Awareness of "sustainability" has mushroomed in recent years, due to anxieties over energy security and global warming. One significant driver of our energy appetite is the rapid growth of the electronics industry -- worldwide energy demand for household electronics is projected to triple over the next 20 years. »
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EMS industry faces tight inventories for parts
Major electronics contract manufacturers are faced with tight inventories of parts and finished products and a glut of raw materials, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp. »
Memory pricing remains on downward trend
August contract prices for NAND memory devices moved lower across most densities, led by the 32-Gb part, with a 5 percent decline, reported market research firm Gartner. »
National Semi launches WEBENCH LED Architect
National Semi adds the WEBENCH LED Architect to its online WEBENCH Designer tools portfolio to help designers optimize their lighting system designs for performance, size and cost. »
AMD reveals details on next-gen x86 cores
AMD has revealed new details on its two next-generation x86 processor core implementations, including the company's unique approach to high-performance, multi-threaded computing, and a sub-one-watt capable low-power design at this week's Hot Chips 22 symposium. »
Intel, Nokia establish joint research lab
Nokia and the University of Oulu have opened their joint research center in Oulu, Finland. The Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center will initially conduct research for new mobile user experiences that could leverage the increasing processing and graphics power of mobile devices. First... »
IC inventories head up, but don’t worry, says iSuppli
Chip suppliers are reporting rising inventory, but market research firm iSuppli Corp. says there is no cause for concern with demand expected to increase during the coming months. »
Murata invests in RF Monolithics
RF Monolithics, Inc. (RFM) has announced that Murata Electronics North America purchased 533,000 shares of RFM Common Stock at $1.31/share, in a private transaction. The purchase represents less than five percent of RFM’s outstanding stock. »
Learn how to integrate Xilinx FPGAs with high-speed data converters
Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, along with MathWorks and Texas Instruments, is offering a new series of workshops targeted at digital signal processing (DSP) system design using Xilinx FPGAs with high-speed data converters. These workshops will start on September 21, 2010, and will be held... »
Microchip dc/dc converter reference designs enable higher energy efficiency
Microchip unveils two new digitally controlled dc/dc converter reference designs with advanced, high-efficiency topologies that make it easier for designers to optimize their systems for lower cost, higher power output or greater energy efficiency, which also translates into a lower carbon footprint. »
Touch user interfaces have made significant advances in the consumer electronics market particularly for mobile phones and notebook computers, opening the door for adoption in other applications including white goods, computer peripherals, medical equipment, and instrumentation. Synaptics made its debut in the home appliance market earlier this year with the launch of the Samsung Hauzen ZERO air conditioner.
Smaller distributors were the only ones to post sales gains in 2009. Interestingly, two of the five distributors that posted growth last year -- Interstate Connecting Components and Sherburn Electronics -- derive 100 percent of their sales from interconnect products. Both of them also target the military/aerospace industry. Here are the top 10 sales leaders by ICs, passives/electromechanical devices, interconnects and computer products as well as sales growth.

NXP offers a low-power IC aimed at MPPT applications using PV cells or fuel cells.
C&K Components offers a series of low-cost, miniature slide switches. The OS Series of RoHS-compliant switches feature a new high-temperature option for lead-free soldering.