Texas Instruments has announced that it is working with Cornice Inc on a 1.5 GB storage element (SE). The SE, a 2.54 cm, high-capacity, embedded storage device, is designed to bring low cost storage solutions to portable consumer electronics devices such as MP3 players, PDAs, digital video recorders and players and handheld gaming devices.

A tiny solid-state light emitter produced by Phaedon Avouris and his colleagues at IBM, consists of a single-walled carbon nanotube (NT) strung between two electrodes and controlled by a third.

Thai Microelectronic Centre (TMEC), in Thailand is set to complete a small-size wafer-fabrication plant by the end of this year that will be able to produce microprocessors for electronic identity cards. The production capacity is claimed to be six million chips a year.

Sharp and Daihen have jointly developed a solar inverter for large-scale photovoltaic power generating systems intended for commercial users and electric utilities. Operational tests in Japan will begin in May, with product availability anticipated from July 2003.

Scientists at Brown University have created a magnetic-sensing microscope that allows them to watch electricity flow through the tiniest components. They are using the device to find defects in integrated circuits and micro-machinery.

The Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (AEEMA) has welcomed the establishment of a new national agency, the National Measurement Institute, to provide measurement standards and services.

The Australian Federal Government has awarded Curtin University of Technology, The University of Western Australia and EMC Technologies a grant to establish the 'Australian Centre for EMC Technology Transfer' (ACETT).

Peidong Yang, a University of California, Berkeley, chemist, has fabricated a new type of nanotube, made of gallium nitride, that, he says, "captures some of the great properties from nanowires and carbon nanotubes, and eliminates the not so good characteristics of both.

Two Australian IT security companies, CTAM and Australian Projects signed a memoranda of understanding with Mitac, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company, at a special ceremony convened by the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturer Association (AEEMA) and the Australian IT Security Forum, in association with the Taiwan office of Austrade, at the CeBIT Australia 2003 exhibition held in Sydney.

La Trobe University physicists have reversed the traditional direction of technology flow by designing and building a toroidal electron spectrometer and exporting it to Germany.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers have developed the first intrinsic quantum standard for alternating current (AC) voltage, making possible more precise measurements and comparisons with existing power-detection-based AC voltage standards.

At the Acoustical Society of America in Nashville, Seth Putterman of UCLA described a new 'water hammer' method for generating sonoluminescence (SL),.the transformation of sound into light.

The Australian and New Zealand Electrical Regulatory authorities have implemented changes to mains plugs.

Many items in everyday use - such as mobile phones and laptop computers - exist because of research carried out in photonics. At the UKs University of Cambridge, several academic groups have joined with industrial partners to investigate the different aspects of photonics, applications and materials in a new Centre for Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics (CMMPE).

Researchers worldwide are developing the technology to provide high quality images at a relatively low cost in consumer electronic, precision imaging, scientific research, and engineering applications, among others.