Group4 Labs has announced a gallium nitride (GaN)-on-diamond semiconductor wafer.

A new optical effect has been created in a London laboratory that means solid objects such as walls could one day be rendered transparent, scientists have reported in the journal Nature Materials.

Anritsu has bought NetTest. With headquarters in Copenhagen, NetTest has 480 employees and R&D locations in the US, France and Italy.

It what it claims is an industry first, Agilent Technologies has introduced an event identification software that allows digital designers that use Infiniium oscilloscopes to identify signal integrity issues found in electronic designs.

With the help of new silicon-based compounds, scientists - and patients - are getting a significant new charge out of the tiny lithium batteries used in implantable devices to help treat nervous system and other disorders.

Researchers are using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology to develop a single-chip RF circuit that integrates discrete functions to reduce weight and cost, according to a Frost & Sullivan report.

A solar cell, made of titania nanotubes and natural dye, may be the answer to making solar electricity production cost effective, according to a Penn State University researcher in the US.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated the room-temperature operation of a heterojunction bipolar transistor laser, moving it a major step closer to commercialisation.

China announced a 15-year plan recently to invest in technology development.

Fingerprint recognition technology has been used by Cypress Semiconductor and AuthenTec to introduce a reference design for adding biometric security to external hard disk drives (HDDs).

Electronics industry giants, National Instruments and Texas Instruments are collaborating with Spectrum Digital in the development of the TI C55X Power Optimisation DSP Starter Kit (DSK), a DSP design tool to offer designers incorporated test and measurement functionality.

Euro-engineer Keith Armstrong will be returning to Australia and New Zealand in March-April 2006 to present a series of EMC courses to industry and the public, sponsored by EMC Technologies. He will be presenting an up-to-date series of EMC and compliance courses.

Non RoHS and WEEE compliant Australian companies that sell into the European Union or have customers who sell into the EU face product bans, fines, penalties and retroactive fees. These financial consequences could prove devastating to small and medium sized enterprises.

As we look towards 2006, now would seem a good time to look at what may come up for the industry during the next year and beyond. I have asked some leading players in the electronics field to crystal ball gaze and predict what they see as the problems and the future. This is a selection of some of their views.

Fluke has acquired LEM Instruments, a division of LEM Group, a European manufacturer of test and measurement equipment including analysers and systems for power quality applications, earth/ground testers, insulation testers, low-resistance ohmmeters, clamp meters and clamp-on power meters. LEM also supplies current probes to the automotive market.