Glyn and Energy Micro, a Norwegian manufacturer of ARM-based ultralow-power microcontrollers, have signed a distribution agreement which includes all activities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, BeNeLux, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, New Zealand and Australia. [ + ]

Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ames Laboratory have discovered new ways of using a well-known polymer in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) which could eliminate the need for an increasingly problematic and breakable metal-oxide used in screen displays in computers, televisions and mobile phones. [ + ]

Decking your home with Christmas lights soon won’t include the hassle of burnt-out bulbs or broken strands. Scientists at Wake Forest University have made a new kind of light from mouldable plastic, which can glow in any colour, won’t shatter and won’t leave you with the problem of searching for the one bad bulb on a strand of dozens. [ + ]

A proof-of-concept, scale-model electric car has demonstrated electric power transfer via the car wheel to the vehicle for the first time. This could dramatically reduce the batteries needed in electric cars. [ + ]

National Instruments has announced that the NI Instrument Driver Network (IDNet) has reached a new milestone of 10,000 instrument drivers for automating stand-alone instrumentation. [ + ]

World demand for primary and secondary batteries is forecast to rise 8.1% per year to $132 billion in 2016. Demand for secondary batteries is expected to rise at a faster rate than demand for primary batteries. [ + ]

Committed to speeding the adoption of new technology for engineers and enthusiasts, the element14 Community has launched the Code Exchange to complement its Raspberry Pi Group. [ + ]

According to a new market research report, emerging memories are expected to replace most of the conventional technologies like flash memory as the market for next-generation memory reaches more than  $90 million by 2017. [ + ]

ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe and Solliance are working together to create organic photovoltaics that can be incorporated into flat steel products for use in the construction industry. [ + ]

The UK’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB), in partnership with the Welsh Government and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, is to invest up to £5.4m to stimulate innovation and develop UK supply chains between the power electronics and energy sectors. [ + ]

The Infrared Laboratory for Novel Infrared and Magnetic Materials at the University of California, San Diego has taken delivery of a tetrahertz spectrometer to facilitate its research into electromagnetic materials, semiconductors and superconductivity. [ + ]

Research indicates that the number of electronic devices at end-of-life will double from 2010 to 2025, and it’s estimated that over 60 million tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) will be at the decision point for re-use, recycle or landfill in 2013. [ + ]

Juniper Research has predicted that revenues from products and services delivered over embedded consumer electronics devices will reach $6.4 billion in 2014, as the sector emerges as a key anchor for the M2M industry. [ + ]

If you’re thinking about the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’, you’re not entirely off base. University of Utah electrical engineering professor Florian Solzbacher is pushing the boundaries of electrical devices that can be implanted into the brain and used as an interface between neurons and computers. [ + ]

Two UWA researchers have had their work in developing and commercialising precision electromagnetic measurement systems for use in advanced radar systems recognised with medals from the Australian Institute of Physics. [ + ]