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.
The standout products on day three of the SID 2010 conference is Universal Display's new PHOLED display architecture with a unique four-color, sub-pixel design, which promises to drive commercial development of all-phosphorescent active-matrix OLEDs and Sony's tiny rollable OLED display that can wrap around a pencil.
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.
Avnet Tech Games expand spring competition
Phoenix, Ariz. — Avnet Tech Games has added a fourth and virtual competition — the VMware Virtualization Challenge — to its fifth annual competition program for students from Arizona’s colleges and universities. This new competition enables all college students nationwide to participate in the spring 2010 virtual games, scheduled for April 10.
Each winning student will receive a $1,000 scholarship, and faculty members will collect $200 for leading participating teams and an additional $300 for each winning team. Registration closes as early as February 12, 2010 for some games.
The Avnet Tech Games feature eight multidisciplinary technology competitions as follows:
- Accenture Green Data Center Challenge: Develop and present a proposal to retrofit a legacy data center as a model Green Data Center.
- Build, Troubleshoot & Tune the Fastest Computer: Build, troubleshoot and tune a PC the fastest.
- Digital Design Challenge: Create, validate and document a FPGA design that works on the provided circuit board.
- Networking Within the Enterprise: Connect and configure a wired computer network to support a fictitious company’s business demands.
- Patch Panel Madness: Build a working data network using the provided network diagram, cabling, patch panels, switches and racks.
- Project Greenlight — Solar Powered LED Challenge: Design, build, test and present the best overall solar-powered “green energy” solid-state lamp.
- Robot Race Obstacle Course: Build and program a robot to maneuver and tow objects through different courses.
- Win the Pitch — Event Creation: Pitch a theme/tag line, graphical treatment, motivational video and stage design concept for the upcoming Omni Corporation International event.
The Avnet Tech Games program also includes a networking event to help students connect with prospective employers. Representatives from Accenture, AMD, Avnet, Belkin, New Angle Media, Premise One, VMware and other local companies will participate in the event.
Avnet has also announced winners of the first Avnet Tech Games virtual competition:
- Trey Wilson and Evan Hjelmstad of the University of Advancing Technology developed a Google Android App for a number-based logic game for the phone using Google’s Android SDK and Open API to win the Android App Challenge. They also received a free Motorola Android phone from Verizon.
- For the Design the Best Windows 7 Computer contest, Andrew Lewton and Jerry Lavender of Glendale Community College designed a solution that combined a PC and an Xbox 360 into one portable single chassis.
- Wesley Peterson, Bryan Simcox and Sean Walter of the University of Advancing Technology created a 30-second TV promotional spot to win the Video Tech Spot — Part A challenge. Part B of the challenge will come this spring in marketing the spot to gain promotion for the 2010 Avnet Tech Games.
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