Broadcom has introduced Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) system-on-chip (SoC) for low-power, mass-market wearable devices such as fitness trackers and smart watches. [ + ]

MIT researchers have developed a new, low-power signal-processing chip that could lead to a cochlear implant that requires no external hardware. The implant would be wirelessly recharged and would run for about eight hours on each charge. [ + ]

With benefits such as high switching speeds with low on-resistance and, unlike the bipolar transistors that preceded it, no possibility of thermal runaway, the silicon power MOSFET is the obvious choice in many applications. [ + ]

Washington State University researchers have developed a chewing gum-like battery material that could dramatically improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries. [ + ]

Sundance's SMT166 dual-FPGA platform has been chosen as the prototyping platform for the European Union's FP7 FlexTiles 3D SoC project, placing it at the heart of leading research into self-adaptive, high-performance computing. [ + ]

Medical electronics sales will grow 8% to about $50.9 billion in 2014 from $47.3 billion in 2013, predicts IC Insights. [ + ]

Atlas Copco's water-cooled, rotary screw compressors are providing semiconductor manufacturer Nanium SA with reliable, high-quality air, while an Atlas Copco ER900 heat recovery system enables the company to substantially reduce CO₂ emissions and achieve exceptional energy savings. [ + ]

Researchers at the University of Wollongong have successfully fabricated single-atom-layer silicine. The material could be used to develop faster computer chips, more practical and efficient solar cells, improved medical technologies and vehicle and aircraft parts. [ + ]

Engineers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and Stanford University have created thin-film organic transistors that could operate more than five times faster than previous examples of this experimental technology. [ + ]

Each PCB design is unique and requires the skills of the designer to adapt the design to fall within PCB manufacturing capabilities. One of the key aspects of PCB development is determining appropriate trace sizes for current requirements. This article provides guidelines that designers should follow to determine the trace width. [ + ]

Singapore-based researchers have developed a new magnetoresistive random access memory technology that is expected to boost information storage in electronic systems. The technology is expected to drastically increase storage space and enhance memory, which will ensure that fresh data stays intact, even in the case of a power failure. [ + ]

Where has all the silence gone? Is it just me or has the world become an increasingly noisy place and electronics are to blame for some of it? We are daily bombarded with noise. [ + ]

SEMI, the global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains, this week released the SEMI Year-end Forecast at the annual SEMICON Japan exposition. The forecast predicts that worldwide sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment will contract 13.3% to $32 billion in 2013. [ + ]

Total worldwide production value of electronic systems is projected to increase 4% in 2013 to $1.41 trillion and climb to about $1.74 trillion in 2017, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% from $1.36 billion in 2012, according to IC Insights' 2014 edition of 'IC Market Drivers - A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits'. [ + ]

As renewable energy takes centre stage, efficiently harvesting this energy becomes increasingly critical. Modular DC/DC converters with dual asymmetric outputs provide the positive and negative voltages as well as the galvanic isolation necessary for IGBT applications. [ + ]