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.
Newark boosts Maxim inventory for medical, industrial apps
Chicago, Ill. — Electronics distributor Newark, part of the global Premier Farnell Group, is now stocking Maxim Integrated Products’ latest devices for same-day shipping at www.newark.com/maxim. A Maxim applications engineer is available to answer product questions and provide technical support at element14, a dedicated online technology portal and collaborative community for electronic design engineers.
A number of Maxim’s new products target the medical market, including the MAX2078 front-end ultrasound IC that provides high performance for high-channel-count, cart-based and portable ultrasound imaging equipment. This device allows a user to achieve high-end 2D, PW, and CW Doppler (CWD) imaging capability, while using substantially less space and power, says Newark.
Other products enhance industrial applications, such as the DS4426 quad sink/source current DAC for power-supply adjustments and tracking. In addition, touted as the industry’s most integrated industrial-output signal conditioners, the MAX15500/MAX15501 will simplify the design of PLCs and industrial control/automation systems by providing a programmable current up to +/-24 mA, or a voltage up to +/-1 2V proportional to a control voltage signal.
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.