BANGALORE, INDIA: Responsys Inc., a leading provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions, announced the opening of a new office in India. As a development hub, the new office in Bangalore provides Responsys with access to local talent in the region.
Helping to expand the company’s presence in the region, Srishti Sofat has taken the role of GM of Responsys Business Solutions India Pvt Ltd, reporting to Antonio Casacuberta, CTO. Until recently, Sofat served as GM of InfoSpace, a developer of metasearch products, leading that company’s development center in India. Sofat brings over a decade of development experience and a local network of talented engineers to Responsys.
“Responsys is always looking for attractive opportunities to expand globally,” said Dan Springer, Chief Executive Officer of Responsys. “A Bangalore office provides access to some of the top engineers outside of the US. We’ll continue to invest in excellent people to help us continue to deliver the innovative products our customers expect from Responsys.”
“The opening of a new R&D center in Bangalore illustrates Responsys’ strong commitment to India,” said Srishti Sofat, GM of Responsys Business Solutions India. “Through our Bangalore center, we will be able to accelerate the development of solutions for our global customers and help them capitalize on today’s most important marketing channels such as email, mobile, social, and the web to drive higher revenue.”
The Bangalore center is focused on developing enterprise solutions in the areas of distributed computing, high volume transaction processing, and large scale system design. With a strong commitment to India, Responsys plans to further grow its Bangalore center with a recent move to a new office in Bangalore. By selecting exceptional high quality technical talent from premier engineering institutions and companies, Responsys plans to ramp up their Bangalore center head count in the near future.
Monday, January 31, 2011
National Instruments releases 2011 automated test outlook
BANGALORE, INDIA: National Instruments has released its 2011 Automated Test Outlook report, which shares findings of the company’s research into the technologies and methodologies shaping test and measurement.
The report details trends that apply across numerous industries including consumer electronics, automotive, semiconductor, aerospace and defense, medical devices and communications. With insight from the report, engineers and managers can take advantage of the latest strategies and best practices for optimizing any test organization.
The 2011 Automated Test Outlook is based on input from academic and industry research, user forums and surveys, business intelligence and customer advisory board reviews. With this data as its foundation, the report delivers a broad representation of the next generation of trends for meeting the business and technical challenges in test and measurement. The report is organized into five categories: Business Strategy, Architectures, Computing, Software and I/O. The major trends discussed in the 2011 report include the following:
Organizational Test Integration: Integrating validation and production test requires a focus on changes to strategy, processes, people and technology.
System Software Stack: A highly integrated software framework provides a flexible system architecture for adding measurement capability and reducing test time.
Heterogeneous Computing: Future test systems will require different types of processing nodes to address increasingly demanding analysis and processing needs.
IP to the Pin: Sharing field-programmable gate array (FPGA) intellectual property (IP) between design and test dramatically shortens design verification/validation and improves production test time and fault coverage.
The report details trends that apply across numerous industries including consumer electronics, automotive, semiconductor, aerospace and defense, medical devices and communications. With insight from the report, engineers and managers can take advantage of the latest strategies and best practices for optimizing any test organization.
The 2011 Automated Test Outlook is based on input from academic and industry research, user forums and surveys, business intelligence and customer advisory board reviews. With this data as its foundation, the report delivers a broad representation of the next generation of trends for meeting the business and technical challenges in test and measurement. The report is organized into five categories: Business Strategy, Architectures, Computing, Software and I/O. The major trends discussed in the 2011 report include the following:
Organizational Test Integration: Integrating validation and production test requires a focus on changes to strategy, processes, people and technology.
System Software Stack: A highly integrated software framework provides a flexible system architecture for adding measurement capability and reducing test time.
Heterogeneous Computing: Future test systems will require different types of processing nodes to address increasingly demanding analysis and processing needs.
IP to the Pin: Sharing field-programmable gate array (FPGA) intellectual property (IP) between design and test dramatically shortens design verification/validation and improves production test time and fault coverage.
Zebronics launches innovative first-of-its-kind touch operated mouse to signal aggressive product plans
NEW DELHI, INDIA: Recognising that touch-sensitive devices are gaining ground globally and that the touch-mode of interface will increasingly be how users communicate with their devices in the future, Top Notch Infotronix, the brand owners of India's leading IT brand Zebronics, unveiled its first-of-its-kind innovation in India – a touch panel mouse, the ZebTouch.
Demonstrating the new product, Rajesh Doshi, director, Zebronics, showed how the mouse has no click buttons or scroll wheel. With its sleek, space-age looks and comfortable tactile feel, the ZebTouch is controlled by the user by just moving his fingers over the surface as a natural device.
Zebronics, one of the industry’s widest lineup of products and accessories for computers, consumer electronics and communication, has announced that it will be increasing its service network to about 100 centers across the country, from the present 62, during calendar year 2011. These centers will be in a mix of company-owned and Authorised Service Partner (ASP) models. The move, hopes the company, will further enhance the popularity of its extensive range amongst its users.
On the sidelines of the ongoing four-day Compass IT 2011 Expo currently running in Kolkata, Doshi informed: "Our operations focus for the year would be to make the user experience with the Zebronics brand a pleasant one, not just with the product but throughout its ownership life-cycle. With a 100 conveniently located service outlets, I believe we would have one of the most widespread service networks in our category by the end of the year."
The Zebronics brand is known among its loyal band of users for “designer” aspect – a unique look, innovative technology and features and high-quality. With the country’s largest lineup of products spanning designer-style cabinets, mouse and keyboards, gaming accessories, web-cameras, multi-media speakers and headphones and for the end-consumer – music and video players. The range of multimedia speakers has won several awards and industry recognitions.
Zebronics also used the platform of the Compass 2011 Expo to announce its entry into a new category of product line - the power strip. Introducing India’s first premium brand of the power strips, the Zebronics Platinum series are built using 100% copper, apart from other quality features.
The company has aggressive plans for growth on other fronts too. Speaking of business plans for the Zebronics brand, Doshi said “In terms of volumes we aim to grow by about 30 per cent. To facilitate this we plan to expand our retail reach to cover more geographies and also partner organized retailers with presence in high-footfall market areas.” Clearly, Zebronics takes very seriously its vision of providing the consumer premium value products at pocket-friendly prices.
Demonstrating the new product, Rajesh Doshi, director, Zebronics, showed how the mouse has no click buttons or scroll wheel. With its sleek, space-age looks and comfortable tactile feel, the ZebTouch is controlled by the user by just moving his fingers over the surface as a natural device.
Zebronics, one of the industry’s widest lineup of products and accessories for computers, consumer electronics and communication, has announced that it will be increasing its service network to about 100 centers across the country, from the present 62, during calendar year 2011. These centers will be in a mix of company-owned and Authorised Service Partner (ASP) models. The move, hopes the company, will further enhance the popularity of its extensive range amongst its users.
On the sidelines of the ongoing four-day Compass IT 2011 Expo currently running in Kolkata, Doshi informed: "Our operations focus for the year would be to make the user experience with the Zebronics brand a pleasant one, not just with the product but throughout its ownership life-cycle. With a 100 conveniently located service outlets, I believe we would have one of the most widespread service networks in our category by the end of the year."
The Zebronics brand is known among its loyal band of users for “designer” aspect – a unique look, innovative technology and features and high-quality. With the country’s largest lineup of products spanning designer-style cabinets, mouse and keyboards, gaming accessories, web-cameras, multi-media speakers and headphones and for the end-consumer – music and video players. The range of multimedia speakers has won several awards and industry recognitions.
Zebronics also used the platform of the Compass 2011 Expo to announce its entry into a new category of product line - the power strip. Introducing India’s first premium brand of the power strips, the Zebronics Platinum series are built using 100% copper, apart from other quality features.
The company has aggressive plans for growth on other fronts too. Speaking of business plans for the Zebronics brand, Doshi said “In terms of volumes we aim to grow by about 30 per cent. To facilitate this we plan to expand our retail reach to cover more geographies and also partner organized retailers with presence in high-footfall market areas.” Clearly, Zebronics takes very seriously its vision of providing the consumer premium value products at pocket-friendly prices.
New generation of TV services begin to close gap on cable
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Cable will retain dominance in the global multi-channel TV market over the next five years but the threat from the new generation of digital and internet protocol (IP) services will take its toll, predicts Ovum.
Globally, cable TV will reach 573 million households by 2015, but will grow by an average of only three per cent per year for that period. The strongest growth will come from internet protocol TV (IPTV) with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24 per cent over the next five years to reach 109 million households.
Jonathan Doran, Ovum analyst and author of the report, commented: “DTT growth will be fuelled primarily by the further allocation of spectrum for free-to-air services and the implementation of analog switchover deadlines, while telcos will continue to aggressively market their IPTV offerings as they play catch-up with the longer-established cable and satellite pay-TV platforms. Satellite pay-TV will remain stable in the face of competition from emerging low-cost services as it continues to attract a core of higher-value subscribers than cable.”
The Asia-Pacific region will experience strong growth in IPTV subscribers over the forecast period, growing from 15.6 million households in 2010 to 43.2 million in 2015. However, cable will remain the dominant subscription TV platform in the region, with 388 million households connected by 2015. Satellite TV will experience healthy average annual growth of ten per cent over the next five years to reach 419 million households worldwide, 143 million of which will be in Asia-Pacific.
In Australia, digital terrestrial will remain dominant, reaching 5.894 million households by 2015, compared to just 823,000 for satellite. Cable will experience slow growth, reaching 2.175 million Australian households in 2015, up from 2.080 million in 2010. IPTV services will struggle for scale in the Australian market, reaching only 342,000 Australian households by 2015, despite strong growth from the 2010 figure of 90,000 households.
In Greater China, cable will continue to take the lion’s share of subscribers, reaching 242.5 million households, up from 191 million in 2010. Cable will show very slight growth in Japan reaching 26 million households in 2015 (from 25.3 million in 2010) but will decrease in Korea, sliding to 12.2 million households in 2015, down from 13.5 million in 2010.
Ovum expects global pay-TV revenues to grow by nearly 40 per cent by 2015, but this figure masks significant variations between markets as well as platforms.
Globally, cable TV will reach 573 million households by 2015, but will grow by an average of only three per cent per year for that period. The strongest growth will come from internet protocol TV (IPTV) with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24 per cent over the next five years to reach 109 million households.
Jonathan Doran, Ovum analyst and author of the report, commented: “DTT growth will be fuelled primarily by the further allocation of spectrum for free-to-air services and the implementation of analog switchover deadlines, while telcos will continue to aggressively market their IPTV offerings as they play catch-up with the longer-established cable and satellite pay-TV platforms. Satellite pay-TV will remain stable in the face of competition from emerging low-cost services as it continues to attract a core of higher-value subscribers than cable.”
The Asia-Pacific region will experience strong growth in IPTV subscribers over the forecast period, growing from 15.6 million households in 2010 to 43.2 million in 2015. However, cable will remain the dominant subscription TV platform in the region, with 388 million households connected by 2015. Satellite TV will experience healthy average annual growth of ten per cent over the next five years to reach 419 million households worldwide, 143 million of which will be in Asia-Pacific.
In Australia, digital terrestrial will remain dominant, reaching 5.894 million households by 2015, compared to just 823,000 for satellite. Cable will experience slow growth, reaching 2.175 million Australian households in 2015, up from 2.080 million in 2010. IPTV services will struggle for scale in the Australian market, reaching only 342,000 Australian households by 2015, despite strong growth from the 2010 figure of 90,000 households.
In Greater China, cable will continue to take the lion’s share of subscribers, reaching 242.5 million households, up from 191 million in 2010. Cable will show very slight growth in Japan reaching 26 million households in 2015 (from 25.3 million in 2010) but will decrease in Korea, sliding to 12.2 million households in 2015, down from 13.5 million in 2010.
Ovum expects global pay-TV revenues to grow by nearly 40 per cent by 2015, but this figure masks significant variations between markets as well as platforms.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Cinemo and XSe announce automotive infotainment solutions partnership
KARLSRUHE, GERMANY: Cinemo, developers of performance enhanced embedded multimedia technologies for in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), consumer electronics, and industrial embedded computing and XSe, developers of future technologies in the field of embedded systems, have announced a strategic partnership to integrate Cinemo’s powerful multimedia playback and streaming solutions into XSe’s optimized automotive software stack (OPTstack).
IVI is a rapidly growing niche market that combines a wide range of elements essential to a progressive and enjoyable automotive environment, including music, news, Internet, multimedia, navigation and phone communication, as well as instant access to each. Cinemo and XSe have partnered to leverage their knowledge and expertise to offer automotive customers the best IVI experience.
Specifically, the partnership will enable Cinemo and XSe to deliver highly optimized solutions capable of handling the complex multi-display and multi-camera systems of highly integrated hardware solutions by leveraging the acceleration features of the underlying hardware. The result will enable users to play back High Definition content even on low power devices and boot a reliable system in just a few seconds.
“A partnership between Cinemo and XSe is a natural fit,” said Jim Corbett, executive VP, Cinemo. “Both companies are clearly focused on providing optimized and cross platform solutions to the automotive market. Naturally, combining our goals and expertise will result in an enhanced solution and we are happy that XSe will use Cinemo’s multimedia software stack, including our advanced rear seat entertainment solutions.”
“The partnership with Cinemo is a very important and strategic step for us,” said Rainer Oder, MD of XSe. “The integration of the Cinemo software stack into the XSe OPTstack solution will offer further value to our customers. We greatly respect each other’s specific expertise and will mutually benefit from the relatively short distance between the main development sites by delivering outstanding automotive solutions quickly and efficiently.”
The combination of an optimized embedded base system, including state-of-the-art multimedia playback and streaming solutions combined with infrastructure services as well as a high-end graphics architecture will enable Cinemo and XSe to offer great value to Tier Ones and OEMs.
IVI is a rapidly growing niche market that combines a wide range of elements essential to a progressive and enjoyable automotive environment, including music, news, Internet, multimedia, navigation and phone communication, as well as instant access to each. Cinemo and XSe have partnered to leverage their knowledge and expertise to offer automotive customers the best IVI experience.
Specifically, the partnership will enable Cinemo and XSe to deliver highly optimized solutions capable of handling the complex multi-display and multi-camera systems of highly integrated hardware solutions by leveraging the acceleration features of the underlying hardware. The result will enable users to play back High Definition content even on low power devices and boot a reliable system in just a few seconds.
“A partnership between Cinemo and XSe is a natural fit,” said Jim Corbett, executive VP, Cinemo. “Both companies are clearly focused on providing optimized and cross platform solutions to the automotive market. Naturally, combining our goals and expertise will result in an enhanced solution and we are happy that XSe will use Cinemo’s multimedia software stack, including our advanced rear seat entertainment solutions.”
“The partnership with Cinemo is a very important and strategic step for us,” said Rainer Oder, MD of XSe. “The integration of the Cinemo software stack into the XSe OPTstack solution will offer further value to our customers. We greatly respect each other’s specific expertise and will mutually benefit from the relatively short distance between the main development sites by delivering outstanding automotive solutions quickly and efficiently.”
The combination of an optimized embedded base system, including state-of-the-art multimedia playback and streaming solutions combined with infrastructure services as well as a high-end graphics architecture will enable Cinemo and XSe to offer great value to Tier Ones and OEMs.
Sustainability initiatives will impact over 100 billion electronic product units by 2015
BOULDER, USA: The largest companies in the electronics industry are in the midst of improving or adopting sustainability practices in their new product lifecycles to include a greater focus on more sustainable design, raw materials extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life management.
As part of this effort, corporate policies, legal requirements, and certification processes are being used to drive economic, environmental, and social responsibility throughout electronics supply chains. According to a new report from Pike Research, sustainability initiatives will continue to experience strong growth in the electronics industry over the next five years.
The cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that, while sustainability efforts are already impacting the shipment of approximately 68 billion electronic product units as of 2010, this number will increase by more than 50 percent to 103 billion units by 2015.
“As a corporate strategy, sustainability is growing in importance among electronics companies,” says industry analyst Bob Boggio. “This is particularly true with manufacturers that compete in the consumer electronics sectors. And Fortune 500 companies are more likely to have already embraced the concepts of sustainability, or the triple bottom line, of the lifecycles of their electronics products than their smaller competitors.”
Boggio adds that, in terms of product unit shipments, sustainability initiatives have the greatest influence in the semiconductor and component sector, which represents more than 95% of total unit volumes in the electronics industry. However, in terms of impact on overall electronics revenue, the largest category is in the computers, peripherals, and office equipment sector, in which the impact on total product revenues will surpass $1 trillion in 2011.
The computing industry is also the sector with the highest percentage impact of sustainability programs on their total business.
Pike Research’s analysis includes an assessment of sustainability initiatives in individual electronics sectors. The companies who scored highest in each sector, according to this evaluation, were:
Computer and office equipment companies: Hewlett-Packard, followed by Dell.
Information technology services companies: IBM, followed by Computer Sciences Corp.
Network and other communications equipment companies: Cisco Systems, followed by Motorola.
Telecom companies: AT&T, followed by Verizon Communications.
Semiconductor and component companies: Intel, followed by Jabil Circuit.
Home entertainment companies: Samsung, followed by Sony Electronics.
As part of this effort, corporate policies, legal requirements, and certification processes are being used to drive economic, environmental, and social responsibility throughout electronics supply chains. According to a new report from Pike Research, sustainability initiatives will continue to experience strong growth in the electronics industry over the next five years.
The cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that, while sustainability efforts are already impacting the shipment of approximately 68 billion electronic product units as of 2010, this number will increase by more than 50 percent to 103 billion units by 2015.
“As a corporate strategy, sustainability is growing in importance among electronics companies,” says industry analyst Bob Boggio. “This is particularly true with manufacturers that compete in the consumer electronics sectors. And Fortune 500 companies are more likely to have already embraced the concepts of sustainability, or the triple bottom line, of the lifecycles of their electronics products than their smaller competitors.”
Boggio adds that, in terms of product unit shipments, sustainability initiatives have the greatest influence in the semiconductor and component sector, which represents more than 95% of total unit volumes in the electronics industry. However, in terms of impact on overall electronics revenue, the largest category is in the computers, peripherals, and office equipment sector, in which the impact on total product revenues will surpass $1 trillion in 2011.
The computing industry is also the sector with the highest percentage impact of sustainability programs on their total business.
Pike Research’s analysis includes an assessment of sustainability initiatives in individual electronics sectors. The companies who scored highest in each sector, according to this evaluation, were:
Computer and office equipment companies: Hewlett-Packard, followed by Dell.
Information technology services companies: IBM, followed by Computer Sciences Corp.
Network and other communications equipment companies: Cisco Systems, followed by Motorola.
Telecom companies: AT&T, followed by Verizon Communications.
Semiconductor and component companies: Intel, followed by Jabil Circuit.
Home entertainment companies: Samsung, followed by Sony Electronics.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Soraa demos 4W blue laser diode for bulb-free projection displays
SPIE Photonics West 2011, FREMONT, USA: Soraa Inc. (formerly Kaai Inc.), a rapidly expanding clean-tech semiconductor company and world leader in commercialization of green and blue laser diodes (LDs), announced the demonstration of high power 4 watt blue laser diodes at 450 nm, the highest power blue laser reported to date from a monolithic chip.
These devices are designed to enable >500 lumen, bulb-free projection displays with dramatically reduced size, weight, and power consumption compared to conventional bulb-based projectors used in venues such as boardrooms, education, home theater, and cinema.
Additionally, Soraa will present results of 750 mW single mode blue laser diodes, the highest single mode power reported to date. These laser diodes operate with single spatial mode and multi spectral mode and are designed for smaller format display applications such as micro projectors and pico projectors. The devices can be directly modulated at high speeds required for high resolution displays with minimal speckle.
Soraa’s LDs are designed to be compatible with all available display generating technologies including LCOS, scanning MEMS mirrors, DLP, and other diffractive approaches. These blue LD devices complement Soraa’s previously announced green LDs.
Soraa’s LDs are based on InGaN semiconductor technology and are fabricated on innovative nonpolar and semipolar GaN substrates. Soraa’s direct diode green and blue lasers offer improvements in performance, size, weight, and cost over conventional gas or solid state lasers for consumer projection displays, defense pointers and illuminators, biomedical instrumentation and therapeutics, and industrial imaging applications.
These devices are designed to enable >500 lumen, bulb-free projection displays with dramatically reduced size, weight, and power consumption compared to conventional bulb-based projectors used in venues such as boardrooms, education, home theater, and cinema.
Additionally, Soraa will present results of 750 mW single mode blue laser diodes, the highest single mode power reported to date. These laser diodes operate with single spatial mode and multi spectral mode and are designed for smaller format display applications such as micro projectors and pico projectors. The devices can be directly modulated at high speeds required for high resolution displays with minimal speckle.
Soraa’s LDs are designed to be compatible with all available display generating technologies including LCOS, scanning MEMS mirrors, DLP, and other diffractive approaches. These blue LD devices complement Soraa’s previously announced green LDs.
Soraa’s LDs are based on InGaN semiconductor technology and are fabricated on innovative nonpolar and semipolar GaN substrates. Soraa’s direct diode green and blue lasers offer improvements in performance, size, weight, and cost over conventional gas or solid state lasers for consumer projection displays, defense pointers and illuminators, biomedical instrumentation and therapeutics, and industrial imaging applications.
E+E Elektronik's new humidity sensor for OEM customers saves energy
ENGERWITZDORF, AUSTRIA: New humidity and temperature sensors are utilised in many industries, from the automobile industry to environmental technology. E+E Elektronik has responded to this need and now offers the HCT01 – a new and innovative humidity and temperature sensor.
The HCT01 is the only SMD humidity sensor that is supplied without digital processing and does not have to be adjusted by the user. The sensor thus has many applications with OEM customers. Since the HCT01 requires no power supply itself, it is particularly suitable for energy-saving or battery-operated applications.
Humidity and temperature sensors are used in the automobile industry: For adapting fuel mixtures, for controlling climate control systems or for monitoring the defogging of windscreens. With conventional models, a simple integration of the sensor into the various, existing control circuitries is not always possible.
This is because in addition to the actual sensor, interfaces for the digital evaluation and transmission of the measured data are often included. This makes it more difficult to integrate the sensors into existing applications. For this reason, the developers from E+E Elektronik now offer a novel capacitive humidity sensor – the HCT01.
The sensor, having just a few millimeters in size, measures the relative air humidity and temperature and supplies the highest measurement precision. The capacitive humidity sensor is already pre-adjusted during production so that the customer can dispense with a complicated adjustment later on. Thus, no integrated ASIC is necessary, which is why the HCT01 can be utilised in the most diverse of OEM applications.
Another great advantage of the HCT01 is that it requires no power supply of any kind itself. The sensor is thus particularly suitable for energy-saving projects like Energy Harvesting: In this example, energy is able to be gained from the change in the ambient temperature or the air humidity alone. The HCT01 is predestined for these types of scenarios.
E+E Elektronik manufacturers the smallest possible sensors using modern thin film technology under cleanroom conditions. This is also the case with the newest humidity sensor – the HCT01. Its measurement deviation for humidity at a relative air humidity of 30 to 70 percent amounts to only ± two percent. The temperature sensor is available in two versions and supplies the most precise measurement values with up to 3000 Ohm as platinum or molybdenum version.
With a working range of -40 to 140 Celsius, the HCT01 is custom tailored to an industrial application. The DFN housing of the sensor permits soldering with the popular reflow process. A protective film protects the active sensor surface from external influences such as dust or salts.
The HCT01 is the only SMD humidity sensor that is supplied without digital processing and does not have to be adjusted by the user. The sensor thus has many applications with OEM customers. Since the HCT01 requires no power supply itself, it is particularly suitable for energy-saving or battery-operated applications.
Humidity and temperature sensors are used in the automobile industry: For adapting fuel mixtures, for controlling climate control systems or for monitoring the defogging of windscreens. With conventional models, a simple integration of the sensor into the various, existing control circuitries is not always possible.
This is because in addition to the actual sensor, interfaces for the digital evaluation and transmission of the measured data are often included. This makes it more difficult to integrate the sensors into existing applications. For this reason, the developers from E+E Elektronik now offer a novel capacitive humidity sensor – the HCT01.
The sensor, having just a few millimeters in size, measures the relative air humidity and temperature and supplies the highest measurement precision. The capacitive humidity sensor is already pre-adjusted during production so that the customer can dispense with a complicated adjustment later on. Thus, no integrated ASIC is necessary, which is why the HCT01 can be utilised in the most diverse of OEM applications.
Another great advantage of the HCT01 is that it requires no power supply of any kind itself. The sensor is thus particularly suitable for energy-saving projects like Energy Harvesting: In this example, energy is able to be gained from the change in the ambient temperature or the air humidity alone. The HCT01 is predestined for these types of scenarios.
E+E Elektronik manufacturers the smallest possible sensors using modern thin film technology under cleanroom conditions. This is also the case with the newest humidity sensor – the HCT01. Its measurement deviation for humidity at a relative air humidity of 30 to 70 percent amounts to only ± two percent. The temperature sensor is available in two versions and supplies the most precise measurement values with up to 3000 Ohm as platinum or molybdenum version.
With a working range of -40 to 140 Celsius, the HCT01 is custom tailored to an industrial application. The DFN housing of the sensor permits soldering with the popular reflow process. A protective film protects the active sensor surface from external influences such as dust or salts.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
What will the meetings of the future look like?
Jonah Sterling, creative director/UX director, IdentityMine
USA: There was a time when technology early adopters everywhere anticipated a single hardware communication and collaboration device that would eliminate what came before it and usher in a simple, single-device era.
It started with the desktop. Then came the laptop. Tablets were introduced with the promise that they would eliminate not just laptops, but newspapers, as well. Blackberries would replace cell phones, and then Smart phones were going to replace blackberries.
Then Apple released the iPad and in the midst of the renewed claims that this device would eliminate all others, there came an important realization: Tablet devices aren’t going to eliminate anything… and they are still awesome.
Rather than seeking one device to replace all others, executives in companies big and small, must find ways to integrate various technologies across platforms to achieve their communication and productivity goals. These days it’s not uncommon to find an executive team that works cross-platform via mobile devices, desktops, and sporadic adoption of iPads or Slate devices.
Rather than seeking a monolithic technical solution to eliminate all that came before, we need to figure out how to make the technologies we currently use every day work together to provide a seamless user experience that actually improves communication and productivity in the workplace.
It’s time to build software applications that can share data cross-platform and form factor so that industry leaders can use the devices that they like most to do their work.
What does this look like?
IdentityMine is working with a Fortune 500 client to develop their next-phase Executive Dashboard. The Executive Dashboard concept takes into account the complexities of a global business, but it can be applied to businesses of all sizes. While some of the ideas presented in this concept haven’t been implemented in this way to date, everything in this concept is possible with technology that exists right now.
The Executive Dashboard mirrors the way executives work, giving them a technical gateway to manage common tasks such as receiving alerts, managing communication, and reviewing alerts via natural user interface – touch, gesture, and voice.
This paperless communication gateway integrates hardware, including a tablet, mobile device, and touch-enabled display; and natural user interface technology including gesture and voice navigation, cloud computing, and server integration. The nature of it being cross-platform, cross-device, and relying on the Cloud for data synchronization, makes it simple to assign tasks, track alerts, and collaborate around the world.
The large-scale displays provide a visual reference for a variety of data, including pagination, data visualization, 3D modeling, and gesture control for data exploration.
Using touch-navigation on a mounted wall display to login, the system can authenticate the executive’s identity. In alternative scenarios, this authentication can take place on a touch-enabled laptop or tablet device. Executives can use the camera on the tablet device to implement facial recognition and the microphone for voice recognition. In addition to being useful communication tools, the voice and facial recognition can be used for additional security.
The executive dashboard deploys, and can display (such as in this case) a global activity report that integrates geo-data and mapping with real-time business intelligence reporting. It includes critical information such as team status, alerts, schedules, and tasks. There are many ways to explore data, including remote touch via the tablet device, gesture navigation, and direct touch to the display monitor. Voice features also allow the executive to make notes on reports during collaboration.
With the Executive Dashboard., users can collaborate and combine ad hoc data with other team members in a managed data forum. Drag and drop functionality will allow for cross-referencing of data and easy sharing between team members. Since the technology has been deployed enterprise-wide, other members of the team are able to video-conference using pre-positioned cameras as well as the cameras installed in their mobile devices for real-time collaboration and an “always on” office environment.
Conclusion
The next generation of executives will increasingly look to integrated hardware solutions and small, powerful, cloud-connected applications to not only boost productivity, but to invisibly coordinate their regular management and communication activities.
The concept goes beyond simple paperless environments and embraces a more complex way of approaching relationships between tasks and people.
USA: There was a time when technology early adopters everywhere anticipated a single hardware communication and collaboration device that would eliminate what came before it and usher in a simple, single-device era.
It started with the desktop. Then came the laptop. Tablets were introduced with the promise that they would eliminate not just laptops, but newspapers, as well. Blackberries would replace cell phones, and then Smart phones were going to replace blackberries.
Then Apple released the iPad and in the midst of the renewed claims that this device would eliminate all others, there came an important realization: Tablet devices aren’t going to eliminate anything… and they are still awesome.
Rather than seeking one device to replace all others, executives in companies big and small, must find ways to integrate various technologies across platforms to achieve their communication and productivity goals. These days it’s not uncommon to find an executive team that works cross-platform via mobile devices, desktops, and sporadic adoption of iPads or Slate devices.
Rather than seeking a monolithic technical solution to eliminate all that came before, we need to figure out how to make the technologies we currently use every day work together to provide a seamless user experience that actually improves communication and productivity in the workplace.
It’s time to build software applications that can share data cross-platform and form factor so that industry leaders can use the devices that they like most to do their work.
What does this look like?
IdentityMine is working with a Fortune 500 client to develop their next-phase Executive Dashboard. The Executive Dashboard concept takes into account the complexities of a global business, but it can be applied to businesses of all sizes. While some of the ideas presented in this concept haven’t been implemented in this way to date, everything in this concept is possible with technology that exists right now.
The Executive Dashboard mirrors the way executives work, giving them a technical gateway to manage common tasks such as receiving alerts, managing communication, and reviewing alerts via natural user interface – touch, gesture, and voice.
This paperless communication gateway integrates hardware, including a tablet, mobile device, and touch-enabled display; and natural user interface technology including gesture and voice navigation, cloud computing, and server integration. The nature of it being cross-platform, cross-device, and relying on the Cloud for data synchronization, makes it simple to assign tasks, track alerts, and collaborate around the world.
The large-scale displays provide a visual reference for a variety of data, including pagination, data visualization, 3D modeling, and gesture control for data exploration.
Using touch-navigation on a mounted wall display to login, the system can authenticate the executive’s identity. In alternative scenarios, this authentication can take place on a touch-enabled laptop or tablet device. Executives can use the camera on the tablet device to implement facial recognition and the microphone for voice recognition. In addition to being useful communication tools, the voice and facial recognition can be used for additional security.
The executive dashboard deploys, and can display (such as in this case) a global activity report that integrates geo-data and mapping with real-time business intelligence reporting. It includes critical information such as team status, alerts, schedules, and tasks. There are many ways to explore data, including remote touch via the tablet device, gesture navigation, and direct touch to the display monitor. Voice features also allow the executive to make notes on reports during collaboration.
With the Executive Dashboard., users can collaborate and combine ad hoc data with other team members in a managed data forum. Drag and drop functionality will allow for cross-referencing of data and easy sharing between team members. Since the technology has been deployed enterprise-wide, other members of the team are able to video-conference using pre-positioned cameras as well as the cameras installed in their mobile devices for real-time collaboration and an “always on” office environment.
Conclusion
The next generation of executives will increasingly look to integrated hardware solutions and small, powerful, cloud-connected applications to not only boost productivity, but to invisibly coordinate their regular management and communication activities.
The concept goes beyond simple paperless environments and embraces a more complex way of approaching relationships between tasks and people.
Consumer electronics market boosted by connected home products in 2011
EL SEGUNDO, USA: Global unit shipments of consumer electronics (CE) products will climb 2.6 percent in 2010, partly driven by rising sales of products that play a role in the connected home and that focus on usability—rather than technological wizardry—according to new IHS iSuppli research.
CE product shipments in 2011 are projected to reach 1.60 billion units, up from 1.56 billion in 2010. The CE category encompasses a diverse array of familiar devices that consumers use on a daily basis, including televisions, stereos and audio components, portable media players, set-top boxes, gaming devices, DVD and Blu-ray players, digital still cameras, projectors and camcorders, digital picture frames, e-book readers and consumer appliances.
“While the 2.6 percent rise in overall shipments this year is modest compared to last year’s 4 percent climb, the expansion is significant given current economic conditions,” said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for consumer platforms at IHS. “Amid the continued uncertainties in the global economy and the high unemployment rate in the United States—the world’s largest market for CE devices—the uptick in sales provides reassurance for the industry and sets the stage for future growth.”
Unit shipment growth will accelerate to 4.4 percent in 2012.
Units up, revenue not so much
CE revenue in 2011 is not predicted to grow by nearly as much as unit shipments. In particular, the substantial price declines that began in 2010 are expected to continue in 2011 for CE devices such as e-book readers.
Televisions also will be responsible for some of the contraction occurring in revenue. Although enjoying strong sales, television pricing will be eroded by deep discounts from retailers, impacting total CE revenue.
Other high-volume consumer systems, such as portable media and MP3 players, will continue to face competitive pressure from rival solutions—such as smart phones and tablets—which subsume features of the original device, also depressing CE revenue in the process.
Making the connected home a reality
While the concept of the connected home has been around for some time, the technology with which CE devices communicate with one another as well as with the outside world has yet to achieve mainstream adoption.
The connected home concept is actually synonymous with the “connected consumer,” an environment in which consumers have access to all of their media content, anywhere and at any time, seamlessly and transparently regardless of location or authorized consumption device, whether that device is a large-screen television, bedroom docking station, media tablet or smart phone.
One factor inhibiting broad acceptance is usability; for a particular consumer technology to enjoy widespread recognition, consumers must be able to use it—and the product implementing the technology—even without understanding the mechanism or process involved.
This explains the success of Apple Inc.’s iPad—a plug-and-play device ready for use and enjoyment right out of the box. Non-tech-savvy customers can buy the product and use it without cracking open the manual—which is what it takes to succeed in the consumer world, IHS iSuppli research shows.
Companies that focus on clear and easy usability instead of technological fireworks will stand out in the market. Their products will gain traction, especially as retailers embrace and implement the concept at the heart of their operations—as Best Buy is expected to do in 2011.
In addition to usability, a major factor for determining the success of consumer electronics devices will be their long-term future in the connected home environment.
While the market for a product such as the set-top box may eventually saturate, the device itself will continue to fulfill key functions of content access and distribution—assuring its place in the consumer pantheon for some time to come.
In contrast, the portable media player—while appearing to have a spot in the digital living room in acting as the primary portable media-rendering device—is rapidly being superseded by the smart phone and the tablet, which offer the same music-playing capabilities plus much more.
The potential to maintain an existing role in the connected home explains why some systems—like set-top boxes—will continue to enjoy demand from CE users, while other devices will slowly become obsolete.
Source: IHS iSuppli.
CE product shipments in 2011 are projected to reach 1.60 billion units, up from 1.56 billion in 2010. The CE category encompasses a diverse array of familiar devices that consumers use on a daily basis, including televisions, stereos and audio components, portable media players, set-top boxes, gaming devices, DVD and Blu-ray players, digital still cameras, projectors and camcorders, digital picture frames, e-book readers and consumer appliances.
“While the 2.6 percent rise in overall shipments this year is modest compared to last year’s 4 percent climb, the expansion is significant given current economic conditions,” said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for consumer platforms at IHS. “Amid the continued uncertainties in the global economy and the high unemployment rate in the United States—the world’s largest market for CE devices—the uptick in sales provides reassurance for the industry and sets the stage for future growth.”
Unit shipment growth will accelerate to 4.4 percent in 2012.
Units up, revenue not so much
CE revenue in 2011 is not predicted to grow by nearly as much as unit shipments. In particular, the substantial price declines that began in 2010 are expected to continue in 2011 for CE devices such as e-book readers.
Televisions also will be responsible for some of the contraction occurring in revenue. Although enjoying strong sales, television pricing will be eroded by deep discounts from retailers, impacting total CE revenue.
Other high-volume consumer systems, such as portable media and MP3 players, will continue to face competitive pressure from rival solutions—such as smart phones and tablets—which subsume features of the original device, also depressing CE revenue in the process.
Making the connected home a reality
While the concept of the connected home has been around for some time, the technology with which CE devices communicate with one another as well as with the outside world has yet to achieve mainstream adoption.
The connected home concept is actually synonymous with the “connected consumer,” an environment in which consumers have access to all of their media content, anywhere and at any time, seamlessly and transparently regardless of location or authorized consumption device, whether that device is a large-screen television, bedroom docking station, media tablet or smart phone.
One factor inhibiting broad acceptance is usability; for a particular consumer technology to enjoy widespread recognition, consumers must be able to use it—and the product implementing the technology—even without understanding the mechanism or process involved.
This explains the success of Apple Inc.’s iPad—a plug-and-play device ready for use and enjoyment right out of the box. Non-tech-savvy customers can buy the product and use it without cracking open the manual—which is what it takes to succeed in the consumer world, IHS iSuppli research shows.
Companies that focus on clear and easy usability instead of technological fireworks will stand out in the market. Their products will gain traction, especially as retailers embrace and implement the concept at the heart of their operations—as Best Buy is expected to do in 2011.
In addition to usability, a major factor for determining the success of consumer electronics devices will be their long-term future in the connected home environment.
While the market for a product such as the set-top box may eventually saturate, the device itself will continue to fulfill key functions of content access and distribution—assuring its place in the consumer pantheon for some time to come.
In contrast, the portable media player—while appearing to have a spot in the digital living room in acting as the primary portable media-rendering device—is rapidly being superseded by the smart phone and the tablet, which offer the same music-playing capabilities plus much more.
The potential to maintain an existing role in the connected home explains why some systems—like set-top boxes—will continue to enjoy demand from CE users, while other devices will slowly become obsolete.
Source: IHS iSuppli.
BroadLight joins Home Gateway Initiative
SANTA CLARA, USA: BroadLight, the leading supplier of fiber access processors, announced its recent membership to the Home Gateway Initiative (HGI), the industry’s principle body for defining home gateway requirements.
“HGI holds a significant standing in setting the standards for carrier gateway equipment and services,” said Doron Tal, Vice President Business Development and Product Marketing at BroadLight, “complementary to HGI our activities with other industry forums and standards bodies enables BroadLight to continue its direct contribution to this evolving market."
“With BroadLight joining HGI, we welcome an important player in the integrated circuit market to our forum,” said Duncan Bees, chief technology and business officer for HGI. “BroadLight is recognized as a leading manufacturer of devices for GPON and Ultra Broadband Home Gateways. Their expertise will be of great assistance as HGI develops the feature and testing requirements for the next generation of home networking equipment, including the Home Gateway and the NGA-capable Network Termination device.”
The HGI, founded in 2004 by major broadband service providers (BSPs), and joined by leading vendors of digital home equipment, is shaping the way that IP services are delivered to the home. The HGI publishes requirements for digital home building blocks. Those building blocks are the hardware and software in the digital home that connect consumers and services. They include home gateways, home networks, and home network devices.
“HGI holds a significant standing in setting the standards for carrier gateway equipment and services,” said Doron Tal, Vice President Business Development and Product Marketing at BroadLight, “complementary to HGI our activities with other industry forums and standards bodies enables BroadLight to continue its direct contribution to this evolving market."
“With BroadLight joining HGI, we welcome an important player in the integrated circuit market to our forum,” said Duncan Bees, chief technology and business officer for HGI. “BroadLight is recognized as a leading manufacturer of devices for GPON and Ultra Broadband Home Gateways. Their expertise will be of great assistance as HGI develops the feature and testing requirements for the next generation of home networking equipment, including the Home Gateway and the NGA-capable Network Termination device.”
The HGI, founded in 2004 by major broadband service providers (BSPs), and joined by leading vendors of digital home equipment, is shaping the way that IP services are delivered to the home. The HGI publishes requirements for digital home building blocks. Those building blocks are the hardware and software in the digital home that connect consumers and services. They include home gateways, home networks, and home network devices.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
NI offers over 9,000 instrument drivers to simplify and automate instrument control
BANGALORE, INDIA: National Instruments now offers more than 9,000 drivers from more than 350 vendors through the Instrument Driver Network (IDNet) that simplify and automate connection to stand-alone instruments.
IDNet, the industry's largest source of instrument drivers, includes more than 1,000 new drivers added since November 2009. The drivers are written for the NI LabVIEW graphical development platform, the NI LabWindows™/CVI ANSI C integrated development environment and Measurement Studio for Microsoft Visual Studio.
Engineers, scientists and instrument manufacturers around the world have relied on National Instruments software and instrument drivers since the first version of LabVIEW was shipped in 1986. With the latest version, LabVIEW 2010, engineers can use the new Instrument Driver Finder (IDFinder) to quickly search IDNet and download different LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers for their stand-alone instruments.
IDFinder scans the system for connected instruments; downloads and installs the appropriate drivers; and presents ready-to-run examples to the engineer. IDFinder significantly reduces time to first measurement by helping engineers get up and running without leaving the LabVIEW environment.
From IDNet, engineers can download LabVIEW Plug and Play, LabWindows/CVI Plug and Play and interchangeable virtual instrument (IVI) drivers certified by NI to automate measurements from thousands of instruments. With NI software, instrument drivers can simplify instrument automation across a variety of buses including GPIB, USB, PXI, PCI, Ethernet, LXI and RS232.
NI builds all of its instrument drivers using VISA, an industry-standard I/O programming interface that abstracts the underlying bus communication for a consistent programming experience regardless of the instrument bus.
IDNet, the industry's largest source of instrument drivers, includes more than 1,000 new drivers added since November 2009. The drivers are written for the NI LabVIEW graphical development platform, the NI LabWindows™/CVI ANSI C integrated development environment and Measurement Studio for Microsoft Visual Studio.
Engineers, scientists and instrument manufacturers around the world have relied on National Instruments software and instrument drivers since the first version of LabVIEW was shipped in 1986. With the latest version, LabVIEW 2010, engineers can use the new Instrument Driver Finder (IDFinder) to quickly search IDNet and download different LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers for their stand-alone instruments.
IDFinder scans the system for connected instruments; downloads and installs the appropriate drivers; and presents ready-to-run examples to the engineer. IDFinder significantly reduces time to first measurement by helping engineers get up and running without leaving the LabVIEW environment.
From IDNet, engineers can download LabVIEW Plug and Play, LabWindows/CVI Plug and Play and interchangeable virtual instrument (IVI) drivers certified by NI to automate measurements from thousands of instruments. With NI software, instrument drivers can simplify instrument automation across a variety of buses including GPIB, USB, PXI, PCI, Ethernet, LXI and RS232.
NI builds all of its instrument drivers using VISA, an industry-standard I/O programming interface that abstracts the underlying bus communication for a consistent programming experience regardless of the instrument bus.
HID Global launches growth initiative for RFID animal tagging business
BANGALORE, INDIA: HID Global has appointed industry veteran Jean-Miguel Robadey to run the company's Identification Solutions (IDS) RFID animal tagging business.
As global director, Robadey will be responsible for extending HID’s two-decade-long leadership in RFID tagging into the rapidly growing market for solutions that improve the traceability of individual animals through the supply chain.
"We are very excited to have someone of Jean-Miguel's caliber and reputation running this very important element of our IDS business," said Marie Glotz, vice president of animal ID, Industry and Logistics with HID Global. "Jean-Miguel has managed several successful organizations serving the pet and livestock markets, and he has extensive experience across the full range of product development, manufacturing and sales. We are making major investments in this business, and Jean-Miguel’s appointment is another key step in reinforcing and expanding our position as one of the world's top RFID solution providers for a variety of markets including the fast-growing animal tagging segment."
According to market research firm IDTechX, the RFID business has grown despite the global financial meltdown and is a business of well over $5 billion today. The firm said in its October 2010 report entitled “RFID for Animals, Food and Farming 2011-2021” that the RFID market will triple in the next ten years, not least because a great variety of needs and government regulation is driving adoption in animals, food and farming – a sector that the firm expects to grow nine-fold.
As global director, Robadey will be responsible for extending HID’s two-decade-long leadership in RFID tagging into the rapidly growing market for solutions that improve the traceability of individual animals through the supply chain.
"We are very excited to have someone of Jean-Miguel's caliber and reputation running this very important element of our IDS business," said Marie Glotz, vice president of animal ID, Industry and Logistics with HID Global. "Jean-Miguel has managed several successful organizations serving the pet and livestock markets, and he has extensive experience across the full range of product development, manufacturing and sales. We are making major investments in this business, and Jean-Miguel’s appointment is another key step in reinforcing and expanding our position as one of the world's top RFID solution providers for a variety of markets including the fast-growing animal tagging segment."
According to market research firm IDTechX, the RFID business has grown despite the global financial meltdown and is a business of well over $5 billion today. The firm said in its October 2010 report entitled “RFID for Animals, Food and Farming 2011-2021” that the RFID market will triple in the next ten years, not least because a great variety of needs and government regulation is driving adoption in animals, food and farming – a sector that the firm expects to grow nine-fold.
Electronics contract manufacturing market growth slows in 2011
EL SEGUNDO, USA: Following a 33.4 percent increase in revenue in 2010, the global electronic contract manufacturing industry will experience slowing growth in 2011, with sales rising by only 8.5 percent, according to new IHS iSuppli research.
The contract electronics industry, consisting of the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturing (ODM) segments, will finish 2011 with revenue of $376.7 billion, up from $347.3 billion in 2010, as presented in the attached figure. Revenue will continue to rise at annual rates between 9 percent and 7 percent during the following years, reaching $472.3 billion in 2014.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
“The contract manufacturing industry in 2011 is grappling with reduced profit margins for certain consumer-oriented products because of intensified competition for new business,” said Thomas J. Dinges, CFA, principal analyst for outsourced electronics manufacturing at IHS. “EMS and ODM providers with exposure to these areas have been hardest hit, while others with a more balanced end-market portfolio have fared much better.”
Compared to just a few years ago, more high-mix markets have taken center stage. Nearly all of the largest EMS providers report very strong near-term growth in these segments, as well as a widening pipeline for future business.
In particular, the global ODM industry remains highly oriented toward the computing and consumer end markets.
China generates the bulk of growth
Manufacturing operations in China were responsible for more than 75 percent of aggregate industry growth in 2010, and the country is expected to continue carrying the burden of driving worldwide growth in the global outsourced manufacturing market in 2011. The largest outsourced manufacturing provider, Hon Hai Precision Industries, reported nearly 60 percent revenue growth in the first nine months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
With China’s domestic economy expected to grow close to 10 percent in 2011—much faster than either Europe or the United States—such growth will drive higher consumption in the country, the contract manufacturing industry believes. Should growth fail to materialize, however, the industry would be materially impacted.
Margin improvement is now a function of end-market mix. Given the rise of material costs and increasing wages in major manufacturing locations like China, industry margins in 2011 are apt to be heading sideways or even downward. Last year, margin improvement had been more a function of cyclical factors, driven by the stronger-than-expected recovery in revenues.
Offsetting this was higher-than-expected pricing pressure in some consumer-oriented product markets, such as notebook PCs. In the third quarter of 2010, average gross margins for the 10 largest EMS providers rose by 1.30 percent. In contrast, the average gross margins for the 10 biggest ODM providers declined by 1.16 percent because of greater exposure to highly price-sensitive markets.
Of more concern, though, is the fact that only four of the largest companies across both EMS and ODM industries reported sequentially higher margins despite higher revenue. In 2010, outsourced manufacturing providers with a higher proportion of less price-sensitive consumer-oriented product appeared to have a smaller impact on margins.
Margin improvement in 2011 is likely more a factor of product mix, as opposed to pure cyclical aspects such as revenue growth. With the industry starting to add capacity, OEMs have grown more concerned with pricing, and input costs have risen.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
The contract electronics industry, consisting of the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturing (ODM) segments, will finish 2011 with revenue of $376.7 billion, up from $347.3 billion in 2010, as presented in the attached figure. Revenue will continue to rise at annual rates between 9 percent and 7 percent during the following years, reaching $472.3 billion in 2014.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.“The contract manufacturing industry in 2011 is grappling with reduced profit margins for certain consumer-oriented products because of intensified competition for new business,” said Thomas J. Dinges, CFA, principal analyst for outsourced electronics manufacturing at IHS. “EMS and ODM providers with exposure to these areas have been hardest hit, while others with a more balanced end-market portfolio have fared much better.”
Compared to just a few years ago, more high-mix markets have taken center stage. Nearly all of the largest EMS providers report very strong near-term growth in these segments, as well as a widening pipeline for future business.
In particular, the global ODM industry remains highly oriented toward the computing and consumer end markets.
China generates the bulk of growth
Manufacturing operations in China were responsible for more than 75 percent of aggregate industry growth in 2010, and the country is expected to continue carrying the burden of driving worldwide growth in the global outsourced manufacturing market in 2011. The largest outsourced manufacturing provider, Hon Hai Precision Industries, reported nearly 60 percent revenue growth in the first nine months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
With China’s domestic economy expected to grow close to 10 percent in 2011—much faster than either Europe or the United States—such growth will drive higher consumption in the country, the contract manufacturing industry believes. Should growth fail to materialize, however, the industry would be materially impacted.
Margin improvement is now a function of end-market mix. Given the rise of material costs and increasing wages in major manufacturing locations like China, industry margins in 2011 are apt to be heading sideways or even downward. Last year, margin improvement had been more a function of cyclical factors, driven by the stronger-than-expected recovery in revenues.
Offsetting this was higher-than-expected pricing pressure in some consumer-oriented product markets, such as notebook PCs. In the third quarter of 2010, average gross margins for the 10 largest EMS providers rose by 1.30 percent. In contrast, the average gross margins for the 10 biggest ODM providers declined by 1.16 percent because of greater exposure to highly price-sensitive markets.
Of more concern, though, is the fact that only four of the largest companies across both EMS and ODM industries reported sequentially higher margins despite higher revenue. In 2010, outsourced manufacturing providers with a higher proportion of less price-sensitive consumer-oriented product appeared to have a smaller impact on margins.
Margin improvement in 2011 is likely more a factor of product mix, as opposed to pure cyclical aspects such as revenue growth. With the industry starting to add capacity, OEMs have grown more concerned with pricing, and input costs have risen.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
Monday, January 24, 2011
DTS partners with Huawei Device to integrate superior sound technologies
CALABASAS, USA: DTS Inc., the leader in high definition audio, has officially entered into an agreement with Huawei Device Co., Ltd., a leading telecom terminal device and solutions provider headquartered in China, to integrate DTS technologies into its products.
This exciting news symbolizes the start of the cooperation between DTS and Huawei Device Co., bringing the ultimate entertainment experience to a wide range of consumers.
“DTS is thrilled to partner with Huawei Device Co. and bring added value to its products by delivering a superior entertainment experience to consumers,” said Brian Towne, executive vice president and chief operating officer at DTS. “This agreement launches DTS sound technologies into the ever-expanding telecom industry. We look forward to a successful collaboration between DTS and Huawei Device Co.”
Huawei Device Co. products utilizing DTS sound technologies offer surround sound effects with input audio sources ranging from mono and stereo to 5.1 multi-channel. With DTS technology, compressed audio can be transformed with clearly defined vocals and crisp high and low frequencies that create an immersive surround sound experience for consumers.
“Huawei Device upholds the concept of ‘Smart Device, Simple World,’ and is dedicated to providing the intelligent and user-friendly products our customers demand,” said Ms. Glory Zhang, spokesperson for Huawei Device Co. “As consumers’ digital entertainment needs continue to evolve, together Huawei Device Co. and DTS will offer the most engaging entertainment experience across multiple platforms.”
The integration of DTS technology in Huawei Device Co.’s electronics is the latest milestone for the growing global company. This partnership demonstrates DTS’ commitment to bring the best possible entertainment experience to consumers through various platforms and solidifies DTS’ position as a leading provider of high performance audio.
This exciting news symbolizes the start of the cooperation between DTS and Huawei Device Co., bringing the ultimate entertainment experience to a wide range of consumers.
“DTS is thrilled to partner with Huawei Device Co. and bring added value to its products by delivering a superior entertainment experience to consumers,” said Brian Towne, executive vice president and chief operating officer at DTS. “This agreement launches DTS sound technologies into the ever-expanding telecom industry. We look forward to a successful collaboration between DTS and Huawei Device Co.”
Huawei Device Co. products utilizing DTS sound technologies offer surround sound effects with input audio sources ranging from mono and stereo to 5.1 multi-channel. With DTS technology, compressed audio can be transformed with clearly defined vocals and crisp high and low frequencies that create an immersive surround sound experience for consumers.
“Huawei Device upholds the concept of ‘Smart Device, Simple World,’ and is dedicated to providing the intelligent and user-friendly products our customers demand,” said Ms. Glory Zhang, spokesperson for Huawei Device Co. “As consumers’ digital entertainment needs continue to evolve, together Huawei Device Co. and DTS will offer the most engaging entertainment experience across multiple platforms.”
The integration of DTS technology in Huawei Device Co.’s electronics is the latest milestone for the growing global company. This partnership demonstrates DTS’ commitment to bring the best possible entertainment experience to consumers through various platforms and solidifies DTS’ position as a leading provider of high performance audio.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
NI to showcase advanced technologies at 'India Defense & Aerospace Symposium 2011'
BANGALORE, INDIA: National Instruments (NI), a technology pioneer and leader in Graphical System Design, in association with the Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies & Industries (SIATI) will host the fourth India Defense & Aerospace Symposium starting in Bangalore on January 25, 2011.
Over 800 delegates ranging from aerospace and defense, government and manufacturers are expected to participate in this premier event. Padma Shree Dr. Kota Harinarayana, Raja Ramanna Fellow at National Aerospace Laboratories, will deliver the key note address at the event. He is the former Program Director and Chief Designer of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and has successfully directed many projects, leading India to develop high technology fighter aircraft.
The conference in Bangalore will be inaugurated by Air Commodore (Retd.) J. Varkey, SIATI and will also witness presentations by key speakers from companies like NAL, HAL and more.
NI will conduct a multi-city road show across Hyderabad, Delhi and Trivandrum to showcase advanced R&D initiatives in defense & aerospace engineering space.
Jayaram Pillai, managing director for India, Russia & Arabia, National Instruments, said: “The Indian aerospace and defense industry is growing at a very fast pace and in order to keep up with the recent developments, we need to continuously innovate. National Instruments will showcase the advanced technologies that can help build modern and reliable automated test systems for various critical applications in the aerospace and defense segments in the future.”
The conference will provide a forum for defense personnel, researchers, engineers, and key decision makers to participate in the various technical sessions on next generation test and design for aerospace and defense applications. NI partners will exhibit live demonstrations, case studies presentations, interactive discussions and showcase innovative products.
The annual National Instruments Defense & Aerospace event focuses to share domain knowledge and best practices from across companies in the Indian Aerospace and Defense industry.
Over 800 delegates ranging from aerospace and defense, government and manufacturers are expected to participate in this premier event. Padma Shree Dr. Kota Harinarayana, Raja Ramanna Fellow at National Aerospace Laboratories, will deliver the key note address at the event. He is the former Program Director and Chief Designer of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and has successfully directed many projects, leading India to develop high technology fighter aircraft.
The conference in Bangalore will be inaugurated by Air Commodore (Retd.) J. Varkey, SIATI and will also witness presentations by key speakers from companies like NAL, HAL and more.
NI will conduct a multi-city road show across Hyderabad, Delhi and Trivandrum to showcase advanced R&D initiatives in defense & aerospace engineering space.
Jayaram Pillai, managing director for India, Russia & Arabia, National Instruments, said: “The Indian aerospace and defense industry is growing at a very fast pace and in order to keep up with the recent developments, we need to continuously innovate. National Instruments will showcase the advanced technologies that can help build modern and reliable automated test systems for various critical applications in the aerospace and defense segments in the future.”
The conference will provide a forum for defense personnel, researchers, engineers, and key decision makers to participate in the various technical sessions on next generation test and design for aerospace and defense applications. NI partners will exhibit live demonstrations, case studies presentations, interactive discussions and showcase innovative products.
The annual National Instruments Defense & Aerospace event focuses to share domain knowledge and best practices from across companies in the Indian Aerospace and Defense industry.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Blusens chooses MaxLinear for web:tv home entertainment device
CARLSBAD, USA: Blusens, the Spanish multinational manufacturer of high-end consumer electronics, announced that it has chosen MaxLinear’s MxL101SF DVB-T HDTV receiver IC for its new web:tv connected home device that brings Internet connectivity to the TV set.
Blusens’ web:tv integrates an HDTV receiver plus time shift and PVR functions that allow recording of TV programs. The web:tv is also an advanced HD multimedia player capable of connecting to computers, USB hard disks and routers to display multiple video, music and picture formats. It also features access to Blusens TV online video clubs, has a Web browser and can work with third-party applications.
The MxL101SF combines MaxLinear's high-performance silicon tuner, with its DVB-T compliant demodulator. The MxL101SF allows the addition of a full DVB-T interface in a single chip, which delivers exceptional performance, low power consumption, small footprint and low total solution cost. All RF input signal filtering, channel selection filtering, demodulation and error correction functionality have been completely integrated, reducing the external bill of materials to a small number of standard value discrete components.
“This is a great example of a converged media platform,” said Kishore Seendripu, CEO of MaxLinear. “Since its debut, web:tv has drawn rave reviews for its innovation and performance and we’re glad that our products have contributed to its success.”
“One of the key features of the web:tv device is the ability to seamlessly integrate HDTV, Internet and a user’s own content, so outstanding DVB-T HDTV quality as that delivered by MaxLinear’s MxL101SF is essential in this device,” said Miguel Churruca, marketing director of Blusens.
With “palm-sized” super-compact dimensions (12x10x4 cm), web:tv transforms your television set into a high-end device with a great feature set. Features are driven by just a remote control, allowing a simple and ergonomic handling where the user needs just eight buttons to drive all the menus of the device.
Blusens’ web:tv integrates an HDTV receiver plus time shift and PVR functions that allow recording of TV programs. The web:tv is also an advanced HD multimedia player capable of connecting to computers, USB hard disks and routers to display multiple video, music and picture formats. It also features access to Blusens TV online video clubs, has a Web browser and can work with third-party applications.
The MxL101SF combines MaxLinear's high-performance silicon tuner, with its DVB-T compliant demodulator. The MxL101SF allows the addition of a full DVB-T interface in a single chip, which delivers exceptional performance, low power consumption, small footprint and low total solution cost. All RF input signal filtering, channel selection filtering, demodulation and error correction functionality have been completely integrated, reducing the external bill of materials to a small number of standard value discrete components.
“This is a great example of a converged media platform,” said Kishore Seendripu, CEO of MaxLinear. “Since its debut, web:tv has drawn rave reviews for its innovation and performance and we’re glad that our products have contributed to its success.”
“One of the key features of the web:tv device is the ability to seamlessly integrate HDTV, Internet and a user’s own content, so outstanding DVB-T HDTV quality as that delivered by MaxLinear’s MxL101SF is essential in this device,” said Miguel Churruca, marketing director of Blusens.
With “palm-sized” super-compact dimensions (12x10x4 cm), web:tv transforms your television set into a high-end device with a great feature set. Features are driven by just a remote control, allowing a simple and ergonomic handling where the user needs just eight buttons to drive all the menus of the device.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Zebronics intros 4.3-inch touchscreen media player
NEW DELHI, INDIA: Top Notch Infotronix, India’s leading supplier of products and accessories for Computers, Consumer Electronics and Communication under the brand ‘ZEBRONICS, has introduced its latest media player – the Zebmate Cinema Portable Wide 4.3 Touchscreen Media Player – the most recent addition to their lineup of premium portable media players.
The game-changing feature of the new player is it’s ultra-light weight – just 128 grams for its screen size, a full 4.3-inch touch-screen, 260K resolution (480x272 pixel widescreen format). The high-resolution screen displays brilliant colour depth to bring your videos and pictures to life vividly.
The player itself is designed as a lifestyle accessory for the style conscious generation – it comes in an elegant smoked-black colour body with a sturdy build and quality feel to it. In keeping with the Zebmate line-up of players, known for good sound quality, premium design and features, the Zebmate Cinema Portable 4.3 has 8GB capacity inbuilt as standard while a micro-SD card slot takes care of expandability. The TV-out function and inbuilt speakers lets you enjoy your digital media content at 720p definition on any large screen TV, when not on the move.
Built for long battery life, the player is rated to give you uninterrupted play of up to 13 hours for audio and 4 hours for video, long enough to enjoy that movie without a break.
The player has one of the widest media format support in its category with 720p definition support for M2V, AVI, MP4, MOV, QT, ASX, ASF, WMV, VIV, VIVO, RM, RMVB, Y4M, OGM, Mpeg, DAT, MOD, S3M, IT, MID, MIDI, VPF, NSV, NSA, MPC, MKV, APE, APL, MAC, FLV, 3GP, VOB, MPG formats. The audio formats supported include MP3, WAV, WMA, Ape, Flac, AAC, OGG, Ra, Midi, Amr, Rm and M4a. The bundled accessories include high-quality earphones, charger, neckband and carrying pouch. The earphones connect to the player via a standard 3.5mm stereo jack. The player interfaces to a computer through a USB2.0 cable, the most convenient for data transfer.
Apart from the groundbreaking audio and video features, Zebmate Cinema 4.3 also supports eight preset equalizer options to enhance the music experience according to individual preferences. Other run-of-the-mill features like FM radio, photo viewing, e-book, the player also comes with built-in games and a voice recorder. The touch-screen interface of the player is extremely user-friendly and intuitive, so that anyone from young to old can use it.
The Zebmate Cinema 4.3 Portable Media Player adds to Zebronics’ range of players in the Zebmate line-up known for excellent sound quality, aesthetics, appealing external design and rich features, at value-for-money prices. The line-up includes the recently launched Zebmate-75 music player that boasts of a humungous 75 hour battery life, and the Zebmate-10 and Zebmate-20 music players.
The Zebmate Cinema Portable Wide 4.3 Touchscreen Media Player is available from computer accessories and electronics stores at an amazing price of Rs 4,200.
The game-changing feature of the new player is it’s ultra-light weight – just 128 grams for its screen size, a full 4.3-inch touch-screen, 260K resolution (480x272 pixel widescreen format). The high-resolution screen displays brilliant colour depth to bring your videos and pictures to life vividly.
The player itself is designed as a lifestyle accessory for the style conscious generation – it comes in an elegant smoked-black colour body with a sturdy build and quality feel to it. In keeping with the Zebmate line-up of players, known for good sound quality, premium design and features, the Zebmate Cinema Portable 4.3 has 8GB capacity inbuilt as standard while a micro-SD card slot takes care of expandability. The TV-out function and inbuilt speakers lets you enjoy your digital media content at 720p definition on any large screen TV, when not on the move.
Built for long battery life, the player is rated to give you uninterrupted play of up to 13 hours for audio and 4 hours for video, long enough to enjoy that movie without a break.
The player has one of the widest media format support in its category with 720p definition support for M2V, AVI, MP4, MOV, QT, ASX, ASF, WMV, VIV, VIVO, RM, RMVB, Y4M, OGM, Mpeg, DAT, MOD, S3M, IT, MID, MIDI, VPF, NSV, NSA, MPC, MKV, APE, APL, MAC, FLV, 3GP, VOB, MPG formats. The audio formats supported include MP3, WAV, WMA, Ape, Flac, AAC, OGG, Ra, Midi, Amr, Rm and M4a. The bundled accessories include high-quality earphones, charger, neckband and carrying pouch. The earphones connect to the player via a standard 3.5mm stereo jack. The player interfaces to a computer through a USB2.0 cable, the most convenient for data transfer.
Apart from the groundbreaking audio and video features, Zebmate Cinema 4.3 also supports eight preset equalizer options to enhance the music experience according to individual preferences. Other run-of-the-mill features like FM radio, photo viewing, e-book, the player also comes with built-in games and a voice recorder. The touch-screen interface of the player is extremely user-friendly and intuitive, so that anyone from young to old can use it.
The Zebmate Cinema 4.3 Portable Media Player adds to Zebronics’ range of players in the Zebmate line-up known for excellent sound quality, aesthetics, appealing external design and rich features, at value-for-money prices. The line-up includes the recently launched Zebmate-75 music player that boasts of a humungous 75 hour battery life, and the Zebmate-10 and Zebmate-20 music players.
The Zebmate Cinema Portable Wide 4.3 Touchscreen Media Player is available from computer accessories and electronics stores at an amazing price of Rs 4,200.
Nexcopy intros SuperSpeed 3.0 USB duplicator systems
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, USA: Nexcopy Inc., a leading manufacturer in USB Duplicator solutions, announced the release of a 16 target SuperSpeed 3.0 USB duplicator for data loading to USB 3.0 devices.
The new 3.0 USB Duplicators from Nexcopy provide ultra fast data copying via the SuperSpeed USB specification. The new USB 3.0 Duplicator systems will reach maximum data transfer rates for the given device connected. The Nexcopy SSUSB160PC is a PC based system giving the user flexible configuration options as a network resource or dedicated binary bit for bit USB copier.
"We are very excited about this release," reports Greg Morris, President of Nexcopy. "We can pivot off increased bandwidth of USB 3.0 super speeds and offer a system with three times the performance of USB 2.0 USB Duplicators. With USB 3.0 hard drives and flash drives becoming mainstream in 2011 our SSUSB160PC solves the problem of newer storage peripherals receiving data loads from legacy USB technologies."
The new SSUSB160PC is a 16 target USB duplicator with an MSRP of $1,499. The initial SSUSB160PC release will include all the software features of the Standard Nexcopy Drive Manager Software. A Professional version of the Nexcopy Drive Manager software will include advanced functions which include USB CD-ROM emulation, USB partition and USB write protection capabilities. The Professional Software version is expected to ship before end of Q1 2011.
Morris continues: "With the new SuperSpeed USB Duplicator, Nexcopy took the opportunity to completely redesign the aggregator box. The new design is now 40 percent lighter than the previous USB Duplicator box and is top loading for an ergonomic experience by the operator. The SSUSB160PC is made of anodized aluminum with silver bezel and deep blue side accents giving it a contemporary look and finish. This new light weight design makes our USB Duplicators an ideal solution for portable data loading centers and excellent for in-field applications such as trade shows, conferences and live events."
The new 3.0 USB Duplicators from Nexcopy provide ultra fast data copying via the SuperSpeed USB specification. The new USB 3.0 Duplicator systems will reach maximum data transfer rates for the given device connected. The Nexcopy SSUSB160PC is a PC based system giving the user flexible configuration options as a network resource or dedicated binary bit for bit USB copier.
"We are very excited about this release," reports Greg Morris, President of Nexcopy. "We can pivot off increased bandwidth of USB 3.0 super speeds and offer a system with three times the performance of USB 2.0 USB Duplicators. With USB 3.0 hard drives and flash drives becoming mainstream in 2011 our SSUSB160PC solves the problem of newer storage peripherals receiving data loads from legacy USB technologies."
The new SSUSB160PC is a 16 target USB duplicator with an MSRP of $1,499. The initial SSUSB160PC release will include all the software features of the Standard Nexcopy Drive Manager Software. A Professional version of the Nexcopy Drive Manager software will include advanced functions which include USB CD-ROM emulation, USB partition and USB write protection capabilities. The Professional Software version is expected to ship before end of Q1 2011.
Morris continues: "With the new SuperSpeed USB Duplicator, Nexcopy took the opportunity to completely redesign the aggregator box. The new design is now 40 percent lighter than the previous USB Duplicator box and is top loading for an ergonomic experience by the operator. The SSUSB160PC is made of anodized aluminum with silver bezel and deep blue side accents giving it a contemporary look and finish. This new light weight design makes our USB Duplicators an ideal solution for portable data loading centers and excellent for in-field applications such as trade shows, conferences and live events."
Google expands lead in search advertising market in 2010
EL SEGUNDO, USA: Despite mounting competitive challenges from global and regional rivals, Google Inc. in 2010 expanded its leadership in the worldwide search advertising market, according to new IHS Screen Digest research.
Google is to release its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on January 20. Based on results for the first three quarters of the year, it is estimated that Google’s full-year search advertising revenue in 2010 amounted to $25.4 billion, up 20.2 percent from $21.1 billion in 2009. This gave the company a market share of 83 percent in 2010, up from 81 percent in 2009.
Google’s revenue growth was even stronger in display and mobile advertising. As a result, Google’s total revenues are expected to reach $28.9 billion in 2010, up 22.5 percent from 2009.
“With the arrival of Microsoft’s Bing and rising competitive obstacles in fast-growing regions including China, Russia and South Korea, 2010 seemed like it might be the year that Google would surrender some of its dominance in the global search advertising market,” said Vincent Létang, senior analyst and head of advertising research for IHS.
“However, even amid these challenges, Google managed to outgrow the overall market. What makes Google’s outperformance even more impressive is that it came during a year when the overall market revenue rose at an impressive double-digit percentage following a slowdown in 2009.”
The global search advertising market amounted to $30.4 billion in 2010, up 17 percent from $26.1 billion in 2009. This represents a strong acceleration after the slowdown of 2009, caused by the global advertising recession, when search growth declined by 11 percent in Europe and by 1.5 percent in the more mature US market.
Google’s three pillars of growth
Google’s market-beating revenue growth stands on three sturdy pillars: search, video/display and mobile, Létang observed. The search pillar represents Google’s cash cow, fueling current revenues. In comparison, the video and display pillar generate short-term revenue growth, while the nascent mobile pillar provides long-term growth insurance.
Display revenue increased by an estimated 61 percent during 2010, playing a major role in Google’s market share performance. This area was boosted by the success of Google’s subsidiaries YouTube and DoubleClick.
On the mobile ad side, Google benefitted from revenue generated by the increasing popularity of the Android operating system and the company’s acquisition of AdMob.
Google’s rivals
Google’s assets allowed it to brush off several challenges in 2010.
One major challenge was the launch of Microsoft Corp.’s heavily promoted Bing and the search engine’s alliance with Yahoo. However, Google so far has lost little or no ground, as Bing is mostly growing at the expense of Yahoo Search.
But, while Google remains the undisputed leader in most major markets, there are some notable exceptions. These include South Korea, Russia and, most importantly, China. In these markets, the dominant search engines belong to local operators, i.e., NHN, Yandex and Baidu. Owing to its dispute with the Chinese government in the first half of the year, Google has lost significant market share to Baidu in 2010, but finally decided to stay in the local search market that is already worth $1.6 billion and growing at an impressive 60 percent in 2010.
The ‘social’ threat
The only real challenge for Google actually may lurk in the rising tide of social media, rather than in competitive search engines.
“Microsoft and Facebook recently have deepened their own alliance in search, with Bing now providing sponsored links on Facebook searches and Bing to integrate social results powered by Facebook,” Létang said.
“The association of Microsoft with Facebook and its 500 million-plus users is, in our view, a much bigger threat to Google’s dominance of the Internet than the Yahoo-Microsoft deal or the company’s legal issues. Social networking is the only major Internet trend where Google has failed to make its mark by either acquiring or developing strong products, despite semi-failed short-lived attempts.”
Létang noted that Facebook’s global advertising revenues were estimated at between $1.2 billion for the first nine months of 2010, and the company has now firmly established itself as a cost-effective marketing destination for many major brands. The main concern, from a Google perspective, is that by providing similar scalability and accountability along with more focused targeting, social marketing may become a viable alternative to both search engine marketing and display.
Google is to release its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on January 20. Based on results for the first three quarters of the year, it is estimated that Google’s full-year search advertising revenue in 2010 amounted to $25.4 billion, up 20.2 percent from $21.1 billion in 2009. This gave the company a market share of 83 percent in 2010, up from 81 percent in 2009.
Google’s revenue growth was even stronger in display and mobile advertising. As a result, Google’s total revenues are expected to reach $28.9 billion in 2010, up 22.5 percent from 2009.
“With the arrival of Microsoft’s Bing and rising competitive obstacles in fast-growing regions including China, Russia and South Korea, 2010 seemed like it might be the year that Google would surrender some of its dominance in the global search advertising market,” said Vincent Létang, senior analyst and head of advertising research for IHS.
“However, even amid these challenges, Google managed to outgrow the overall market. What makes Google’s outperformance even more impressive is that it came during a year when the overall market revenue rose at an impressive double-digit percentage following a slowdown in 2009.”
The global search advertising market amounted to $30.4 billion in 2010, up 17 percent from $26.1 billion in 2009. This represents a strong acceleration after the slowdown of 2009, caused by the global advertising recession, when search growth declined by 11 percent in Europe and by 1.5 percent in the more mature US market.
Google’s three pillars of growth
Google’s market-beating revenue growth stands on three sturdy pillars: search, video/display and mobile, Létang observed. The search pillar represents Google’s cash cow, fueling current revenues. In comparison, the video and display pillar generate short-term revenue growth, while the nascent mobile pillar provides long-term growth insurance.
Display revenue increased by an estimated 61 percent during 2010, playing a major role in Google’s market share performance. This area was boosted by the success of Google’s subsidiaries YouTube and DoubleClick.
On the mobile ad side, Google benefitted from revenue generated by the increasing popularity of the Android operating system and the company’s acquisition of AdMob.
Google’s rivals
Google’s assets allowed it to brush off several challenges in 2010.
One major challenge was the launch of Microsoft Corp.’s heavily promoted Bing and the search engine’s alliance with Yahoo. However, Google so far has lost little or no ground, as Bing is mostly growing at the expense of Yahoo Search.
But, while Google remains the undisputed leader in most major markets, there are some notable exceptions. These include South Korea, Russia and, most importantly, China. In these markets, the dominant search engines belong to local operators, i.e., NHN, Yandex and Baidu. Owing to its dispute with the Chinese government in the first half of the year, Google has lost significant market share to Baidu in 2010, but finally decided to stay in the local search market that is already worth $1.6 billion and growing at an impressive 60 percent in 2010.
The ‘social’ threat
The only real challenge for Google actually may lurk in the rising tide of social media, rather than in competitive search engines.
“Microsoft and Facebook recently have deepened their own alliance in search, with Bing now providing sponsored links on Facebook searches and Bing to integrate social results powered by Facebook,” Létang said.
“The association of Microsoft with Facebook and its 500 million-plus users is, in our view, a much bigger threat to Google’s dominance of the Internet than the Yahoo-Microsoft deal or the company’s legal issues. Social networking is the only major Internet trend where Google has failed to make its mark by either acquiring or developing strong products, despite semi-failed short-lived attempts.”
Létang noted that Facebook’s global advertising revenues were estimated at between $1.2 billion for the first nine months of 2010, and the company has now firmly established itself as a cost-effective marketing destination for many major brands. The main concern, from a Google perspective, is that by providing similar scalability and accountability along with more focused targeting, social marketing may become a viable alternative to both search engine marketing and display.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Himax unveils world's first USB 3.0 pico-projector solution
TAINAN, TAIWAN: Himax Technologies Inc. announced the launch of the world's first USB 3.0 pico-projector solution. This unique solution combines SVGA (800x600) high-resolution LCOS microdisplays from Himax Display (subsidiary of Himax Technologies, Inc.) with a USB 3.0 chip (ET12U320A) from Evolution Technology Corp.(subsidiary of Faraday Technology Corp.).
The unit can be powered through devices such as desktops or laptops via their USB ports, without the need for an additional external power supply. The solution enables a smooth real-time video viewing experience on the go. Numerous laptop brands around the globe are already showing strong interest in adopting this pico-projector solution.
Due to the increasing popularity of video sharing sites such as YouTube and Youku, high speed data transfer rates are a feature that customers demand and fully expect. By incorporating USB 3.0, Himax LCOS solution is able to deliver video at a data transfer rate which is 10 times faster than the prevalent USB 2.0 platform and brings a more enriching video viewing experience to pico-projector users.
One of the bottlenecks of USB 2.0 was support of video resolution only up to VGA (640x480) resolution due to the limited data-transfer bandwidth. With USB 2.0, higher-resolution videos were simply impossible without resulting in delays and skipping during playback.
However, the USB 3.0 interface provides a higher bandwidth which facilitates higher-resolution videos playing in a seamless real time environment while still maintaining compatibility with USB enabled devices currently on the market. Himax Display offers a series of high-resolution LCOS microdisplays now with support up to SVGA resolution and plans to develop products up to Full HD (1920x1080) resolution in the future.
HC Tsai, VP of Himax Display, said: "Himax's world-leading LCOS USB 3.0 pico-projector solution demonstrates a breakthrough in the pico-projector market and brings two major benefits to customers: The first is an unprecedented real-time, seamless and high-quality video streaming projection. The second is the higher portability and enhanced convenience of the pico-projectors through utilizing the ubiquitous USB port and eliminating the need for external power supplies. Our LCOS USB 3.0 solutions can be adapted with laptops, desktops, monitors, digital photo frames, digital cameras, handsets and other consumer electronics devices. We believe this solution will become the leading mainstream choice for pico-projectors."
Himax is committed to providing leading-edge pico-projector solutions to the market. Himax has been in mass production of SVGA and XGA high-resolution microdisplays for LCOS pico-projector solutions with a USB interface. A number of customers have also started end-product development using Himax's WXGA higher-resolution microdisplays.
The unit can be powered through devices such as desktops or laptops via their USB ports, without the need for an additional external power supply. The solution enables a smooth real-time video viewing experience on the go. Numerous laptop brands around the globe are already showing strong interest in adopting this pico-projector solution.
Due to the increasing popularity of video sharing sites such as YouTube and Youku, high speed data transfer rates are a feature that customers demand and fully expect. By incorporating USB 3.0, Himax LCOS solution is able to deliver video at a data transfer rate which is 10 times faster than the prevalent USB 2.0 platform and brings a more enriching video viewing experience to pico-projector users.
One of the bottlenecks of USB 2.0 was support of video resolution only up to VGA (640x480) resolution due to the limited data-transfer bandwidth. With USB 2.0, higher-resolution videos were simply impossible without resulting in delays and skipping during playback.
However, the USB 3.0 interface provides a higher bandwidth which facilitates higher-resolution videos playing in a seamless real time environment while still maintaining compatibility with USB enabled devices currently on the market. Himax Display offers a series of high-resolution LCOS microdisplays now with support up to SVGA resolution and plans to develop products up to Full HD (1920x1080) resolution in the future.
HC Tsai, VP of Himax Display, said: "Himax's world-leading LCOS USB 3.0 pico-projector solution demonstrates a breakthrough in the pico-projector market and brings two major benefits to customers: The first is an unprecedented real-time, seamless and high-quality video streaming projection. The second is the higher portability and enhanced convenience of the pico-projectors through utilizing the ubiquitous USB port and eliminating the need for external power supplies. Our LCOS USB 3.0 solutions can be adapted with laptops, desktops, monitors, digital photo frames, digital cameras, handsets and other consumer electronics devices. We believe this solution will become the leading mainstream choice for pico-projectors."
Himax is committed to providing leading-edge pico-projector solutions to the market. Himax has been in mass production of SVGA and XGA high-resolution microdisplays for LCOS pico-projector solutions with a USB interface. A number of customers have also started end-product development using Himax's WXGA higher-resolution microdisplays.
RTD signal conditioners with USB configuration launch low-cost temperature transmitter series
WIXOM, USA: The initial offering in Acromag's new ST130 series of low-cost, temperature transmitters is an ASIC-driven RTD signal conditioner, Model ST131.
Units combine the simplicity of a digital USB setup and calibration interface with the inherent performance advantages of analog signal conditioning. Selling for just $89 with free Windows configuration software, this DIN Form B head-mount instrument will convert the input signal from any 100 ohm Platinum RTD sensor to a highly accurate, loop-powered 4-20mA output. A ruggedized design features -40 to 80 degrees C operation, electrical noise immunity, and surge protection. CE and UL/cUL Class 1 Division 2 Zone 2 approvals are pending.
"Our new ST131 RTD transmitter employs the best of analog and digital technologies at a very attractive price," states Don Lupo, Acromag's sales and marketing director. By maintaining a fully analog signal path (i.e. no digitization), the transmitter delivers optimal accuracy, noise resistance and response speed. Additionally, the unit supports digital calibration to eliminate zero/span pots, DIP switches, and pushbuttons for easy programming of ranges, over/under scale thresholds, and fail-safe settings.
Despite their tiny size and economical price tag, ST131 transmitters are full-featured. These transmitters provide sensor excitation and perform advanced signal linearization, lead-wire compensation, and sensor fault detection functions. Units can also support any 100 ohm Pt RTD sensor (alpha = 375-393) or 0-900 ohm input.
Designed for harsh environments, the unit's ASIC exhibits very low drift across wide ambient temperatures and is highly resistant to RFI, EMI, ESD, and EFT effects. Simultaneous differential sampling and auto-zero techniques yield further accuracy improvements. Another benefit, the output is non-polarized and reverse polarity protected. Factory calibration is also available.
A variety of options add greater flexibility. Programmable over/under range and fault/alarm levels enable identification of a "runaway" process or broken sensor. Selectable up/downscale failsafe modes ensure a safe, predictable shutdown with a NAMUR-compliant fault response.
For easy installation, Acromag sells a variety of mounting and wiring accessories. A USB-to-USB isolator protects equipment from ground loops, electrical noise, and surges during configuration. For convenience, a kit supplies the software, isolator, and USB interface cables.
Numerous connection head enclosures are also available through Acromag. Select from stainless steel, aluminum, and cast iron housings with explosion-proof or general-purpose ratings. A DIN rail adapter adds more mounting options.
Units combine the simplicity of a digital USB setup and calibration interface with the inherent performance advantages of analog signal conditioning. Selling for just $89 with free Windows configuration software, this DIN Form B head-mount instrument will convert the input signal from any 100 ohm Platinum RTD sensor to a highly accurate, loop-powered 4-20mA output. A ruggedized design features -40 to 80 degrees C operation, electrical noise immunity, and surge protection. CE and UL/cUL Class 1 Division 2 Zone 2 approvals are pending.
"Our new ST131 RTD transmitter employs the best of analog and digital technologies at a very attractive price," states Don Lupo, Acromag's sales and marketing director. By maintaining a fully analog signal path (i.e. no digitization), the transmitter delivers optimal accuracy, noise resistance and response speed. Additionally, the unit supports digital calibration to eliminate zero/span pots, DIP switches, and pushbuttons for easy programming of ranges, over/under scale thresholds, and fail-safe settings.
Despite their tiny size and economical price tag, ST131 transmitters are full-featured. These transmitters provide sensor excitation and perform advanced signal linearization, lead-wire compensation, and sensor fault detection functions. Units can also support any 100 ohm Pt RTD sensor (alpha = 375-393) or 0-900 ohm input.
Designed for harsh environments, the unit's ASIC exhibits very low drift across wide ambient temperatures and is highly resistant to RFI, EMI, ESD, and EFT effects. Simultaneous differential sampling and auto-zero techniques yield further accuracy improvements. Another benefit, the output is non-polarized and reverse polarity protected. Factory calibration is also available.
A variety of options add greater flexibility. Programmable over/under range and fault/alarm levels enable identification of a "runaway" process or broken sensor. Selectable up/downscale failsafe modes ensure a safe, predictable shutdown with a NAMUR-compliant fault response.
For easy installation, Acromag sells a variety of mounting and wiring accessories. A USB-to-USB isolator protects equipment from ground loops, electrical noise, and surges during configuration. For convenience, a kit supplies the software, isolator, and USB interface cables.
Numerous connection head enclosures are also available through Acromag. Select from stainless steel, aluminum, and cast iron housings with explosion-proof or general-purpose ratings. A DIN rail adapter adds more mounting options.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
DisplayLink, Atrust to take USB virtual graphics zero clients to emerging market education systems
PALO ALTO, USA: DisplayLink Corp. announced plans with Atrust Computer, Corp., a thin client solutions company based in Taiwan, to offer DisplayLink USB virtual graphics-enabled zero client systems for schools in global emerging markets.
This announcement comes on the heels of recent news from India and China, countries that are committed to education and are seeking affordable solutions for the growing population.
Supporting both the Microsoft Windows MultiPoint Server and Linux operating systems (OS), the m200/m202 zero clients are designed to allow a single off-the-shelf PC or notebook to run up to ten individual computing sessions, with the ease of USB connectivity, and at a fraction of the cost of today’s traditional thin client set ups.
“With DisplayLink USB virtual graphics, we can clearly differentiate our zero client solution in the global emerging markets and provide a rich computing experience to those who otherwise may not have access,” said HT Cho, president of Atrust corporation. “Not only are the systems extremely affordable, but they are intuitive to configure, use and maintain, and provide the same quality computing experience as individual workstations.”
By using DisplayLink’s USB virtual graphics, the zero client solution eliminates the need for complicated and expensive video card installation, and connects to the server via a single USB cable. In turn, systems consume significantly less power, require less IT support, and ultimately, provide a lower per seat cost of ownership.
“Our partnership with Atrust means we can expand the global market for simple, affordable zero client systems, enabling DisplayLink to continue to gain market share in this arena,” said Dennis Crespo, executive vice president of marketing and business development at DisplayLink. “More importantly, the new products enable schools to rapidly expand the number of client terminals, making affordable computing truly a reality.”
Atrust’s new zero client solution is available now.
This announcement comes on the heels of recent news from India and China, countries that are committed to education and are seeking affordable solutions for the growing population.
Supporting both the Microsoft Windows MultiPoint Server and Linux operating systems (OS), the m200/m202 zero clients are designed to allow a single off-the-shelf PC or notebook to run up to ten individual computing sessions, with the ease of USB connectivity, and at a fraction of the cost of today’s traditional thin client set ups.
“With DisplayLink USB virtual graphics, we can clearly differentiate our zero client solution in the global emerging markets and provide a rich computing experience to those who otherwise may not have access,” said HT Cho, president of Atrust corporation. “Not only are the systems extremely affordable, but they are intuitive to configure, use and maintain, and provide the same quality computing experience as individual workstations.”
By using DisplayLink’s USB virtual graphics, the zero client solution eliminates the need for complicated and expensive video card installation, and connects to the server via a single USB cable. In turn, systems consume significantly less power, require less IT support, and ultimately, provide a lower per seat cost of ownership.
“Our partnership with Atrust means we can expand the global market for simple, affordable zero client systems, enabling DisplayLink to continue to gain market share in this arena,” said Dennis Crespo, executive vice president of marketing and business development at DisplayLink. “More importantly, the new products enable schools to rapidly expand the number of client terminals, making affordable computing truly a reality.”
Atrust’s new zero client solution is available now.
Consumer demand for “anywhere, anytime” viewing driving robust video encoder and transcoder market growth
SCOTTSDALE, USA: Customers’ desire for more varied content and the ability to view video programming on PCs, tablets and cellphones is generating robust market growth in multiformat video transcoders worldwide. Total pay TV encoder and transcoder revenues worldwide will increase 10.4 percent annually from $779 million in 2010 to $1,408 million in 2016.
Growth in fixed-contribution encoders and broadcast encoders will be strongest in developing markets, where new video services are being introduced and additional channels are being added to many existing platforms. Growth in multiformat transcoders is strongest in North America and Western Europe where more content is becoming available for consumption anytime, anywhere.
“North American operators’ TV Everywhere offerings and European operators’ N-screen offerings are resulting in a proliferation of video resolutions, formats and bitrates,” says ABI Research practice director Jason Blackwell. “As content owners become more comfortable with the value of these offerings, new content will be made available.”
Adaptive bitrate streaming is an important component of video delivery over unmanaged networks. “Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple all have proprietary adaptive bitrate protocols based on H.264 video,” notes senior analyst Sam Rosen. Many in the industry expect HTML5 to bring them together into a unified architecture that works on all devices.”
Growth in fixed-contribution encoders and broadcast encoders will be strongest in developing markets, where new video services are being introduced and additional channels are being added to many existing platforms. Growth in multiformat transcoders is strongest in North America and Western Europe where more content is becoming available for consumption anytime, anywhere.
“North American operators’ TV Everywhere offerings and European operators’ N-screen offerings are resulting in a proliferation of video resolutions, formats and bitrates,” says ABI Research practice director Jason Blackwell. “As content owners become more comfortable with the value of these offerings, new content will be made available.”
Adaptive bitrate streaming is an important component of video delivery over unmanaged networks. “Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple all have proprietary adaptive bitrate protocols based on H.264 video,” notes senior analyst Sam Rosen. Many in the industry expect HTML5 to bring them together into a unified architecture that works on all devices.”
CCTV, 3rd Space 'open for business' to deliver mobile advertising across China
CHINA: The Mobile Division of Chinese Central Television (CCTV), with its exclusive mobile advertising partner 3rd Space, announced that it is ‘open for business’ for brands wishing to advertise on its mobile WAP portal and iPhone and Android apps.
Global brand advertisers and digital content owners now have access to China’s 850 million mobile users through the CCTV mobile advertising platform that supports the full range of advertising inventory. This includes traditional display banner and pre-, mid- and post- roll video ads, together with a range of innovative solutions designed to enable brands to create and maintain their own dedicated eco-systems within the CCTV portal.
CCTV, the State broadcaster and most valued and recognisable brand in China, is the principal source for broadcast media content such as news and sport across TV, the Internet and mobile. CCTV already attracts over 10 million unique visitors per day to its free-to-view mobile portal and has passed 3 million downloads of its iPhone app; a user-base that is forecast to grow significantly driven by explosive demand from the growing affluent-generation of smartphone consumers in China. China’s Ministry of Information has forecast that over 150 million smartphones will be sold in China during 2011 alone.
The CCTV mobile WAP portal, and associated mobile apps, is the primary destination for mobile users looking for news, business updates, weather, TV and sport in China. CCTV is undertaking a major upgrade of its mobile WAP portal and apps to create a powerful mobile Internet presence, designed to integrate with the portal offerings of the three Chinese Mobile Network operators.
By deploying its state-of-the-art mobile advertising platform across the CCTV network, 3rd Space has created one of the largest mobile advertising platforms in China to deliver innovative mobile marketing solutions to the largest smartphone community in the world.
Thirty eight percent of Chinese mobile subscribers already use their phones to access the Internet compared to 27 percent of American mobile subscribers, according to the Nielson Company.
Last year, Juniper Research predicted that China and the Far East will remain the largest regional market for mobile ad spend with revenues reaching more than $2.1 billion by 2012.
“With over 850 million mobile phone users in China, our agreement with CCTV positions 3rd Space as a leading company in the mobile advertising industry in China. We are working with a number of global brands to create innovative and engaging customer acquisition and retention strategies in China’s growing digital economy,” says Warwick Hill, CEO at 3rd Space.
Global brand advertisers and digital content owners now have access to China’s 850 million mobile users through the CCTV mobile advertising platform that supports the full range of advertising inventory. This includes traditional display banner and pre-, mid- and post- roll video ads, together with a range of innovative solutions designed to enable brands to create and maintain their own dedicated eco-systems within the CCTV portal.
CCTV, the State broadcaster and most valued and recognisable brand in China, is the principal source for broadcast media content such as news and sport across TV, the Internet and mobile. CCTV already attracts over 10 million unique visitors per day to its free-to-view mobile portal and has passed 3 million downloads of its iPhone app; a user-base that is forecast to grow significantly driven by explosive demand from the growing affluent-generation of smartphone consumers in China. China’s Ministry of Information has forecast that over 150 million smartphones will be sold in China during 2011 alone.
The CCTV mobile WAP portal, and associated mobile apps, is the primary destination for mobile users looking for news, business updates, weather, TV and sport in China. CCTV is undertaking a major upgrade of its mobile WAP portal and apps to create a powerful mobile Internet presence, designed to integrate with the portal offerings of the three Chinese Mobile Network operators.
By deploying its state-of-the-art mobile advertising platform across the CCTV network, 3rd Space has created one of the largest mobile advertising platforms in China to deliver innovative mobile marketing solutions to the largest smartphone community in the world.
Thirty eight percent of Chinese mobile subscribers already use their phones to access the Internet compared to 27 percent of American mobile subscribers, according to the Nielson Company.
Last year, Juniper Research predicted that China and the Far East will remain the largest regional market for mobile ad spend with revenues reaching more than $2.1 billion by 2012.
“With over 850 million mobile phone users in China, our agreement with CCTV positions 3rd Space as a leading company in the mobile advertising industry in China. We are working with a number of global brands to create innovative and engaging customer acquisition and retention strategies in China’s growing digital economy,” says Warwick Hill, CEO at 3rd Space.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Leading French companies in information systems and geospatial technology sector to visit Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai from Jan. 17-20 2011
NEW DELHI, INDIA: The French Trade Commission in India is organizing seminars on information systems and geospatial technologies on 17 January in Bengaluru, 18-19 January in Hyderabad and 20 January in Mumbai, bringing together a delegation of six leading French companies in the field of geospatial technologies.
These companies will share their expertise and evaluate business opportunities in the Indian information & geospatial technology sector.
The seminar opens in Bengaluru with a presentation on Indian information systems and geospatial technology sector by the Groupe SCE India, a renowned French company in geospatial technology established in India for over five years.
Specialists in employing spatial tools in the fields of urban planning, land record information systems, disaster management, water and environment, they have been working with planning authorities and urban local bodies in India and internationally.
The companies will present their latest innovations and state of the art technologies in their respective fields. This presence includes COMPUTA MAPS, GEO CONCEPT, GROUPE FIT, IMAO, MAGELLIUM and MESOTECH INGENIERIE specializing in mapping technologies, geodata products, digital maps, acquiring and processing geographic data, robotics and GIS software.
These companies are on their way to open a new dimension in the sphere of providing high quality engineering systems in information systems and geospatial technology. The delegation will participate in the interactive sessions followed by B2B meetings with potential Indian partners in the field of information systems and geospatial technology.
The delegation will also participate in Geospatial World Forum in Hyderabad on 18-19 January 2011. The last leg of this mission will take place in Mumbai on 20 January with interactive sessions between Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Bombay First, who are responsible for the infrastructure development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
A presentation on Dharavi redevelopment by Mukesh Mehta Consultants, Asia’s largest slum pocket will help the French delegation comprehend the growing and pressing needs of the city of Mumbai in urban development. Potential Indian companies from Mumbai will have one to one meetings with them in order to exchange each other’s expertise. A visit to Rolta, a leader in GIS solutions will be conducted in their Mumbai premises as well.
These companies will share their expertise and evaluate business opportunities in the Indian information & geospatial technology sector.
The seminar opens in Bengaluru with a presentation on Indian information systems and geospatial technology sector by the Groupe SCE India, a renowned French company in geospatial technology established in India for over five years.
Specialists in employing spatial tools in the fields of urban planning, land record information systems, disaster management, water and environment, they have been working with planning authorities and urban local bodies in India and internationally.
The companies will present their latest innovations and state of the art technologies in their respective fields. This presence includes COMPUTA MAPS, GEO CONCEPT, GROUPE FIT, IMAO, MAGELLIUM and MESOTECH INGENIERIE specializing in mapping technologies, geodata products, digital maps, acquiring and processing geographic data, robotics and GIS software.
These companies are on their way to open a new dimension in the sphere of providing high quality engineering systems in information systems and geospatial technology. The delegation will participate in the interactive sessions followed by B2B meetings with potential Indian partners in the field of information systems and geospatial technology.
The delegation will also participate in Geospatial World Forum in Hyderabad on 18-19 January 2011. The last leg of this mission will take place in Mumbai on 20 January with interactive sessions between Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Bombay First, who are responsible for the infrastructure development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
A presentation on Dharavi redevelopment by Mukesh Mehta Consultants, Asia’s largest slum pocket will help the French delegation comprehend the growing and pressing needs of the city of Mumbai in urban development. Potential Indian companies from Mumbai will have one to one meetings with them in order to exchange each other’s expertise. A visit to Rolta, a leader in GIS solutions will be conducted in their Mumbai premises as well.
Tablets lead rise of ‘lite’ OS devices to 150 million global shipments
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Global shipments of portable Internet devices based on ‘lite’ operating systems (OSs), which include tablet computers such as the iPad, will hit 150 million per year in 2015 according to Ovum.
A new forecast predicts that 35 percent of global shipments in 2015 will be in the Asia-Pacific region, a staggering growth from 2.8 million in 2010 to 52 million in 2015.
Asia-Pacific markets are predicted to comprise 35 percent of the global total for tablets and other lite OS devices by 2015, up from 20 percent in 2010.
The portable devices tracked in Ovum’s forecast are those that use ‘lite’ OSs such as Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and RIM’s BlackBerry Tablet OS and include tablet devices such as the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and the BlackBerry PlayBook as well as clamshell and convertible form factors.
Tony Cripps, Ovum principal analyst, commented: “This huge growth in shipments will be dominated by tablet-style technologies such as the iPad and will mainly be driven by consumers buying devices to complement their smartphones. This will either be as a ‘third device’ where there is a high-penetration PCs or the primary computing device where there is low-penetration.
“Nonetheless, the greater ease of use of smartphones for the majority of consumers means that shipments of the tablet and other ‘lite’ OS devices will not dramatically erode the growing demand for smartphones. This is especially pertinent given their obvious similarity in hardware and software technology.”
According to Ovum’s predictions, North America (23 percent of global shipments) and Western Europe (19 percent) will experience the greatest penetration of tablet and other mobile internet devices by 2015.
However, the largest regional slice of shipments by the end of the period - due to the size of the potential addressable markets and the relatively low penetration of PCs (desktop and portable) - will be the Asia Pacific region, which will account for 35 per cent of all such device shipments in 2015.
Ovum’s figures also suggest that by the end of the forecast period, Google’s operating systems, primarily Android but also likely to include Chrome OS, will dominate the market, pushing current frontrunner Apple’s iOS into second place.
Cripps explained: “We believe that Apple constituted 90 percent of the market in 2010. However, by 2015, we expect this market share to drop to 35 percent and Google’s market share to rise to 36 percent. Other software platforms, such as RIM’s Blackberry Tablet OS and HP’s webOS, will find some success but between them all they will only account for 29 percent of the market.
“This is because the dominant software platforms, Apple and Google, will attract the most attention from the cream of the developers. As a result they will have the best, most talked about applications and content and, when all is said and done, this is what people will consider when making a purchasing decision.”
A new forecast predicts that 35 percent of global shipments in 2015 will be in the Asia-Pacific region, a staggering growth from 2.8 million in 2010 to 52 million in 2015.
Asia-Pacific markets are predicted to comprise 35 percent of the global total for tablets and other lite OS devices by 2015, up from 20 percent in 2010.
The portable devices tracked in Ovum’s forecast are those that use ‘lite’ OSs such as Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and RIM’s BlackBerry Tablet OS and include tablet devices such as the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and the BlackBerry PlayBook as well as clamshell and convertible form factors.
Tony Cripps, Ovum principal analyst, commented: “This huge growth in shipments will be dominated by tablet-style technologies such as the iPad and will mainly be driven by consumers buying devices to complement their smartphones. This will either be as a ‘third device’ where there is a high-penetration PCs or the primary computing device where there is low-penetration.
“Nonetheless, the greater ease of use of smartphones for the majority of consumers means that shipments of the tablet and other ‘lite’ OS devices will not dramatically erode the growing demand for smartphones. This is especially pertinent given their obvious similarity in hardware and software technology.”
According to Ovum’s predictions, North America (23 percent of global shipments) and Western Europe (19 percent) will experience the greatest penetration of tablet and other mobile internet devices by 2015.
However, the largest regional slice of shipments by the end of the period - due to the size of the potential addressable markets and the relatively low penetration of PCs (desktop and portable) - will be the Asia Pacific region, which will account for 35 per cent of all such device shipments in 2015.
Ovum’s figures also suggest that by the end of the forecast period, Google’s operating systems, primarily Android but also likely to include Chrome OS, will dominate the market, pushing current frontrunner Apple’s iOS into second place.
Cripps explained: “We believe that Apple constituted 90 percent of the market in 2010. However, by 2015, we expect this market share to drop to 35 percent and Google’s market share to rise to 36 percent. Other software platforms, such as RIM’s Blackberry Tablet OS and HP’s webOS, will find some success but between them all they will only account for 29 percent of the market.
“This is because the dominant software platforms, Apple and Google, will attract the most attention from the cream of the developers. As a result they will have the best, most talked about applications and content and, when all is said and done, this is what people will consider when making a purchasing decision.”
Friday, January 14, 2011
Gumstix launches battery-powered GPS open-hardware platform for Linux
SAN JOSE, USA: Gumstix Inc. announced the Gallop43 expansion board, the first rechargeable GPS-enabled expansion board for their signature Overo Computer-on-Module (COM) series.
Featuring the miniature u-blox GPS NEO-5G receiver module, the Gallop43 offers ultra-fast signal acquisition for an integrated location-sensitive design solution. When combined with a two-cell NiMH rechargeable battery pack and a 4.3-inch LCD-ready touch-screen, the Gallop43 expansion board makes portability viable for handheld products powered by any Gumstix Overo COM.
"The Gallop43 expansion board is Gumstix' latest way of saying 'take Linux on the road' to our software and electronic design communities," said Dr. W. Gordon Kruberg, president and CEO of Gumstix. "The combined rechargeable battery and GPS features have been high on our users' wish list, specifically to build the special-purpose hardware meeting their own needs for location based services."
The Gallop43 board adds to the wide range of expansion options already available for the Gumstix Overo COMs, each of which is powered by an OMAP35x applications processor from Texas Instruments (TI).
The on-board 3-axis accelerometer, USB OTG, 3.5-mm stereo headset jack and the 40-pin header with signals for 1-Wire, PWM, I2C, SPI, A/D and processor control allow design engineers to make feature-rich products using this off-the-shelf expansion board or incorporate its design elements into a custom designed expansion board using the openly available schematic.
The Gallop43 expansion board costs $109 USD in orders of 1,000 units or more. The Gallop43 is also available in single units and small quantities.
Featuring the miniature u-blox GPS NEO-5G receiver module, the Gallop43 offers ultra-fast signal acquisition for an integrated location-sensitive design solution. When combined with a two-cell NiMH rechargeable battery pack and a 4.3-inch LCD-ready touch-screen, the Gallop43 expansion board makes portability viable for handheld products powered by any Gumstix Overo COM.
"The Gallop43 expansion board is Gumstix' latest way of saying 'take Linux on the road' to our software and electronic design communities," said Dr. W. Gordon Kruberg, president and CEO of Gumstix. "The combined rechargeable battery and GPS features have been high on our users' wish list, specifically to build the special-purpose hardware meeting their own needs for location based services."
The Gallop43 board adds to the wide range of expansion options already available for the Gumstix Overo COMs, each of which is powered by an OMAP35x applications processor from Texas Instruments (TI).
The on-board 3-axis accelerometer, USB OTG, 3.5-mm stereo headset jack and the 40-pin header with signals for 1-Wire, PWM, I2C, SPI, A/D and processor control allow design engineers to make feature-rich products using this off-the-shelf expansion board or incorporate its design elements into a custom designed expansion board using the openly available schematic.
The Gallop43 expansion board costs $109 USD in orders of 1,000 units or more. The Gallop43 is also available in single units and small quantities.
TRW launches new turn signal cancellation mechanism on steering column control modules for Ford
LIVONIA, USA: TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., a global leader in automotive safety, has launched its next generation Steering Column Control Modules (SCCM) on Ford Motor Company's Super Duty, F-Series, Edge, Explorer and the Lincoln MKX.
The SCCM incorporates high level electronic integration which features functions such as turn signal, headlamp switch inputs, high-low beam selector, front and rear wipe wash, pedal adjust switch, tilt-telescoping steering column switch and motor drivers, hazard warning, steering wheel switch signal processing, steering angle sensing, and the unique feature of electronic turn signal cancel.
TRW's electronic turn signal cancellation features software that can be tuned to any driving situation or customer preference and eliminates customer complaints of failure to cancel. The software based system replaces mechanical mechanisms resulting in lower cost, higher reliability, improved feel, and silent operation. When fully launched, volumes are expected to be approximately 1 million units annually.
In parallel to these launch cycles, TRW is currently developing the next successive generation of SCCM products for Ford's upcoming global vehicle line. The features and benefits of these products will be available to all vehicle manufacturers.
"These programs clearly distinguish TRW as a world leader in the Steering Column Control Module business," says Victor Peltola, sales director for TRW North America Body Control Systems. "We continue to explore ways to add further features and functions to the steering column control modules that help enhance the safety and convenience of onboard systems."
The SCCM incorporates high level electronic integration which features functions such as turn signal, headlamp switch inputs, high-low beam selector, front and rear wipe wash, pedal adjust switch, tilt-telescoping steering column switch and motor drivers, hazard warning, steering wheel switch signal processing, steering angle sensing, and the unique feature of electronic turn signal cancel.
TRW's electronic turn signal cancellation features software that can be tuned to any driving situation or customer preference and eliminates customer complaints of failure to cancel. The software based system replaces mechanical mechanisms resulting in lower cost, higher reliability, improved feel, and silent operation. When fully launched, volumes are expected to be approximately 1 million units annually.
In parallel to these launch cycles, TRW is currently developing the next successive generation of SCCM products for Ford's upcoming global vehicle line. The features and benefits of these products will be available to all vehicle manufacturers.
"These programs clearly distinguish TRW as a world leader in the Steering Column Control Module business," says Victor Peltola, sales director for TRW North America Body Control Systems. "We continue to explore ways to add further features and functions to the steering column control modules that help enhance the safety and convenience of onboard systems."
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tablet gold rush strains display industry in 2011
EL SEGUNDO, USA: The technology industry’s rush to offer tablets that compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad will cause disruptions in the global display industry this year, generating both shortages and excess inventories, as display makers attempt to satisfy booming demand from their tablet customers, according to new IHS iSuppli research.
Global tablet shipments are expected to more than triple in 2011, rising to 57.6 million units, up from 17.1 million in 2010. Although Apple will retain market dominance with 70.4 percent share of tablet shipments next year, the company will face mounting competition from new rivals producing consumption tablets, including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Co., Research in Motion Ltd., Dell Inc. and dozens of other companies.
But for now, Apple is expected to dominate tablet sales for the next two years, as shown in the figure.
Source: IHS, iSuppli, USA.
“IHS believes that as these iPad competitors turn their focus to tablets, the demand for netbook and notebook displays will soften,” said Joe Abelson, vice president of displays at IHS. “And because the tablet market is so new and volumes are unpredictable, display suppliers will be forced to gamble production capacity on the unrealistically high projections of their tablet customers. With different panel sizes and specs in play, the industry should expect to see significant inventory shortages and excesses to occur at the SKU level throughout 2011, potentially accompanied by heavy discounting or scrapping of unused displays.”
Such disruption should not come as a surprise given the revolutionary impact of the iPad on the global technology market. Not since the dawn of television in the 1950s has another electronic device so effortlessly captured the hearts, minds and discretionary spending of so many consumers.
The tablet form factor once was dismissed by pundits as passing fancy and earlier models failed to garner interest among consumers. But the iPad changed everything. And now the device, along with other tablets, are lining up as standard equipment for virtually any application, from education and healthcare, to government and the military, to retail sales and, of course, the living room.
Other display trends to watch in 2011
While the tablet face-off will dominate much attention in 2011, IHS iSuppli forecasts indicate this year also will bring a breakthrough in the manufacturing of active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays.
Massive investments in new materials, processes and production capacity will enable Samsung—currently the only major supplier of AMOLEDs—as well as LG and perhaps one or two other display companies to drive AMOLED penetration deeper into mobile devices. This may also be the year when premium AMOLED televisions move beyond trade shows and onto retail shelves.
Another notable trend in 2011 will be the emergence of 3-D capability as a standard feature for higher-end televisions. In 2010, 3-D was the buzz for every television manufacturer and media outlet. But all the hype couldn’t overcome the fact that first-generation 3-D TVs were unpleasant to watch—assuming viewers could find any 3-D content to watch.
In 2011, 3-D capability will be added to the checklist for many high-end models, as TV brands have made it their mission to proliferate this technology to more consumers, even at the cost of quality of presentation.
While this may lead to some near-term success, these brands may be risking long-term customer loyalty, especially if early adopters learn in a year or two that their investment is obsolete because vastly improved technology has been released, such as glasses-free 3-D or projected 3-D.
Global tablet shipments are expected to more than triple in 2011, rising to 57.6 million units, up from 17.1 million in 2010. Although Apple will retain market dominance with 70.4 percent share of tablet shipments next year, the company will face mounting competition from new rivals producing consumption tablets, including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Co., Research in Motion Ltd., Dell Inc. and dozens of other companies.
But for now, Apple is expected to dominate tablet sales for the next two years, as shown in the figure.
Source: IHS, iSuppli, USA.“IHS believes that as these iPad competitors turn their focus to tablets, the demand for netbook and notebook displays will soften,” said Joe Abelson, vice president of displays at IHS. “And because the tablet market is so new and volumes are unpredictable, display suppliers will be forced to gamble production capacity on the unrealistically high projections of their tablet customers. With different panel sizes and specs in play, the industry should expect to see significant inventory shortages and excesses to occur at the SKU level throughout 2011, potentially accompanied by heavy discounting or scrapping of unused displays.”
Such disruption should not come as a surprise given the revolutionary impact of the iPad on the global technology market. Not since the dawn of television in the 1950s has another electronic device so effortlessly captured the hearts, minds and discretionary spending of so many consumers.
The tablet form factor once was dismissed by pundits as passing fancy and earlier models failed to garner interest among consumers. But the iPad changed everything. And now the device, along with other tablets, are lining up as standard equipment for virtually any application, from education and healthcare, to government and the military, to retail sales and, of course, the living room.
Other display trends to watch in 2011
While the tablet face-off will dominate much attention in 2011, IHS iSuppli forecasts indicate this year also will bring a breakthrough in the manufacturing of active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays.
Massive investments in new materials, processes and production capacity will enable Samsung—currently the only major supplier of AMOLEDs—as well as LG and perhaps one or two other display companies to drive AMOLED penetration deeper into mobile devices. This may also be the year when premium AMOLED televisions move beyond trade shows and onto retail shelves.
Another notable trend in 2011 will be the emergence of 3-D capability as a standard feature for higher-end televisions. In 2010, 3-D was the buzz for every television manufacturer and media outlet. But all the hype couldn’t overcome the fact that first-generation 3-D TVs were unpleasant to watch—assuming viewers could find any 3-D content to watch.
In 2011, 3-D capability will be added to the checklist for many high-end models, as TV brands have made it their mission to proliferate this technology to more consumers, even at the cost of quality of presentation.
While this may lead to some near-term success, these brands may be risking long-term customer loyalty, especially if early adopters learn in a year or two that their investment is obsolete because vastly improved technology has been released, such as glasses-free 3-D or projected 3-D.
Black Box releases next version of iCOMPEL digital signage platform
PITTSBURGH, USA: Black Box Corp. has announced the release of new software that enhances the management and creative control of digital signage content displayed through the award-winning iCOMPEL platform.
Version 8.0.2, now available for download at blackbox.com, boasts new features that simplify and streamline the process of content design for high-impact, attention-getting digital signage.
“iCOMPEL already had one of the most intuitive content-management interfaces anywhere,” said Keith Kazmer, Digital Signage Product Manager. “Now, we’ve made it better, so it’s even easier to use.”
Digital signage administrators, when adding content into the iCOMPEL playlists and content library, can now drag and drop multiple content files from their desktop directly into the playlists and folders of the iCOMPEL software. Image thumbnails are shown within the playlist and file manager pages.
Also with this update, the iCOMPEL HTML player now supports the latest WebKit open source layout technology used by the Apple Safari and Google Chrome browsers while adding HTML5 and SVG graphics support to the platform.
“With these HTML player improvements, content designers can achieve sophisticated creative effects for their digital signage content,” Kazmer said. “Professional effects can be achieved without the use of expensive professional Flash programmers or HTML and CSS developers. For instance, the background of an HTML page can be set up as a transparent image, and tables within a digital screen can have a transparent border and background—which can make for a really impressive presentation of menu boards, airport information boards, and event schedules.”
The upgrade brings other improvements to the platform, including:
• The ability to quickly back up and restore all media and settings on the iCOMPEL using an external USB disk.
• No restrictions on file naming when using the iCOMPEL Web user interface.
• An improved screen status page that shows connection state, the serial number of the digital display, and the CPU and disk temperature history.
• XML Web services allowing HTML and Flash to access features on the iCOMPEL.
• More customizable “ad-hoc” content-control capabilities, which enable iCOMPEL users located at a remote screen to tailor messaging to a local audience.
• For improved security, a Web interface that uses secure digest authentication instead of the weaker basic authentication.
• A more advanced maintenance menu.
The iCOMPEL family of browser-based, networked players gives businesses and organizations of any size an affordable solution for improving internal and external communications through relevant, dynamic digital signage. With it, users can stream recorded or live video, Flash animation, RSS news and stock ticker feeds, and other Web media.
As an integrated hardware/software solution, iCOMPEL comes preloaded with design tools for assembling and distributing HD-quality multimedia content to digital signs. It includes tools for playing stored and live media in multiple screen zones, and menus for scheduling content distribution by time and location. There are no additional software fees for current iCOMPEL owners.
Version 8.0.2, now available for download at blackbox.com, boasts new features that simplify and streamline the process of content design for high-impact, attention-getting digital signage.
“iCOMPEL already had one of the most intuitive content-management interfaces anywhere,” said Keith Kazmer, Digital Signage Product Manager. “Now, we’ve made it better, so it’s even easier to use.”
Digital signage administrators, when adding content into the iCOMPEL playlists and content library, can now drag and drop multiple content files from their desktop directly into the playlists and folders of the iCOMPEL software. Image thumbnails are shown within the playlist and file manager pages.
Also with this update, the iCOMPEL HTML player now supports the latest WebKit open source layout technology used by the Apple Safari and Google Chrome browsers while adding HTML5 and SVG graphics support to the platform.
“With these HTML player improvements, content designers can achieve sophisticated creative effects for their digital signage content,” Kazmer said. “Professional effects can be achieved without the use of expensive professional Flash programmers or HTML and CSS developers. For instance, the background of an HTML page can be set up as a transparent image, and tables within a digital screen can have a transparent border and background—which can make for a really impressive presentation of menu boards, airport information boards, and event schedules.”
The upgrade brings other improvements to the platform, including:
• The ability to quickly back up and restore all media and settings on the iCOMPEL using an external USB disk.
• No restrictions on file naming when using the iCOMPEL Web user interface.
• An improved screen status page that shows connection state, the serial number of the digital display, and the CPU and disk temperature history.
• XML Web services allowing HTML and Flash to access features on the iCOMPEL.
• More customizable “ad-hoc” content-control capabilities, which enable iCOMPEL users located at a remote screen to tailor messaging to a local audience.
• For improved security, a Web interface that uses secure digest authentication instead of the weaker basic authentication.
• A more advanced maintenance menu.
The iCOMPEL family of browser-based, networked players gives businesses and organizations of any size an affordable solution for improving internal and external communications through relevant, dynamic digital signage. With it, users can stream recorded or live video, Flash animation, RSS news and stock ticker feeds, and other Web media.
As an integrated hardware/software solution, iCOMPEL comes preloaded with design tools for assembling and distributing HD-quality multimedia content to digital signs. It includes tools for playing stored and live media in multiple screen zones, and menus for scheduling content distribution by time and location. There are no additional software fees for current iCOMPEL owners.
LogMeIn brings remote access capabilities to Android tablets
BANGALORE, INDIA: LogMeIn Inc. has unveiled a new version of its popular remote access app, LogMeIn Ignition, that is optimized for Android tablets.
Available as a free update to existing LogMeIn Ignition for Android users, the app is designed to take advantage of popular new Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and introduces a variety of new features for tablet and/or Android smartphone users. These include capabilities like Wake-On-LAN, remote sound, multi-monitor support, and more.
Once purchased and downloaded from the either the Android Market or the Verizon V CAST app store[1], a single instance of the app can be used across any of a user’s supported Android devices (i.e. multiple smartphones and tablets).
LogMeIn Ignition lets users remotely access and control PCs or Macs directly from a mobile device or tablet, providing easy access to files, data and applications, from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection.
The Android version of Ignition, released in July 2010, is among the top paid productivity apps in the Android Market. The iPad optimized version of the app, released in April 2010, is among the highest grossing apps in the Apple App Store. A video demonstration of the app running on an Android tablet is available on LogMeIn’s YouTube channel, as well as LogMeIn’s product blog.`
Research firm Gartner predicts that tablet shipments will reach 54.8 million units in 2011 and forecasts tablet shipments to exceed 208 million units in 2014. Samsung reported in early December that the new Samsung Galaxy Tab had surpassed the one million units sold mark, less than two months after the device first went on sale.
“The growing popularity of tablets has introduced new demand for utilizing the capabilities of a user’s PC or Mac, while also benefiting from the mobility and flexibility benefits derived from tablets. LogMeIn Ignition for Android offers a best of both worlds approach, blending mobility with performance,” said Andrew Burton, LogMeIn’s vice president, Access & Management. “Our goal is simple: Give our users the freedom to access their entire digital world from virtually anywhere.”
In addition to tablet support, the latest LogMeIn Ignition for Android update includes:
* Wake-on-LAN – Wake up sleeping computers to maintain productivity while reducing power consumption.
* Remote sound – Listen to remote PCs running LogMeIn Pro2.
* Multi-monitor switching – Switch between multiple monitors using a three-finger swipe.
The LogMeIn Ignition for Android app can be downloaded from Google’s Android Market and the Verizon V CAST market for a one-time charge of $29.99. The update is freely available to existing Ignition for Android owners.
Available as a free update to existing LogMeIn Ignition for Android users, the app is designed to take advantage of popular new Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and introduces a variety of new features for tablet and/or Android smartphone users. These include capabilities like Wake-On-LAN, remote sound, multi-monitor support, and more.
Once purchased and downloaded from the either the Android Market or the Verizon V CAST app store[1], a single instance of the app can be used across any of a user’s supported Android devices (i.e. multiple smartphones and tablets).
LogMeIn Ignition lets users remotely access and control PCs or Macs directly from a mobile device or tablet, providing easy access to files, data and applications, from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection.
The Android version of Ignition, released in July 2010, is among the top paid productivity apps in the Android Market. The iPad optimized version of the app, released in April 2010, is among the highest grossing apps in the Apple App Store. A video demonstration of the app running on an Android tablet is available on LogMeIn’s YouTube channel, as well as LogMeIn’s product blog.`
Research firm Gartner predicts that tablet shipments will reach 54.8 million units in 2011 and forecasts tablet shipments to exceed 208 million units in 2014. Samsung reported in early December that the new Samsung Galaxy Tab had surpassed the one million units sold mark, less than two months after the device first went on sale.
“The growing popularity of tablets has introduced new demand for utilizing the capabilities of a user’s PC or Mac, while also benefiting from the mobility and flexibility benefits derived from tablets. LogMeIn Ignition for Android offers a best of both worlds approach, blending mobility with performance,” said Andrew Burton, LogMeIn’s vice president, Access & Management. “Our goal is simple: Give our users the freedom to access their entire digital world from virtually anywhere.”
In addition to tablet support, the latest LogMeIn Ignition for Android update includes:
* Wake-on-LAN – Wake up sleeping computers to maintain productivity while reducing power consumption.
* Remote sound – Listen to remote PCs running LogMeIn Pro2.
* Multi-monitor switching – Switch between multiple monitors using a three-finger swipe.
The LogMeIn Ignition for Android app can be downloaded from Google’s Android Market and the Verizon V CAST market for a one-time charge of $29.99. The update is freely available to existing Ignition for Android owners.
Cogo announces tablet revenue accelerating faster than expected
SHENZHEN, CHINA: Cogo Group Inc., a leading gateway for global semiconductor companies to access the industrial and technology markets in China, announced that its tablet revenue is accelerating faster than expected.
The better than expected revenue is due to the faster than expected growth of the China tablet market combined with a continued increase in the number of Cogo's tablet customers. Cogo began recording tablet revenue in November of 2010. Additionally, several of Cogo's customers debuted their tablet products at the recent Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Cogo provides integrated, embedded solutions that include an MCU (microcontroller unit), memory and wireless access (either 3G or WiFi) from several of its leading global semiconductor partners. Cogo's average selling price for these devices is significantly higher than its ASP for embedded high-end 3G Smart-phone solutions currently shipping.
As expected, the global success of Apple's iPad has raised consumer awareness and demand for touch-screen tablet products in China. Consequently, dozens of digital media and consumer electronics companies in China have begun to produce tablets at a variety of price points using several different operating systems, including Android, Windows and others.
"I am excited that the market for touch-screen tablets in China has taken off even faster than our optimistic expectations," commented Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogo. "This, combined with the continued growth of our tablet customer base, makes us even more confident about continued strong growth in our digital media segment in 2011. Overall, we continue to see broad-based order strength across all of our end markets and we look forward to another year of strong revenue growth."
The better than expected revenue is due to the faster than expected growth of the China tablet market combined with a continued increase in the number of Cogo's tablet customers. Cogo began recording tablet revenue in November of 2010. Additionally, several of Cogo's customers debuted their tablet products at the recent Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Cogo provides integrated, embedded solutions that include an MCU (microcontroller unit), memory and wireless access (either 3G or WiFi) from several of its leading global semiconductor partners. Cogo's average selling price for these devices is significantly higher than its ASP for embedded high-end 3G Smart-phone solutions currently shipping.
As expected, the global success of Apple's iPad has raised consumer awareness and demand for touch-screen tablet products in China. Consequently, dozens of digital media and consumer electronics companies in China have begun to produce tablets at a variety of price points using several different operating systems, including Android, Windows and others.
"I am excited that the market for touch-screen tablets in China has taken off even faster than our optimistic expectations," commented Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogo. "This, combined with the continued growth of our tablet customer base, makes us even more confident about continued strong growth in our digital media segment in 2011. Overall, we continue to see broad-based order strength across all of our end markets and we look forward to another year of strong revenue growth."
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
JDSU's top tech trends for 2011
MILPITAS, USA: JDSU has announced 2011 technology trends for the markets it serves, from the emergence of 4G to advancements in gesture recognition and clean energy solutions.
JDSU top technology trends for 2011 include:
Mobility Gets Fitter and Faster to Support New Applications
The smart phone boom and resulting migration to faster and higher-performing wireless networks will continue to be a big focus as mobile traffic grows dramatically in 2011.
“As new wireless network architectures emerge, expect them to better support demanding applications such as mobile video blogging, advanced games and professional services,” said Jay Stewart, director of Ethernet Service Assurance at JDSU. “JDSU provides a range of solutions critical to the smooth testing, deployment and management of new LTE and 4G networks to bring new applications seamlessly to the user.”
Online Video Pushes the Internet to Become More Self Aware
The Internet will continue to grow as a key utility in people’s lives in 2011 with millions of people expected to watch full-length TV episodes and movies online, consuming a large portion of bandwidth during peak viewing hours.
“As fast as engineers can create on-demand applications, people are adopting them,” said Sinclair Vass, senior marketing director of Communications and Commercial Optical Products at JDSU. “A big priority for JDSU is to support the need for faster data rates, more powerful network switching, and smarter, “self-aware” network architectures that can handle unpredictable and fast-changing traffic patterns.”
Gesture Recognition Technology Moves Beyond Gaming
Gesture recognition, technology that lets people control electronic devices using gestures or body movements, made a big debut in 2010 in gaming. In addition to gaming, JDSU is collaborating with companies on new uses for gesture recognition to help people use technology in a more natural way.
“Picture relaxing on your couch and waving your hand to select a movie, order a pizza, or take a video call from your TV without having to fumble for a remote,” said Andre Wong, product manager at JDSU. “Or imagine typing or surfing the web using hand movements in the air on a virtual keyboard projected from your smart phone – the possibilities are exciting.”
Clean Energy Market Leverages New CPV Technology for Solar
In 2011, countries will further invest and implement clean energy solutions using new approaches such as concentrated photovoltaic technology to efficiently convert sunlight into electricity within solar panels.
“More systems integrators will deploy CPV technology over the next few years, as companies like JDSU produce concentrator chips in mass volumes that will drive lower costs, which is the key to widespread implementation of solar,” said Jan-Gustav Werthen, director of CPV technology at JDSU.
Authentication Technology Aids in the Fight Against Counterfeiting
In the coming year, counterfeiters will increasingly target a wide range of products for criminal activity, including pharmaceuticals, automotive parts, designer clothing, electronics, and software. To fight this threat, brand owners will turn to integrated solutions that combine optical, stealth and digital technology to authenticate products.
“Brand owners and consumers are very concerned about the financial, liability and safety threats posed by counterfeiting,” said Scott Magnacca, sales director of Authentication Solutions at JDSU. “JDSU will help them stay ahead of the counterfeiters with customized security solutions that include advanced overt, covert, web-based and mobile means of authentication.”
Color Helps to Sell Products
Every year, JDSU publishes an annual color trends report and provides pigments to help brand owners and designers better differentiate products through the use of popular colors. Color trends for 2011 include blue replacing green as the color that represents the environment, white signifying technology, and yellow and pink signaling hope and optimism as the economy recovers.
“Color plays an important role in the buying process and many consumers are willing to pay extra for a desired color on products such as cars or electronics,” said John Book, product manager of Custom Color Solutions at JDSU.
JDSU top technology trends for 2011 include:
Mobility Gets Fitter and Faster to Support New Applications
The smart phone boom and resulting migration to faster and higher-performing wireless networks will continue to be a big focus as mobile traffic grows dramatically in 2011.
“As new wireless network architectures emerge, expect them to better support demanding applications such as mobile video blogging, advanced games and professional services,” said Jay Stewart, director of Ethernet Service Assurance at JDSU. “JDSU provides a range of solutions critical to the smooth testing, deployment and management of new LTE and 4G networks to bring new applications seamlessly to the user.”
Online Video Pushes the Internet to Become More Self Aware
The Internet will continue to grow as a key utility in people’s lives in 2011 with millions of people expected to watch full-length TV episodes and movies online, consuming a large portion of bandwidth during peak viewing hours.
“As fast as engineers can create on-demand applications, people are adopting them,” said Sinclair Vass, senior marketing director of Communications and Commercial Optical Products at JDSU. “A big priority for JDSU is to support the need for faster data rates, more powerful network switching, and smarter, “self-aware” network architectures that can handle unpredictable and fast-changing traffic patterns.”
Gesture Recognition Technology Moves Beyond Gaming
Gesture recognition, technology that lets people control electronic devices using gestures or body movements, made a big debut in 2010 in gaming. In addition to gaming, JDSU is collaborating with companies on new uses for gesture recognition to help people use technology in a more natural way.
“Picture relaxing on your couch and waving your hand to select a movie, order a pizza, or take a video call from your TV without having to fumble for a remote,” said Andre Wong, product manager at JDSU. “Or imagine typing or surfing the web using hand movements in the air on a virtual keyboard projected from your smart phone – the possibilities are exciting.”
Clean Energy Market Leverages New CPV Technology for Solar
In 2011, countries will further invest and implement clean energy solutions using new approaches such as concentrated photovoltaic technology to efficiently convert sunlight into electricity within solar panels.
“More systems integrators will deploy CPV technology over the next few years, as companies like JDSU produce concentrator chips in mass volumes that will drive lower costs, which is the key to widespread implementation of solar,” said Jan-Gustav Werthen, director of CPV technology at JDSU.
Authentication Technology Aids in the Fight Against Counterfeiting
In the coming year, counterfeiters will increasingly target a wide range of products for criminal activity, including pharmaceuticals, automotive parts, designer clothing, electronics, and software. To fight this threat, brand owners will turn to integrated solutions that combine optical, stealth and digital technology to authenticate products.
“Brand owners and consumers are very concerned about the financial, liability and safety threats posed by counterfeiting,” said Scott Magnacca, sales director of Authentication Solutions at JDSU. “JDSU will help them stay ahead of the counterfeiters with customized security solutions that include advanced overt, covert, web-based and mobile means of authentication.”
Color Helps to Sell Products
Every year, JDSU publishes an annual color trends report and provides pigments to help brand owners and designers better differentiate products through the use of popular colors. Color trends for 2011 include blue replacing green as the color that represents the environment, white signifying technology, and yellow and pink signaling hope and optimism as the economy recovers.
“Color plays an important role in the buying process and many consumers are willing to pay extra for a desired color on products such as cars or electronics,” said John Book, product manager of Custom Color Solutions at JDSU.
Konica Minolta Sensing Americas and B&W Tek announce SpectraRad Xpress miniature irradiance meter
RAMSEY, USA: Konica Minolta Sensing Americas Inc. (KMSA) has partnered with B&W Tek, Inc., an advanced instrumentation company producing optical spectroscopy and laser systems to introduce a new, lower cost option for LED characterization.
Together, they announced the new miniature spectral irradiance meter, the SpectraRad Xpress, a new addition to the SpectraRad product line.
The SpectraRad Xpress is a miniature spectral irradiance meter designed for field, industrial and laboratory light measurement applications with a USB 2.0 interface. A transmissive cosine corrector is coupled to a spectrometer which is irradiance calibrated against a NIST traceable tungsten light source.
BWSpec software, included, provides for the characterization and measurement of many lighting devices and systems. The standard software features include time line recording, data smoothing, illuminance (lux), chromaticity, color temperature, externally triggered pulsed light capturing, and other data-handling functions.
The SpectraRad Xpress is ideal for lamp and LED characterization (requires input optic option), color analysis, photostability testing, photobiology and photochemistry.
"The advantage to users is that the SpectraRad Xpress is the lowest cost, high resolution, high sensitivity, CCD array spectral irradiance meter from KMSA," said Randy Klimek, new product project manager for KMSA.
"This solution offers a high dynamic range with superior long term stability. It is ideal for various applications including low light level detection and long-term monitoring applications."
The SpectraRad Express offers significant improvements over traditional filter based technology instruments. Filter based instruments have been desired for certain properties (cost, speed and portability) but lack the resolution to accurately describe the spectral characteristics of a light source. Filter based instruments only acquire three data points across the entire spectrum of light to yield colorimetric values. This is accomplished by the use of filters corresponding to the normal human eye response.
These filters can only be manufactured to a certain degree of accuracy. Due to these facts, filter based meters are susceptible to errors because of the deviation of the filter response from the ideal human eye response and the lack of resolution needed to accurately describe narrow bandwidth light sources.
The SpectraRad Xpress avoids these problems at a comparable cost, higher speed and small footprint because it acquires hundreds of data points across the visible spectrum. The 2048 pixel linear CCD array provides the precision required to accurately measure narrow bandwidth light sources or LEDs.
Having multiple sensors also enables the unit to report spectral data and display spectral graphs, making it the ideal instrument for evaluating LEDs, which is today's dominant light source.
The SpectraRad Xpress will be sold and distributed by KMSA & B&W Tek, Inc. in North America beginning January 2011.
Together, they announced the new miniature spectral irradiance meter, the SpectraRad Xpress, a new addition to the SpectraRad product line.
The SpectraRad Xpress is a miniature spectral irradiance meter designed for field, industrial and laboratory light measurement applications with a USB 2.0 interface. A transmissive cosine corrector is coupled to a spectrometer which is irradiance calibrated against a NIST traceable tungsten light source.
BWSpec software, included, provides for the characterization and measurement of many lighting devices and systems. The standard software features include time line recording, data smoothing, illuminance (lux), chromaticity, color temperature, externally triggered pulsed light capturing, and other data-handling functions.
The SpectraRad Xpress is ideal for lamp and LED characterization (requires input optic option), color analysis, photostability testing, photobiology and photochemistry.
"The advantage to users is that the SpectraRad Xpress is the lowest cost, high resolution, high sensitivity, CCD array spectral irradiance meter from KMSA," said Randy Klimek, new product project manager for KMSA.
"This solution offers a high dynamic range with superior long term stability. It is ideal for various applications including low light level detection and long-term monitoring applications."
The SpectraRad Express offers significant improvements over traditional filter based technology instruments. Filter based instruments have been desired for certain properties (cost, speed and portability) but lack the resolution to accurately describe the spectral characteristics of a light source. Filter based instruments only acquire three data points across the entire spectrum of light to yield colorimetric values. This is accomplished by the use of filters corresponding to the normal human eye response.
These filters can only be manufactured to a certain degree of accuracy. Due to these facts, filter based meters are susceptible to errors because of the deviation of the filter response from the ideal human eye response and the lack of resolution needed to accurately describe narrow bandwidth light sources.
The SpectraRad Xpress avoids these problems at a comparable cost, higher speed and small footprint because it acquires hundreds of data points across the visible spectrum. The 2048 pixel linear CCD array provides the precision required to accurately measure narrow bandwidth light sources or LEDs.
Having multiple sensors also enables the unit to report spectral data and display spectral graphs, making it the ideal instrument for evaluating LEDs, which is today's dominant light source.
The SpectraRad Xpress will be sold and distributed by KMSA & B&W Tek, Inc. in North America beginning January 2011.
IEEE Members elect Gordon W. Day as 2012 president
PISCATAWAY, USA: Gordon W. Day, of Boulder, Colorado, has been elected president of IEEE for 2012. IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, supports the technical and professional interests of over 400,000 members in 160 countries.
It publishes a third of the world’s literature in the electrical engineering and computer science fields, sponsors over 1100 conferences each year, and has an active portfolio of nearly 1,300 industry standards and projects under development.
Day, an electrical engineer with experience in research, management, and public policy, will become the 50th President of IEEE on January 1, 2012 and will also serve as CEO. He will succeed 2011 IEEE President Moshe Kam, Department Head and Robert Quinn Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pa. Day will serve on the Board of Directors as IEEE President-elect for 2011.
“Over the past century or so, most advances in quality-of-life have been achieved through technology. Our members were responsible for many of those gains,” Day commented upon assuming his new role. “Today, IEEE’s job is to help technologists continue that history of achievement, in a world where technology is advancing ever more rapidly and innovation is the key to prosperity around the globe.”
Day’s technical specialty is the combination of optics and electronics. He spent most of his career in research and management at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, where he founded and led the NIST Optoelectronics Division. His personal research ranged from fundamental optical measurements to the development of standards for optical communication and new concepts in optical and electronic instrumentation.
More recently, he has served as science advisor to U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller and Director of Government Relations for the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association. He has been a professor adjoint at the University of Colorado and a visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton (UK), and has served on many industry, government, and academic advisory groups. He is a Fellow of IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Optical Society of America, and the Institute of Physics, and holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Day has served IEEE previously in many leadership capacities, including president of the IEEE Photonics Society and of IEEE-USA, which supports the career and public policy interests of IEEE members in the US.
It publishes a third of the world’s literature in the electrical engineering and computer science fields, sponsors over 1100 conferences each year, and has an active portfolio of nearly 1,300 industry standards and projects under development.
Day, an electrical engineer with experience in research, management, and public policy, will become the 50th President of IEEE on January 1, 2012 and will also serve as CEO. He will succeed 2011 IEEE President Moshe Kam, Department Head and Robert Quinn Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pa. Day will serve on the Board of Directors as IEEE President-elect for 2011.
“Over the past century or so, most advances in quality-of-life have been achieved through technology. Our members were responsible for many of those gains,” Day commented upon assuming his new role. “Today, IEEE’s job is to help technologists continue that history of achievement, in a world where technology is advancing ever more rapidly and innovation is the key to prosperity around the globe.”
Day’s technical specialty is the combination of optics and electronics. He spent most of his career in research and management at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, where he founded and led the NIST Optoelectronics Division. His personal research ranged from fundamental optical measurements to the development of standards for optical communication and new concepts in optical and electronic instrumentation.
More recently, he has served as science advisor to U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller and Director of Government Relations for the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association. He has been a professor adjoint at the University of Colorado and a visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton (UK), and has served on many industry, government, and academic advisory groups. He is a Fellow of IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Optical Society of America, and the Institute of Physics, and holds a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Day has served IEEE previously in many leadership capacities, including president of the IEEE Photonics Society and of IEEE-USA, which supports the career and public policy interests of IEEE members in the US.
Fedegari Autoclavi selects Wind River for sophisticated industrial sterilizers
TURIN, ITALY: Wind River announced that Fedegari Autoclavi SpA has standardized the control system for its industrial machine line, called Thema4, on Wind River’s VxWorks real-time operating system (RTOS).
This meets the diverse needs of the pharmaceutical industry, including compliance with global certification requirements set out by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union good manufacturing practices guide.
Thema4 is the latest release of Fedegari Autoclavi’s control application and runs the touch panels controlling a wide variety of sterilizing machines. The control system is responsible for ensuring drugs and medical devices in general are sterilized reliably and cost-effectively. Fedegari Autoclavi’s customers include the top pharmaceutical manufacturers around the world that rely on Fedegari Autoclavi’s equipment to guarantee the highest quality for their drugs.
The sterilizer requires tight, real-time monitoring and adjustment of parameters such as temperature, pressure and humidity as well as the flow of air and water. The control system for these devices requires a stable architecture to ensure consistent and reliable performance.
To meet this challenge, Fedegari Autoclavi chose Wind River’s VxWorks RTOS as the foundation for a sophisticated and versatile process controller, which offers a standard solution for Fedegari Autoclavi’s global customers. For hardware, these customers can choose among three different platforms, each based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components from major hardware manufacturers, all supported by VxWorks.
“There are no other sterilization equipment manufacturers that can offer COTS hardware and controllers that are infinitely versatile but not custom-programmed for each machine,” said Giuseppe Fedegari, chief executive of Fedegari Autoclavi. “Our customers demand flexible, reliable and robust solutions that drive returns on their investment. Choosing the industry-leading software platform as the foundation of our sterilizers was crucial to maintain our leadership and ensure that our customers keep relying on Fedegari for their most critical productions.”
“Medical devices are becoming more sophisticated and manufacturers are looking for new ways to enable connectivity and rich features while maintaining a clear path to certification,” said Santhosh Nair, director of medical solutions at Wind River. “VxWorks remains the solution of choice for medical device manufacturers determined to establish and maintain a competitive edge.”
This meets the diverse needs of the pharmaceutical industry, including compliance with global certification requirements set out by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union good manufacturing practices guide.
Thema4 is the latest release of Fedegari Autoclavi’s control application and runs the touch panels controlling a wide variety of sterilizing machines. The control system is responsible for ensuring drugs and medical devices in general are sterilized reliably and cost-effectively. Fedegari Autoclavi’s customers include the top pharmaceutical manufacturers around the world that rely on Fedegari Autoclavi’s equipment to guarantee the highest quality for their drugs.
The sterilizer requires tight, real-time monitoring and adjustment of parameters such as temperature, pressure and humidity as well as the flow of air and water. The control system for these devices requires a stable architecture to ensure consistent and reliable performance.
To meet this challenge, Fedegari Autoclavi chose Wind River’s VxWorks RTOS as the foundation for a sophisticated and versatile process controller, which offers a standard solution for Fedegari Autoclavi’s global customers. For hardware, these customers can choose among three different platforms, each based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components from major hardware manufacturers, all supported by VxWorks.
“There are no other sterilization equipment manufacturers that can offer COTS hardware and controllers that are infinitely versatile but not custom-programmed for each machine,” said Giuseppe Fedegari, chief executive of Fedegari Autoclavi. “Our customers demand flexible, reliable and robust solutions that drive returns on their investment. Choosing the industry-leading software platform as the foundation of our sterilizers was crucial to maintain our leadership and ensure that our customers keep relying on Fedegari for their most critical productions.”
“Medical devices are becoming more sophisticated and manufacturers are looking for new ways to enable connectivity and rich features while maintaining a clear path to certification,” said Santhosh Nair, director of medical solutions at Wind River. “VxWorks remains the solution of choice for medical device manufacturers determined to establish and maintain a competitive edge.”
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