this wet model of a stomach. It can also carry medicines and drop them off as needed.
“The rugged surface and changing texture of different tissues inside the human body make transportation challenging. Our multi-legged robot shows an impressive performance in various terrains and hence open wide applications for drug delivery inside the body,” said Professor Wang Zuankai.
The team hopes to create a biodegradable robot in the future which would allow the little fellow to climb down your esophagus and into your guts and then, when it has dropped its payload, dissolve into nothingness or come out your tuchus.
Master Google AdWords for a real future and search engine optimization
Imagination Technologies and Global Foundries are to collaborate to offer low-power baseband and RF functions – Bluetooth Low Energy and IEEE 802.15.4, for example – to mutual customers. The deal combines Imagination’s Ensigma radio IP with 22FDX from GF – its 22nm FD-SOI process. “22FDX is an appealing option for customers designing cost-sensitive devices,” said ...
This story continues at Imagination and GF collaborate to put low power wireless on SoCs
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
The University of Utah turned to Raspberry Pis when it need to equip four homes with smart sensing for clean air research. The Pis controlled the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in each house, based on data from three off-the-shelf wireless particulate pollution sensors added to each house, two inside rooms and one ...
This story continues at US researchers turn to Raspberry Pi for clean air research
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
2018 foundry sales into in the US, Japan and Asia-Pac will be flat with last year, reckons IC Insights, while foundry sales into Europe will be up 9% this year on last, but foundry sales into China will be up 51% in 2018 compared with 2017, which means that China will account for 19% of ...
This story continues at China to account for 19% of foundry sales this year
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Mouser has signed microcontroller board specialist What’s Next to a distribution agreement. Mouser now stocks eight unique, Arduino-compatible What’s Next microcontroller boards — including the Yellow, Red, Green, and Orange boards. Thee entry-level Yellow and Red boards are based on a Microchip ATmega328 microcontroller. Each board provides 20 digital input/output (IO) pins (with up to ...
This story continues at What’s Next for Mouser
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
A low-power SRAM IP application-centric, customisation service
This story continues at sureCore offers low-power SRAM IP customisation
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
If you’ve been keeping up with watchmaker MB&F you’ll be familiar with their Horological Machine series, watches that are similar in construction but wildly different when it comes to design. This watch, the HM9, is called the Flow and hearkens back to roadsters, jets and 1950s space ships.
[gallery ids="1719823,1719822,1719821"]The watch, limited to a run of 33 pieces, shows the time on a small forward-facing face in one of the cones. The other two cones contain dual balance wheels. The balance wheel is what causes the watch to tick and controls the energy released by the main spring. Interestingly, MB&F added two to this watch in an effort to ensure accuracy. “The twin balance wheels of the HM9 engine feed two sets of chronometric data to a central differential for an averaged reading,” they wrote. “The balances are individually impulsed and spatially separated to ensure that they beat at their own independent cadences of 2.5Hz (18,000bph) each. This is important to ensure a meaningful average, just as how a statistically robust mathematical average should be derived from discrete points of information.”
There are two versions, called the Road and Air, and they cost a mere $182,000 (tax not included). Considering nearly every piece of this is made by hand — from the case to the curved crystal to the intricate movement — you’re essentially paying a team of craftsman a yearly wage just to build your watch.
While it’s no Apple Watch, the MB&F HM9 is a unique and weird little timepiece. While it’s obviously not for everyone, with enough cash and a little luck you can easily join a fairly exclusive club of HM9 owners.
Make Google AdWords your B*****
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
Whether you’re trying to figure out how many students are attending your lectures or how many evil aliens have taken your Space Force brethren hostage, Wi-Fi can now be used to count them all.
The system, created by researchers at UC Santa Barbara, uses a single Wi-Fi router outside of the room to measure attenuation and signal drops. From the release:
The transmitter sends a wireless signal whose received signal strength (RSSI) is measured by the receiver. Using only such received signal power measurements, the receiver estimates how many people are inside the room — an estimate that closely matches the actual number. It is noteworthy that the researchers do not do any prior measurements or calibration in the area of interest; their approach has only a very short calibration phase that need not be done in the same area.
This means that you could simply walk up to a wall and press a button to count, with a high degree of accuracy, how many people are walking around. The system can measure up to 20 people in its current form.
The system uses a mathematical model to “see” people in the room based on signal strength and attenuation. The system uses off-the-shelf components and they’ve tested it in multiple locations and found that their total accuracy is two people or less with only one Wi-Fi device nearby.
Bodies and objects essentially absorb Wi-Fi as they move around in rooms, allowing the system to find discrete things in the space. Sadly it can’t yet map their position in the room, a feature that could be even more helpful in the future.
Master Google AdWords for a real future and search engine optimization
Analog Devices has announced a two-phase boost controller whose phases can be arranged in multiple topologies, including one in which the output of the first channel can feed the input of second channel allowing output voltage to exceed several hundred volts. Called LTC7840, each output works with its own external mosfet. There is no option for a ...
This story continues at 60V dual boost converter self-cascades to over 200V
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Continuous monitoring of health parameters by wrist-based devices is enabled by Maxim’s Health Sensor Platform 2.0. This rapid prototyping, evaluation and development platform, delivers ECG, heart rate and body temperature to a wrist-worn wearable. Data can be stored on the platform for patient evaluation or streamed to a PC for analysis later. The data measurements ...
This story continues at Health on the wrist
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Imagination and GloFo are to collaborate on baseband and RF solutions for BLE and Zigbee. The combination uses Imagination’s Ensigma connectivity IP on GF’s 22nm FD-SOI process. Imagination has joined GF’s FDXcelerator Partner Program. Ensigma on 22FDX provides a complete IP solution comprising analogue RF/AFE as a hard macro complete with a fully synthesizable baseband ...
This story continues at Imagination and GF combine for BLE and Zigbee on 22nm FD-SOI
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Renesas has announced an alliance with Alibaba’s IoT developers to accelerate the growth of China’s IoT market. The collaboration includes embedding AliOS Things IoT operating system (OS) in the Renesas RX65N/RX651 microcontroller (MCU) lineup, expanding online sales channels, and Renesas joining Alibaba’s IoT ecosystem. Following the recent launch of the 16-bit RL78 MCU Family supporting ...
This story continues at Renesas and Alibaba link up for IoT
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Maxim’s Health Sensor Platform 2.0 enables ontinuous monitoring of health parameters by wrist-based devices
This story continues at Health on the wrist
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Continuous monitoring of health parameters by wrist-based devices is enabled by Maxim’s Health Sensor Platform 2.0. This rapid prototyping, evaluation and development platform, delivers ECG, heart rate and body temperature to a wrist-worn wearable. Data can be stored on the platform for patient evaluation or streamed to a PC for analysis later. The data measurements ...
This story continues at Health on the Wrist
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Toshiba is sampling a 4-channel power amplifier for automotive audio applications that claims to be highly resistant to the power surges typically found within vehicle electronics. The chip delivers 50W of output power per channel into a 4Ω load. The device includes built-in mute and standby functions as well as protection functions such as offset detection ...
This story continues at Toshiba sampling 4-channel PA for auto audio
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
3D NAND has become the dominant flash type, reports Digitimes. Micron’s 3D output is 90% of its total NAND output. Samsung’s 3D NAND manufacturing is 85% of its total NAND chip output. Toshiba’s 3D NAND output is 75% of its NAND output. Hynix’ 3D NAND output is 60% of its total NAND output. The price ...
This story continues at 3D becomes dominant NAND type
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
NXP has introduced new RF power transistors designed for smart industrial applications, featuring 65 V laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor(LDMOS) silicon technology. With more power density, a lower current level and wider safety margins than previous RF power solutions, 65 V LDMOS enables more integrated and reliable Industry 4.0 systems. The MRFX series of 65 ...
This story continues at NXP adds to LDMOS RF power transistors
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
FlexLogix says its EFLX4K Logic and DSP eFPGA IP cores are now in design for the 14nm process at GloFo’s New York fab. Boeing is the first company to license the EFLX4K eFPGA 14nm cores. eFPGA can also be ported to any fab so manufacturing can be in a location preferable to the customer. An eFPGA ...
This story continues at FlexLogix eFPGA in design for GF 14nm
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Pickering Interfaces of Clacton-on-Sea has launched new four and six channel LXI 50Ω microwave multiplexers in 1U and 2U rack-mount form factors. The 60-801/60-802 high-performance microwave switches feature excellent RF characteristics and repeatability to within 0.01dB. A choice of up to 16 multiplexer banks with any combination of 6GHz, 18GHz, 26.5GHz and 40GHz bandwidths can be ...
This story continues at Pickering Interfaces adds microwave multiplexers
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Seven new Prosperity Partnerships projects that will build links between the UK’s research base and leading industry partners such as AkzoNobel , AstraZeneca, Oxford PV, Google, Rolls-Royce, Tata Steel, and Weir Group will be unveiled today by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). This EPSRC £20.4 million investment has leveraged in £16.8 million ...
This story continues at Research Council announces Prosperity Partnerships
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
As a nearly constant traveler I’ve been looking for something like the Surface Go all my life. I’ve lugged around everything from massive ThinkPads to iPad Pros and I’ve always found myself stuck in one of two situations – the laptops that made the most sense were too heavy to be comfortably portable and the tablets and ultraportables I used, including the Surface Pro, offered too much of a performance trade-off to warrant swapping from a full desktop device.
I tried a number of other laptops over the past year including my daily driver, the TouchBar-powered MacBook Pro, as well as a Lenovo’s oddly designed YogaBooks. Nothing quite clicked. The trade offs were always drastic. Wanted power? Sacrifice weight. Wanted thin and light? Sacrifice the keyboard. Want battery life and compatibility? Sacrifice the desktop experience. So when the Surface Go came out I wasn’t too excited.
Now I am.
When Brian Heater first reviewed the device he found them lacking. “And the Surface Go isn’t a bad little device, at the end of the day. At $400, it’s on the pricier side for a tablet, and certain sacrifices have been made for the sake of keeping the price down versus the souped up Surface Pro,” he wrote. “And unlike other Surface devices, the Go is less about pioneering a category for Windows 10 than it is simply adding a lower-cost, portable alternative to the mix. As such, the product hits the market with a fair bit of competition. Acer and Lenovo have a couple, for starters, most of which fall below the Go’s asking price.”
He’s right. There are thin and lights available for far less, and the Surface Go, with its 6-hour battery life and mid-range specs, is no hard core gaming machine. However, the user experience of the Go when matched with a keyboard cover have blown other contenders out of the water. Why? Because, like Google’s Pixel line, Microsoft knows how to tune its hardware to its software.
The Surface Go easily replaced by MacBook for most activities including light photo editing, writing, and communications. The Go ships with Windows 10 in S mode, a performance improving mode that reduces the total number of available apps available but, thanks to a certification process, ensures the apps will be more performant. It is trivial to turn off S Mode and install any other app you want and most people will do this, realizing that while noble, S Mode just doesn’t fly if you’re trying to use the whole breadth of the Windows universe.
Once I turned off S Mode I could install Scrivener and a few other tools and even got some games running, although the tablet gets a little hot. That’s the real benefit of the Surface Go – you don’t compromise on apps, performance, or size and all of it is specially tuned to the software it runs.
If you’re thinking of exploring the Surface Go you’ll find it’s not the cheapest ultraportable on the market. At $399 for the entry level model – I regret not splurging on the $150 upgrade – and $99 for the keyboard cover – it’s still more expensive than similarly appointed devices from Asus and Lenovo. That said none of those manufacturers could hit on all of the sweet spots that Microsoft hit. In terms of design and ease-of-use the Surface Go wins and in terms of price you’re basically paying a little more for more compatibility and performance.
So if you’re looking for a portable, usable, and fun device that beats many other current laptops hands down, it might be time to turn your gaze on Microsoft. As someone who got sciatica from lugging around too many heavy laptops, your buttocks will thank you.
Make Google AdWords your B*****
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
Facebook Ad Breaks, the social network’s pre-roll and mid-roll video ads, are launching in 21 new countries.
Facebook announced that Ad Breaks were generally available last month in five countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Now it’s adding territories in Europe, Latin and South America and Asia to the list.
Maria Smith, Facebook’s director of product for the news feed and media monetization, noted that Facebook first started testing these ad units more than a year ago.
“We started very conservatively,” she said. “It’s a very new initiative for us … We needed to get the user experience right.”
In particular, she said the company found that that these ads work best with longer videos, which is why there’s now a minimum length of three minutes.
Facebook has rolled out other improvements too, like the ability to automatically detect the best moments to insert the ad (though video publishers can still place the Ad Breaks manually, if they choose).
“As you watch a video, there are points in this video where the pause or Ad Break feels natural to the viewer,” Smith said. “For example, between scenes, or where it doesn’t interrupt speech, where the story line feels good to take a break — those are all signals” used to select Ad Break locations.
Beyond the minimum length for individual videos, Facebook also requires that Pages participating in the Ad Breaks program have at least 10,000 followers and need to have received at least 30,000 one-minute views on videos that are at least one minute long. They also need to meet Facebook’s general monetization standards.
The Ad Breaks sign-up page will now automatically tell creators whether they’re eligible to participate. Smith described these standards as a way to ensure “a really positive experience” for video creators, advertisers and regular users. (After concerns that ads were being played before inappropriate or controversial content, YouTube set a higher bar for eligibility earlier this year, though that’s led to widespread complaints from creators.)
Here are the new countries where Ad Breaks are generally available: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Thailand. As part of this expansion, Facebook is adding support for five new languages, namely French, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai.
“We’re making sure we’re very thoughtful, rolling this out in phases,” Smith said. “As we get ready to honor our commitment to our partners to enable them to monetize, we’re very excited.”
Master Google Adwords and have clients plowing down your door
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
This wild, 3D-printed self-solving Rubik’s cube is amazing. To make it work, a Japanese inventor used servo motors and Arduino boards to actuate the cube as it solves itself. Sadly, there isn’t much of a build description available but it looks to be very compact and surprisingly fast.
There is a description of the project on DMM-Make and you can watch the little cube scoot around a table as it solves itself in less than a minute. The creator also built the Human Controller, a cute system for controlling a human as they walk down the street, and the Human Crane Game which is equally inexplicable. If this Ru-bot is real and ready for prime time it could be an amazing Kickstarter.
Make Google AdWords your B*****
STMicroelectronics to manufacture GaN-on-Si power transistors, based on a process developed by French research lab Leti, ST and IRT Nanoelec. The process will be transferred from Leti’s 200mm R&D line to an ST-operated 200mm-wafer pilot-line, operational by 2020, which will allow ST to address high-efficiency, high-power applications – ST singles out: automotive on-board chargers for ...
This story continues at ST and Leti to make GaN-on-Si power transistors
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Ampleon has announced a rugged high-power transistor for broadcast across 88 – 108MHz for FM radio applications. The device, called BLF189XRA, can deliver 1,600W CW (continuous wave transmission) from a standard 50V power rail and can operate at >82% power efficiency. “Being capable of delivering such power levels from a single SOT539 package reduces the ...
This story continues at RF transistor delivers 1.6kW across 88-108MHz
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Theorem Solutions of Tamworth, Staffordshire have released the latest JT to 3D PDF product from its Publish 3D range, with support for JT 10.x. Theorem’s Publish 3D – 3D PDF products enable the publishing of JT data directly into the interactive 3D PDF document format. The published PDF document contains embedded interactive 3D representations of ...
This story continues at Theorem Solutions adds JT to PDF product
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
The University of Glasgow has used CMOS chip to analyse concentrations of four body chemicals that are indicators of disease, and has achieved results similar to standard NHS tests. The 3.4 x 3.6mm chips were designed on Cadence Virtuoso and fabricated at Austria microsystems on a 350nm triple-well process. On these, the active area is a ...
This story continues at Glasgow builds fast bio-marker detector from CMOS
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Today another tranche of US tariffs on China imports into the USA takes effect. The 10% tariff is expected to apply to $200 billion worth of Chinese manufactured goods. The scope of the tariffs on electronics goods is confused. The government order imposing tariffs cites: “Machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of ...
This story continues at New US tariffs hit switches, routers and modems but not smartwatches, fitness trackers and speakers.
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Later today a group of tech and financial companies will meet US government representatives at the White House to discuss ways to drive the US effort in quantum computing. Quantum computing “will enable us to predict and improve chemical reactions, new materials and their properties, as well as provide new understandings of spacetime and the ...
This story continues at White House talks today on quantum computing
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Alibaba is to set up a semiconductor company, reports Digitimes. The company, to be called Pingtogue Semiconductor, is to target AI SoCs and embedded processors. The idea is to use Pingtogue proprietary ICs in Alibaba’s cloud and IoT activities. Pingtogue will start off as an amalgamation of C-Sky Microsystems, the China design house acquired by ...
This story continues at Alibaba starts Pingtogue Semiconductor
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Fujitsu is reported by the Nikkei to have developed 1000:1 image-compression technology. Fujitsu reckons it will be useful in autonomous driving and ADAS applications. A commercially available implementation of the technology is planned for 2021. The technology is said to have been a spin-off from its 4k and 8k video development. As well as having ...
This story continues at Fujitsu develops 1000:1 image compression
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
Beau Willimon, the screenwriter and playwright who created Netflix’s “House of Cards”, has turned his attention from Washington, D.C. to outer space in his latest series “The First”.
The shows have more in common than I expected. Sure, “The First” is about a future expedition to Mars, not present day political machinations. And instead of the fourth wall-breaking monologues that “House of Cards” was known for, the new series relies on long, nearly silent sequences where characters ponder their decisions and brood over the past.
But “The First” (which launched all eight episodes of its first season on September 14) isn’t an outer space adventure filled with special effects. In fact, most of the story takes place in New Orleans, focusing on the political, financial and technical challenges that the team (Tom Hagerty, the astronaut played by Sean Penn) faces it can even take off.
When I interviewed Willimon and executive producer Jordan Tappis, I suggested that the show seemed to be more about Earth than Mars — but Willimon didn’t quite agree.
“I actually think it’s completely about Mars,” he said. For one thing, he has a multi-season plan, which will presumably take us to the Red Planet eventually. And while Willimon acknowledged that it would have been “a lot safer of a narrative choice to leap straight into the mission,” he wanted to explore other angles, like the fact that “the reality of getting to a place like Mars is that it would incredibly difficult to even get to the starting line.”
Part of that difficulty involves confronting space skeptics who wonder whether the mission is worth the cost and risk. In a traditional science fiction story, those opponents would probably be depicted as wrongheaded or even downright villainous, but in “The First”, they seem to have a real point.
“My own personal attitude is, I absolutely think we should go to Mars,” Willimon said. “The value of exploration in any form, in space or here on Earth, speaks to a long and deep desire in humanity to understand and confront the unknown” — and that’s on top of the material and scientific benefits.
Still, he said he wanted “The First” to “reflect the world in which we live and the world in which we’re likely to live 13 years from now,” which meant telling “the story of people who don’t share that same belief, who challenge it from a philosophical or emotional point of view. … Any astronaut going to Mars has to confront the fact that he or she may die. The question for any of them, or for any loved one, is: Is it worth it?”
Ultimately, Willimon said, “We didn’t want to create a fantasy here. We’re not interested in science fiction. We’re interested in science fact.”
That meant creating a plausible roadmap for how we might actually get to Mars. In “The First,” the mission is organized by a private company called Vista, but the funding comes the U.S. government, and Willimon suggested that this kind of public-private partnership will probably be necessary.
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 12: (L-R) Creator/Writer/Executive Producer Beau Willimon speaks onstage at Hulu’s “The First” Los Angeles Premiere on September 12, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Hulu)
With the current excitement around companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, he said “the private sector has a lot to offer in accelerating a mission like this and making it cost efficient.” But he doesn’t think the private sector is going to get us to Mars on its own.
“In reality, the cost of getting to Mars, no matter what version you speculate, is enormous,” Willimon said. “I don’t think it’s likely that a purely private sector venture is going raise that amount of capital … In our conception, the money is coming form NASA, which means it’s really coming from taxpayer and the U.S. government, while the actual execution, building the hardware and seeing the mission through, is contracted out to Vista.”
“The First” also depicts everyday life in 2031. Tappis explained that the production team “worked really closely with a handful of consultants and experts in the field” to develop its version of future technology — which looks a lot like the technology of 2018, but with a few key advancements in areas like self-driving cars, augmented reality and voice communication.
“When you think about 13 years ago, the world looked pretty similar to the way it looks today, but with a few grace notes that you would find that showcase the evolution between then and now,” Tappis said.
One thing that has changed dramatically in the past decade is the television landscape, and I suggested that by creating and showrunning “House of Cards,” Willimon essentially kicked off the shift to streaming content.
“To be honest, I think that would have happened regardless of ‘House of Cards’,” Willimon replied. “We were the first show to go do that, because we were in the right place at the right time and were smart enough to say yes. But I think the trend was underway and was going to happen one way or another.”
As for the future of television, he said, “If this much change happened in less than a decade, who knows what might happen 15 years form now. Maybe … the audience isn’t going to be watching shows on handheld devices, but instead watching it floating before them on AR glasses.”
Near-future speculation is fun, and it’s a task that Willimon and Tappis seem to have taken very seriously. Still, if “The First” ends up running for several years, there seems to be a real risk that it could be overtaken or contradicted by how space travel plays out in the real world, or how consumer technologies evolve.
“While we think our speculation is an informed one and certainly plausible in terms of what it could look like, the time will come when we do make our first mission to Mars and it will either be very accurate or it won’t be,” Willimon said. And yet, just as we still watch the ostensibly outdated “2001: A Space Odyssey”, he argued, “There’s a deeper story there, which is the human story of people with messy lives trying to accomplish something great. There’s an essential truth to that, which we hope is timeless.”
Master Google Adwords like a boss
Yokogawa is claiming the highest accuracy yet available from a power analyser, for its new WT5000. On ac measurements, accuracy is 0.03% – made up of 0.01% of reading plus 0.02% or range (44-66Hz). Power factor influence is 0.02% of S. It is slightly less accurate on dc: 0.02% of reading plus 0.05% of range. The ...
This story continues at Yokogawa boosts power analyser accuracy to ±0.03%
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
element14.com has launched the Sixth Sense Design Challenge to create a small remotely-operated or autonomous vehicle, such as a drone, robot or a tunnel exploration device. As an added twist, the project should showcase a “sixth sense” by displaying the capabilities of STMicroelectronics and TE Connectivity products to improve remote vehicle sensing and data collection. Ideas ...
This story continues at Element14 launches Sixth Sense Challenge
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
August billings for semiconductor manufacturing equipment were $2.24 billion – down 5.9% on July’s billings of $2.38 billion but up 2.5% on the $2.18 billion billings of August 2017. “Global billings of North American equipment suppliers declined in August when compared to July, although they remain above August 2017 billings,” says SEMI CEO Ajit Manocha, “industry ...
This story continues at August SEMI billings down on July, up y-o-y.
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Molex and Ixia to use Ixia’s K400 QSFP-DD to generate and receive 400 Gigabit Ethernet line rate traffic over Molex’s 3-meter Direct Attached Cable (DAC). Real-time analysis on K400 will showcase test results of pre-FEC (forward error correction) per lane BER (bit error rate) of around E-9. The superior performance of the “inherent” BER of the ...
This story continues at Molex and Ixia collaborate on 4G Ethernet
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Murata has added extra functionality to its ‘SimSurfing’ ( https://ift.tt/2xr55ZW ) tool for simulation of the company’s capacitor, inductor and filter components. The previous version of the tool allowed visualisation of individual component performance characteristics for impedance, transmission and reflection variation, with frequency and other operating conditions. The new tool features simulation of the application circuits, ...
This story continues at Murata expands SimSurfing tool
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
It’s official: Hulu is reviving the cult mystery series “Veronica Mars”.
The show originally ran from 2004 to 2007 on UPN and the CW, with the titular high school sleuth played by Kristen Bell. Last month, there were reports that Hulu was in talks to bring the show back. Now it looks like a deal is in place, with Bell confirming the news on Instagram.
Hulu says it’s placed a straight-to-series order for eight more episodes of the show, with Bell returning as Veronica and serving as executive producer alongside creator Rob Thomas (who’s writing the first episode) and writers Diane Ruggiero-Wright and Dan Etheridge.
Apparently the story will return viewers to the Southern California town of Neptune, where spring breakers are getting murdered, fueling conflict between the town’s haves and have nots and ultimately pulling Mars Investigations onto the case.
Hulu also says it’s picked up the rights to the three existing seasons of “Veronica Mars”, along with the feature film, to start streaming in summer 2019. If you haven’t watched the show, I highly recommend it — especially the first season, which offers a near perfect combination of noir-ish mystery, class conflict and personal drama.
I was less impressed by the Kickstarter-funded movie, which suffered from trying to stuff everything fans might possibly want into a two-hour runtime. Hopefully, Thomas and his team learned from the experience. Plus, these eight episodes should give them a lot more room to tell their story.
Master Google AdWords for a real future and search engine optimization
Google Analytics Certification Exam: Get Certified in 2 Days
Alchemist is the Valley’s premiere enterprise accelerator and every season they feature a group of promising startups. They are also trying something new this year: they’re putting a reserve button next to each company, allowing angels to express their interest in investing immediately. It’s a clever addition to the demo day model.
You can watch the livestream at 3pm PST here.
Videoflow – Videoflow allows broadcasters to personalize live TV. The founding team is a duo of brothers — one from the creative side of TV as a designer, the other a computer scientist. Their SaaS product delivers personalized and targeted content on top of live video streams to viewers. Completely bootstrapped to date, they’ve landed NBC, ABC, and CBS Sports as paying customers and appear to be growing fast, having booked over $300k in revenue this year.
Redbird Health Tech – Redbird is a lab-in-a-box for convenient health monitoring in emerging market pharmacies, starting with Africa. Africa has the fastest growing middle class in the world — but also the fastest growing rate of diabetes (double North America’s). Redbird supplies local pharmacies with software and rapid tests to transform them into health monitoring points – for anything from blood sugar to malaria to cholesterol. The founding team includes a Princeton Chemical Engineer, 2 Peace Corps alums, and a Pharmacist from Ghana’s top engineering school. They have 20 customers, and are growing 36% week over week.
Shuttle – Shuttle is getting a head start on the future of space travel by building a commercial spaceflight booking platform. Space tourism may be coming sooner than you think. Shuttle wants to democratize access to the heavens above. Founded by a Stanford Computer Science alum active in Stanford’s Student Space Society, Shuttle has partnerships with the leading spaceflight operators, including Virgin Galactic, Space Adventures, and Zero-G. Tickets to space today will set you back a cool $250K, but Shuttle believes that prices will drop exponentially as reusable rockets and landing pads become pervasive. They have $1.6m in reservations and growing.
Birdnest – Threading the needle between communal and private, Birdnest is the Goldilocks of office space for startups. Communal coworking spaces are accessible but have too many distractions. Traditional office spaces are private but inflexible on their terms. Birdnest brings the best of each without the drawbacks: finding, leasing, and operating a network of underutilized spaces inside of private offices. The cofounders, a duo of Duke and Kellogg MBA grads, are at $300K ARR with a fast-growing 50+ client waitlist.
Tag.bio – Tag.bio wants to make data science actionable in healthtech. The founding team is comprised of a former Ayasdi bioinformatician and a former Honda Racing engineer with a Stanford MBA. They’ve developed a next-generation data science platform that makes it easy and fast to build data apps for end users, or as they say, “WordPress for data science.” The result they claim is lightning-fast analysis apps that can be run by end users, dramatically accelerating insight discovery. They count the UCSF Medical Center and a “large Swiss pharma company” as early customers.
nCorium – They’ve built a new server architecture to handle the onslaught of AI to come with what they claim is the world’s first AI accelerator on memory to deliver 30x greater performance than the status quo. The quad founding team is intimidatingly technical — including a UCSD Professor, and former engineers from Qualcomm and Intel with 40 patents among them. They have $300K in pilots.
Spiio – Software eats landscaping with Spiio, which combines cloud-driven AI with physical sensors to monitor watering and landscaping for big companies. Their smart system knows when to water and when not to. This reduces water consumption by 50%, which means their system pays for itself in less than 30 days for big companies. They want to connect every plant to the internet, and look like they are off to a good start — $100K in orders from brand name Valley tech firms, and they are doubling monthly.
Element42 – Fraud is a major problem — For example, if you buy a Rolex on eBay, you run the risk of winding up with a counterfeit. Started by ex-VPs from Citibank, the founders are using risk models and technologies that banks use to help brands combat fraud and counterfeiting. Designed with token economics, they also incentivize customers to buy genuine products by serving exclusive content and promotions only to genuine product holders. Built on blockchain at the core, they claim to be the world’s first peer-to-peer authentication platform for physical assets. They have 45 customers across two industry verticals, 800K in ARR and are a member of World Economic Forum’s global initiatives against corruption.
My90 – Distrust between the public and the police has rarely been more strained than it is today. My90 wants to solve that by collecting data about interactions between the police and the public—think traffic stops, service calls, etc.—and turn these into actionable intelligence via an online analytics dashboard. Users text My90 anonymously about their interactions, and My90’s dashboard analyzes the results using natural language processing. Customers include major city police departments like the San Jose Police Department and the world’s largest community policing program. They have booked $150K in pilots and are expanding aggressively across the US.
Nunetz – A Stanford Computer Science grad and UCSF Neurosurgeon have come together to try to build a single unifying interface to replace the deluge of monitors and data sources in today’s clinical health environment. The goal is to prepare a daily “battle map” for physicians, nurses, and other providers, with an initial focus on the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). They have closed 3 paid pilots with hospitals through grants.
When Labs – If you hate managing people, When Labs wants to unburden you. Using an AI-powered assistant that texts with employees to negotiate assignments for hourly work, WhenLabs is trying to free customers like Hilton from spending money on managers who would normally do this manually. As the system gets smarter, they claim employees will prefer interfacing with their AI bot more than a human. AI and HR is a crowded space, but this might be the team to separate from the pack: the founding team’s previous company had a 9 figure exit to IBM.
FirstCut – FirstCut helps businesses put video content out at scale. Video dominates social media — it creates 10x more comments than text — and is emerging as a necessity for B2B media. But putting video out if you are a B2B marketer normally requires using agencies that charge hefty fees. FirstCut wants to disrupt the agencies with software and marketplaces. They use software automation and an on-demand talent marketplace to offer a fixed price product for video content. They are at $180k revenue, and most of it is moving to recurring subscriptions.
LynxCare – LynxCare claims that 90% of healthcare data goes untapped when doctors make critical decisions about your life. Further, they claim the average person’s life could be extended by 4 years if that data can be converted into insights. Their team of clinicians and data scientists aims to do just that — building a data platform that aggregates disparate data sets and drive insight for better clinical outcomes. And it looks like their platform has fans: they are active in 9 hospitals, count Pharma companies like Pfizer as Partners, and grew 4x over the past year and now are at $800K ARR.
ADIAN – Adian is a B2B SaaS product that digitizes the complex agrochemical supply chain in order to improve the sales process between manufacturers and distributors. The company claims manufacturers reduce costs by 20% and increase sales by 4% by using their online framework. $1.5 Billion and 70,000 orders have gone through the platform to date.
Hardin Scientific – Hardin is building IoT-enabled, Smart Lab Equipment. The hardware becomes a gateway to become the hub for monitoring, controlling, and sharing scientific data across teams. They’ve closed over $1.5m in revenue, and raised $15m in equity and debt financing. One of their smart devices is being used to 3D print bio-tissues and human organs in space.
ZaiNar – This team of 5 Stanford grads — 3 PhD’s and 2 MBAs — joined up with the Co-Founder of BlueKai to build the world’s best time synchronization technology. ZaiNar claims their ability to wirelessly synchronize and distribute time between networked devices is a thousand times better than existing technologies. This enables them to locate RF-emitting devices (i.e. phones, cars, drones, & RFID) at long distances with sub-meter accuracy. Beyond location, this technology has applications across data transmission, 5G communications, and energy grids. ZaiNar has raised a $1.7M seed from AME Cloud and Softbank, and has built an extensive patent portfolio.
SMART Brain Aging – This startup claims to reduce the onset of dementia by 2.25 years with software. They are the only company approved by Medicare to get reimbursed on a preventative basis for the treatment of dementia. In conjunction with Harvard University, they have developed 20,000 exercises that are clinically proven to reduce the onset of dementia and, they claim, help build neurotransmitters. The company works with 300 patients per week ($2.2m annual revenue) and is building to a goal of helping 22,000 people in 24 months.
Phoneic – Phoneic believes the data trapped in voice calls from cellphones is a gold mine waiting to be unleashed. Their app records and transcribes cell phones conversations, and the company has built an integration layer to enterprise AI and CRM systems that traditionally didn’t have access to voice data. The team is led by the co-founder of 3jam, one of the first group SMS and virtual number companies, which was acquired by Skype in 2011. He is keenly aware of the power of virality — and like Skype, the use of Phoneic spreads its adoption. The company has already raised $800,000 in seed funding.
Arkose Labs – Whether or not you think Russia interfered with the 2016 election, it’s no secret that bots are having significant impact on society. Arkose Labs wants to fight fraud, without adding friction to legit users. Most fraud prevention platforms today focus on gathering info from the user and providing a probability score that the traffic is good or bad. This leaves companies with a difficult decision where they may be blocking revenue generating users. Arkose has a different approach, and uses a bilateral approach that doesn’t force this tradeoff. They claim to be the only solution to offer a 100% SLA on fraud prevention. Big companies like Singapore Airlines and Electronic Arts are customers. USVP led a $6m investment into the company.
Make Google AdWords your B*****
Wurth has come up with a neat idea for those in need of shielding on their PCB, but without time to order a custom part. For prototyping, ShielDIY is bend-it-yourself shielding made from 0.2 mm thick metal sheet with pre-embossed fold lines at 5mm intervals. “To produce an individual shielding cabinet of the required shape, ...
This story continues at DIY origami shields PCBs against EMC
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
ROHM is aiming to power the sensors in self-driving cars with a family of compact dc-dc converters. Called the BD9S series, the parts support output currents from 0.6 to 4.0A and come in 3x3mm packages, and operate at up to 90% efficiency (3.6Vin 1.8Vout). Switching is current-mode, resulting in fast load transient response, and fixed 2.2MHz ...
This story continues at Rohm aims at car sensors with mini dc-dc converter
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Analog Devices has announced multi-phase 98% efficient bi-directional buck-boost switching regulator controller can mediate between any combination of 12, 24 and 48V batteries. Intended for cars, self-driving cars, for example, the LT8708-1 “operates between two batteries and prevents system shut-down should one of the batteries fail,” said the firm. “It can also be used in ...
This story continues at Multi-kW bi-directional dc-dc converter is 98% efficient for e-vehicles
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Arm has launched a Bluetooth Low Energy software stack, claiming it to be “the world’s first open-source, fully-qualified and production-ready”. Called Mbed Cordio Stack, it appears to be the existing Cordio BLE stack integrated into Mbed OS – Electronics Weekly has asked for clarification. “For silicon partners, the solution gives them access to a full-featured, ...
This story continues at Bluetooth World: Arm releases Bluetooth LE stack for 5.0
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
Cypress has added support for Alibaba’s ‘AliOS Things’ embedded IoT operating system to some of its microcontrollers. “PSoC 6 MCUs have passed the advanced certification for AliOS Things with Alibaba Cloud connectivity,” said Cypress. “Developers can now streamline connections to Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba, and design products with PSoC microcontrollers and ...
This story continues at Cypress adds Alibaba Cloud support to microcontrollers for IoT
Or just read more coverage at Electronics Weekly
